A train runs through it: stories and memories as told by the people of Lee County Georgia

LEE COUNTY PUBUC LIBRARY
3 1032 00537999 1
A Train
Bins Through It
Stories and Memories
as told by
The People of Lee County
Georgia
Lee County Chamber of Commerce
Have you ever been a passenger on a
train that wound its way down through the
country through numerous small towns
and wondered about the people who live
there? Many people today fly from one
destination to another, and although it is
much faster, they fail to see the country.
Lee County has a railroad track that
goes from the northern border, south of
Americus, to the southern tip, which is the
entrance to Albany. Smithville is located
at a junction of two railroads.
The very reason Leesburg exists today
is because the people moved in the 1870s
from the county seat of Starksville, on
what is now GA. Hwy 195, and relocated
where the new railroad was built in Lee
County. The town was first called Wootens
Station and later renamed Leesburg. The
railroad was at the time the most common
form of transportation.
If you ever wondered what life was like
in those rural areas and small towns you
passed through, you will get a taste of it
when you read the stories in A TRAIN
RUNS THROUGH IT. You will get a
glimpse of the attitudes, the life-styles and
the experiences of people in Lee County-
some of which are funny, some tragic, and
(continued on back flap)
975.094 TRA
A train runs through it
LEE COUNTY LIBRARY
LEESBURG, GA
Farmers Exchange 1910
A Train Russ Through it
Stories and Memories'
. /
I as told by
Thi people of Lee County
j ) Georgia
r
Edited By:
Opal Cannon
Patricia Tharp
From Materials Collected by:
The Lee County Chamber of
Commerce Book Committee
Leesburg, GA 31763

J,, 'J Jv
''ftA
J'v.l'*' '
Text Copyright 2004 by
Lee County Chamber of Commerce
0-9761817-0-3
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No Part of this book my be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any
other information storage or retrieved system, without the specific
permission, in writing, from the Lee County Chamber of Commerce,
except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection
with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or broad-
cast.
For Further information please contact
Lee County Chamber of Commerce
P.O. Box 439
Leesburg, GA 31763
This Book is dedicated to the people of
Lee County who lived here in the past;
Those who live here now,
and for future generations to come
T^ble of Contents
Part I: Hard Times, Sad Times
Ration Coupons of World War II-1
My Childhood Days in Lee County-1
The Hobo2
The Airplane-3
I Was the Third Child-3
The Black Line-5
Reflections on the Yesteryears of Lee County-7
The Day the Tharp House Burned- 8
A Farewell Salute-10
Tuesdays-10
Sad Christmas Tales-11
Cats Can Tell On You- 12
Tears of a Blind Man-12
A Special Glow-13
The Flood of 1926-14
What a Difference Time Makes-14
Legend of My Parents: Eddie and Webster Simmons-16
Depression Times in Lee County-17
Memories of a Leesburg Girl During Early World War II (1941 - 1944)-19
Raging Creek-21
The Flood of 1994- 22
Mamas Rescue from the Flood of 1994- 23
Flood of94 Smithville- 24
Memories of a Dirt Road In Lee County- 24
Swimming and Tubing In the Creeks- 25
Mama Was Quite a Gal- 26
vi
Depression Times-27
Childhood Days of Mattie Arnold Rivers-28
Part II: School Days
The Day I Ran Away From School-31
How Times Have Changed-32
The Blue Chevrolet Corvair-32
High School Happenings-33
Playing Hooky on April Fools Day- 34
How LCHS Became the Trojans-35
Some Favorites-25
Lavems School Prank- 36
Fishing Begins.. .Fishing Ends- 36
Old Friendships Never Die- 37
Berry Bad Trouble- 38
First Grade Experience- 39
Boys Will Be Boys and We Paid For It- 39
Hands In His Pockets- 40
A Smart Move-41
Class Reunion- 41
School Memories- 42
Smithville Elementary School: A Rich Start- 44
A Time Capsule- 47
A Special Person- 48
Wow! What a Trip!- 49
Rain Will Tell On You- 49
Fire At the McAfee Hotel- 50
A Tricky Finger-51
Part III: Local Happenings
Rain Showers- 53
Charles Speedy Dean- 53
Crotwells Hospitality- 55
Family Stories I Heard or Lived As a Child- 55
vii
Fun Times-56
Horse Riding- 57
A Power Couple- 58
My Grandmother Marie- 58
The Duck Hunt-59
A Grandmothers Tale- 60
My Early Days in Leesburg- 61
More Fun Than Work- 64
The Fourth of July- 64
Leesburg First Television- 65
The Scatterbrain Club- 65
Mossy Dell- 66
Farmers Exchange- 66
Playtime in Leesburg- 67
Memories of Lee County- 68
My Memories of Growing Up in Leesburg- 71
Ralph and Katy- 72
World War II- 73
Going to See the Train- 74
Smithville Garden Club- 75
Trick or Treat in Leesburg- 76
Kissin Dont Last But Cookin Do- 76
The Father and the Holy Ghost- 77
World War II- 78
Mrs. Cros Walk in the Post Office- 78
Fun at Mossy Dell- 79
Our Days on the Muckalee - A Tribute to my Dad- 79
Century- 82
The Ole Swimming Hole- 83
Summer of 1942 to the Summer of 1951- 83
U.S. Mail Delivery-86
Happy Memories of Growing Up In Leesburg- 87
In My Younger Days- 89
The Lee County Boys Chorus- 89
My Memories of Growing up in Leesburg- 90
viii
Smithville.. .In the Good Ole Days- 93
My Early Days- 94
The Old Days- 95
Unforgettable Lee Countian - Guy Turner- 96
Square Dance Days- 98
Boy Scout Leader- 99
Felicias Place-100
My Granddaddy-101
Goodwin and Katybel Hall-102
Willmar Plantation-104
A Flood of Fish-105
Growing up in Lee County The Dixie Flyer-107
Elizabeth Allen Neloms - Affectionately known as Mima and Miss Sis- 107
I Remember When-109
Growing up on Main Street.. .Leesburg- 111
Special People-113
A Sister Named M-114
The Firefighter Found Em-114
Andys Antics-115
Im Going to Marry Her-116
But She Lived and Lived and Lived-117
Living in Leesburg, Georgia-118
In Remembering-119
My Years in Leesburg-121
The Old Oak Tree Still Stands-126
Riding On the Mail Route-127
My Home Town- 127
The Chez Nous Club-129
Sunday Dinner Time-131
Making Friends While Growing up on Main Street Leesburg in 1930s and
1940sExcerpts from the journal of Mrs. Leah Marie King McGee- 131
Deal Me In-134
The Dear Sweet Lady and Her Special Gift-135
Four Years as a Soda Jerk-136
My Memories Growing up in Lee County-139
IX
Years Can Tell-144
Rabbits and Cub Scouts-145
The Big Haunted House-145
All Stewed Up- 146
My Home Town- 146
Saturday Nights in Leesburg-147
The Mill Pond-148
Memories of Lee County-148
Lee Countys Whiteout-149
My Mothers Stories-150
Fun In the Fifties-152
Childhood Memories on Longview Farm-152
In the Past-155
The Wheelbarrow Ride-155
Yank and his Austin Healey-156
Train Stops-156
Hunting Days in Lee County-156
The Yearly Easter Egg Hunt at Grammys-158
Happy Days at Philema-160
Wisteria on Highway 19 South-161
Neighborly Love in Leesburg-162
A Day at Sara Anns Camp-163
Hungry for Home Cookin-165
The Rolling Store-166
Growing Up In Lee - 166
Family Pride-171
The Camping Trip-171
I Remember-172
Sweet Sixteen-173
Playing Softball Games-173
Peanut Shaking Day-174
Skating on Ice in Leesburg-175
Working at the Peach Shed-175
Saturday Night Square Dances-176
Our Christmas Tree-177
x
From Denmark to Lee County-177
Winnie and R.J-178
The Hero - Almost-179
Another Car Pushing Story-180
Annie Jessups Cafe-180
Culture Shock-181
A Crabby Lady-182
A Unique Little Lady-182
Democratic National Convention-184
Remembrances of the Ranew Family of Lee County-185
Mr. Jack and Miss Amelia-186
Part IV: Church Life
The Bell That Didnt Ring-189
Cant Back Out-189
The Lost Buffalo-190
Somebody Stole My Sermon-191
My F irst Church-192
Church in Leesburg-192
Looking For a Church-193
Leesburg Presbyterian-194
The Lords Acre-196
Part V: It Really Happened?
Broad, Charlie and Red-198
The Unwelcomed Visitor-199
A Flounder in the Kinchafoonee- 200
Tall Betsy- 201
Ghosts and Apparitions- 202
Big River Dan Green and Little River Dan Green- 203
The Strawberry Train- 203
A School Teacher Goes to Hollywood- 204
xi
One Long Taxi Ride- 205
Jail Bird
My First Tech-Georgia Football Game- 206
School Bus Trip- 207
Nora Moreland Allen- 208
A Hair Raising Episode with Two Cousins- 211
The Manure Pile- 212
Lee County Postcard- 214
Mrs. Kate Profit- 215
A Grandmothers Last Gift- 216
Hospitality, Two Rabbits and More- 216
A Chance Meeting An Old Friend- 217
The Game- 218
The Cat and the Flashlight- 218
Lee County Car Tag Number- 219
A Skunky Story- 220
Dead Give Away- 220
Hey, Bill.. .Give me a Push- 221
My Hijack Journey to Jordan- 222
The Dummy Incident- 225
A Close Call- 226
One Bad Fishing Trip- 227
We Got a Whippin!- 228
Funny Incidents in Leesburg- 229
Driving Lesson- 230
The Luckiest Man Around- 230
The Talking Dog- 231
Do Bees Laugh?- 232
Hit by a Car-232
The Teller of Tales- 233
Bad Eye to the Rescue- 235
The Cemetery- 235
The Ghost in the Tree- 236
xii
An Embarrassing Moment- 237
Skinny Dipping- 238
Hollywood Comes to Lee County - Twice- 238
Where Theres Smoke Theres Fire- 241
A Corny Tale- 242
Fortune Teller- 243
Fish Flavored Ice Cream- 243
Lee County Cool Cats- 243
Sears Roebuck Toilet Paper- 244
Asleep at the Midtown Mall Carnival- 244
Bully Bags a Big One- 245
Project Committee an d Staff
Committee of Story Collectors
Co-Chairpersons: Opal Cannon and Patricia Tharp
Secretary: Ashley King
Committee: Bobby Clay, Flossie Bolden, Lilly Smith, Gladys Thrift, Ann
Young, Ethelind Cannon, Martha Neff, Jackie Bowling, Alice Ann Holton,
Sylvia Turner Peterson, Judy Powell, Elizabeth Young, Patricia Blackshear
McDaniel, Patricia Tharp, Page Tharp, Opal Cannon, Martha Dye, Lula
Willis, Shirley Gibbs, Gwen Seanor, Mattie Rivers, Becky Belcher, Ashley
King
Without the cooperation of those who graciously shared their stories, this
book could have never been printed. We sincerely appreciate those who
took the time and effort to support this project.
The Committee would like to give a special thanks to Ashley King of the
Lee County Chamber of Commerce for her efforts in assisting the Commit-
tee with the production of this book.
The Committee would also like to thank Mack Morrell for submitting the
title of this book.
The Committee extends a special thanks to Phil Maxfield for the design of
the front and back covers.
xiv
Preface
A Train Runs Through It..
For more than fifty years we have listened with interest to peoples
stories of their lives in Lee County. Included in these accounts were unique
events, unusual circumstances, and many joyous experiences as well as near
tragedies. They are incidents, which are typical of life, some which are funny,
some that are sad, some you will find hard to believe, but all are interesting
and amusing. We listened to these stories through the years and came to
realize that history was being lived out and shared orally by Lee Countians.
Due to the rapid growth in this county, with hundreds of new people
moving here, we wanted the newcomers to know something of the anecdotal
history of Lee Countys people. We also knew that this would provide a
written history of the oral stories that have been handed down through several
generations to read and enjoy. Many of these incidents touched the lives of
a large number of Lee County people through the years.
We appreciate all those who shared their stories to make this effort
possible. It has been like a trip down memory lane and we hope you have
that same feeling as you read and reminisce about the days gone by. This
anecdotal history provides a different view of the history of Lee County
people.
Opal Cannon
Patricia Tharp
xv
Introducbi
ion
LEE COUNTY, created by the legislature in 1836, and its Communities...
In the beginning, Lee County extended from its present southern
boundary, north to include Macon County, thence from the Flint River west
to the Chattahoochee River and its boundary with Alabama.
The people, of which this book is about, live or did live in the countys
various districts of Leesburg, Smithville, Palmyra, Chokee, and Redbone.
Some may have descended from non-existent, or ghost areas known as
Webster, the first county seat Sumterville, Chehaw, Cherokee, Pender Town,
Renwick Sneed, Century, Whitsett, Adams, Station, orNeyami, or Starksville,
the county seat from 1842 to 1872. Starksville was a wide-open town, most
men toting pistols and at one time..led nationwide the number of homicides
for its size, said to be exceeded by only Cripple Creek, Colorado.
LEESBURG
The City of Leesburg, the county seat, formerly Wooten Station,
came into existence with the move from Starksville in 1872 and with the
coming of the railroad, first the Southwestern, then the Central of Georgia,
and now the Southern. Existing businesses were moved, including the Love
Hotel. One of the first buildings was the depot, which still stands, and at the
present time, there are plans to repair it for the future office of the County
Chamber of Commerce. Primary are all county government functions
including the Courthouse, Jail, DEFACS, Library, and all county schools of
excellence. Situated on both federal and state highways, it is of course, the
hub of the county.
xvi
SMITHVILLE
The City of Smithville, chartered in 1862, began as a railroad center.
At one time it was called Branchville and Renwick, later named in honor of
the early pioneers and prominent Smith Family. As the rail traffic increased
to various cities, the need for passenger comfort and other needs increased,
thus creating the McAfee Hotel, which was later destroyed by fire. It was a
prominent landmark, having nationwide reputation for service and meals. It
served as the eating-place for railroad travelers who had their food requests
wired ahead of their arrival. Three stories tall, it had some twenty-five rooms
for guests and was famous for its chicken pies. Smithville is located sixteen
miles from Dawson, thirteen miles from Americus, and thirteen miles north
of Leesburg. Smithville is primarily a residential and agricultural area. It is
also the location of McCleskey Mills, Inc.
PALMYRA
The Palmyra community existed long before its neighbor, Albany;
in fact, Albany was founded by many of the residents of Palmyra. There is
no town left there today, no schools, post office, businesses are long gone,
but its culture still remains. With some agriculture, it is now recognized as
one of the countys affluent residential areas.
CHOREE
Chokee, an Indian name, is in the northeast section of the county. It
is located near Leslie and DeSoto. At one time, it was on of the most
populated and thriving areas in southwest Georgia. Today, there are no
municipal functions, but it remains an important rural and farming area. With
the Flint River on one side, many families came from this area.
XVII
REDBONE
Redbone, whose name origin has long been debated, is in the
southeastern portion of the county, and also borders the Flint River. Its
roadways connect with Cordele, Ashbum, and Albany. Though schools no
longer exist, it houses its own fire station and voting precinct. Though the
real Chehaw and the Chehaw monument is elsewhere, the majority of
Chehaw Park is in Lee County and Redbone district. Many years ago, it
was one of the location settings of two major film production starring popular
Hollywood stars. Redbone is heavily populated and one of the fastest growing
residential areas in the county.
Page Tharp
xviii
The renowned poet, Frank Lebby Stanton, loved Lee County and his
many friends here. It was this love that led him to write a number of
poems dedicated to the people of Lee. The following is one of those
poems.
OLD TIMES IN LEE
By Frank L. Stanton
September 29, 1922
Lee County Journal
Max and me were talking about the good old times in Lee,
Where the folks are just as happy as the Lord would have em be,
An I asked him bout the fellers that I knew long years before,
At the old Pine Box headquarters, down at Burtonss Grocery Store.
An Max says: Theyre all a living cept it may be two or three,
For they are might slow a dyin in them Cotton lands of Lee!
An the good times that youre talkin bout there havin of em still,
An the Whippoowills are singin long the road to Wells Mill.
The cotton fields are shinin just as wonderful and white,
Like the Lord had snowed em over from the heavens in the night!
An the com is just a wavin of its green and twinkling blades!
An the wind is whistlin thru it like it called the old Brigades!
The same green hills and valleys where you seen the soft stars beam!
The men the same fine fellers, an the women like a dream!
The same sweet bells a ringin from the steeples standin high,
Their happy hallelujahs to the windows o the sky.
Come down, says Max, an see us an them sane old skies Oblue!
Im purty sure the whippoowill have got a song fer you.
An as fer them mockingbirds, why bless your soul they sing
Like winter dreamd forever of the kisses o the spring.
Thats jest the way he talked it, that evening there with me.
Till I felt my eyes a mistin and my heart went back to Lee,
An I sorter felt a dreamin of the old sweet skies an bright,
An the meadows said Good Momin, when the darkness said
Goodnight.
|javJ ~fi
imes
Ration Coupons of World War II
During World War II we had ration coupons for sugar, coffee and
other things that were hard to get. One Sunday our family was going to
Sylvester, Georgia to see my grandparents. We had a flat tire between Albany
and Sylvester on Highway 82. My mother (Mrs. John M. Oliver, Sr.) had
our coupon book in her purse. While Daddy was changing the tire, Mama
got something from her purse and pulled the coupon book out and did not
know it. It dropped on the ground. No one saw the book. The next day she
missed the book and we looked everywhere, but no book.
About three days later, we received our coupon book in the mail.
We had the flat tire in front of a house, and the woman that lived there found
the coupon book and mailed it to us. Our address and name was on the
coupon book. What an honest lady! Needless to say we were all very happy.
Alaouida (Oliver-Jones) Murphy
My Childhood Days in Lee County
I feel that growing up on a Lee county farm during the Depression
and World War II defined my life and made me the person that I am today.
There were a lot of things that we didnt have, but there were so many
things that we did have. As children we didnt have video games, but we
had hopscotch, marbles, jump rope, and stick-frog. We didnt have television,
but we had a radio with wonderful programs that encouraged us to use our
imaginations. We didnt have a swimming pool, but we had a creek with a
swimming hole. We had beautiful woods where we could play cops and
robbers, cowboys and Indians, and Tarzan. We had friends, both black and
white, who helped raise us. One special memory that I have is of the many
stories about ghosts and other things that Bull Nelson told us. He could
entertain us for hours with his stories.
Since we lived so far from Leesburg we were always at the end of
the school bus route and had a long ride twice a day. When the dirt roads
were wet the bus would sometimes slide into the ditch and someone would
have to come pull us out. If the weather was cold, some of the boys would
scout around for wood to build a bonfire to warm us while we waited. One
year it happened so often that the boys began to bring fat lightard from
home to make the fire easier to build.
Saturday was our day for going into town, and we children would
each be given a nickel or a dime a piece to spend any way we wanted to.
We could waste away hours going up and down the aisles of the Kress store
trying to decide how to spend it. That provided great lessons on how to
make good decisions, and how to handle the bad decisions that we made
when we spent our money foolishly.
I am proud to have been bom and to have grown up in Lee County with
wonderful parents who taught us great values.
Carolyn Clay Daniel
The Hobo
One day we were out cutting stove wood, and a stranger walked
into the yard and wanted to split some stove wood from the slabs. He was
one of many who roamed the country in those days, during the latter days
of the Great Depression. He wanted to work for something to eat in return,
and this was no scam. Back then; men like this were really hungry and
willing to work for anything to eat. Many even wore such ragged and
tattered clothing that they couldnt possible stay warm. Most of them were
referred to as tramps or hobos and had either walked from the city or hopped
a freight train for transportation.
I remember many times when my mother would hardly have enough
food in the house for our next meal but she would always go and find
something for these men to eat. There were times when she wouldnt have
2
anything except some meal, so she would fry him a hoecake of combread,
and if we had it, she would give him a glass of milk to go with it.
By the way, writing this about the hobos and the hoecake reminds
me to explain something. Thats the very reason a combread pancake is
often called a hoecake - because the hobos ate them so much.
Virgil A. Booker
The Airplane
One day during World War II, my mother and I were in the kitchen
and we heard an airplane, which was not unusual, since Turner Field was in
Albany, Georgia. This plane sounded different.
I looked out the kitchen window and I told my mother someone was
throwing something out of the plane, but I looked again and realized the
plane was falling apart. What we were seeing was the wings and tail.
My Dad and some men were in a field across a creek from where the
plane fell. They waded in the creek (alligators were in the creek) but could
not reach it because of the fire. They could hear the men screaming in the
plane but could not help. It was a very sad time for us all.
Alaoudia Oliver-Jones Murphy
I Was the Third Child
I was bom 87 years ago in Crisp County, Ga. At an early age my
parents Quinn and Minnie Lee Smith moved to Lee County.
My father was a farmer and a fisherman. My mother was a housewife.
She died when I was about eight years old. There were four of us girls and
one boy. After mothers death, we soon learned that we had to look after
one another.
We had to work in the fields to help Daddy. We worked hard during
the day and had our chores to do at home afterward. We lived in the country,
3
and, of course, back then we had none of the modem conveniences that we
have today. There were no indoor bathrooms, no running water, no electricity,
and no washing machines or clothes dryers. Back then clothes were washed
in a wash pot. We had a scrubbing board to clean them and we hung them
out to dry on a clothesline. When it came time to iron them, we had to heat
a flat iron on the wood stove or in the fireplace.
We didnt have too many close neighbors; so, we children had to
entertain ourselves. We girls would take dog fennels (weeds) and make
believe they were girl dolls. We used sticks for boy dolls and wed tie rags
around corncobs for dresses. We also played on Tom Walkers. These
were tin cans with wires tied through them. We would hold on to these
wires and walk on them. We would also roll each other in old tires, play
drop the handkerchief, and play hide and seek. Sometimes we would go
into the woods, find little pine trees, bend them over, get on them and bounce
up and down.
One time my Daddy gave us a dollar a piece to buy something. We
went into Mr. Stovalls store and found two big beautiful dolls for one dollar
each. We bought them, and when we came out of the store Daddy said that
he didnt want us to spend the whole dollar on a doll. So, we went back in
and told Miss Adelaid that Daddy wouldnt let us spend the dollar on
dolls. She couldnt understand why, and neither could we. We found some,
though and got much smaller ones for $.25 each.
My education was limited since we had to work on the farm, but we
attended school whenever we could. We rode in a Model T Bus, with no
glass windows, just curtains attached to open windows. Our school had
only one room, where several grades were taught.
On June 28, 1932, I married Dock Breeden. We married at the
courthouse in Leesburg. Soon after we were married, we went to the drugstore
to get an ice cream. He gave it to me and said, Are you going to kiss me?
I told him that I would but to wait until I finished my ice cream!
We lived out on the Harris place in Philema not very far from my
mother-in-laws house. Every Saturday she would go into Albany, but never
wanted us to go. She wanted us to stay at home with our children. Well,
one Saturday I had had enough; so, I told my sister, Lee, who had married a
Breeden, also, that we were going to Leesburg TOO!
4
She thought, I was out of it, but I had a plan. My husband had an
old Model T Ford, and he had made a small trailer to haul his stuff. Since
I knew how to drive, I figured out how we could all go to Leesburg. My
sister and I hooked that trailer up to the Model T, put my two boys (at that
time) and Lee and her two girls in the trailer. She tied the girls hair up with
diapers to keep the wind from blowing, and away we went to Leesburg:
Model T, trailer, children and all. We just wouldnt be outdone!
During the 1940s we moved to Leesburg. My husband went to
work for John Robert Green and worked there for many years.
Dock and I had eight children (seven of whom are still living). All
have been successful in their work. I have 13 grandchildren and 13 great
grandchildren. In the 1940s I j oined the First Baptist Church of Leesburg,
which I still attend. I am perhaps one of the oldest members. I went to work
at the Lee County High School Lunchroom in 1961 and retired in 1987.
Since my husband died in 1967, my children and their wives have
looked after me. I am very fortunate to have my son, Billy and daughter-in-
law, Joy, living in their house which is next to mine.
Sally Smith Breeden
The Black Line
Back then, everyone in the whole county knew of the Black Line.
In 1943, my family and I moved to what was known as the old Laramore
Place, owned by Mr. A. W. Barrett, Sr. This farm was twelve miles in the
country on a dirt road off St. 195 and off the New York road. It consisted of
1200 acres, a main house, and nine tenant houses, all in a straight line or
row, all painted a dark green, and all occupied by the labor force of black
people. The nine row houses was the Black Line. The main house was
located on the far end, and my sister and I walked the !4 mile to meet the
school bus.
After we moved there, my father, Leon Varner, who was the farm
overseer and manager, bought a number of mules from Mr. Charlie Cannon,
5
his mule bam being located about where the NAPA store is today. The labor
force each chose a mule for his or her own plowing. I ended up with an old
mule named Emma. She was too old to do much work, so I had her for my
own personal mule to ride.
Naturally, I soon became friends with all the labor people, and I had
a special friend named Milas Lockett who was about two years older than
me. We went all over the farm, hunting with his little dog named Brownie.
There were a lot of deep ditches on the place, dug years before to drain the
fields. In those ditches were holes where opossums and other animals slept,
and also snakes. If Brownie barked there was something in the hole. Milas
would poke his hand and arm in a hole to reach whatever might be in there.
He never got bitten by a snake.
We had dove shoots each season and would invite the Barrett Family
and others to shoot. I learned to shoot at the age of thirteen. Every other
Saturday was payday, and my mother would cook up a steak dinner for the
Barretts who would come up to the place. This included Gilbert and Alva
Barrett and Mr. A. W. Barrett. On every 4th of July we would have a big bar-
b-que for the labor force, pork and plenty of Brunswick stew.
We had a big tmck and Joe Lofton would drive the truck to Albany
on Saturdays and take the labor force, which would sit in chairs on the back
tmck body. They would return on Saturday night, but a few of the men
would get drunk and not make it back. My father would meet the train at
Philema on Sunday and Monday mornings to pick up those who had been
injail.
About the end of WWII, my father made a real good cotton crop,
and we moved to Leesburg. On the farm, I had nothing to do, such as getting
firewood and other chores. This was done by Uncle Spence and Aunt Willie,
our dear colored friends. Once in Leesburg, I had to go to work doing such
things. Remembering the days out on the Laramore Place, I have many fond
memories, never to be forgotten.
Jack Varner
6
Reflections on the Yester Years of Lee County
My four brothers, three sisters and I grew up on a sharecroppers
farm with our parents. My brothers didnt have an opportunity to attend
school because they had to work in the fields. We girls milked the cows and
put them out to pasture. We drew water from the well to wash clothes and to
feed the farm animals. We gathered wood to cook our food and boil our
clothes. Can you imagine boiling clothes in a big black pot?
We walked about 5 miles to school each way. There was no school
bus and our parents didnt own a car; besides that they were busy working
on the farm with the boys. The school building was a little prayer house.
School was tough, but structured. Back then the teacher could discipline
the children, using yardsticks, rulers and even switches from the woods
with no repercussions. Respect for property and for elders and for self was
enforced. Childrens moral values were encouraged. Lifetime friendships
were formed.
The house we lived in was constructed of wood. There were cracks
in the floor and board windows that opened from the inside used to keep
flies out during the day and mosquitoes out during the night.
We didnt have all the luxuries that we have today. For lights we
used flambos, a bottle with kerosene and a wick. We used outhouses,
outdoor bathrooms. To scrub the floors we used a homemade mop stuffed
with com shucks. Our clothes were scrubbed on a washboard. Our
detergents were home made soap made from Lye and grease. If you had a
rag, it was made from com shucks. We would go in the field, pull some
straw, wrap it with twine and sweep the floor. Quilting was a pastime.
Mothers would come together and quilt a quilt in one day.
We didnt have to worry about what to wear. You may have had a
school outfit and a Sunday dress. We were never hungry because we grew
practically everything we ate. Dad would take the shelled com to a mill and
have it ground into meal. Sugar cane was used for syrup. My brothers got
so many spankings in the cane patch, because they would hide and instead
of stripping the cane, they would be chewing the cane. Sweet potatoes
were harvested, banked in a hole in the ground for preservation. Everyone
looked forward to hog killing time, making sausages, souse meat, but we
7
children like to roast liver over the coals and cook sweet potatoes in the
ashes. Meat would be dispersed to all the neighbors; chickens off the yard
would be our deli. Sometimes our parents would bring home fish. To keep
it from spoiling we would put it in a wooden bucket and let the bucket down
into the well.
Lillie Smith
The Day the Tharp House Burned
It was a cold, winter morning on Main Street, Leesburg, 1918.
Pauline and T.C. Tharp, my mama and daddy, were having breakfast before
daddy got ready to go to work at the State Bank of Leesburg, where he was
a cashier.
A knock was heard at the kitchen door, and mama went to see who
it was. Opening the door, there stood Will Berryhill, gingerbread colored
black man who was respected by both white and black races. Will was
walking to town from his home in Cats Alley, one of the two colored sections
of Leesburg.
Mama said, Good morning Will, what can I do for you? Will tipped
his hat and politely said, Miss Paw....lean (the way he pronounced her
name), can Ize speaks to Mr. Tharp..s? Certainly Will, just a minute, Ill
get Mr. Tharp for you. Mama went back into the dining room, and said,
Mr. Tharp, (from the day she first met my daddy til his dying day, she
called him Mr. Tharp, as that was the way she first met him and with respect
for him), Will Berryhill wants to speak to you. Daddy, in no particular
hurry, went to the door.. Good Morning Will, what brings you here? Will,
very nonchalantly and showing little concern, said, Mr. Tharp..s, Yo House
is on fire!
Well, this begins the rest of the story. Daddy went to the bedroom,
getting his two 38 Smith and Wesson pistols, went outside and shot all twelve
rounds into the air to draw attention to all within hearing distance. Mama ran
to the phone and called Central. For those who dont know, Central was the
place and person who directed all calls to and from the central office. The
person on duty recognized her voice immediately, as there were only twenty
8
some odd phones in town. What can I do for you Miss Pauline? Mama
said, I want to report a house on fire. Very well, replied the operator,
whose house is it? Mama said, ITS MY HOUSE...THATS WHOSE
HOUSE.
Things didnt stop there, as the fire/hose truck had a wheel to run off
near the old Hines house, the two-story house on the comer, later called the
gingerbread house that had recently burned. That ended the Volunteer Fire
Department for that call and so it did for their house; it burned down.
Daddy had just put on a new, wooden roof, the shingles being treated
with some form of creosote for longer life. This made the fire spread faster,
together with the fact that most wood was high in fat-lightwood content.
Fortunately, most contents were saved with the help of neighbors and high
school boys just coming to school. Also, it was fortunate that they had a
place to move into; the dwelling next door was mamas parents.
Mama and daddy were grateful to all who helped, and especially to
the Albany Fire Department who sent a track at the request of the Mayor. Of
course, it was too late, but to travel on dirt roads to another town was
impressive.
People can do strange and almost impossible things in times of
excitement, such as fire. Mr. Ticky Forrester, a small person of stature and
two other men, removed mamas heavy upright piano from the house, and
for some reason, they carried it all the way over to the other side of the street,
across a fifteen foot deep sewer construction ditch, the first sewer line on
Main Street. Then too, Mr. Willis Rutland was seen carrying out of the burning
house, of all things, an armful of stove/firewood.
Page Tharp
Vintage Car
9
A Farewell Salute
Daddy, Paul Stamps, had worked for the Central of Georgia Railroad
for many years. He worked in the office, which was located in Albany,
Georgia. Most of the employees of the railroad were in the office regularly
and knew daddy well. These men were like a fraternity, they cared for one
another. He was sick and in and out of the hospital in both Albany and
Savannah, Georgia most of his last year and a half. He was in the Central of
Georgia Hospital in Savannah most of his last year and he died there at the
young age of 53. His funeral was held in Leesburg Baptist Church. He was
buried in Crown Hill Cemetery in Albany, Georgia. To get to the highway
going to Albany from the church, you had to cross the railroad, which the
Central of Georgia Trains traveled several times daily. As the funeral
procession got to the railroad, before crossing it, we had to stop due to the
train coming through town. As they rolled into town, they passed through
slowly blowing their train whistle all through town with a final farewell
salute to one of their comrades as they said goodbye to one of their own.
Paula Stamps Smith
Tuesdays
My Aunt, Sara Foster, passed away on Easter Sunday in 1992. We
had her funeral the following Tuesday. My Mother, Maggie Stocks, passed
away on Saturday, the next week. We had her funeral on Tuesday at
Thundering Springs Cemetery in Lee County.
Soon after the two funerals, I was going through some of my mothers
possessions. I soon discovered a book that was entitled Dont Cry Past
Tuesday. A Baptist minister wrote it to his daughter. The daughter knew
that her father was dying; so, the fathers message in this book was to his
daughter.
10
He knew that she would grieve for him, but wanted her to try not to
grieve past Tuesday. I think he was trying to tell his daughter that it is
humanly impossible not to grieve, but not to let grief consume her.
This was certainly a message that I felt applied to me. After finding
this book, somehow I believe my mother was trying to convey those very
thoughts to me during my grief in the loss of her and my aunt in such a short
time, so close together.
Later, a dear family member obtained a copy of this book and donated
it to the library at Central Baptist Church in Albany. This donation was
made in memory of my mother, Maggie Lee Stocks.
Sandra Stocks
Sad Christmas Tales
It was Christmas Day 1932, with the depression in full swing, when
something happened that would be of little consequence today. We were not
the poorest people in town, but our parents had to watch how every penny
was spent, especially for Christmas presents.
They gave my sister a white scarf, her only present, and she thanked
them for it. The question came as to the rest of the present, which she didnt
understand. Then the awful truth came out. They had put a $ 10.00 bill inside
the present, and she had thrown the Christmas paper with the bill in the
fireplace and it had burned up. She was heartbroken, and all were in tears
for that was a lot of money in those days. A sad thing to happen to such nice
people, and at Christmas time.
Christmas Day, 1936, was sad because our whole family, mama,
daddy, and I were all bedridden with the flu, and my sister, fourteen years
my senior, had to come home to help. She didnt have time to get a Christmas
tree, so the only thing available was a six-foot pine tree limb, which she
stood up in the comer and decorated the best she could. I cant recall if there
were any presents at all, but the main thing was to try to get well.
Page Tharp
11
Cats Can Tell On You
During the depression years, we lived between Hwy 19 and the
railroad tracks. Many men passing through came from the highway and the
freight trains to our back door. They asked for food. Daddy and I teased
Mama about how these men knew that she never refused to give them some
food, usually a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a glass of milk or tea.
We really wondered how these drifters knew that our house was a good
place to stop. Many years later I learned that here were signs in front and
back yards telling these men that a generous woman lives in this house.
The sign was a curled up cat in a circle!
Gwen Johnson Seanor
Tears of a Blind Man
Early B. Duncan was the husband of our maid, Genie. Genie worked
for us many years. Upon her death, Early was alone. He had friends and
neighbors, however, who helped to care for him. Early was blind as a result
of a gunshot wound while playing a skins game. He also had a large
goiter and tried to conceal it with a white handkerchief. A leg had been
amputated and he had to use crutches.
Our family would always give them presents at Christmas. After
Genies death, we continued to remember Early, especially on Christmas
Eve. Every year, he could be found sitting in a chair waiting for us to
deliver his gifts. It seemed as though he knew the very sound of our cars
engine. As we approached him, Mama would say, Early B. He would
reply, Yea, Maam, Merry Christmas Mrs. Tharp. Mama would answer,
We have some gifts for you. After receiving them, he would always say,
Thank you, and Merry Christmas. He would then turn away, reach in his
pocket, pull out a clean handkerchief, and wipe his eyes.
As Mama would get back into the car, I could see the tears well up in
her eyes. Back then, being the eighteen year-old boy, and not yet a man, it
12
was hard not to cry tears of joy. Why? Because I had just witnessed the
Christmas Spirit through the eyes of a blind man.
Tommy Tharp
A Special Glow
When I learned that a dear friend and schoolmate, Charles Rhodes,
had a terminal illness, I called my friend and his relative, Nancy, and asked
her if we might meet and visit with him at his home in Lee County.
We arrived after lunch and visited with Charles and his wife, Marinel.
We recalled and swapped stories of our school days and growing up in Lee
County. We shared many laughs and a few tears. Charles was in good spirits
and seemed to enjoy our visit.
As Nancy and I were about to leave, Charles asked us to wait a few
minutes. He left the room and returned with a plastic milk container full of
coins. He explained to us that he started saving his loose change in January,
and then in December, he would give it to his children for Christmas. What
he said and did next was just so breathtaking. Charles turned toward me and
handed me the container of coins. He remarked that we was aware that I had
just lost my house and nearly all of my possessions the previous year in a
tornado that touch down on Stocks Dairy Rd. He then said he thought I
could put the coins to good use. I assured him that I would do just that. I
gave him a big hug and thanked him for his concern. Even though he was
seriously ill, he was thinking of my loss. I will always remember that special
day, that special act of kindness and that special friendship.
On the way back to Albany, I remarked to my friend Nancy that I
was going to save the coins until I could locate the special item to put in my
new home that I had purchased after the tornado. One afternoon, while I
was visiting with my cousin, Steve Stocks, he showed me an old Stocks
Dairy milk bottle that he had taken to a light fixture store and had it made
into a lamp. I knew right then and there that the lamp would be how I would
use the coins that Charles gave to me. I took one of my Stocks dairy milk
bottles to the store and had it made into a lamp. They sprayed the inside of
13
the bottle with white paint and installed the wiring for the lamp. The lamp
truly looks like a bottle of milk right out of the past from Stocks Dairy.
I placed the lamp on a very visible shelf over my kitchen sink. When
you come through my back entrance, one of the first things that will catch
your eye is the lamp.
Sometimes I will leave the lamp on at night for a night-light. The glow from
the lamp lights up the entire kitchen and my large den. The glow from the
lamp brings to mind many pleasant memories of Charles, his amusing, dry
sense of humor and his thoughtfulness. My Special Lamp also brings to
my mind the words of the songs You Light Up My Life and This Little
Light of Mine.
Sandra Stocks
The Flood of 1926
During the flood of 1926, my mom had to drive my Dad to the
railroad trestle over the Kinchafoonee Creek. He would walk across it
because the water was over the bridge. Someone would pick him up and
take him to work at Hodges Builders Supply Company. We would pick
him up in the afternoon when he was brought back to the trestle.
Gwen Johnson Seanor
What a Difference Time Makes
I was bom in Lee County in 1912. We lived at the Starr Farm for
about fourteen years. When I started school, my sister, brother, and I walked
to Philema. There werent many students in our school. We only had one
teacher. I cant recall any students, except the Crews and us. The owner of
the train that ran from Cordele to Albany each day offered the student who
did not miss a day in school for a year, a prize of $5.00 (big money). I won,
so my daddy opened me a savings account in the Bank of Oakfield, since it
14
was just across the river from the farm. The only way we could get to
Oakfield was by ferry. But you guessed it. The bank did not make it, so
there went my money.
After a few years, more children came into our area, so the county
consolidated the schools. We were brought to Red Bone by bus. Our school
was a three-room house. We had all classes from the 1st through the 11th
grade, if there were students for each class. Today, the school house is part
of the home that the missionary lives in when he is on furlough.
Thundering Springs was our church, which was a one-room building.
The children had their Sunday School classes under a tree during the summer
and in a car during the winter. The county built a new school house, that is
now the church.
How time changes things! We moved to Ellaville in 1925 and in
1931, Joe and I married. I came back to Lee County, then. I inherited a big
family when I married. There were four brothers-in-law and their families,
and a sister-in-law, and my mother-in-law, plus all the workers at the dairy
and on the farm. There was never a dull moment. We saw each other nearly
every day. Everybody was busy as bees. Each family had their own little
home. What a wonderful life we all had!
Can you imagine not having a phone? The one at the Farm was the
only phone in the area. We owned the line coming from Albany. Of course,
we had to maintain the lines and keep them up. There wasnt a crew to put
up your line and maintain them, like we have now.
Today, if you come out to Stocks Dairy Road, it is nothing like it
was. There are beautiful homes on each side of the road. All roads are
named and Lee County has ambulance services and fire stations in each
community. Time moves on and things change. Today it is like living in
town.
The Big House was the name we gave the old home place. It
burned and a few years later, a tornado came through and destroyed some of
the new homes, but they were later rebuilt however, nothing is the same,
and nothing is left but fond memories and I am beginning to miss my memory!
I was in Leesburg at the Health Center waiting to get a flu shot.
Two men were talking. It was just before elections that year. I didnt know
them. They were talking about the changes in Red Bone and the county as
15
a whole. One of them made the statement that he wished that the ones who
were responsible for the changes would go back from where they came. He
said that he had been in Lee County for 20 years and he liked things as they
were. I wanted to tell him that I had lived in Lee County all my life, except
for about 14 years, and we have to change for growth. I am proud of Lee
County and what it has accomplished since 1912.
Sara Stocks
Legend of My Parents; Eddie and Webster Simmons
My father and mother, along with their children were all raised in
Lee County. My father and mother were hard working parents; they worked
from sun up until sun down. I had fifteen sisters and brothers. We were
raised on the farm in Lee County; Eddie Lee, Daisy Lee Robert, Ceasar,
Rogers, Paul, Thomas, Hazel, Soloman, Charles, Eddeye, Marvin, Fatima,
Zelema, Flossie, William.
We had to work hard for a living. We did have a decent place to
live, although we had no light, heat, nor running water, and we lived in a
two-room house with a kitchen. We had to work hard, plowing mules from
sun up to sun down. We raised our own food so we never went hungry. We
had hogs, cows, and chickens. We did survive. We had some good days as
well as bad ones, but the good Lord took care of us. My mother was a
doctor to us all. We did not even know there was a town doctor.
My mother took in washing and ironing from different people. She
cooked for people to help send my sisters to college. My older brother had
to stop school for the rest us to go to school. We had to walk to school in the
rain and cold. We did come a long way, but we were depending on the
Lord. He blessed them to live a long life. My father died at the age of 105
and my mother, 84. We were all blessed.
Marvin Simmons
16
Depression Times in Lee County
In 1928, Estoria Tripp married Warren Spillers and moved to Lee
County. They operated a store/filling station on Muckalee Creek, south of
where the present bridge crosses the Muckalee on GA Hwy 195. Warren
worked as a mechanic in Leesburg, and Estoria operated the store and took
care of the house. They later built a store in Starksville.
Dr. and Mrs. Statham were good friends of the Spillers and spent
most Sunday afternoons out in the country with them. Dr. Statham was
nicknamed Booze, and his with Nooze. If Nooze saw a chicken or
something else the Spillers had that she wanted, Mrs. Spillers gave it to her.
Mrs. Spillers was pregnant and Dr. Statham suggested that she stay off her
feet, but with the store to run, two cows to take care of and two other children
to care for, she could not do this.
On a Sunday and one of the worst days of the year, January 19,
1936, after a tornado had destroyed houses and property all around, then
followed by an ice storm, Mrs. Spillers gave birth to twins. She knew that
morning that her baby was coming that day, so she called Dr. Statham to
come out to the house. At 11:00, one baby was bom and at 11:30 a second
baby was bom. Neither Mrs. Spillers nor Dr. Statham knew in advance that
she would have twins. She had purchased one dozen new diapers for a
baby. Dr. Statham got so excited when he realized two babies were there.
He laid one baby in each arm of Mrs. Spillers and told her to rest while he
went back to town to get Nooze. When he returned with her, she had brought
Mrs. Spillers lots of dresses that had belonged to her little girl. They were
beautiful, with lots of lace inserts and four or five feet long. Nooze was so
excited over the twin and immediately wanted to name them. She suggested
they name them Booze and Nooze, but Mrs. Spillers did not want to
use those names. She said a Mrs. Gant suggested they be named Ray and
Faye. That pleased the parents so that was what they were named. Mrs.
Spillers remembers that in the old days children were bom at home. All four
of her children, Jewell, George Warren Jr, Raye and Faye, were bom at
home with doctors coming to the house.
During the depression we had hard times. We always had plenty to
eat, but there were lots of people who went hungry. People had to use what
17
resources were available and spend money very wisely. Ms. Spillers said
they made and served so much milk gravy in those days that she thought she
never wanted to taste it again. Some families would have vegetable gardens
to help feed the family. She said they seldom had a roast; they would go
down to Longs grocery and buy a big soup bone. Often times the bone
would have considerable meat on it that could be roasted, or made into stew
beef, or a good pot of soup.
One day many years later, when the Spillers had moved into Leesburg,
the Long Grocery store caught on fire. It was close to the Spillers home so
water was sprayed on their house to keep it from catching fire. Jewel Durr,
a daughter remembers carrying clothes over to Miss Annie Longs porch for
safekeeping.
Mrs. Spillers says they were not a deprived family. They owned a
car, which they purchased from Mr. Tic Forrester. After Mrs. Spillers had
four children, Warren did most of the shopping. Jewel remembers paying
twenty-five cents for two and one half yards of fabric.
The Spillers were persuaded to move to Poulan at one time. They
were told that there was a cotton mill down there and that they would do
more business there. That was a bad move, though, as the mill workers
wanted to buy everything on credit and the Spillers could not collect it from
them. They decided to come back to Lee County after losing a great deal of
money.
Warren enjoyed fishing and they would often invite friends and have
a fish fry on the creek. As more people got cars, they were able to do more
visiting and sometimes the ladies in Leesburg would just take a pleasure ride
in the afternoons and come out to get a Coca-Cola at the Spillers store.
The Spillers store stocked a basic line of groceries, sold gas and
even had a slot machine in the store. They very busiest day of the year
would be when the Black churches held baptizing in the Muckalee Creek
near their store. Since the store was right there on the banks of the creek, it
was convenient for business. Sometime the candidates for baptism would
get so excited and start shouting and would sometimes tumble into the creek.
Many times the Spillers would have to call Dawson, the Nehi Bottling Co.,
18
and ask them to send out another truck with drinks because they would sell
out.
The Fox family from Dawson owned a farm beyond the creek.
Oftentimes they would stop on their way to the farm and load up on grocery
supplies. It was always good to have people stop by and share the news.
The Spillers also lived near the creek. When heavy rains came the
creeks would rise and flood the area. It was not uncommon to see alligators
in the creek.
Times were hard and there were none of todays modern
conveniences, but people enjoyed life. There were fewer distraction and
families spent more time together trying to eke out a living. Maybe the saying
is true, that happiness is homemade.
Mrs. Estoria Spillers
Memories of A Leesburg Girl During
Early World War II1941-1944
On December 7, 1941 after Sunday dinner (I was 14 years old), I
walked across the street to visit with Sara McBride. We were listening to the
radio and discussing The Saturday Night Hit Parade and suddenly the
announcement of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor came on. There
was no way we could understand the gravity of this report, but we were in
tears. Our country was in terrible danger!
Shortly after, the county practiced blackout drills and issued security
plans. People were named to act as air raid wardens and meetings were held
to keep us informed since we were at war with Japan. We learned that many
things would be rationed. Some things were gasoline, shoes, metal goods,
canned goods, sugar, and shortenings. Men who were 18-39 years old were
required to register at the draft board for military duty.
During the next years a lot of people and many junior and senior
students helped to register all persons in the county. Tables were set up at the
Long Farm, Miller Lumber Mill, Chokee, Red Bone, Palmyra, and Smithville
19
areas for this purpose. At this time many citizens of our county could not
read or write.
Patriotism was high as people bought war bonds; collected scrap
metal for munitions and conserved on gasoline, house gas, and electricity.
Some of the girls who were naturally blond offered some of the tresses to be
used for making bombsights.
Young people tried to accept the food (sugar), gasoline and clothing
shortages in their social lives. We no longer could go out of town to play
athletic games because we had to conserve gas and tires. We walked to
prom parties and hamburger-hot dog gatherings. We also walked to the
Coxwell restaurant (Miss Jewel and Mabel) to dance to the juke organ.
Once in a blue moon we could scramble up enough rationed sugar for a
chum of ice cream or chocolate fudge. Even the 1944 Senior class trip was
cancelled; the money we have saved for four long years was used instead
for outside water fountains for the north and south ends of the school.
None of us will forget those years because we realized how much
God blessed over military men and women and our country.
Ann King Young
Leah King, Peanut Youngblood, Page Tharp, Harry Lee,
Jimmy King, Ann King
20
Raging Creek
The flood of 94 is like a suitcase filled with bittersweet memories,
but hindsight packs a touch of humor. Obviously the min and rubble, sweat
and tears, and loss of personal items comprise the bitter compartment.
Fortunately, this part of our bag has somehow become unzipped and emptied
out over the years. The sweet section; however, is filled to capacity with
memories of our Lords guidance and strength through the flood and
rebuilding, and the love and help we received from our family, friends and
volunteers. Because of their love, hard work, and generosity, we were able
to rebuild our home and lives. These memories are locked in the case never
to be forgotten.
As we travel along with our bags at our side, bits of humor can be
found tucked in the pockets. During the midst of the waters rising inside our
home, we had the presence of mind to carry a few choice items to the attic.
While the creek (alias raging river) was scurrying to enter our home, the
decision was made to put things up high for safekeeping. I remember carefully
raising the window blinds exactly half way. No sense being untidy during a
flood. What was I thinking? I asked myself many days later. The water
receded and left its muddy signature about six inches above the blinds that I
had so carefully evened out throughout the house. Another decision turned
out to be just as fruitless. I decided I should put the food we had been
preparing for family and friends into containers neatly in the refrigerator.
Well, with the electrical power cut off, you can draw your own conclusion
of how the refrigerator and its contents faired. One sniff would confirm it.
As mentioned earlier, during the actual flood, a few things were
hauled to the attic. Some were tucked away in Eds pockets. As the water
continued to rise, it became necessary to think of a way to get out. Taking
an axe to the attic proved to be an outstanding idea. After we managed our
ascent onto the roof via the hole in the attic, I planted myself firmly near the
top, held on tight, and sang my heart out. This was to let the roaring water
know that the Lord was on our side. Eddie gingerly paced back and forth
atop the house. He was keeping me calm and checking on some men in a
small boat that were trapped in some trees in our front yard. A bit later, the
21
men were taken to safety by another boat and we waited our turn. By the
next morning, the rescue workers were able to see well enough to return to
get us. The boat slid onto the edge of the roof as if it were a sandy beach.
We stepped right in, strapped on a life vest, and headed to safety. At the end
of our ride we were able to hug awaiting friends and reach for those diet
cokes nestled in Eds pockets. Its amazing how refreshing even hot drinks
can make you feel. To this day there are still a couple of two liter bottles of
diet coke in our attic. You never know when you may need one.
Ten years later, our suitcase is still filled with sweet memories of
Gods love, family and friends, love and kindnesses, and hope. Well carry
it with us always.
The Cowarts
The Flood of 1994
One beautiful sunshine afternoon I was watching television when I
heard a knock on my front door! I went to the door and what did I see! A
man was there and told me I had to get out of the house immediately. He
told me to get in his truck. I did, of course! He took me to his home, not
telling me why or anything. Nothing was mentioned about water or flood
coming! I noticed my front yard was two or three inches in water. The word
Flood was never mentioned.
My husband came to get me later telling of all the water everywhere.
We could not get to our house, so we had to go a different route to Albany.
We could not get in our house for two or three days. Of course we lost all
that was in the house.
I cant begin to express how wonderful the people in Leesburg and
Lee County were. They were so thoughtful and generous to us. However,
they were to all who were damaged by this terrible flood. Words cant
express what the people here did at this awful time!
I have tried to work in different organizations, not for my own
pleasure, but to serve the people who were so wonderful to us during this
22
horrible time. May God bless all of you and may each of you stay as wonderful
as you are!
Grace Rhodes
Mamas Rescue from the Flood of 1994
After watching the news about the flood, I knew the waters would
flow behind Palmyra Nursing home. My mother, Louise Ranew, was a
resident there. I called my sister, Velma, and she said that mama was okay. I
couldnt convince her otherwise, so I called my brother, Richard, and told
him to go and get mama. He and Lois, my sister-in-law did go and when
they got there, mamas room had flooded and they had all the patients outside
in front of the home. Every emergency vehicle was there to take them to the
top floor of Palmyra Hospital.
I had cleared it with the Director of Nurses, Ms. Mercer, for a medical
van to bring mama to Smithville (emergency vehicles were allowed to go
over the bridges). When she arrived in Smithville, a medical supply company
out of Americus had brought a hospital bed, sheets, and all the supplies they
thought I would need to have at her arrival. (I had contacted them previously).
Mama arrived on a stretcher. All the family was there and she just
looked around and said, Are we having a family reunion? She was so
happy, not worried about a thing! We were frantic, but this really turned out
to be a blessing to Buster and me, having her with us.
My needs were met under such circumstances. There were angels
all around us. We could not leave mama alone, so Kathy, Dick and Ivy
delivered what we needed from Americus. I remember Sheila Cannon and
her little boys coming in with two big red apples for Mama and me. So
many other people came to help during this trying time.
The nursing home reopened in December 1994 and mama moved
back. She remained there until her death, just two days before her ninety-
fifth birthday.
Janell Ranew Larkin
23
Flood of94 Smithville
On a July day in 1974 Buster and I were both out mowing our lawn.
All of a sudden my Snapper just sank. The floodwaters from the Mill Pond
had saturated the edge of our yard. Fortunately, the waters were headed
east, not in our direction. It was announced on television that the bridge on
North Slappey Drive had been closed because water had gotten out of the
banks of the Kinchafoonee Creek. The sun was shining in Smithville though,
but my Snapper wouldnt go! We then walked to the back yard and to our
surprise, discovered that the Mill Pond had flooded and the railroad tracks
behind our house had washed up and were hanging in trees!
We then decided to investigate and lo and behold- we soon learned
that every road and bridge in Smithville was closed. We also found out that
Fowlers Nursery, which is one-half mile north of us, lost everything. The
big tall nursery plants, which were planted in huge large pots, were floating
across Highway 19, heading east! What a sight!
Janell Ranew Larkin
Memories of a Dirt Road in Lee County
From age five to about thirteen; we lived on a dirt road in north Lee
County. This road is now paved and is known as Hwy 118, may have been
118 back then, but nobody knew it. I remember walking that road a lot,
from our house to nine bridges at Muckalee Creek to fish at night with my
dad and people that lived on that road. We would build a big fire to keep
Bobcats and other critters away. I walked that road picking blackberries
along the ditches, we would sell berries to get a little change and go to Mr.
Charlie Dennards store. For fifteen cents we could get a five-penny wheel
cookie, a slice of hoop cheese and an RC Cola. Pretty good deal. I remember
working in the peanut fields and watching for the Rolling Store to come
down the dirt road. I hoped I had enough money to get a cold drink.
24
I remember dad cooking a hog on an open pit that we dug. We
would stay up all night and we cooked with oak wood. We would turn that
hog about midnight and eat the ribs that were ready.
The motor grader from the county road department would come by
about every two weeks. I would jump on the back and ride to the store. The
ice truck came about once a week. I would jump on the back and ride down
the road eating fresh ice chips.
I remember when the nights were hot and we would sleep with the doors
and windows open. We had no worries or fear. People who lived on that
dirt road were all good people. It seems to me they always tried to help each
other.
I remember hog killing day at Mr. Erics farm up the road. Everybody
worked all day and went home with fresh meat that night. Fried tenderloin,
homemade biscuits and cane syrup for supper was good eating. I guess life
seemed pretty simple back then. A good way to live. When people around
that area asked Hows your mamma nem or yall come to see us, they
meant it. It was a good dirt road to live on.
Tom Usry
Swimming and Tubing in the Creeks
Since I lived in the country on the Lee/Terrell line, I had a lot of
friends from Terrell County and I also worked at Stevens Industries in
Dawson, Georgia. For one form of entertainment we liked to go to the Hollis
Bridge; it was on Prison Farm Road, which is now know as the Piney Wood
Road. There was an old steel bridge there and a lot of rapids. On Sunday
afternoons wed take our inner tubes and get on them, and float down the
Kinchafoonee Creek. Wed go swimming too, and thats where we all went
on Saturday afternoons also. Everything would go smoothly until someone
inevitably would holler snake! When that happened, everybody would
come out of the water. It just so happened that one day when we were
floating down the creek in our tubes we saw a snake in the water. When that
snake was spotted, there was a stampede! All of the boys beat that snake,
25
dragged him up on the bank and beat him even more. That snake was in the
wrong place at the wrong time!
We soon found another place to go swimming, especially since the
creek was kind of snakey. This was known as Mossy Dell. This was the
place where the people from Leesburg went to swim. Folks from Redbone
went to swim there, also. The Chicks from Leesburg would go there to go
swimming. Mossy Dell had a big rock from where you could jump into the
water. The guys would put some rocks there and make a dam to pool the
water and put watermelons in the water in the morning whey theyd get
there, and by lunchtime that afternoon, the watermelons would be ice cold.
Wed swim all afternoon and eat those watermelons. That was some of the
best fun wed have down at Mossy Dell. There water was so cold that we
didnt find any snakes there!
Jackie McCorkle
Mama Was Quite a Gal
There were three things mama loved in the world; going fishing,
first, going to picture shows, second, and going to see the Doctor. Before I
started school mama would take me with her to most everything except the
Doctors office, then she would leave me with one of my nannies. Mama
loved to fish and people would send her word when the fish were biting.
The trips I remember most were on Chokee Creek about a mile before
the Clays house in Lee County. To get to the creek you had to drive down
hill for about a half mile on a narrow dirt road. Mama had a model T Ford.
It had two-foot pedals, one you mashed down to go forward, and the other
to go backwards. The forward gear was always the first to wear out as you
used it the most. We fished most of the day and caught a lot of fish. We
started back home going up the long hill, about one third the way up the
front gear went bad and the car would no go forward. I said, Mama what
are we going to do, she said, Dont worry son we will back up the hill.
In fact we had to back all the way home! Mama was quite a gal.
Billy Ferguson
26
Depression Times
Bom in Lee County and growing up the great depression was coming
down. I can remember the John Mays family straggling to maintain a
livelihood for our family. Several of our families worked with us as wage
earner sharing crops. This arrangement was responsible for John Mays to
have an interest in a larger farm operation.
Schooling during this time for black children was evolving in the
rural areas from schooling in churches to abandoned white school buildings
where as in the towns Leesburg and Smithville and Rosenwall Fund built
schoolhouses for black children. As I remember the rural white children got
buses and transported to school. In 1930 I walked to Chokee School that
was a two-room schoolhouse. I never went to a church that housed a school.
I attended high schools in Albany and Cordele, Georgia during the
mechanization increase of farming. This was during WWII. Lee County
was taking part in the massive economy and social changes. My parents
were active in the up grading of education opportunities.
After High School I entered the Armed Forces as an airman. On my
return, I was civic minded and became very interested in the upgrading of
education for black students. In 1994, the Lee County, Smithville Chokee
District commissioner moved out of the count leaving his office open.
I ran and became the first black commissioner in Lee County. This
put Lee County on its way to equal opportunities for everyone in Lee County.
James Mays
27
Childhood Days of Mattie Arnold Rivers
I was bom and raised by the late Mattie and Charlie Arnold of
Leesburg, Georgia. I have nine siblings, five brothers and four sisters.
Two brothers and one sister are deceased. I attended and graduated from
Lee County High School. Mr. Anderson was the Principal at the time. I
also attended Albany Beauty School, where I became a beautician.
While growing up in Lee County with my parents and siblings,
we all worked hard in the fields and cleaning house, trying to make ends
meet. As I became older and finished school, I married Major Rivers Sr.
and to this union two sons were bom, Major Jr. (Betty) and Thomas
(Dorothy). I have three grandchildren, Aundrey, Ramone, and Nikki and
two great grand children, Indy and Destinee. For years I had my own
business as a beautician working out of my home. Later in life I worked at
M & M Mars and Lee County Manufacturing until I retired.
I am a member of the Jordan Grove Baptist Church on Oakfield
Plantation where Reverend Calhoun is the pastor. Often I look back over
my life and think about how good God has been to me and where he
brought me from and is still blessing me. I have met a lot of people in the
county, the Cannons, Stovalls, Turners, Rhodes, and many more. I can
remember when we knew every family that lived in the county. Lee
County has really grown and I think that it is wonderful. We have nice
schools, churches, stores, and businesses. We are adjusting to growing
pains.
I remember catching the train for a twenty-five cent ride to Albany
but I had to catch the bus to come back because it was cheaper to ride the
bus. We road the train to impress people, we wanted them to think we
came from a big city. I remember candy costing five cents and drinks
were ten cents. We really worked hard for our allowance, which was
twenty-five cents a week. I dare not tell you how old I am.
My health is beginning to fail but I am still able to drive. I still
enjoy cooking and traveling. I dont go as much because of health
reasons, but I really enjoy cooking for my children. Sunday dinners are
special at my house. We eat too much and talk about old times.
28
Many of my classmates are deceased but there are some still
living; Lula Willis, Lula Mary Marshall, Timmy Sneed, Lucy Mosley,
Grace Waters, and Doris Smith just to name a few.
I wont ever forget when my children gave me a birthday
celebration when I turned seventy. My family came home from far and
near. After the celebration we all sat around and joked. I told them the
only thing missing was John, my make believe friend!
Mattie Rivers
29
Lee County Graduating Class of 1950
The Day I Ran Away From School
My first two weeks of school in the first grade at Lee County
Elementary in 1958 were going just fine, but by the third week I decided
school wasnt for me. My older sister Judy and I would wait by the road
each morning for the school bus to come by and pick us up for school. As
soon as those two big doors would open that was my cue to break and run.
Around the house Id go with Mama hot on my trail in her housecoat trying
to catch me. I feel sure my sister was embarrassed by my actions as she took
her seat. Our bus driver, Lawrence Breeden was no doubt laughing as he
pulled away. Mama would end up driving me to school. This happened a
few times until one morning I really got brave and before Mama could drive
away I decided to run away from school.
Mrs. Martha Powell, my first grade teacher, was holding my arm
and I was kicking her lower legs and finally managed to break free. Down
the road I ran as fast as my legs would carry me past the Leesburg United
Methodist Church all the way to the railroad track and would you believe a
train was coming.
Im sure Mama thought I would be run over by the train but our
Principal, Mr. Bacon, assured her that I would stop. As soon as the train
passed across the track, I ran around the comer to the left to Otis Hill Chevrolet
where my daddy, Alton Turner, Sr. worked.
I ran through the door straight to my Daddy and told him I needed a
Coca-Cola. He got the Coke for me and after that my Mama and Mr. Bacon
showed up and I got something else. You guessed it, a spanking from Mr.
Bacon. After that little episode, Mrs. Powell, Mr. Bacon, and I became good
friends and I never ran away again.
Buddy Alton Turner, Jr.
31
How Times Have Changed
In the late 1930s a knock was heard on the classroom door in the
Leesburg School. When the teacher went to the door she heard this You
tell----her mama says she better get herself back home and make up her
bed! Needless to say she did.
During recess one day in the early 1940s a teacher in Leesburg
asked an elementary student to go to town and buy her an ice cream cone.
He did, but on the way back the ice cream fell off the cone. It didnt look
too bad after it was put back together and scraped off the trunk of a tree!
The first lunchroom at the Leesburg two story school was in the
basement underneath the auditorium. Everyone sat on benches and the
highlight of lunch was to sit on a bench with some agreeable people and
accidentally turn over the bench. As I remember, it was kind of dark and
noisy down there!
Before television, listening to the World Series on the radio was
BIG STUFF. Somehow we seemed to often end up in the upstairs library
for study hall or research about that time.
Neal Posey
The Blue Chevrolet Corvair
In 1961 the road I lived on was being prepared for paving. I was a
cheerleader for Lee County High School, and I was running late for the
basketball game; so my Daddy told me I could take the car (Blue Chevrolet
Corvair). I drove down the driveway and began my journey up the soggy
red clay hill and guess what? I got stuck right in the middle of the road. I
began blowing the horn hoping Daddy would hear me and come help me.
Later on I found out he heard the hom and asked my Mama, I wonder who
that is blowing the hom? Well, I finally decided he wasnt coming, so I
32
took off my red tennis shoes and white socks and began my walk back
home. Needless to say, I had red mud up to my knees. When I got back to
the house, Daddy took the tractor back and pulled the car out of the mud.
After I scrubbed my feet and legs, Daddy took me to Leesburg to the game.
I made it by half time.
Betty Cooper Johnson
High School Happenings
One of the big things we did in high school was skipping! I wasnt
able to do it very well, and my friends had pretty bad luck with it also. The
first time we decided to skip school, we went over to J.s house. Everything
was nice and quiet, and the phone rang. It was the day we ordered invitations,
caps, and gowns for graduation. The school was calling to see about J. He
hadnt made it to school, and they were trying to find out sizes so they could
order his cap and gown. Here we were hiding out in J.s house. His parents
were not there, so we were just hanging out, trying to watch television. We
soon figured out that since they were calling his house, it wouldnt be long
before they would be calling my house, and also would be calling a couple
of other guys houses. We then figured that the best thing for us to do would
be to come up with a good excuse to get us back into school. Well, when J.
was young, he lived on a ranch and had a lot of cows. We came up with a
story about how the cows got out of the fence and J. and a few other guys
were helping to get the cows back into the pasture. That got us back in
school and off the hook!
Since everybody believed that story, we felt brave enough to try to
skip again. This time we decided to get a cooler of drinks, snacks, and head
down to the creek for swimming, laying out, fishing, and just having a guys
day out Well, we forgot one thing.. .sunscreen, and of course a couple of
boys got blistered. One of the guys happened to be M.P. His dad drove a
school bus and his mother was a teacher. M.P. had to figure a way to get
back to school, catch the bus, and get home and explain how he got sunburned
during the day. Needless to say, we got busted on that account! M. and a
33
couple of the other guys got in trouble. I didnt get caught because I had my
own vehicle. I dropped some guys off at school, and then I headed home.
Nobody ever found out about it; I dont think.
Jackie McCorkle
Playing Hooky on April Fools Day
It used to be a favorite thing for high school students to play pranks
on one another on April 1. One group of seniors at Lee County High School
skipped school and spent the day at Radium Springs on April fools Day in
1952. The prank was exciting for them until they returned to school and
found Mr. John W. Bennett, the Principal, was not amused by the incident.
Mr. Bennett called a meeting of the faculty after school to discuss the matter.
The group who played hooky asked Ed Forrester, one member of
the group, to go to the faculty meeting to represent them. Mr. Bennett would
always stand before the teachers in faculty meeting and would buckle his
knees, back and forth, all during the time he was standing there. The meeting
was held in the auditorium of the school. Most young people would probably
have been intimidated to stand before the faculty, but Ed just seemed to be
eager to speak. As he stood before the group, he began buckling his knees
back and forth repeatedly and every teacher knew whom he was imitating.
None of us could keep a straight face. He pleaded with the faculty to please
go easy on the group, that they just wanted to have some fun. Maybe the
real April fools joke was on the school officials, because the teachers voted
to just reprimand those students and not to punish them.
Opal R. Cannon
34
How LCHS Became the Trojans
The first year of the Leesburg-Smithville school consolidation
occurred in the fall of 1947 and this, of course, brought on a few changes for
both schools, namely:
School colors: LHS was purple and gold, SHS was blue and gold
Nicknames: LHS had none. SHS, unknown. The senior class of the new
LCHS, The Class of 48", was then given the task of settling these hot
issues.
All members of the four high school classes were asked to submit
their nicknames and colors with the three top entries of both categories,
which would be decided in a run off vote. Among my nicknames were
Trojans, after the Southern Cal (or USC), who had this great fight song
called Fight On! And it would be played, which was played often on the
old CBS Radio Football Round Up that lasted all Saturday afternoon
during the season. And another reason was the fact that no other high school
in SOWEGA had that nickname. As for the new red and white colors, that
combination won by a landslide vote.
Bill Cromartie
Some Favorites
When we were in high school, Birdie Lou Long was our Home
Economics teacher. When she and her husband, Pete, moved out of town, a
young girl just out of college moved to Leesburg and became our new teacher.
She was a good teacher who taught us a lot about manners, cooking and
personal hygiene, and you name it! She was so young and we wanted to
think she was one of us. We had fun but we had respect for her, too. She
was Opal Rogers. One day she came to my house, and I introduced her to
Mama. Opal had been teaching us that the older person is always presented
first when making introductions. Ill never forget this because she told me
later that it was a perfect introduction. I guess Opal thought we were learning
from her teaching. We certainly did learn a lot from her and had fun, too.
35
Other favorite teachers were Mrs. Jim Crotwell, Mrs. Flora Lacey, Birdie
Lou Long, Mr. L.I. Pridgeon, and, of course, Opal Rogers who is now Opal
Rogers Cannon.
Betty Jean Ranew Clements
LaVerns School Prank
A dear friend of mine, LaVem Williamson Stewart, was really good
at throwing her voice. When we were in school, Mr. Frank Long was one
of the teachers in Leesburg High School. Several of us got together and
talked LaVem into throwing her voice and calling Frankie T! When he
got to his desk, he would then run to the door, open it and look up and down
the hall. Seeing no one, he would return to have the same thing done again.
All of us kids got a big kick out of it, but needless to say he did not. He
never did find out who was doing this because we certainly did not ever tell!
Flora Coxwell Hartley
Fishing Begins.....Fishing Ends
All of the senior boys in the 1947 Leesburg High School graduating
class, the last class to graduate from there, being four in number, decided to
go fishing for catfish in the Kinchafoonee Creek, hopefully to sell and make
a little extra spending money.
From then on it was consolidated Lee County High School.
The question of a business name arose, and it was decided to use the
first letter of the last name of each, being the SOFT Company, for Sanford,
Odom, Faircloth, and Tharp. There was some concern however, as to who
would buy a SOFT fish.
With a borrowed boat and three paddles, we put out our first trotline.
(A line that is stretched from one side of the creek to the other, with small
lines and hooks tied thereon) Two of the fishermen went back late that
36
afternoon to bait the hooks, and they were reminded to be sure to put weights
on the line so all would sink to the bottom of the creek.
We arose early the next morning to go and see what we had caught.
All of us paddled up the creek to the trotline. As we got closer and looking
up the creek, all we saw was a line above the water with hooks just dangling
on top of the water. Damn, someone said, You idiots forgot to put on the
line weight. The only fish we could have caught would be a flying fish and
they are two hundred miles away in the Gulf of Mexico.
In disgust, and having nothing else to do, we decided to race back to
the landing, and everyone using all paddles to go as fast as we could; some
on the right side of the boat and some on the left side, but the main driver
was in the rear of the boat.
Looking ahead, we saw a large Cyprus tree right in the middle of the
creek, and it was agreed that we would go either on the left or right side of
the tree, leaving this up to the rear seat paddler. Faster and faster we went,
still saying, Watch out for the big tree in the middle!
WHAM, BLAM, DAMN, AND GOOD LORD SAM, we burst
that tree right in the middle, knocking Bill, in the front of the boat, into the
water, casting all fishing equipment into the creek, bursting a hole in the
front of the borrowed boat. This ended forever the SOFT fishing company!
Finally getting to our landing, you could hear.. I told you to paddle
on the left side.no you didnt, you said that right side..no idiot, I was paddling
on the right side, you were on the left.. .right.. .left.. .right.. .left. It didnt
matter; it was the man in the rear who did the steering. That man was last
seen running to the car.
Page Tharp
Old Friendships Never Die
During our teenage years, drugs were not a factor in Leesburg. About
the worst thing for us was slipping behind the gym to smoke a Camel or
Lucky Strike cigarette, as several of the boys and girls would sometimes do.
Having fun in those days was the teenagers in our group piling in Edgar
Stamps old Ford. He was the first one in our group to have a car. He
37
usually had his girlfriend at that time, Betty Jean Ranew, along with his
sister Paula, Lucy Ann Bowles, Luther Breeden and Jack Vamer, riding
with him to Albany to get a Coke and French fries. We, during those years
just enjoyed being together. We would play basketball or whatever, just to
be together. Our basketball coach was Mrs. Evie Stamps, who was a star
basketball player when she was in high school. She coached us (girls) until
it was said she could do it no longer because she was not a teacher. It was
then that Mr. Leonard Pridgen began coaching both boys and girls teams.
Mrs. Stamps was also instrumental in helping us get the first annual for our
school.
Looking back over the years I realize that over fifty years have passed
since we were teenagers, just looking for a way to have a good time. Over
fifty years have passed since that time, and today we are still a close group!
Lucy Ann Bowles Stocks Cowart
Berry Bad Trouble
Little red berries from shrubs can get second grade boys in trouble.
It was my first year of teaching back in 1950.1 was a second grade teacher
at the Lee County Elementary School. There was only one second grade,
and my son was in my room. Only a few pupils, however, knew that I was
his mother because he NEVER called me Mama while in school.
During recess the first week of school, my son and two friends tossed
berries at a group of teachers. So during that first week three little boys got
spankings and had to stay after school to do some extra work!
These three (men now) still laugh because they thought they were
safe with the teachers son. They were: Larry Guillbeau, Buddy Nesbit, and
Lawrence Turner.
Gwendolyn Johnson Seanor
38
First Grade Experience
When I entered the first grade in the Lee County School System on
September 1,1954,1 did so under the watchful eye of my mother and teacher,
Mrs. Martha Powell. Mrs. Powell had the daunting task of teaching not
only her own daughter, but also forty-two other first graders. All the students,
including myself, were eager to learn to read and write; a feat Mrs. Powell
accomplished without the help of an aide or assistant. When I was asked
what it was like to have my mother as a my teacher, I would reply, I love
my mother, but all that Mrs. Powell says is, Be quiet, sit down, dont do
that!
Judy Powell
Boys Will Be Boys and We Paid For It
Norman Breeden, Merritt Ranew, and I (and sometimes others)
enjoyed rabbit hunting. One night, several of us decided to go rabbit hunting,
which was illegal, but was accepted back then. No rabbits seemed to be out
that night, however, and since we didnt want to go right home, we decided
to ride to Smithville. Mind you we were devilish, but harmless. We would
never hurt anyone. We were just playing around. We spotted some streetlights
and thought that this would be fun, so we shot out a couple of them. We
then rode over to Leslie and went to their gym. A few of the boys who
played on the Leslie basketball team were there practicing. And we played
on the Leesburg basketball team and played against them. Soon we decided
to leave, and, we decided to shoot out more streetlights, after all, no rabbits
were to be found. Right after that the law got after us. So we headed down
some back roads, hid behind some trees and bushes, cut our lights off, and
watched the law whiz by us. We learned later that if we had gone down the
main highway we would have been caught because they had a roadblock
set up for us.
We were Seniors that year and would you know...our teacher pulled
us out of class one day and sent us to Leslie to sell ads for out school annual.
39
Guess What? The Leslie ball players recognized us, and reported us. While
we were in the school parking lot the GBI came up and asked if we were the
ones who had shot out the lights. We confessed, were fined and were told to
go to Smithville and take care of the damage we had done there. He said that
it would save him a trip to our houses. We did just as we were told and
certainly learned a BIG LESSON from this.
Ronny Pug Stamps
Hands in His Pockets
There once was a boy who always walked around with his hands in
his pocket. Everywhere he went he would have his hands in his pocket.
When he was out on the playground, going to lunch or just walking in the
classroom, he would have his hands in his pockets. His teacher was always
telling him to take his hands out of his pockets. She explained to him, if he
ever tripped or lost his balance he would not be able to keep himself from
falling down.
The boy continued to walk around with his hands in his pockets day
after day. The teacher would remind him occasionally to take his hands out
of his pockets. She wanted to break him of this habit so that he would not
injure himself in the event that he would fall on the concrete, tiled floor.
Finally one day as the boy was walking form his desk to the pencil
sharpener, he did just as his teacher had warned. Someones book bag strap
was hanging in the aisle, and he tripped. With hands in the pocket, he
couldnt get them out fast enough to break his fall; there was a big splat!
The room was totally silent until several students asked, Are you
okay? and the boys said, Yes. Then there was a room full of laughter. He
might not have been hurt physically, but his pride must have been bruised
just a little bit.
Lula B. Willis
40
A Smart Move
When I was a senior at Lee County High School, on occasion I was
allowed to take the family car (the famous Blue Chevrolet Corvair) if we
had cheerleading practice after school. After practice, I would get in the car
and the only gear that was working was reverse and I panicked. It just so
happened that the boys had basketball practice and were still in the gym. I
went in and asked for help. Tommy Cannon came out and tried all the
gears, but he had no success either. Mr. Otis Hill owned the Chevrolet
dealership in Leesburg and Daddy always purchased his vehicles there; so I
knew Mr. Otis would help me. After much discussion with Tommy and the
other boys, they decided the only way to get the car to the shop was to drive
it in reverse from the gym, down Highway 19 to the shop, and that is exactly
what Tommy did. Most people that heard about this ordeal, thought it was
a smart move.
Betty Cooper Johnson
Class Reunion
Several classmates who graduated from Lee County High School
met one afternoon to plan their forty-fifth class reunion. Each one agreed to
work on a project. My project was to call and make arrangements for our
reunion dinner. I said that I would call several restaurants to find out how
much it would cost to reserve a room, and if they could accommodate our
group.
One of my classmates suggested Austins, which at that time was
located on Slappey Drive in Albany. As soon as I arrived at my house, I
picked up the Albany telephone directory and dialed the number for Austins.
A lady soon answered, This is Austins. I inquired as to a vacant room in
her establishment that could take care of about twenty-two people. After a
long pause she quietly replied, This is Austins Mortuary! I replied quickly,
Thank you, but I believe that the classmates would prefer a different place
for our reunion. Of course I had dialed the wrong number. Nevertheless,
41
I finally contacted Austins Restaurant, where we had our reunion and a fun
time was had by all.
Sandra Stocks
School Memories
I was standing on the platform of a metro station in Paris some years
ago, and I could translate all the signs from the French. In the seventies, I
wandered into an undergraduate course at Scotlands Edinburgh University
where my supervising professor was leading a class in Latin translations
and although it had been a lifetime since I had studied Latin, I could keep up
with teen-agers just out of high school. I had never forgotten entirely the
teaching of Mrs. Crotwell and Mrs. Lacy.
The quality of our education in those seemingly primitive pre-
electronic days is something I not only recall but also treasure. I recall so
vividly the now archaic teaching methods, which gave us such a good
preparation for college and life and I am grateful, for it was not just attention
to subject matter, but disciplining our minds and our behavior that was so
important. Oh, we moaned and groaned, but nobody really paid us much
attention! I remember that I did not want to read The Last Days of Pompeii
and Mrs. Helen Crotwell thought I should. When I rebelled, she kept me in
at lunchtime and recess until I plowed my way through that difficult book.
Lee County education provided me with the basic foundation to learn,
eventually, three university degrees and I am most appreciative.
When my brother Charles, now a retired corporation executive in
Orlando, and my sister, Mary Emily, now living in Albany after years of
moving over the country as an Air Force wife, get together we often fondly
reminisce about our days in Lee County concerning the school, the people
and dozens of odds and ends: basketball games, school buses, etc. They
are, indeed, fond recollections.
The first time I recall being in Lee County, I was about six or seven
years old. Mama and Daddy said that on Sunday we would go from our
home in Terrell County to see somebody, a friend or relative, in New York.
This was before the days of air travel and I worried about how we could go
42
to New York on Sunday and be back for school on Monday. Mama told me
not to worry about it: we would be gone just that day. New York turned out
to be a farm on the north end of Lee County, and we made it there and back
in less than a day! Ive often wondered how, in those days, a small country
child would have known that New York was a long way away.
Sue Bailes
SUPERINTENDENT H. T. KEARSE
43
Smithville Elementary School: A Rich Start
Really, we wanted for nothing, those of us who attended Smithville
Elementary School. I was privileged to go there the last six years it was in
session. As I look back on that time, I see that it was very good and very
rich. Our first grade class went on an excursion. WewenttoAmericusand
rode the train back to Smithville. My little sister Florence went with us. She
and I sat with Mrs. McLendon. Most of the way we could see our car on
Highway 19 keeping up with the train. My mother Florence and my other
little sister Laura had helped haul us to the depot and would be in Smithville
to pick us up. Almost every holiday was an occasion for a party. We had
many wonderful, happy, well-behaved parties in our classroom and candies
and cupcakes to take home. If you brought an apple or an orange to eat at
recess, you could take it to the kitchen and one of the ladies would cut it in
two for you. I always had a snack for recess. Usually, I had something
wrapped in wax paper. Thats probably why the smell of wax paper is so
pleasant to me. It brings back happy memories. Recess was my favorite
part of school.
It seems that everyday we had wonderful rolls that the lunchroom
ladies made. The smell of those rolls cooking would waft through the school
and make us all hungry. Our lunches were large and delicious. There was
butter and syrup for the rolls, often peanut butter cookies, which I loved.
Lunch was a quarter during the last few years of the school. I think it was
just twenty cents when I first started. You could have second servings if you
raised your hand when Mrs. Comer came in the lunchroom with a big pot of
whatever it was. Occasionally, we would have chocolate milk instead of
regular milk. I much preferred the chocolate.
Hopscotch and jump rope were ever-popular games for the girls at
recess. Girls and boys together would have huge games of chase, which
included going to jail if you were caught and even having a jailer to keep
you in. Yo-yos and tops had their seasons of popularity, as well as jacks,
which were called jackstones. We often played softball on the grass across
the road to the south of the school. The bases were large spots where the
grass was worn away. They held water after a rain. They got wider as our
44
playing season went on; this made for some controversial calls. If you hit
the ball into the briers you were pretty much guaranteed a home run because
it would take the outfielders a while to find it. For a long time we would
have a hindcatcher who stood behind the batter and threw the ball back to
the pitcher if it hadnt been hit. It was a position of courtesy and merely
helped move the game along. After a few seasons, it came to our knowledge
that the catcher was actually a member of the outfield team. It was less
stressful when we just had a hindcatcher.
A bell with a long chain pull called us to order and released us morning
and afternoon and to and from recess. Mr. Herrington, our school janitor,
rang that bell. Occasionally, he would let one of us ring it. It was a thrill and
a privilege to do that. I am pleased to have rung that bell myself. From the
library windows, we could see the grooves the chain had made over the
years in the granite entrance over the front doors. Mr. Herrington would go
to the store sometime during each day. He would take orders for items. You
could get a pencil or a small package of Blue Horse notebook paper, an
orange, or an apple. These items were only a few cents each. I remember
seeing him with a small piece of paper against the wall writing down the
orders with a little band of students in a semicircle around him. He was
twice as tall as any of us. I believe it was an inconvenience for Mr. Herrington
to do this, but he did it anyway. He was quiet and patient, and our school
was always very well cared for.
The school assembled every morning at the front door, weather
permitting. The classes lined up single file on a slab of concrete with the
first grade to the far right, second grade to the left, and so on to the seventh
grade. The entire school stood on a rectangle about eight feet by ten feet, I
estimate, and there was plenty of room to spare. Each morning ceremony
included turning to face the flagpole and saying, all of us together, the Pledge
of Allegiance to our flag. At that hour of the morning, the sun was very
close to the flag in our line of vision. The whole school squinted in unison
with our hands over our hearts.
Mrs. Melba Chambliss taught private music lessons during school
hours to those who wanted to be musical. I took piano. Mrs. Chambliss
taught some of the boys to play the guitar. Some people took voice lessons.
However, no matter what you took or didnt take, if you were a music student-
45
pupil, or whatever we were called, you sang in Mrs. Chamblisss recitals.
We sang in the groups, both large and small. I never was asked to do a solo
other than the piano pieces. The only time I remember not really wanting to
sing was the year Mrs. Chambliss had me, Verlynn Flournoy, and Sue Miller
sing Three Little Maids from School. (I believe this is from Gilbert and
Sullivans Mikado, though I may be wrong). As I remember, the title
comprised the last five words of the song. The note at which we were
supposed to sing the word maids was too, too high for me to even hit
briefly, let alone hold it as we were supposed to do in that last phrase. I just
had to aim up in the direction of the note. I never hit it. I tried. Though I
was not a voice student, the songs Mrs. Chambliss had us leam have often
been with me. Many times in the mornings as Ive driven alone through the
countryside of our county, the words and melody of Oh, What a Beautiful
morning have been very much in line with my feelings. I even sometimes
sing the old songs out loud when Im by myself. Im glad Mrs. Chambliss
made us sing, even if we werent voice students. The whole school would
often go into the auditorium and just sing. They were songs I hadnt heard
before I came to school, but songs that became part of me. Our recitals and
also our school programs were always at night in the auditorium. They
were very well attended. I think the school was really more the social hub
of the community than the churches were. The school gathered together all
the families, church-goers and non-church-goers, Methodists and Baptists
alike.
It was at the school that we acquired immunity from polio as we
took the sugar cubes with the vaccine dropped onto them on Sunday
afternoons. We had a film room upstairs. It had black shades to keep out the
afternoon sun. The entire school would sit in rows according to grades and
all of us would watch the same things together. I was always happy when
we got to do this. After recess and lunch, watching films was my next
favorite thing about school.
Mrs. May Belle McLendon, my first grade teacher, was very tall.
She walked slowly but confidently like a heron among reeds in shallow
water. The first word she taught us to read was look. That seems important
to me. I think we see what we look for. It was a good way to start reading
what the world had written for us. She taught us about plants moving toward
46
the sun. In our classroom, there was a large planter on legs with the bed
about three feet above the floor. Coleus was planted in it, the deep red and
purple kind. She would turn it from time to time as the plants leaned toward
the window. She taught us kindness and fairness, calmness and dignity by
her voice and demeanor. Her most important lesson was self-esteem, which
came to us through the steady current of her love, which I didnt understand
until years later. I remember the last day of school when she called us to the
front of the room one by one to get our report cards. She hugged each of us,
and she was crying. I thought it was strange. I was so happy to be out for
the summer. I didnt understand that she actually loved us.
Of all the things from my experience at Smithville Elementary
School, the one I would say that has had the steadiest, deepest influence on
me was Mrs. McLendons having us memorize and recite together the
Twenty-Third Psalm. Many times in my life, day and night, those words
have steadied and encouraged me. When I think of myself and the years
after that first year of school, and when I think of the rest of that small class,
and the rest of the wide world and all its history past and future, it is supremely
sweet to me to remember that there was a time and place in the great scheme
of things when my friends and I recited in unison in our little first grade
VQices The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. Really, we wanted for
nothing at Smithville Elementary School.
Belle Geise Usry
A Time Capsule
Have you ever wished you could be present when a time capsule is
opened? Most people do not get to be here when it is opened, but many
have contributed to some, which would not be opened for 100 years.
There is a time capsule buried at the Lee Country Primary School,
which will be opened on March 26,2012. It was placed there in 1987, the
first year the school was in existence. It contains a variety of items pertaining
to the students, the faculty and other interesting things. Mr. Buck Stem,
who was then with Kimbrell-Stem Funeral Directors, assisted the principal
47
of the school, Mrs. Opal R. Cannon, in the use of preservatives, to assure
better quality of the contents when opened.
This school was named a national School of Excellence three years
later, so none of that information will be included in the capsule, but you
might be one of the thousands of students who have attended this school
and would like to be present on March 26,2012 when the capsule is opened.
Opal R. Cannon
A Special Person
Back in 1966, while my father was in Vietnam, I was a confused
adolescent trying to make sense of my feelings, and I had a difficult time. It
was then, in my 7th grade class, I found someone who would listen and help
me sort out these emotions. She was a teacher at Lee County Elementary
School. She was the person to help me through that difficult time, and she
didnt even realize it. It wasnt long before my spirits were lifted, and I
began to look forward to learning and being at school.
My teacher really cared about her teaching, and about her students.
She was passionate about life and her faith in God was ever present. She
took time with those who made requests and helped those who needed extra
help. She was always encouraging us to do our best.
My teacher organized a girls chorus. She invited me to sing in this
group. She taught me that music could soothe and bring joy. From that
experience, music was, and still is, a blessing to me. It has been the reminder
of what really is important in life. I will always be grateful for, not only her
efforts in helping with grades and working on songs to perfection, but
especially for encouraging me to have a relationship with God.
Now, as a mom, wife, and an adult, my teacher from Lee County
Elementary School, Mrs. Pat Tharp, continues to be in my life. I am a better
mother, wife, and person after having known her. She will always be special
to me, and I am forever grateful.
Debbie Land Dannheisser
48
Wow! What a trip!
Mrs. Carolyn Webb could really plan a trip. This Lee County High
Class of 1954 started collecting money and having fundraisers in the sixth
grade. Their senior trip was a thirty-day trip across the U.S. to Canada and
down the west coast and across the southern states back home.
A Life Magazine reporter saw the bus in San Francisco. He
interviewed Mrs. Webb, finding out all the details, told her that if she had
contacted the magazine, Life would have sent a reporter on the trip and
featured the trip in the magazine. One other interesting fact about the trip,
there was a famous person- along with other adults. Mrs. Lillian Carter,
President Jimmy Carters mother.
The next year Mrs. Carolyn Webb planned the 1955 Senior Class
trip to New Orleans, down the middle of Florida to Miami, and on a cruise
to Cuba, afterwards they were to go back up the east coast of Florida. Mrs.
Webb was unable to chaperon this trip; so, Patricia Heath McDaniel and I
were chosen to be chaperones. We were fortunate to be able to make this
trip, because several months later Cuba was closed to all tourists.
Gwen Johnson Seanor
Rain Will Tell On You
In the late 1930s, Geraldine Coxwell (my cousin) and I were in
high school. I couldnt drive but Gerry could. In fact, she was so good that
she could have been the first woman NASCAR race driver. Her Dad (Lester
Coxwell) had a garage. He fixed up a topless four door Model A for her.
The rule was that she could drive around town, but could not drive out of
town. We brought some Baby Blue enamel paint, found two paintbrushes
and we painted it Baby Blue. I painted characters on the doors: Mickey
Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, and Donald Duck. We named it King Iddy
Biddy. We had a great time; so did all our friends. However, one afternoon
we were restless. We knew we couldnt get to Albany or even Dawson
because someone would tell on us. We then decided that if we drove to
Bronwood, nobody would know us: so we did. Had a great time. As we
49
were leaving Bronwood, it started to rain. We had not even noticed the
change in the weather. We had never seen such a hard rain. We were about
drowned in that topless car! When we got back to Leesburg and our folks
found out, we were grounded for weeks. We certainly did learn a lesson
from this-It doesntpay to disobey!
Gwen Johnson Seanor
Fire at the McAfee Hotel
The McAfee hotel in Smithville housed several of the schoolteachers,
and one afternoon shortly after lunch they were called and told that the
McAfee was on fire. Naturally, the teachers turned out classes and left the
school. The fire was extinguished but caught up again before the sun rose
the next morning and burned flat to the ground. It was an awful big fire, and
the only fire fighting equipment in town was a large two-wheel reel with the
hose rolled up on it and pulled by two men. The fire alarm system back then
was the steady firing of a pistol or shotgun, mill whistle, train whistle or
church bell.
Virgil A. Booker
McAfee Hotel Smithville
50
A Tricky Finger
When I was twelve years old, I had an accident on the farm. I cut off
the end of my index finger on the right hand at the knuckle. It wasnt really
noticeable except when I wanted to have fun with it. We had a substitute
teacher at school one day. Her name was Mrs. J. I took that cut-off finger
and stuck it in my ear and pretended that it got stuck. Some of the boys, who
were aware of my prank, said to Mrs. J., Jackie had gotten his finger caught
in his ear! She ran over and said, Oh, Jackie., you know you could damage
your eardrums doing that! I then pulled it out and showed her that it was
my cut-off finger. We all laughed. Little Mrs. J. was a good sport about it all.
Jackie McCorkle
51
Local j-l appenings
CENTENNIAL
PLANNING COMMITTEE
Rain Showers
When Sam and Forrest Crotwell arrived in Lee County from South
Carolina around 1925 they moved into an old house on the property their
father had traded some kind of mill for in Arkansas. Of course there was no
electricity or running water so using their ingenuity they chose to shower
under the eaves of the house during a big rain. On one such occasion as
they were bathing they heard a vehicle driving up. Depending on which
one was telling this tale, one of them jumped on the porch and locked the
screen door. The other one dove under the house. We would always ask,
What happened then? and they would just laugh.
Neal Posey
Charles Speedy Dean
Charles Dean, whose nickname was Speedy, was a druggist who
lived in Smithville. He and his wife had no children of their own; so, all the
children in town, both black and white were called his adopted children.
He called all of them Half Pints. Whenever they would come into his
drugstore, he would nearly always give them a quarter and tell them to, Go
next door to T.J. Burtons and buy some candy.
One day Speedy was behind the pharmacy counter when Waylon
Beamon and R.J. Richardson walked into the store. Hey Lover boys,
called Speedy. (He called all the men that name). Waylon noticed that a
box of baking soda was on the counter and he said, Speedy, what are you
doing with that baking soda? Speedy replied: Im putting it in capsules to
sell because most people who come in with complaints have just minor
ailments so I give them enough baking soda capsules for a week, and then
usually they feel better. With that, Waylon said, Well, Speedy, in that
case, you better give me some, cause thats what I came in here for!
He was really a good druggist and was always so accommodating to
all who needed his services. It has been said that if someone needed medicine
53
and was unable to pick it up, he would gladly get into his car and deliver it
as quickly as possible.
Denise Richardson Bell
Old Smithville Drug Store
54
Crotwells Hospitality
Back during our high school years, Flora Coxwell, Leah Mercer,
and I used to visit our high school friend Caroline Crotwell.
The Crotwell home was out in the country. We would have to ride
the school bus to get there. That was in itself fun just to get to ride the bus.
When we would get there, it was always a trip to their dairy. It was
about two miles from the house. When we got there we would then go into
the building where a pulley was used to pull us up some of their delicious
chocolate milk. This was a BIG TREAT for us.
We would spend the night and the next morning we would have
breakfast on the porch on a very long table. Mrs. Crotwell would come
around and ask if we wanted hominey. This was different to me because we
had always called them grits.
The whole family liked to play cards. They were the ones who taught
us how to play bridge. We had so much fun and the whole family was so
gracious to us. We always looked forward to these visits and still remember
the good times.
Jessie Moreland Lee
Family Stories I Heard or Lived As a Child
Granddaddy (R.R Clay) made one attempt to drive a car. Daddy
(R.A. Clay Sr.) was going from Lee County farm to Decatur home for a
visit. He drove his car to Cobb to catch the train, and granddaddy went
along to bring the car home. Granddaddy felt sure he could drive. All went
well until he attempted to put the car under a shelter next to the bam. He
didnt know how to stop the thing. He went all the way through the shelter,
scaring some yearlings in the process, and circled the bam until he figured
out how to stop the car.
Sometime after Mother and Daddy were married, they started to
visit Mr. Frank and Miss Carilu Kaylor one Sunday afternoon. When they
55
came to a branch north of the Kaylor home, water was running across the
road. Thinking it was not deep; daddy drove into the water and the car
drowned out. Not wanting to ruin his Sunday clothes, Daddy took off his
pants shoes, waded across the branch, put on his clothes and went to Mr.
Kaylors to get help. Mother say in the car until it was on dry land.
One of daddys first projects after buying the farm was to see that
every tenant house had at least one room that was ceiled. Tongue and grove
beaded ceiling was used to enclose the designated area so that the occupants
could have a relatively warm place in at least part of the house.
Mr. Troutman was our iceman. He worked for Atlantic Ice and Coal
Company in Albany and serviced our icebox every other day. He worked
his route all day without bringing a lunch and was embarrassed to ask if he
might have a cold biscuit or glass of milk to tide hime over until he got
home. I dont know of any of his customers who denied his request. Mr.
Troutmans brother, Robert Troutman, was a prominent Atlanta lawyer who
represented Georgia Power Company among others.
Betty and Bobby Clay
Fun Times
I remember when I was growing up in Leesburg that we really looked
forward to going swimming. We didnt have a swimming pool so we had to
go to the creek or Mossy Dell. We could walk to the creek but we had to
yell to be sure no boys were swimming before we got too close. If some
were there, it would give them time to get into their bathing suits before we
got there.
I have many fond memories of Mossy Dell. We would beg our
parents to take us there. If they agreed we would fill the car. Mostly we
swam in the shallow part. Everyone said the other part had no bottom and
that scared us.
Even on the coldest days of winter, groups of us would go there and build a
big fire to help keep us warm. I remember wearing long heavy coats and
56
getting as close to the fire as we could and we would still be cold. But we
had good times just being together.
Once in a while we would find someone who had never been Snipe
hunting. We would tell them to bring paper bags and go Snipe hunting
with us. It didnt take long for them to realize that they had been fooled, and
they were looking for some others to go snipe hunting.
Another place where we would gather to have fun was the bridge
on 195. The present bridge had replaced the old bridge. It was new so we
called it the New Bridge. Almost every weekend we would go there,
play the radios and just have a great time under the bridge.
I remember when the train would go through Leesburg and throw
the mailbag off. It would slow down, but it didnt stop. Someone from the
post office would push a cart over to the depot to pick up the mailbag and
take it to the post office. The only time the train would stop was to pick up
or let off a passenger.
Joyce Forrester Vonderaa
Horse Riding
When I was fourteen years old, we lived on Old Leesburg-Smithville
Road about five miles from Leesburg. Daddy,(John Oliver, Sr.) had bought
several Tennessee Walking horses from Pat Bryan. My friends Jessie
(Moreland) Lee, Flora (Coxwell) Hartley, Leah (King) Young, and Ada Lee
(Cook) Carson would come out to ride.
One Sunday afternoon I was riding alone. I had ridden a couple of
miles toward Leesburg, turned around and decided not to turn in the gate
when I got home but to ride on past and go across the creek. The horse had
other plans. I was really riding fast and when we got to the gate the horse
turned into the gate. I was not expecting him to turn and caught the horse
around his neck and swung under his neck with my legs around his neck,
underneath. My Mama, Daddy, Dr and Mr. J.H. Douglas were standing in
the yard. When they saw what was happening, they began to say, Hold
on, Ouida, hold on! Daddy was saying Whoa, Whoa and that horse did
Whoa when he got to the bam. I said I would never ride again, but Daddy
57
made me get back on the horse and ride. Im glad he did, riding horses was
one of my favorite things to do!
Alaoudia Oliver-Jones Murphy
A Power Couple
One of the original power couples in Lee County in the late 50s
and early 60s was Jack and Amelia Bell, affectionately known as Mr. Jack
and Miss Amelia. They loved Lee County. Their home was always open
for a delicious country meal and Southern hospitality to friends and family.
They shared a deep love for the outdoors and preservation of the land. They
hunted, fished, and searched and researched Indian artifacts. They passed
this love of nature down to their sons, Ernest Linwood Bell III (Lin), Jack
Bell Jr., and William Meriwether Bell (Bill).
Mr. Jack served his beloved Lee County in many different official
capacities; including State Senator of the 10th district 1961-1962, deacon of
the First Baptist Church and Chairman of the Lee County Commissioners
until his death in 1979.
Miss Amelia also worked tirelessly devoting her time to playing
the organ in her church for 40 years, teaching Sunday school, working in
the library and helping around the schools in Lee County. Miss Amelia
was a Bible scholar and had handwritten almost 200 notebooks of Bible
notes and studies.
Both of these loyal Lee Countians could always be counted on to
give generously of their time, talents and money to anyone in need. They
loved people and always enjoyed a hearty laugh and a good joke. Their
entire life was lived in Neyami on their farm. Mr. Jack was one of the
most successful farmers in the area.
Ernest Linwood Bell
My Grandmother Marie
After my Pa died in January 1961,1 was my Maries companion. I
was only about four or five years old, house broken. Since I was the
youngest and the other grands had outgrown her, I became her time filler.
58
I would always go with her wherever she wanted to go. For me, this
was a great adventure whether it was just running errands or any daily activity
that involved riding in the car.
She had a big black Cadillac with fins on the back and what looked
like big boobs on the front grill! This was an awesome car to me and did I
like to ride in it! Wed load up and take off sometimes in the summer time,
go pick peaches, or maybe gather cat tails and whatever she wanted to do
or thought I might want to do. One thing we always had to do was to go to
the cemetery and talk to our loved ones who had gone on. As I grew
older I thought that was something we just were supposed to do. Marie
loved cokes, country stores, and was a wonderful cook. I loved being with
my Grandmother whom we all called Marie!
Jayne McBride Cannon
The Duck Hunt
From my earliest memories as a boy, my Uncle Edward Cannon
always carried me hunting with him. My first memories were when he
purchased a bolt-action 410 shotgun, a case of shells, and he let me keep
them at my home. He always included me on all of his hunts whether for
doves, quail or duck. I was probably in the seventh grade or in high school
when we discovered wood ducks were roosting in a small beaver dam on
his farm known to me as the Starr Farm. This pond was very small, with
very little open water and overgrown with mayhaw bushes.
Wood ducks coming into roost are unstoppable. No matter what is
going on once they begin their approach to a pond they are going to land.
For a young boy this meant if you could see them on the water, you could in
fact return home as a successful great white hunter.
We had hunted the pond on one occasion and with much success.
Most of the shots made were on ducks that had landed on the water. On the
particular afternoon I remember so vividly my uncle invited an older
gentleman known to me as Gene Morgan to go with us to the duck pond.
Gene carried a double barrel beautiful engraved 20 gauge shotgun for the
59
hunt. I was armored by then with my 12-guage automatic and I remember
my uncle also was carrying an automatic. We described the pond to Gene
and tried to convince him as to where he should position himself to be able
to see the ducks as they landed. Gene seemed to be a little surprised that we
intended to shoot the duck on the water and decided to stand outside the
pond and shoot the ducks as they approached the pond.
The ducks arrived on schedule and proceeded to land in the pond no
matter how many times we fired. My uncle and I were very successful and
although not all of our shots were on the water, many were. We had recovered
many ducks and I was quite excited because of the number we had killed.
Gene did not shoot many times and I really felt bad for him. As we re-
grouped after the hunt we discovered Gene had only killed two ducks and
had only shot four times. All of his shots were on birds high above the tree
line and as they barreled into the pond. He was proud of his shots and
seemed to really enjoy the hunt.
I will always remember Gene, my Uncle, and that hunt. It was my
first awakening to the true sport of hunting rather than the killing.
Bill Crotwell
A Grandmothers Tale
My grandmother Bessie Harris Martin, told me that she, my mother
Laura Martin, my sister, Joann, the maid and I went to Albany shopping.
We always tried to park in front of Rosenbergs, a big department store in
downtown that had windows that were decorated so pretty with mannequins
that looked so real. While my grandmother and mother shopped, my sister,
the maid and I stayed in the car. We entertained ourselves by watching the
people go by. When my mother and grandmother returned, Lucy Mae, the
maid was so excited to see them! She said Miss Laura, I been watching that
lady in the window ever since you been gone, and she aint batted her eyes
yet!
Jacqueline Martin Bowling
60
My Early Days in Leesburg
My memories of growing up in 1940s Leesburg are like a broken
strand of beads that have run all over. Some are easily retrieved, some are
lost, and some turn up out of the blue. When I was bom in 1940, Pearl
Harbor and World War II were yet to happen, and my memories of the war
years are of ration stamps for sugar, meat, gasoline, etc. and white margarine
in a plastic bag with a yellow button of food coloring inside. My job was to
break the button and knead the bag until the margarine looked like butter.
There were troop trains coming through town, and constant mention of Turner
Field, the strategic air command base in Albany. So much mention, that
when I was given a stuffed Scottish terrier in 1944,1 named him Turner
Field.
The depression of the 30s was over, but during the war we went
right on vegetable gardening and chicken raising. The railroad ran behind
our house, and tramps still came to the back door for food. My mother,
who, it seemed to me, spent her life in the kitchen, always obliged with a hot
meal. We had a cow and bird dogs, my father being quite a hunter in those
days. My first memory is of wet bird dogs drying before an open fire. We
lived in an old house with high ceilings and a fireplace in most rooms.
Although the coals were lovely breaking crimson in the night, winters were
still frigidly cold and damp. In summer the sound of rain on a tin roof was
cozy, but the fans we relied on werent much help in the sticky heat. My
father, who owned the drugstore in Leesburg then, brought home the bacon
and then rested with the paper and radio, comfortable in his Indian blanket
bathrobe.
Our mothers were always dressed in high heels and housedresses,
so didnt enter into our physical activities. An exception was Mrs. Alice
Kearse, who lived on a farm and would wear pants and sensible shoes. Few
women contributed monetarily to the household, but Martha Stovall had an
avocation she could pursue while sitting on the sofa in her bay window, she
crocheted baby clothes and booties, selling them to department stores.
I remember my fathers drugstore, the pressed tin ceiling, and the
intricacies of the marble and chrome soda fountain, the ten-cent comics, and
61
the five-cent cokes. The sidewalk outside, with chinaberry trees for shade
and benches with checkerboards painted on. The Sheriff, Dick Forrester,
always teasing me by singing, Who is Sylvia. Mr. Gunters barbershop.
Zack Pates Suwannee Store. Playing Cops and Robbers all around town
at night. Carving playhouses in Annelle Crotwells private hedge.
Downing hundreds of wild yellow plums in summer. Learning to swim in
the icy waters of that beautiful place, Mossy Dell. Picking scuppemongs
from the arbors at Cabbages, nearby. Going barefoot as much as possible.
Listening to the The Shadow and The Cisco Kid on the radio.
Mr. Hugh Stovall, loved to fish and brought us fresh bream and
perch. His fishing car, and the dog named Brownie who slept in it. Mr.
Zack Pate, who always greeted me with Well, Turner, still climbing Fools
Hill? and who, in 1953 (the first year of the local television), in response to
channel 10s request for favorite programs, threatened to send in One
Moment Please.
The things that intrigued us: an old wood coffin up a dark flight of stairs
over the Farmers Exchange; the tent shows on the vacant lot where the
Methodist Church stands now; Rock Hill, where you could find crystal rocks
and fossils; exploring old cemeteries; walking the rails; the black and white
serial movies in a vacant store near the barber shop (we missed the last
episode and never learned the identity of The Rattler); and always, when
we could, playing outside at night. My mothers version of the Bogey Man
was someone called Raw head Redbone and she invoked him often, but
with little success.
The best Christmas present of my life had been a green Schwinn
bicycle with a headlight, and what was the use of a headlight if you couldnt
ride at night?
Buddy Yeoman and I risked suffocation to go body sledding in lofty storage
bins full of peanut hulls. He was lucky and lived for a while in the most
interesting building in town, the brick, Gothic, towered and crenellated old
jail on Main Street. The Sheriff and his family lived on the ground floor,
and the jail was on the second and third floors.
Starksville: a stream at the south foot of the hill called Jennys River, because
long ago a carriage had overturned there, and a child named Jenny had
drowned. And where the road had been cut through just above, the darker
62
soil of old gravesites was slotted down into the banks. A political rally on
the Muckalee with pit barbequed pig cooked on the site.
Piano practice, and piano timers, and the way the sound permeated
the neighborhood before air conditioning shut the windows and doors. So
much happened to change life in the South forever during the 50s.
Television came to us in 1953, and most central heat and air
conditioning the same decade. Before, it was almost as hot or cold outside
as in, and outdoors was more interesting. Now the house is more comfortable
by far, and television proves the entertainment.
In the 40s, Charles Starkweather and the Texas Tower Shooter hadnt
happened yet. But when they did, it was the handwriting on the wall for
kids everywhere. More people more cars, more lawsuits, came, and springs
that had been summer haven for generations across the South were fenced
and posted. Nowadays children are channeled, and too much freedom
might result in a neglect charge.
It was a childs decade, the 40s, one Peter Pan would have liked, I
think. I know we all loved growing up in Lee County.
Sylvia Turner Peterson
Leesburg Drug Store
63
More Fun than Work
We did not have a swimming pool or recreation center in Leesburg
when we came along. One day some people decided to build one. This
was very exciting to everyone, especially the young people.
They did not hire someone to build the pool. The county workers
brought in equipment and dug the hole. The teenage boys at school pitched
in to help. Some of us who helped were Luther Breeden, Jack Varner, and
|
The concrete for the bottom was poured, and the sides were concrete
blocks. It was then painted with water-proof paint. After the blocks for the
sides were finished, there was still a hole on the outside of the pool which
had to be filled in. The county workers took a piece of equipment over to
push the dirt back around to fill in. The ground was soft and the equipment
kept slipping and sliding. The workers then had to get another piece of
equipment to pull that one out.
I guess they didnt have the chemicals to keep the pool clean, because
every few weeks the boys in Leesburg would drain it, scrub it down, and
paint it again with the water-proof paint. The city charged a small fee to
swim, but they let the boys who helped keep it up, swim free.
We were so excited to have a pool in Leesburg that we didnt
realize this was hard work. We were glad to do it and had fun while
working in it and swimming in it. It was truly more fun than work!
Edgar Paul Stamps
The Fourth of July
On every Fourth of July we all had a big family picnic. Dad was
always an expert on barbecue and Brunswick stew. We would have this
huge celebration on Kinchafoonee Creek, which had the perfect grounds
for a picnic as well as a swimming hole with a beautiful white sandy beach,
even better than the ocean beach.
We had a long cable stretched across the creek for the people who
couldnt swim well enough to swim across alone. A springboard was mounted
64
on the high side of the bank and a hemp rope was tied to a tall tree to swing
out on if you were gutsy enough to try it.
We also had family fish ffys there, complete with washtubs full of
lemonade with half lemon rinds floating in it.
Then after we had our big time, the chiggers had their picnic and
good time on us for the next few days!
Virgil A. Booker
Leesburg First Television
My Daddy, John R. Green, sold Philco Products. One Day he
brought a television home to try it out. It was the first television in Leesburg.
It was a table model, so Daddy put it on the buffet in the dining room.
Mother and Daddys friends would come to see us every Friday night. The
men sat around the dining room table and watched the boxing on television,
while the ladies sat in the living room and visited.
Mary E. Green
The Scatterbrain Club
When I was a teenager all of the teens formed a club and we called
it The Scatterbrain Club. I think we got the name from a song called
scatterbrains. One of my friends thought it came from a dance, but I do
believe it was a song. We wore blue jeans with a big red S on the seat of our
pants for Scatterbrain. We met in the upstairs of the Old Farmers Exchange
Building. We had dances and we would play a crank style phonograph for
music.
We also used to have good times on the sand banks of the creek.
This is where we would all go to play hooky from school on April Fools
Day. We thought this was a great hide-away. Everytime we would play
hooky we would have to write pages and pages of words for skipping class.
We did not have spring holidays like the kids have now.
65
We really did have a lot of fun growing up in Leesburg. It was a
privilege. I didnt realize at the time what a good time we had until I grew
older and I look back on all this now. We had to make our own fun, as we
didnt have much in the way of material things.
Elizabeth Young
Mossy Dell
Many experiences can be told about the swimming place called Mossy
Dell. I remember so well when I was growing up that Mrs. Annie Mae
Gunter (the local barbers wife) would take a group of us girls and boys to
Mossy Dell. We would hop in her car until there would be no more room
inside. Others would then stand on the running board, get on the hood, and
stand on the back bumpers.
On one of our trips, Jimmy King was a passenger on the outside of
the car. Another car was making a turn around a curve (dirt road) when
Jimmy fell off. He suffered a concussion as a result. After that it was back to
town and there was no swimming that day!
Gladys McBride Thrift
Farmers Exchange
The building that currently houses the Lee County Administrator,
Board of Commissioners, and other county offices was at one time the home
of the Farmers Exchange Store. Mr. J.M. Cannon purchased a farm in Lee
County and moved here in 1910 from Bowersville, Georgia, where he had
been in business with the father of former Governor Ernest Vandiver. Mr.
Cannon was married to Annie Elizabeth Vickery from Hart County, and
they had six children who moved here with them: Henry, Charles, Bertha,
J.B., Lucille, Hoke, and Edward, who was only six months old.
Mr. Cannon later purchased the building on Railroad Street, next
door to the Courthouse, and operated a general store there until his death.
The inventory included hardware, dry goods, groceries, and later a nice gift
66
shop was added. A large inventory of excellent hardware from Belknap
Hardware, from Louisville, Kentucky was always available. Weatherbird
shoes, True Temper tools, and Dan River Fabrics as well as Westmoreland
Milk glass, American Cut Crystal, and MaLeck Wood products are some
brands sold there. Mr. Cannon used the same cost code in this store that he
had used in his business in Bowersville. The building had two-stories, with
the upstairs divided into offices which were occupied by doctors, lawyers,
and other businesses. At one time a doctor had a shocking machine that was
left in an office upstairs until the Cannons sold the building. Edward and
Charlie were partners with their father, and Bertha later became a partner at
Charlies death. Edward, Hoke, Bertha, Opal and Bill, Edwards wife and
son, and Eleanor Segars were all employed there. James Cannon worked
there on Saturdays. He says the most fun was when the men would gather
around the old potbelly stove, chew tobacco and parch peanuts on the heater.
The family owned and operated the store continuously until after Edwards
death in 1970. Credit was given to farmers to pay as crops were gathered
each year. After Edward died, it was leased to Allen Butcher, and later to
J.C. Eubanks, who purchased the building in 1981. The Eubanks later sold
the building to Lee County to be remodeled to house county offices.
Opal R. Cannon
Playtime in Leesburg
Sometimes I want to go back in time to Leesburg, Georgia when
catching fireflies could happily occupy an entire summer evening. Oh, I
remember when Mama would let us take her Mason j ars running around the
big yard catching all these amazing fireflies. I never understood, why they
were called fireflies, but if thats what Mama called them, that was good
enough for me.
We (my sisters and brother) gathered outside of the big oak trees on
Main Street for most of the summer. We buried our bare feet in the sand and
amused ourselves by molding the sand over our feet to make toady frog
houses. I recall that we would sneak into the house and take spoons and
knives out of the kitchen when mama was not looking.
67
These were not your ordinary toady frog houses. We found that a
special green moss, which grew on the exposed roots under the big oak
trees, made the best rooftop that the toady frog houses could ever have. We
would spend hours cutting the moss and spooning out the dirt to make the
perfect toady frog houses.
It was a magical time and the next morning when we would rush
outside to check the toady fog houses, there would be dozens of frogs under
the big oak trees.
Now the big oak trees are gone, but Mamas house still stands. My
brother Frank now lives in Mamas house on Main Street. I bet you could
find some spoons and knives buried deep under the ground where the big
oak trees stood.
Kim Mercer Ellington
Memories of Lee County
My Dad had the gift of gab. I remember as a child, we were going
to Leary to visit an aunt an uncle. We stopped at a store in Dougherty
County. As my mother, brother, and I were sitting in the car, my Dad walked
up to a truck where this man was sitting that we had never seen. Daddy
handed the man a nickel and said, My momma always told me that if I ever
found anybody uglier than me to give them a nickel. The man laughed real
heartily, but as a youngster, I was so embarrassed. I just knew the man was
going to hit Daddy. You just didnt tell someone that they were uglier than
you, but he did. Later in life, I realized that was his way of starting a
conversation with a stranger. They struck up a conversation that seemed
like it lasted for an hour, but probably was 15 minutes.
My mother, Carolyn Woods Worthy, worked as a clerk at Coats &
Clarks for several years until she got a job at the Lee County Health
Department in Leesburg. She worked there until she retired. My Dad, John
Gordon Worthy, better known as Jake or J.G., farmed all of his life. We
moved to Lee County for him to oversee the Martin Farm, which is now
owned by the Griffith Family on Highway 195.
68
When I was growing up in Leesburg, times were so different than
today. It was a laid back kind of atmosphere. You knew everybody in the
WHOLE county by name. In fact, you knew the family history, who their
parents were, who their children were, and where they shopped.
All the children that lived in the country rode a bus to school.
Mothers family did not have a car to take them to school. Only one or two
high school students owned a vehicle. They were the well to do. My
graduating class at Lee County High School graduated 32 in 1961. The old
elementary school housed grades 1 through 12. We had two schools; the
other school was the Training School, presently known as Twin Oaks.
On Friday nights, the Rolling Store, came by our house about 10:00.
Lucius Worthy, my older brother, would take our money and wait for the
Rolling Store at the home of our maid, Bert. He would buy us candy and an
orange drink about the size of a two-liter drink now. We played Monopoly
and extended the game for several days. We would start a game and we
would continue playing way into the night. When we got up the next morning
most of the orange drink would be gone. Our dad would have gotten up
during the night and consumed most of it. We would be so mad with him.
Of course, he always denied drinking most of it. Oh, by the way, if you do
not know what a Rolling Store is, Mr. Etheridge drove a vehicle that looked
like an old bus. He had customized it with shelves and a chest with ice that
cooled the drinks.
Our highlight of the week was to come to Leesburg on Saturday
night, sit in the truck and watch the large crowd of people visiting on the
street in front of the grocery store. Some were loud, intoxicated, and just
plain glad to end the week and have a little money to spend.
On Sunday afternoon, my brother and I would ride in the back of
the truck and Daddy would ride over the farm that he was overseeing or we
would ride to a neighbors house just to say hello and stay a short time. But,
the real highlight of this day was to end up at the gas station run by Jack
Fore. We were able to get a dreamsicle or a soda (grape or small coca-cola)
that was so cold that it had ice in the bottle when it was opened, and boy that
was good!
I remember the first television (TV) in Lee County that I knew about.
We used to go to Mr. William Coxwells house on Friday or Saturday night.
69
The screen had so much snow that you could hardly see the characters on
screen, but we thought it was a miracle. All the children sat on the floor and
we all watched Sid Caesar and Imogene Cocoa (comedians of our day);
sometimes Red Skeleton would be on. Oh, what fun that was. They were
so funny. Our first TV was many years later. We had an antenna that
someone had to go outside and turn to get good reception on a different
channel, that is if you wanted to watch one of the other two stations. It was
channel 10 (Albany) or Channel 3 and 9 (Columbus). During the school
year, when the Baptist or Methodist Church had a revival, the school classes
attended at least one service during the week. That was when the revivals
were during the day and night, beginning on Monday and ending on Friday.
Members from each church supported the other denominations revivals.
It seems that we were a much closer community. Now, we hardly
know our neighbors. For that reason, growth has not been good for Lee
County. All the skeletons stayed in the closet and were not flaunted. Marriage
was sacred and everyone knew it. Divorce was frowned upon. Our school
was the one on Starksville Street. The old elementary school housed all
twelve grades. The gym used by the YMCA was where everyone socialized
during the basketball season. The gym would be full of parents and friends.
We had track and baseball but no football teams during the school year. Our
summers were spent at the City Pool, which was located where the County
now has a shop behind the Courthouse. Parents dropped children off and
had a wonderful babysitter for the whole afternoon. I remember I would
come to town with Mother when she came back to work after lunch and
stay until she was ready to go home in the afternoon. To make a trip to
Albany was a big deal. We shopped before school started in the fall, at
Christmas time, and in the spring for whatever wardrobe you would have
for that season. It seemed like it took forever to get to downtown Albany.
There were no malls at that time. When the midtown mall came into being,
we thought we had hit the big times.
70
You can see that times have really changed. Televisions are in every
room of houses, most children have a car by the age of 16, husbands and
wives each have a vehicle, mothers work, and there is very little respect
from other people or their property. But, I still love Lee County! Old
memories are great and we should share them with our family and friends.
Helen Worthy Kennedy
My Memories of Growing Up in Leesburg
My fondest memories of growing up in Leesburg were always during
the summer months. I always enjoyed going to the swimming pool and
playing with my friends.
The pool was located behind the courthouse, and was a popular spot
where people would get together. Even if you didnt swim, you could still
hang around and listen to the music from the jukebox.
Our mode of transportation was walking or riding a bike. I enjoyed
riding my bike. This was especially true because right after my 13th birthday,
I met a new girl in our neighborhood who had just moved from Atlanta to
Leesburg. She had justhadher 11th birthday and could really ride a bicycle.
Soon we became friends and would ride around town together, ride out to
the fire tower, climb all the way to the top and visit Mrs. Manning. She
worked there watching for any fire that might not be controlled.
Other days, my friend and I would ride up to the peanut plant, get
raw peanuts, and take them to her mother to fry for us. Then, we would sit
on the porch munching on the best peanuts ever!
My friend turned out to be more than just a friend. This friendship
grew into love. We dated for four years, got married, and later moved to
Albany. Her name was Marie Rainwater. We have been happily married
for many years, have two children, and three grandchildren. We now live in
Worth County. Just think what riding bicycles can do!
Cecil Stamps
71
Old Hollis Bridge
Ralph and Katy
Ralph and Katy Singletary came to Lee County in 1969. Ralph drove
tanker trucks for a fuel company. Katy was teaching at Lee County
Elementary School. They lived in a log house on White Pond off Highway
91 where they enj oyed the live oak trees and wildlife and their big-screened
porch. They cleaned out the old swimming pool and Katy painted huge
orange flowers over the fresh blue paint. Ralph cleared out the yard and
fixed up the place and fished in the lake. Later they had a little garden to
keep them supplied with tomatoes and butterbeans and squash. Their house
was a favorite gathering place for big family dinners.
Ralph changed careers and went to work for a private construction
company doing contract work for the DOT. They built bridges all over
South Georgia. Later he worked for a company that put up commercial
buildings, private structures, and schools, including the new Lee County
High school. Katy was also open to change, and jumped at the opportunity
to go to the brand new Lee County Primary School in 1987, sorting through
shelves and cabinets and carefully packing her treasures. From her book,
Its Not Nice to Push the Teacher, Katy writes about the Great Move
through the eyes of her school mouse, Sneaky.
Katy was proud of that new school. Having no children of her own
she gave her life to teaching and proved to be a leader there as well, mentoring
younger teachers and encouraging her peers. Upon retiring she left behind
many accomplishments: Teacher of the Year, Georgia School of Excellence
for her school, yearbook dedication, and National School of Excellence her
final year. Mrs. Opal Cannon, Principal, wrote on her evaluations: Katy,
your dedication to education, your ability to motivate students, and your
adaptability to a changing curriculum was as strong in this, your thirtieth
year, as when you were in mid-career.
Thundering Springs Baptist Church was the focus of their life of
faith. They attended regularly and participated in every part of church life
from teaching, to mopping floors, setting up tables, directing Vacation Bible
School, encouraging, giving, praying. Katy continued teaching childrens
Sunday school classes until 2002, then promptly joined a womens class
and actively participated.
The caring and commitment of Ralph and Katy Singletary have
enriched all; Church, school, and community. If youd like to have an impact
on the future of Lee County, consider a suggestion from Katy. Teach
children to read and to love their country, then you have strengthened
tomorrow.
Celeste Edge (with permission of Ralph G. Singletary in Memory of Katy
Singletary)
World War II
I served on a battleship, the U.S.S. New York during WWII, and I
was in the First Central Division. I was stationed with five decks below
topside, so this is where we spent most of our leisure time. We had a
phonograph that played records, 78RPM.
In my division, we had a set of twins from Kentucky, Etsel and
Drestel. Every time they went on liberty, they would get drunk and buy
73
several hillbilly records. Now most of us did not like or listen to this kind of
music, so on our next cruise those records would automatically fall off the
ship.
JM Rhodes
Going to See the Train
When we were growing up, on Christmas morning, we would all
try to get up before 4:00 AM. This was when the streamline train would
come through town. It was a train coming from New York going to Miami.
The first person to awaken would get up and call the others around
in the neighborhood. It was a very fancy train at the time. The train was
called The Seminole. This was something that was fun to do each
Christmas morning.
Elizabeth Young
Leesburg Train Depot
74
Smithville Garden Club
On May 18,1948 sixteen women from Smithville met to organize a
garden club. They chose to be called the Frank L. Stanton Garden Club
because this famous Georgia poet and writer lived for a time in our town
during the 1880s. Frank Lebby Stanton was bom in Charleston, South
Carolina on February 22,1857. His family soon moved to Savannah, where
he became a reporter and feature write for the Savannah Morning News.
In 1887 he moved to Smithville and began publishing The Smithville
News. Also while in Smithville he met and married Leone Josey. Stanton
attracted national attention when he used many of his own poems and verses
in The Smithville News. After only a year in Smithville, he was offered a
job with The Rome Tribune as night editor. Later he worked for The Atlanta
Constitution and wrote a daily column Just From Georgia, for over forty
years, which featured his poems and verses. Many of these were put to
music. Perhaps the most famous is Mighty Lak a Rose. He was named
Georgias first Poet Laureate in 1925. He died two years later in 1927.
The by-laws committee for the newly -formed Garden Club group
chose Mighty Lak a Rose as its song and the rose as its flower. The club
motto became the following words which are engraved on Stantons
tombstone in Atlanta: This old world were living in is mighty hard to
beat; you get a thorn with every rose, but aint the roses sweet!
Many Smithville citizens may not know or remember the
contributions made to the town by this group of women. Their first project
was to create a triangle park in the center of the business district of Smithville.
They later created another park located between the railroad and Main Street
adjacent to City Hall. Although changes and improvements have been made,
both of these parks still exist today. Other beautification projects included
planting dogwoods along residential streets, making improvements in the
town cemetery, and purchasing Christmas decorations for the city. They
were also instrumental in getting the streets in Smithville paved in the 1950s.
They published a Garden Club Cookbook as a fund raising project in 1977,
which was dedicated to the organizations sixteen charter members all of
whom are now deceased.
Claudia McRee Copeland
75
Trick or Treat in Leesburg
Some of my fondest memories were those on Halloween when Mama
would take us out for a night of trick or treating. We would always start next
door at Mr. Ticky and Miss. Thursba Forresters home. He was our
congressman and they always had a roll of quarters to drop in our trick or
treat bags.
On the other side of the Forresters lived Mr. and Mrs. Nelson. We
would go to their house next and Mrs. Nelson would always have an apple
or an orange for us.
After we finished on Main Street, we would cross over the railroad tracks
and head to James and Ethelind Cannons home, where she always gave out
delicious candy apples. I think she is the one who got me addicted to those
delicious apples with the sweetest red candy coating.
Back then you didnt have to worry about bad things happening to
children. Gone are the days when you had no fear of the dark. War was a
card game. Water balloons were the ultimate weapons. Taking drugs meant
orange flavored chewable aspirin. Ice cream was considered a basic food
group.
Older siblings were the worst tormentors, but also the fiercest
protectors. If you can remember most or all these, then you can truly say
you lived on Main Street in Leesburg, Georgia, wherever you may be.
Kim Mercer Ellington
Kissin Dont Last But Cookin Do
One of my fondest memories of Jack Bell Jr. acting like his Daddy
with his ability to joke around begins with this story. Jack and I were married
October 18,1970. A few months after that I had a doctors appointment and
was not going to be able to cook lunch for him; so, I asked him to eat with
his mother, and he said he would. That morning he and Mr. Jack had
business at the ASCS office in Leesburg and were there close to lunchtime.
He made the comment to someone there about me being gone and not
cooking. You have to understand that at this time everyone knew everyone
76
in Lee County and were all friends. One of the ladies that worked there
gave Jack a trivet that had a boy and girl kissing with kissin dont last but
Cookin do on it and told him to put that in my plate for lunch. He did and
when I found it I thought it was a nice gift and said thank you. He just fell
out laughing and said it was to remind me that I needed to be home cooking
not off somewhere else. As a young wife I didnt get it, but I still have that
trivet today as my reminder.
Jack was truly dedicated to this family, his country and Lee County.
He served three years in Vietnam and came back to become a successful
farmer along side his Dad and brothers on their farm at Neyami. Little
Jack, as he was known by all that knew him, would tell you he had his
parents love of people and nature and knew these woods and creeks like the
back of his hand. He shared his garden with everyone for miles around and
has three children, Jack Bell III, Denise Bell, and Clifton Drew Bell that are
just like him.
Denise R. Bell
The Father and the Holy Ghost
Growing up in Lee County, I lived next door to my grandparents,
Reverend Murray Willis and Victoria Willis. My grandfather pastored many
churches in the surrounding counties. He was the pastor of Wooden Grove
Baptist Church in Leesburg. Every summer in August, we would have
revival at our church. The first week of August we would have prayer
week. The second week we would have a guest minister or pastor preach
our revival. Many people would join the church during the revival. On the
third Sunday morning we would all go down to the Kinchafoonee Creek for
baptism. The people who were being baptized would wear white clothing
and their heads would be covered with a white covering as well. My big
Daddy and the deacons would be dressed in white as well. We would park
our cars along the highway and walk down to the muddy creek. Big Daddy
and the deacons would lead the way, followed by the candidates for baptism
and then the congregation would sing Take me to the Water. Candidates
were led to the Pastor, he would hold one of his hands in the air and the
77
other over the nose of the person to be baptized. After saying I baptize you
in the name of the Father and Holy Ghost, he would put your head under
the water for a few seconds. When you came out of the water you were
baptized and people were shouting and singing. It was sure comforting to
know that it was my grandfather who was baptizing me and I felt safe in his
arms.
Nothrice Willis Alford
World War II
I served on a battleship, the U.S.S. New York during WWII, and I
was in the First Central Division. I was stationed with five decks below
topside, so this is where we spent most of our leisure time. We had a
phonograph that played records, 78RPM.
In my division, we had a set of twins from Kentucky, Etsel and
Drestel. Every time they went on liberty, they would get drunk and buy
several hillbilly records. Now most of us did not like or listen to this kind of
music, so on our next cruise those records would automatically fall off the
ship.
JM Rhodes
Mrs. Cros Walk to the Post Office
Mrs. Cromartie, who was affectionately known as Mrs. Cro was
another one of Leesburgs special, sweet ladies. She lived in a big white
house on the west side of Highway 19, the fifth house from the post office.
On some occasions she would walk to the post office to get her mail, or to
mail a letter. One particular day she went into the post office to mail a letter.
When she got there, however, she realized that she had walked off without
it. When she went back home and got back with it, she said, What you
forget in your head, you make it up in your feet!
Sometimes I forget to do things and I always think of Mrs. Cro and
what she said that day!
Gladys McBride Thrift
78
Fun at Mossy Dell
I remember when I was a young girl; the only place we had to go
swimming in the summer time was Mossy Dell. All of my friends would get
up in the morning and start begging our mothers to take us to Mossy Dell
after dinner. Usually out of three or four mothers we would get to go to
Mossy Dell and swim with the water moccasins. We called the one where
we swam The Little Dell and the one with the boil or spring bubbling up,
the Big Dell. The snakes were actually lying on the rocks between the
Little Dell and Big Dell. It was actually freezing cold water. We would
take watermelons and put in the shallow Dell to get cold and then eat the
melons. This was a great treat for all of us in our day. We would all dare
each other to see who would jump off the rocks in the Big Dell.
Mossy Dell is on private property now, but I visited it recently, and it
still looks exactly the same now as it did then. A beautiful place, and they
did film The Biscuit Eater at the Dell.
Elizabeth Young
Our Days on the Muckalee
A Tribute to My Dad
Lee County has many renowned landmarks, but one beautiful, unique,
work of nature goes unappreciated every day - the banks of the Muckalee
Creek. From early spring, though early summer into fall you can see trickling
waterfalls, rocky overhangs, crystal clear pools, flowers and trees of all kinds,
sandy banks, beautiful birds, animals, and reptiles just to name a few of
Gods nature canvasses. I wish every young person could have had the
privilege I had as a young girl enjoying the best that nature had to offer right
here at home, fishing the banks of the Muckalee Creek with my dad.
This story unfurls many years ago when I was a young girl about
twelve years of age. My dad, Perry Kearse, Sr., introduced me to fishing,
his favorite hobby, as everyone in Leesburg knew. From then until about
the age of eighteen or so, we hardly missed a Saturday boating down the
79
creek. Our day would start early and end late with plenty of fun and adventure
in between.
My dad was a good fisherman; one of the best, but sometimes we
went about it the hard way- like one afternoon, we had set out sethooks and
came upon a fairly good size log stretching all the way across the creek.
According to daddy, it would be no problem. He told me to hold on, we
were going over the logE well, guess what, we went over all right, and
upside down, and spilled us and everything in the boat in the creek. It was
almost dark and there were long branches hanging over the creek from the
banks so that we could reach up and hold on. Our stuff floated and we
grabbed what we could, but all I could think of was grabbing a snake or
some other creature in the tree branches - but we managed what we could,
but all I could think of was grabbing a snake or some other creature in the
tree branches - but we managed to get out okay and later retrieved the boat
off the bottom, believe it or not.
Then, there was the time dad snatched a lure out from a bush and it
sailed straight across to the middle of his jaw with hooks embedded and
only m e to get it out. Again, the Lord was with us, but daddy had a sore
face for a few days. Oh! You may have a hard time believing the following,
but every bit of it is true. Again, we were fishing sethook lines, when one
evening I pulled on a line and it was so heavy; I told daddy I didnt know
what was on it, but if it was a fish, we had a record. Daddy had to help me
pull up the line, and to our surprise there was a 75-85 pound turtle on the
line with part of a huge catfish on the line, also. We tried to get the turtle off,
so we could let it go, but somehow in the struggle, the turtle got daddys
whole thumb caught in the comer of its mouth and would not let go. There
we were: that huge turtle, daddy, and me, all in the boat. You know I was
scared. Now, all we had with us was a pocketknife in the tackle box and the
size of the head on this turtle was as big as a watermelon and the skin on the
neck tougher than whitleather. Oh, boy, I thought. What were we going to
do? I was almost crying worrying that daddys thumb was going to be
bitten off. All I could do was to start chopping at the neck of the turtle,
hoping it would release the hold on daddys thumb. I chopped and chopped,
all the while daddy was holding on to this wrestling turtle that was still alive
and kicking and had a death grip on his thumb. You would have had to be
80
there to appreciate this drama. It took me more than an hour to finally get
the head chopped off and still the turtle, with head off, wouldnt relinquish
daddys thumb. We worked at least another hour before finally getting the
thumb free. Hooray! After all that, daddys thumb, thank goodness, was
only bruised. Our only reward for all that hard work was a fine turtle stew
and a story to tell our grandchildren.
Now, dont think all was bad on our trips, because these were rare
occurrences. Some days the fish would have the lockjaw, as dad would say,
and not cooperate, but we still had lots of fun trying. Ill never forget the
afternoon we caught 14 bass while we fished under the rocky overhangs
just casting lures or the time we caught 40 crappie out of one hole in a little
less than an hour, or the thrill of hanging large redbellys over and under logs
with small crayfish, or the time again fishing sethooks, we caught 120 pounds
catfish and gigged 96 pair of good old frog legs all in one evening. What an
incredible day!
My dad had a very generous heart; so dont think all these fish went
to waste. We used to have large family fish fries two or three times a month,
plus daddy took plates to neighbors and some to the community. Later,
when he got sick with cancer and could not fish as much, he developed a
hobby of cooking pound cakes, making from 10-20 a week, giving them
away as fast as he made then, even sometimes delivering them hot out of the
oven. He was from the old school, and just had to be doing something
every waking moment. I have yet to this day known anyone as strong or
who could put out as much work as he could in one day. He was strong in
character, trustworthy as they come, and compassionate. He was a devout
man of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and loved everybody. He has been
sorely missed by a loving family and especially by yours truly, his fishing
partner, but I know well see him one day when we go home to be with the
Lord.
Daddy and I continued fishing all through the years. In fact, he
went with my brother, Perry, a week before he passed away. We fished
other places during this time and he fished with other fishermen. One reason
is because he could fish every day and I wasnt always available, even though
I would have been if I could. One other person he enjoyed fishing with was
81
Tommy Tharp. They worked together at the Post Office and as soon as they
got off to go to the creek, rive, or lake, they would go. Im sure he has
stories of his own he could relate. One other incident I remember when dad
was fishing with Jim Devinney, Lisas dad, and Rev. Kelly Pritchett, they
found a huge honeybee hive in a large tree on the bank of Muckalee Creek
and started harvesting the pieces of comb and honey, eating some as they
worked. Dad bit down on the honeycomb and the bees stung him on the
tongue. It started to swell, and by the time he got home, his throat was
closing up. We had to rush him to the hospital. Adventure just followed my
dad, and he couldnt help it.
I have warm and fond memories of my dad and me fishing the banks
of the Muckalee Creek, our favorite place of all to fish. God called my
fishing partner home, so those days are long gone, but all I have to do is
recall one memory after another to relive those adventures for a lifetime.
Linda Kearse Kearce
Century
The train played a very important part in my fathers life, Robert
Heath, who became one of Lee Countys most prominent citizens. As a boy
he lived at Century, which was a working plantation. His father, Captain
Heath, was in the Civil War and lost his left arm two weeks before the war
was over. Captain Heath was tax collector of Bibb County before the war.
When he heard about good farmland in Lee County he bought his first land
north of Leesburg and later sold it to buy Century. Captain Heath chose the
name because it was 100 miles from Macon.
As a boy my father lived close to the railroad and he rode the train to
Leesburg in the mornings and the afternoon to go to school. He would also
light the signal lanterns for the train at night. Century had named streets and
was comprised of all the land from Lovers Lane Road to the Kinchafoonee
Creek and south to the Dougherty County line.
My father later went to Gordon Military Institute and Georgia
Southwestern University when it was an agricultural school. Robert Heath
82
became a planter as were his father and grandfather before him and also
owned the Chevrolet dealership for many years.
Patricia Blackshear McDaniel
The Ole Swimming Hole
We had two swimming holes in Smithville that we could use as we
were growing up. This one swimming hole was always a second choice,
not only because it was farther away and we had to walk the railroad tracks
to get to it, including the trestle above it, but it also wasnt as clean or safe as
the other swimming hole.
The old millhouse was a plus, though, because it was such an
enjoyable place to visit, especially when they were grinding com into meal.
A waterwheel powered the millhouse, and many times I went in and ran my
hand down into the hot meal as it came out of the rock grinders. There was
nothing like grabbing a fist full of hot meal and eating it right then and there.
I went up to that pond one day with a friend whose dad operated the
mill. We were going to do some fishing. Now this friend fished so much
and was so good at it that we all called him Fish. He caught two bream at
one time with a pole in each hand, and they were so large that they pulled
the boat away from its moors. Its hard to find fish that big these days. In
fact, you have to do a days work and go to a lot of expense to find any fish
at all.
Virgil A. Booker
Summer of 1942 to Summer 1951
I moved to Leesburg from Albany with my family after my dad,
William Y. Faircloth, a pharmacist, bought the drug store from Don Turner
who owned one of the peanut mills. My family consisted of my dad, my
mother, Una Lee, my older brother, William and my older sister, Mary
83
Elizabeth. My brother went away to WWII and my sister went away to
college. I started school in the seventh grade.
We lived in the old King home on Main Street across from the Tharps
and the Lees. We didnt own a car so I either walked or rode my bicycle. My
classmate and best buddy has always been Page Tharp. We did lots of things
together. Some of my other buddies were Harry Lee, George Moreland,
Jessie Moreland, Charles Cannon, George Turner and Ann Cannon, who
was a very special girlfriend during my high school days.
I had a morning newspaper route and delivered the Macon Telegraph,
Atlanta Journal, and the Atlanta Constitution to almost everyone in town. I
enjoyed my daily contacts with just about everyone. I always stopped by to
talk with Mrs. Green while she milked her pet cow; she loved that cow and
she had lots of stories to tell me. I picked up lots of gossip on my route. I
remember two neighbors were unhappy with each other because one
neighbor had chickens and the other neighbor had flowerbeds, or at least
tried to have flowerbeds. The neighbor with the flowers decided he had had
enough. He built a number of nests for the roaming chickens and became
the largest egg seller in Leesburg without owning or feeding the chickens.
The owner of the chickens finally penned up the chickens.
People would forget about me delivering papers and come out
partially dressed. It was funny seeing them trying to cover up and hide behind
something. We had a few people in town that would not pay their bills. I
think the cost of a week of papers was 35 cents, but I had one guy who
would go for six months without paying me. When I did catch him at home,
he would reach in his pocket and pull out a crisp $100.00 bill for me to
change. Naturally, I didnt have the change. One day when I passed his
house and saw that he was at home, I hurried down to the bank and drew
out $100.00.1 had the change ready and when he pulled out the $100.00
bill, I grabbed it and handed him the change. He hollered, Dont wrinkle
my $ 100; Ive got smaller change inside to pay you.
In addition to my paper routes, I worked as a soda jerk in my fathers
drug store. We had curb service and people would park on highway 19 out
front and blow their hom and we would go out and take their order, go back
inside and fill it, and then take a tray out to hang on their car window. Tips
were unheard of back then and I remember some tourist giving me a nickel
84
tip one time and I thought how stupid he was. Back then, you got two dips
of ice cream for a nickel, in fact everything was a nickel. Cigarettes were 10
cents a package and an ice cream sundae was 15 cents with everything.
Times have changed! Dad was always watching to see how many cherries I
put on the girls sodas, but I gave extras when I could. Page Tharp worked
with me as a soda jerk. We frightened some of the customers when we
would throw passes to each other of glasses, cups of ice cream and you
name it. I dont think we ever hit anyone.
Highway 19 was the only paved road and we had just started getting
electricity in Lee County. One of our customers came into the drug store
every Saturday to buy one light bulb. After several months of his visits, my
dad mentioned to him that he must have a lot of lights at his house. He
replied that he only had one socket on a long cord that he moved around the
house. Dad said that he couldnt understand why he needed a new bulb
each week. Dont you cut the light off during the day and when you go to
sleep? He didnt know you could turn the light off; he would put it in a
drawer at night. Dad showed him how to unscrew the bulb so it would go
off.
My graduating class of seniors in 1947 consisted of 6 girls and 4
boys. I bought my first car in 1946, a new Ford. The school principal and I
loaded up our two cars and took our whole graduating class on a wonderful
trip to New York City and all points in between. It was a great trip and we all
returned to Leesburg safe and sound. In 1997, we had out 50th graduation
anniversary and everyone showed up except one who was a dentist and
could not come. Although our class was small, we had a lot of spirit.
After graduation from Leesburg High in 1947,1 went away to Emory
at Oxford College. During the summers when I was back in Leesburg, I
took a job with the State Department of Agriculture measuring crop acreage.
One day I came across 160 acres of tomatoes falling off vines. I checked
with the plant company that owned the field and they were not planning to
pick them. I checked at the farmers market and found they were selling for
twenty-four dollars a bushel. I cut a deal with the owner and Page Tharp
and I got in the tomato business. We never worked so hard and never slept
so little and ended up the summer with about twenty dollars to split. I had to
drop out of school the next semester and make some money. This was my
85
first lesson that a sure thing was not always sure! Thank goodness for Ms.
Kate Harris, our Post Mistress who was kind enough to loan me $250.00 for
my tuition for the following year or I would not have been able to go back to
college.
I became a watermelon inspector at Philema and learned a lot about
myself. I had to learn to look at the melons and tell how much they weighed,
whether they were white heart, hollow heart, or whether they had some
disease. The owner of the melons would bet me that I was wrong and since
I only made fifteen dollars a day, there were days when I didnt make a cent.
After finishing 2 years at Emory at Oxford, I went on to Big Emory
in Atlanta. Page Tharp was there and we pledged Sigma Chi Fraternity. I
graduated from Emory in 1951 and joined the U.S. Air Force. I spent 24
years in the Air Force and retired in 1974. My wife, Mary and I were married
in France and we moved 23 times. I shall always remember my friends and
family and all the good times and the good caring people who lived in
Leesburg. What a great place to grow up!
Spencer Faircloth
U.S. Mail Delivery
I can remember walking across the railroad tracks to the Post Office
to get our mail, when I was a child growing up in the 1960s. Back then the
mail came on a train that passed through Leesburg. As the train approached
our city like any other city it would slow down and sound its hom. A large
sack of mail was thrown from the train onto the ground on the East side of
the tracks. Mr. Henry Lewis would then pick up the sack and sling it over
his shoulders and carry the mail on his back to the Post Office. There the
mail was sorted and placed in boxes or delivered to homes in rural Lee
County. I recall Mr. Henry Lewis as being not much larger than the bundle
of mail he carried each day.
Nothrice Willis Alford
86
Happy Memories of Growing Up In Leesburg
There is not one particular story that stands out from my growing up
in Leesburg. My story is made up of many, many snapshots of the ten years
I was there, from age eight to going away to college at age eighteen, and the
times I came back until Mama and Daddy moved to Loganville in 1997.
Daddy and Mama (Charles and Bernice Williams) bought the old
house, known as the old Nesbitt house, next to the Presbyterian Church
when I was eight years old. My snapshots begin there, the summer of 1960.
I remember fondly:
Riding my bike or walking barefoot on the hot pavement with tar sticking to
my feet to go to town to buy fireballs or bubblegum for a penny from one of
the three grocery stores: Kearces, Longs or McBrides walking to Faircloths
drugstore to buy Archie comic books and to the post office to get our mail.
Spending summer mornings at the public swimming pool taking the Red
Cross swimming lessons offered there, then going back in the afternoons to
swim and play all afternoon. Patti (Grace) and I riding our bicycles all over
town. Playing hopscotch, marbles, and jackstones. Spending hours at the
library and reading the books I checked out.
The summer when I was twelve (I think) when neighborhood kids would
come over to my house most days to play croquet in our large front yard.
The time when a dance teacher from Albany came for several visits and
taught us ballroom dancing in the showroom of the Otis Hill Chevrolet
dealership.
The summer dances we had in that old building on US 19 (across from the
post office and bank).
Going to vacation Bible school at the Methodist church, and later being a
member and officer of the Methodist Youth Fellowship (MYF). The night I
had to skip MYF because the Beatles were going to be on Ed Sullivan. The
87
time our MYF performed a play that I had written for the sub district meeting
that we hosted.
Being a member of the Teen Age Republicans (TARS).
Going to cheerleading practice and cheering for our basketball teams.
Getting my hair done at Frances Fores beauty shop.
That almost every summer a rattlesnake would show up in our yard. And
especially the summer day when I was home alone and a large rattlesnake
was coiled outside our kitchen door about to strike our dog, Laddie, and
how Mr. Elbert Williams came over and shot it.
The wonderful teachers that I had in my 12 years in Lee County schools.
Especially, Mrs. Graham for teaching us formal table setting, how to make
clay pots (in Bruce Robertsons mothers kiln), listening to classical music,
plus teaching us the 3 Rs in the 3rd grade; Mrs. Clay for introducing us to
art; Mrs. Tharp leading our eight grade chorus, Mrs. Parr and Mrs. Breeden
for not only being our cheerleading sponsors, but also being great teachers;
and of course, dear Mr. Rivers who made me truly love math.
My summer job for three summers after I graduated from high school was at
the peanut mill working with Alan Long assisting the peanut inspectors.
This was a great summer job because you had most of the summer off then
you worked seven days a week about 10 hours a day for about three weeks
and then it was time to go back to college.
Marrying my wonderful husband David in the Methodist church December
17, 1972.
Returning in 1980, 1985, and 1990 for my class of 1970s 10, 15, and 20-
year reunions.
I believe that Leesburg Georgia was the best place possible to grow up in
during the 60s. It will always be special to me.
Christy Williams Hand
88
In My Younger Days
My father worked at Blue Springs, later called Radium Springs, when
he married my mother, who was from Americus, Georgia. I can remember
going to Americus to visit my grandparents. The road was not paved at that
time. On one trip coming back, we had three flats, but we only had two
spares. So as we came through Albany on a rim, going down Broad Street,
which was paved with brick. You can imagine what kind of noise this was
making!
JM Rhodes
The Lee County Boys Chorus
Teaching eighth grade English for twenty-six years in Lee County
gave me memories to cherish for a lifetime. Friendships were formed that
have endured through the years. However, the most cherished memories
would certainly be those related to organizing and directing the Lee County
Boys Chorus.
Every performance at the area churches, nursing homes, and civic
clubs was special. For several years the chorus enjoyed a day of fellowship
on a trip to the Stephen Foster Music Park at White Springs, Florida. The
boys were goodwill ambassadors for Lee County and a good public relations
tool for the school system. Of course I will never forget that in 1980, as my
family and I went into the church for my wifes funeral, the first thing we
saw was the chorus boys sitting in the choir loft in tribute. A prized possession
is an old scrapbook with pictures of each chorus.
Whenever I think of the chorus performances, there is always one
that comes to mind. On Sunday night the group gave a concert for the
Southern Methodist Church in Albany. After the benediction the boys were
89
lined up at the front of the church members to greet them. Also at the front
was the church treasurer who was counting the evening offerings. As he
placed the collection into a bank bag, he remarked to the group that he
would go lock the bag in his car trunk and return to have refreshments with
them in the Fellowship Hall. He took a small pistol out of his pocket and
started down the aisle. The boys were astounded and asked why he had a
gun at church. He replied, For protection, I never go anywhere without it.
If you see me with my pants on, I have my gun.
As the old gentleman made his way out of the church, one of the
boys remarked to the group, I hope I never see him without his gun.
Everyone agreed, had a good laugh, and went to enjoy refreshments and
fellowship. Those were the days!
Wallace Willis
My Memories of Growing up in Leesburg
I remember the fun we had with our homemade toys. We made houses
out of cardboard boxes, and we played inside them. We cut a door and
windows so we could look out. When the boxes got too worn out, we
would use the slick side to slide on them in our sock feet. We also made stilts
with tin cans attached to either rope or wire so we could walk on them. We
never did get very far, but homemade was just fine with us. We made our
own rag dolls and also clothes for them. We cut out lots of paper dolls from
catalogs and magazines and created our own families using them. We played
a lot with Tops, marbles and paddleballs. These were a few of the store
bought toys available.
I remember going out at night and catching fireflies and putting them
in jars with holes punched in the top, hoping they would live forever, but
they never did. I remember skating with roller skates that had a strap and
key to tighten them. I remember school days, when the girls had to stay on
one side of the school ground during lunch and recess and the boys on the
other side. I remember selling watermelon and lemonade on the comer where
the post office is now. They also had a small carnival on this comer, and we
traded rides for pecans. We had plenty of pecans but little money.
90
I remember our Mothers cooking on wood stoves with warmers on
them to keep food warm. A lot of people still had iceboxes with ice delivered
by the ice man. Milk was delivered to your door by dairy trucks.
Sometimes we were allowed to put a note in the empty bottle and get
chocolate milk once in awhile. This was a real treat for us kids.
I remember the old crank phone on the wall. When it was cranked the operator
came on the line and rang the party you wanted. This was one way to keep
up with the latest news. We also had victrolas that you had to crank to get
music.
I remember going to Albany on Saturday afternoons and spending
time at Kress and Woolworth stores just looking. Occasionally we would go
to the movie.
I remember playing basketball on a dirt court in front of the old school
building. It housed first through eleventh grade at this time. About a year
later, we were excited to have a new gym to play ball in. Once of my years
on the team, we had won the necessary games to go to district playoffs. All
the girls were excited about playing in the playoffs and spending the night
out of town but we lost the game and the coach took us to get our luggage
and took us home. We got home after midnight.
I remember the pound parties where each person brought a pound of
cookies, cakes, potato chips and various other foods. Our dates would come
to our house to get us on their bicycles. We would sit on the handlebars and
the guys would paddle away to the party. We had to make our own fun,
simple pleasure were fine with us.
In 1939, Joel and I went to Washington, D.C. and New York Worlds
Fair with the senior class. What an exciting trip for high schools students
who had never been that far from home before. Back then the senior classes
worked to make money for their senior trip. They could choose where they
wanted to go and it had to be approved by the school officials.
When I was in high school, there was a trucking business called K
& L. These big trucks would come through Leesburg. One night they ran
into a building and tore up part of it. After that all us kids called the trucks
Killum and leave umtrucks. We got a kick out of seeing them and called
them Killum and leaveum trucks .
91
On Christmas mornings, we would get up about 2 a.m. and look at
our gifts. Usually this was one main gift and a few other things. We got
some fruits and nuts in a ladies nylon stocking. This was very different from
today when the living room is filled with lots of big expensive toys. After
we saw our presents, we would go to see what our friends had gotten. Then
at about 3:45 we would go to the railroad tracks to see the train from New
York to Miami. I dont know why we did this or how it got started but it was
fun to us.
Our small town drug store was the place to be. We would meet
there after school to find out all the news and to get a nickel ice cream cone.
Our small church was a big part of our life also. We were there every
time they had something for our age group. I remember in the early forties,
my Dad getting a call that the church was on fire. We rushed up there and so
did all the Baptists in town. Everybody was crying but there was nothing
we could do but watch. This was a sad day for all the people.
I remember during World War II when sugar, meat, gas, shoes and
other items were rationed. The OPA (Office of Price Administration) told
American families that rationing food and other materials was necessary for
the war effort and to ensure fair distribution of supplies on the home front.
With that announcement Americans entered an era in which consumers
needed not only money, but also little books of stamps to buy everyday
items from sugar to shoes. Wanda Coxwell and I volunteered to work for
the OPA. We had to go to all the businesses and check on the stamps they
had collected. That was not all that much work because there were only a
few businesses in town.
Although nylon hose were not rationed, they were very hard to get.
Lots of women had to wear cotton hose and they were baggy at the knees
and ankles. I was fortunate because my Dad had a store and I could get
more than others.
I remember that during the war it was hard to get people to pick
cotton and pull stack peanuts (back then it was done by hand) so a group of
girls got together and volunteered to pull peanuts. That lasted for one day.
I remember when my brother, Joel, and a friend built a shack out of
scrap wood. They told my friends and I that we were to keep out, but we
92
were determined to go in. They caught us in there and said for us to get out
or they would tear it down with us in it.
We didnt believe them but they did tear it down. I got a big nail in my leg
and had to go to the Doctor for a tetanus shot. After that we believed what
they said. In those days women did not go barelegged. Neither did they
wear pants except around the house.
Happiness is a timeless thing just because of remembering.
Joyce Forrester Vonderaa
Smithville...In the Good Ole Days
Smithville was a lively little town. Besides the three two-story hotels,
which were known as the Johoma, the Simpson and the McAfee, there was
also a large dwelling that was converted into Kervins Tavern. Other
businesses in town included three filling stations, two garages, one railroad
depot, one railroad freight station and a post office that had four mail carriers
working rural routes. There was also one bank, one barbershop for whites
and one for blacks, one restaurant for blacks and one drugstore, which my
Uncle Charlie owned. The drugstore had old-fashioned wrought iron tables
and chairs with milk glass tops so the soda drinkers could stop by after
school and drink a soda with their girlfriends. My sister Mary was the soda
fountain operator.
Smithville also had one dry good store, one general merchandise
store that carried everything from stove pipe to silk stockings to hats and
bananas, one Suwannee store, a livery stable that had, on request, two fancy
horse-drawn carriages, one in black and gold and the other in ivory and
gold. There was also a lodge hall in town, which served as a courthouse,
one icehouse and one warehouse where peanuts were stored until a buyer
picked them up.
Virgil A. Booker
93
Smithville Postal Service
Employees
My Early Days
We moved to Lee County in 1935 to Philema, Georgia from
Dougherty County. The road from Albany was not paved, but one-lane
sandy road and you had to get out of the ruts when you met someone. The
first place we lived belonged to Mr. Willard Martin; then we moved to the
Brown Alley Place. The well was across the road from the house, which
had a pitcher pump. You had to prime it to get it started to pump. The house
was about five feet off the ground and a porch all the way around it. The
kitchen was separated from the house with a walkway from the house to the
kitchen.
When I started dating, I went to Albany one night to pick up my
date, (Grace, my wife now). She lived out off the Newton Road and we
went to the Bowling Alley at Lakeworth. They only had duckpin then,
which the ball was a little larger than softball. When we started to leave, the
car lights would not come on, so I got a taxi to take her home and I got back
to town. I had to drive all the way home without any lights. I would pull
over and park when I met a car.
JM Rhodes
94
The Old Days
I remember going to Sunday school at the Leesburg Methodist
Church. Although we lived 18 miles in the country, we attended both Sunday
morning and evening services. Mrs. Eloise Greene was my teacher. After
church we would all get in one car with the Cannons (Uncle Hoke, Aunt
Lucille, Martha and Mary), and travel to Terrell County to see Grandpa and
Grandma Cook. They had moved to Terrell County from Dougherty County
near where Doublegate Country Club is today. Grandma would prepare a
huge meal for this crowd, which included the Crews family. She cooked on
a wood stove. She made the most delicious Pecan Cake. I wish I had that
recipe. The adults would eat first and the children would eat last. My, how
times have changed. Children come first now. I can remember once when
Bishop Arthur Moore came to our house for dinner.
During World War II, we had coupons to buy sugar, gasoline and
shoes. I never had enough shoes. Today I have more shoes than Amelda
Marcos. As a child we had a horse, which we never rode. Daddy was
going to sell the horse to a man. We all cried and the man wouldnt buy the
horse. I finally took up horseback riding when I was about thirty-five years
old. I had a beautiful horse named Sugarfoot. The whole family would ride
in parades on our horses. The family included three daughters, Cookie,
Carol and Leigh Ann.
After I graduated from Leesburg High School, I attended Georgia
Southwestern College where I met Ed Carson, a farmer and baseball player.
We enjoyed the Georgia Florida League baseball games. Now we never
miss a Braves game on television. If the family gets together for a picnic or
cook out, it has to be somewhere I can watch the Braves.
I have not mentioned the good times we had with our neighbors.
Mama and Daddy would play cards with the Martins or the Rhodes. We
didnt have television and not much gasoline to travel. We had fun riding
the school bus, which had no heat or air conditioning. We didnt know
what that was. There is so much to tell. I taught school for seven years.
Then worked in an office for many years before I started to work at a jewelry
store. I have worked there for twenty-two years.
95
The things that keep me busy now are the garden club and my work
at the jewelry store. I serve on the Magnolia District Board and Garden
Clubs of Georgia State Board. I enjoy flower arranging for a church and
sometimes I enter flower shows. I have three precious grandchildren, Ryan
Peters is a senior at Southland Academy, Carley Blount is a junior and Meg
Peters is a freshman. Meg couldnt say grandmother so she called me
Bubber.
Ada Lee Cook Carson
Unforgettable Lee Countian
Guy Turner
Mr. Guy Turner was bom in the Midwestern United States (Kansas
or Iowa) in July 1887. He had served during WWI as a radio operator on a
ship. He later joined a religious order of House of David whose members
grew long beards and long hair. Probably in the late 1920s, Mr. Turner had
acquired an acre of land in a pecan orchard on Palmyra Road near the
Longview family farm. This acreage was advertised in a farm magazine and
was being sold at a loss because the pecan crops had not been profitable.
These were Depression years. There is no actual time known when Mr.
Turner came to Lee County but probably the early 1930s.
My father, Ulric F. King, was third generation Lee Countian and
was the US Mail Carrier on Rt. 2, Leesburg. His route consisted of Palmyra
Rd and other parts of Lee County. As my father drove his 79 miles daily, he
came to the Palmyra section and stopped at a mailbox. He serviced the box
and something big and black climbed over the fence. Daddy thought he was
seeing a big bear!! Finally he realized it was a human with long beard and
hair. This was his first meeting with Guy Henry Turner.
They met there every mail day and chatted. Mr. Guy put up a box,
but still met my father everyday except rainy days. He had no transportation,
no electricity, and for a long time no well. There were probably a dozen
cats, which he fed peanut butter he had placed on a large slab. His cabin was
a one-room makeshift house and there was a mattress suspended by ropes
from the ceiling. On the floor below the mattress a pull-up door revealed a
96
trap door, which could be opened with a handle (someday when he was
about to die he intended to do just that and be buried in the mud basement)
He told us this when wed visit with daddy there. He was the only hermit-
like person wed ever seen.
Horoscope study and correspondence courses by mail took up much
of Mr. Turners life. He appeared very intelligent, and daddy took us there
often to talk to him. Also, we would take the Sunday newspaper and
magazine, plus some food, which he enjoyed.
Soon Mr. Turner bought a bicycle, now he could come to Leesburg
to vote. Often, if he was in town, daddy would invite him to a late lunch,
around two or three in the afternoon. All of our young friends wanted to
know whom this man was! Daddy persuaded him to shave his beard, but he
just put a band around his long hair and put it under a hat.
Much later this man bought a truck, and Im sure this gave him much
pleasure. During the early 1940s some of our friends suspected that Mr.
Turner might be a spy, but he was daddys friend, so we never let that bother
us.
When Mr. Turner died in 1980 he was almost ninety-three years old.
His sister called my sister, Leah, and asked for advice regarding his funeral.
Leah was fond of Mr. Guy, as we learned to call him. Leah called me in
Albany and asked, Can we bury Mr. Guy Turner in our cemetery plot.
So when youre at the Leesburg Cemetery look at out King graves,
which is the first on the left as you enter the Leesburg Cemetery, and there
on the northwest comer you will see Mr. Guy Turners grave. Im sure my
daddy was pleased.
Ann King Young
97
Guy Turner
Square Dance Days
From the mid-forties to the mid-fifties Square Dances were held in
the Lee County High Gym every Saturday night. They were started to fund
the construction of the town swimming pool. They were so much fun and
people came from surrounding counties to attend.
Miss Lorice Cook took the money up at the door and gave you a
colored ribbon in case you went outside and would not have to pay again.
My mother would sit with her and help. I always suspected she was there to
keep her eyes on me. The square dances were our main social life at that
time. Most of my friends looked forward to Saturday night and we would
98
come home from college to attend. I had to have a new outfit every time and
I would never go with a date so who ever I liked that night could take me
home.
We had cakewalks and concession stand to make extra money. The local
men, L.J. Miller, Mercer Stocks and others would call the dances and we
would have round dancing in between with a live band providing the music.
Patricia Blackshear Mcdaniel
Boy Scout Leader
I was Scout Master for Boy Scout Troops for many years and the
thing the boys enjoyed most was a trip to Okeefenokee Swamp, Stephen
Foster Park out from Fargo.
We would take this trip every year during spring break. We had a second-
hand bus and it seemed it would break down on the way down. But our
good friends, Mr. Otis Hill and Mr. Robert Clay would always send us
something to come back in. The first year we camped on Billys Island,
which is out from the park, and the only way to get to the island was by
boat. On our first trip we camped on Billys Island and we soom learned
that we were not the only ones there. A troop from Atlanta was there also.
They had a generator with them and this was against the rules. I got the
boys together and asked if they could do something about this. In about an
hour, they generator spit two or three times. I found out later that the boys
had slipped around and put bubble gum in the tank. The generator didnt
run anymore while we were there.
Each day we would go to a small store just outside the park. It
belonged to Lem Griffith. He was a great storyteller, and he would have a
good one to tell the boys each day. This is one he told:
He was fishing on the Suwannee River one day and he hooked a
fish that pulled him into the water. He got to go so fast that his britches
caught on fire. Another time he was fishing, he cast out by a big log and the
fish struck at the live bait, missed it and swallowed the log. The next day he
caught the fish and he got three carloads of sawdust out of it. Another he
99
told he said he won a Liars Contest that year. He had a flat tire; he repaired
the tube but didnt have air to put back in it. While he was wondering what
to do, a whirl-wind came by and pumped it up. Three years later, the
whirlwind was going around in the wheel to keep it up.
Another year we were down there, we had the camper in the
campground because the water was so high. The coons and pole cats walked
around the camp during the day. The boys would track and run down the
coons. In fact, they brought two coons back to Leesburg in lard cane. Of
course I didnt know about this until later when one night Charles Rhodes
and I were in our tent. I woke up during the night with a pole cat in the tent
with us. On one of our annual trips Bob Wilson went along with us. He
evidently had never had one of my camping breakfast. He remarked one
day that my eggs were French fried eggs.
JM Rhodes
Felicias Place
We moved from Dawson to the farm across the creek when I was
about 3 years old and became part of the Smithville community. My Mama
had five children then; later two more were added. Being an enterprising
and talented lady, she decided to open a beauty shop in town. Ladies came
from all around to Felicias to be hooked up to a machine that made them
look like snakes were growing from their heads.
Before long she decided that a shop at home would be the best thing
to do. You would think that a beauty shop in the country would be too hard
to find, but the ladies were there everyday from early morning until late
afternoon. Rarely did we have a day when it was just our family at home.
During the summer when we were out of school, the children came with
their mothers. We always had playmates while the mothers cut, curled and
permed. We played cowboys and Indians, had bike races and roamed the
countryside and the sand pits. Luckily, I only remember one or two broken
bones.
Nobody ate better than we did because the customers would bring
whatever needed picking in their garden. While they were getting their hair
100
fixed, they would also shell peas and beans or shuck com. One gallon of
buttermilk and a pound of fresh butter every week would pay for a hairdo.
Another customer brought eggs or smoked ham. You see what I mean! Of
course, whoever was there at mealtime got to eat whatever we had.
Mama would fix someones hair all year in exchange for Christmas
gifts for her children. I have a painting in my home that was paid for with
hairdos. One year several ladies saved the money they would have paid,
and Mama used it to buy tickets to Hawaii for her and Daddy.
ft was a unique situation in which to grow up. I was grown before I
realized that my family had actually been poor. I know that most of the
women that came to Felicias were friends that loved Mama the way she
loved them, and when I think back to those times I feel loved and rich.
Cecilia Gibbs
My Granddaddy
Thad Gibson served his country proudly, flying eighty missions
during World War II. He was awarded ten air medals for outstanding service
as well as the Presidential Unit Citation, African Star, and the Distinguished
Flying Cross. While he was in the service he met his sweetheart, Mary
Rebecca Vest. After dating for a period of time, they were married in April
of 1945 on the Air Force Base in Marianna, Florida.
Thad Gibson and his family moved to Lee County after the war. He
followed suit to all the men who came home from the war lacking knowledge
of a trade; he started farming. He became T.C. Kings overseer. His father-
in-law, Luther Edwin Vest, became a partner in farming with him in 1951.
The families lived together on Lee Street Road. In 1961 Thad and Luther
sold the farm and Mary Vest and Luther Vest retired to Florida where they
were originally from.
During the years farming, Thad had other jobs as well. Forresters
Furniture Store was one of the places he worked. He also worked at the
local Post Office, where he developed an interest in law. He earned a
correspondence degree from La Salle University. In 1959 he took the Georgia
Bar Examination and became a lawyer. Over the years he climbed the legal
101
ladder, succeeding John M. Forrester for the Leesburg City Court Judge.
He also worked for the Albany law firm Perry, Walters, Langstaff, and Lippitt.
He was the attorney for the City of Leesburg, Lee County, and the Lee
County School Board of Education. In January of 1976 he became the
Workers Compensation Judge. In June of 1981, Thad Wise Gibson was
sworn in by Governor George Busbee as Superior Court Judge for the
Southwestern Judicial Circuit, which he proudly served for almost twenty
years.
In 1984,1, Matthew Vest Hyman, was bom. Some of the greatest
childhood memories I have are with my grandfather, Thad Gibson. I
remember taking walks with him up to the local Suwannee Swifty store to
get a small Sprite, and my grandfather would get a black coffee. Thad
Gibson was not only my grandfather; he was my friend. He died May 14,
2000 as a result of a series of strokes and a heart attack. He is survived by
his wife, Mary Rebecca Gibson, a daughter Rebecca Jane Hyman, a
grandchild Matthew Vest Hyman, and two sons Thad Jr. and Charlie. I am
proud to say that Thad Wise Gibson was my grandfather.
Matthew Vest Hyman
Goodwin and Katybel Hall
There is no way to express how wonderful it was to be bom and
raised in Lee County. My mama and daddy made this possible for my sister,
brother, and me. My daddy came to Lee County in December 1934. He had
been working on Pineland Plantation in Baker County. He came to oversee
and operate a farm located on the comer of Lovers Lane Road and what is
now known as Highway 32 East. In February of 1935,1 was bom at home
at this location. In the next 3 years my sister and brother came along. Mama
made it to Phoebe Putney for their births.
My daddy purchased his own farm in 1941. We moved to the farm
that is located five miles north of Leesburg, now US 19 North. Of course
this was way out in the country at that time. Our house was across the railroad
tracks. Many trains passed daily since this was during WWII. Living by the
railroad track was interesting during the way and after the war. We saw so
102
much war material being transported by rail. After the war there was always
someone walking the tracks or riding the rails. Many of them were looking
for work or food. They would come to our house and mama would always
feed them or attempted to make things better for them. She seemed always
prepared to feed the multitudes if the occasion arose.
This was, of course, before mechanical machinery, so this was mostly
hand labor. Daddy row cropped peanuts, com and cotton. He was one of
the first farmers in this area to grow and ship watermelons by rail. This rail
company placed empty boxcars on a sidetrack at Neyami, which got its
name by supposedly being half way between New York and Miami. Daddy
and his farm help cut the watermelons in the field late in the afternoon, and
very early the next morning they would be loaded on a trailer and pulled to
the boxcar and packed to be shipped to Detroit. It was always a rash to get
the watermelons in Detroit for the Fourth of July.
My daddys occupation was farming, but his hobby was fishing the
creeks of Lee County in his small fishing boat. It was first propelled by two
oars, which were later replaced by a small motor. He was so good at fishing
that we ate fried fish often. By the way, his rat terrier dog, named Sister, rode
in the boat with him.
Mama and daddy were always community minded people. They
always seemed to be aware of the needs of others. I was in the first grade
when we moved to the farm. This being wartime, a lady drove my school
bus. Sometimes a high school student in Leesburg or Smithville drove it.
We were picked up on a small bus that probably carried 16 people. I dont
remember that we ever had a full bus. This bus came up US 19 to pick us up
and then traveled down Crotwell road to Prison Rd. We were then dropped
off at school so the bus could get students near the Kinchafoonee Creek and
bring them to school. This route was reversed in the afternoon. Much has
changed in the last 60 years. I now see dozens of buses going in this area.
Later in his life, Daddy served the county by being elected to the
Georgia House of Representative and later the Lee County Board of
Commissioners until his death. Mama likewise was active in church and the
home demonstration club. She had the Girls Auxiliary at the Baptist Church.
Just recently someone reminded me that she would take them to the beach
on a retreat. In the late 50s and early 60s a trip to the beach was very
special.
103
Many things have changed over the last 70 years in Lee County. It
was a wonderful place to live and raise a family. In 2004 many more people
are here to do the same. Some things never change. Lee County is still a
great place to live the good life. I know that being raised in Lee County was
a blessing. I wanted to write this as a tribute to my mama and daddy, Kaytbel
and Goodwin Hall and my dear husband, Charles Rhodes, who thought
that living in Lee County was paradise.
Marinel Rhodes
Willmar Plantation
Willmar Plantation is located in the northern part of Lee County in
ChokeeDistrict.lt was originally three farms. These farms were: the Judge
Smith Farm, the M.C. Kendrick Farm and the Barrett Farm. The Barrett
Farm had been bought from D.C. Jones. In December 1960, Russell Thomas
(R.T.) Miller and his wife Erma bought these farms and called it Willmar
Plantation. The name Willmar comes from the name of their children, William
and Margie. The plantation was later owned and operated by Mr. R.T.
Millers son, William, and his wife Pat. William and Pat have four children:
Chris, Sally, Tom and Ben. Polled Hereford cattle, com, soybeans, peanuts,
wheat and timber were grown on Willmar. Roger E. Peak, Sr. (1960 until
March 1989) and Sidney C. Peak (March 1989 until March 1993) managed
the plantation for William and Pat Miller until they sold it in 1993.
Sidney lived most of his life on Willmar Plantation. He spent much
time hunting, fishing, collecting arrowheads, bicycling, playing outside games
and swimming in the pit with his brothers (Roger Elvin, John Benjamin and
Stanley Tracy), his many cousins and friends. Sidney also enjoyed reading
and would sometime write poetry and short stories as well as draw.
Later Sidney and I married and had Zachary Clay Peak. Zach would
sometimes go fishing at the fishpond on Willmar with Sidney. Once they
caught an 8-pound bass. I took a picture of Sidney holding the fish with
104
Zach looking on. We call it our Andy and Opie picture because Sidney
and Zach looked a lot like Andy and Opie Taylor from the television show.
Once Zach pulled a loose tooth, accidentally dropped the tooth, and
it went down the drain of the bathroom sink. Zach was worried that the
tooth fairy would not come if the tooth were not put under his pillow that
night. He wanted me to get the tooth out of the pipes. I did not know how
to disconnect the pipes to get the tooth. I tried to explain that the tooth fairy
would understand about the tooth and would come anyway, but Zach did
not buy that. Zach sat on the bathroom floor by the sink until his Dad came
in from work. He was able to talk his Dad into retrieving the runaway tooth,
and the tooth fairy was able to come and get the tooth that night.
Willmar Plantation was sold in 1993 to six people. They later divided
the farm into two parts and only two of the original six own it now. Part of
the plantation is still called Willmar Plantation and the rest is called Lorac
Plantation.
Carol Ann Clay Peak
A Flood of Fish
I recall one year we had an unusually wet season in the spring, and
it overflowed many of the year-round ponds in the county. The creeks and
streams flowed their fish into them when that happened. One of the ponds
known as Big Cypress, which was banked on one side by U.S. 19, rose so
high and had so many fish in it that people were standing on the sides of the
road, raking them out with yard rakes and pitchforks. I wish fish were that
plentiful now; maybe I could catch more than I do.
Virgil A. Booker
105
Growing up in Lee County
My sister, Melody, and I grew up on the family farm in northern Lee
County. On our farm we had many sources of water. There is a spring,
Chokee Creek, a millpond, and two other ponds. We had lots of fun at these
water holes.
We would play at the spring with cousins and friends. The water
was always chilly. It was a nice place to go to get wet and cool off. One
spot in the spring was a little deeper than the rest, being knee deep and it was
always the best place to cool off. In more recent years, a wooden bridge has
been put across the spring. We have had family picnics there on occasion
and the young children would enjoy playing there and getting wet while the
older people remembered good times from the past.
We used to fish at Chokee Creek. There were two small wooden
bridges across the creek. The trees would overlap the road. It was so beautiful
down at the creek. We enjoyed fishing from the bridge. An aunt or uncle
made a picture of us fishing from the bridge when we were small. Years
later I showed the picture to my son, Zach. I asked him if he knew the
children. He reply was Yes, that is Mom and that is me. It took me several
days to convince Zach that it was his Aunt Melody in the picture and not
him.
We also would go to the millpond on the farm to fish. The
millpond has many large old cypress trees and is sometimes called the gator
pond. There was a small aluminum boat down there that different ones
would use to fish from or just ride around on the pond. Once while we were
down at the pond, several people were out on the boat. My sister and I were
fishing from the bank. She was fishing beside a tree with her foot in a cow
track when she caught a fish. When we asked her secret about how to catch
a fish, she told us you just have to have your foot in a cow track!
In the late 1960s the part of New York Road that runs through our
farm was dirt. That meant after a rain things got muddy. One time my
cousins, Dawn and Dusk were visiting. It had been raining and there was
plenty of water in the ditches by the road. Melody and Dusk decided to play
in part of the ditch that had lots of water and red clay in it. Luckily, I guess,
they had on their swimsuits. When my Dad and Uncle found Melody and
106
Dusk, they were covered with red clay from head to toe. Daddy and Uncle
Jim promptly took them to Grannys house to clean them up with the water
hose.
Zach and I still live on the farm in Grannys house and enjoy the
memories of growing up here.
Carol Ann Clay Peak
The Dixie Flyer
About the only excitement we had in Smithville was watching the
trains go through town, especially at midnight when the Dixie flyer passed
through, headed to Miami, Fla. It usually had about 28 or 30 passenger
coaches, plus a post office car and a couple of diners. About all you could
see as it passed by, though, was a lighted streak accompanied by a tremendous
rumble and punctuated with a cloud of dust.
Virgil A. Booker
Elizabeth Allen Neloms
Affectionately known as Mima and Miss Sis
Bom on July 27, 1898 in Lee County, Georgia, to a well-known
carpenter in those days, the late Henry Allen, and Fannie White Allen, she
was the sibling of thirteen. She had five brothers, Matthew (her twin), Henry,
Richard, Fred and Candice Allen and eight sisters, Anna, Mamie, Sarah
Jane, Daisy, Katie, Rena, Beatrice, Armelia and Bertha Allen.
Elizabeth confessed Christ at an early age and became a member of
Jordan Grove Baptist Church. After meeting and marrying the late Deacon
John Neloms, she later joined Wooden Grove Baptist church in Leesburg,
Georgia where she served as a faithful member, deaconess and Mother of
the church until her health started to decline.
She only obtained an elementary education before becoming the
wife of John Neloms a sharecropper farmer. They had been married for 48
107
years at the time of his death. She was the mother of six children, two boys,
John Henry and Ulysses Neloms and four girls, Carrie Bell Collier, Emma
Kate Bamum, Ceola N. Floyd and Gussie Lee Rhodes.
Living on a farm and working as a sharecropper, John and Elizabeth
Neloms, along with their children, worked hard to try and make ends meet.
Very rarely, if at all, did they break even at the end of farming season. She
was a fast worker especially picking cotton with two rows at a time and
would pick out to the end of the field and meet the others almost half way
while they were trying to make it to the end with one row.
Not only did she work hard in the cotton and peanut fields, she kept
her house neat and clean, cooked, washed and ironed for her family as well
as washed and ironed for the Boss Man and his family. Of course, the
children helped with chores around the house when they became of age.
Elizabeth was one of the best cooks in Lee County: she could make
the best tasting food on her stove that burned wood (which she was cutting
up herself at the age of 90) especially her light and fluffy biscuits, potato
pies and cakes. She loved gardening, canning fruits and vegetables, making
fruit preserves and quilting. She would make a couple of squares for the
quilts at night before going to bed after working hard all day. After making
the squares and putting them together for the top during the spring and
summer, she would finish quilting them together in the winter months. Most
of her family and friends have one of her quilts in their home. She did the
gardening and quilting until she reached the age of 91.
After Elizabeths health started to decline and with much
encouragement from her family, she moved to Jacksonville, Florida in 1992
to live with her oldest granddaughter, Elizabeth Milledge (Walter) Byers.
Other grandchildren are Eddie Dean Anderson, Jessie L. Neloms, Bertha F.
Elmore, Ceola Neloms, John Neloms, Katie Mae Collier, Leroy (Linda)
Collier and Denise (John) Collins. There are 20 great grandchildren and 23
great-great grandchildren.
As the only survivor of her siblings, Elizabeth has been so blessed
by God that at the age of 105 she is still fairly healthy. She only takes Centrum
Silver vitamin and baby aspirin daily. Although she is unable to care for
herself or communicate well verbally, Elizabeth still manages to let her un-
wants be known.
108
Elizabeth has always been a cheerful and caring person toward others.
Her advice to her children and grandchildren was to be kind to others as you
go through life because you never know whose help you might need. Dont
beg others to do things for you that you can do for yourself. Get a good
education; keep busy because an idle mind and idle hands make a lazy man.
Elizabeth Sally M. Byars, Granddaughter
I Remember When
I remember when Main Street was dirt, and road scrapers kept the
road smooth. My family lived across from First Baptist Church, but in 1954
things changed. Marvin Griffin was running for Governor and was in a
field of eight contenders. Fred Hand was the main opposition. Georgia was
under the county unit system at the time, so winning Lee County meant as
much as winning Fulton County. The word was put out that if Griffin took
Lee County, roads would be paved. Griffin took Lee County, won the
Governorship, and appointed his brother as commissioner of the highway
department and Leesburg was paved.
One summer and early fall, during peanut season, I worked for
Cannon Brothers Peanut Company, U.S. Department of Agriculture, pulling
peanut samples of the loads that were brought in by the farmers. In the
office were Mr. J.B. Cannon, Mr. Lamar Cannon, Mr. Charles Cannon and
Mr. Ned Crotwell.
There were two U.S. Department of Agriculture Inspectors that
graded the samples of peanuts, and I remember only their first names, Bob
and Jim. The process went like this: the load was driven onto the scales and
weighed, I pulled the sample, the sample was graded (to determine the amount
of moisture in the peanut, how many splits, weight of shell to nut, and rocks,
dirt, etc.) and if passed, the load was taken to the warehouse to be unloaded
and the truck would come back to be weighed again to get the empty weight
and thus determine the amount of peanuts in the load. My workstation was
above the load in the contraption that could move forward and back and
109
from side to side. The sample was taken by a vacuum tube being extended
into the load and the sample being sucked up into a large canister. The
sample was then reduced to a smaller sample by a divider, put in a canvas
bag and lowered by rope to the inspectors. I noticed one day a certain
farmer had a large dog and when he came in with a load, he would get out of
the truck for the weigh in, but after he unloaded, and came back for the
second weight in, he and the dog would get out of the truck. After seeing
this for several loads, I mentioned it to one of the inspectors and he went to
Mr. Lamar Cannon to ask, How many times are you going to buy the
dog? I guess Mr. Lamar handled the situation tactfully because I never saw
the dog anymore.
I think the early fifties and sixties was a good time to grow up in Lee
County. The school was all in one building; grades 1-12 and I knew people
in other grades, older and younger. The class reunion I enjoyed the most
included several classes. Lee County had dirt roads and boys could ride and
hunt rabbits. You could also go out Hwy 32 toward Dawson to the
Kinchafoonee Creek Bridge, then on the bank walk north past James
Cannons camp house and enter the creek to wade back down to the bridge.
Fly fishing with popping bugs for red belly bream. Many an afternoon
was spent doing this with a friend who called me Cuz. He later drank too
much and killed himself. I often wonder if we had spent more time fishing
if things might have turned out different for him. This was a time for chivalry
also. To mention a few instances: John Wheaton was dating Miss Shelia
Gates and Tommy Johnson wanted to cut in. John and Tommy got in Johns
car, went out Stage Road Ranch Road, stopped, had a fistfight, then we
came back to school. Tommy won the fight, John won the girl, and it all
happened at lunchtime.
Then there was Terry Ross dating Barbara Baker, and Leonard
Shaver wanted to cut in. Terry figured Leonard needed something else to
think about so Terry ordered from WCKY Cincinnati Ohio (a radio station)
500 baby chicks. Some way they figured out it was Terry who ordered the
chickens. Terrys father was a Lt. Col. in the Air Force and flew B-52s out
of Turner Field in Albany, Georgia. Col. Ross was not a happy man and
neither was Terry. He had to raise 500 chickens. This cut into his dating
time.
110
Also, it was a time for mischief: Climbing the water tank to paint Class of
?? on the side, picking up Mr. Barry Bakers little white car and putting
it bumper to bumper between the columns in front of the gym, taking a jar of
white phosphorus from Chemistry Lab to go fishing with. We dropped it
off the bridge into the creek and the resulting explosion ended the fishing
trip (glad the bridge is still standing). I believe the statute of limitations has
run out in all cases.
J.W. Forrester
Growing Up on Main Street..,Leesburg
Like many others, we did not have far too walk to school, as it was
right here on Main Street, the present two story building now standing. After
school we played on the dirt street, now State Highway 32, stopping only
for an occasional car, truck, or mule-drawn wagon. It was not easy to catch
a fly hit baseball when it ricocheted off of electric wires, but we caught them
anyway.
On our street was the Lee County jailhouse. We lived next door to
it, the bottom floor was the residence of the sheriff; the top, the jail. Mr. Jim
McBride, Captain Mac, as he was called, and Miss Marie, lived and raised
their children there. I can see him now, taking prisoners upstairs and hearing
the clank of the steel cell doors. Sometimes it was not a pleasure to live next
door to the jail, especially when there was a crazy person locked up who
would holler and scream all day and night.
Next to the jail was the city water well and elevated tank, which was
taken down in 2003. Mr. J. E. Fore, a city employee, would climb the tank,
and for some reason, climb on to the top and sit on the steel ball. Once he
stood up on the ball. During the summer, once in awhile, the tank would
overflow, cascading water from the top overflow pipe to the ground. We
would quickly get under it to our delight.
At Christmas time, everyone had fireworks and started shooting them
days before Christmas. We would build a bonfire on the sidewalk and stay
up just as late as our parents would let us. One bad time was when I picked
up a firecracker that did not explode and held it close to my sisters face.
Ill
Yes, it did explode, and off to the doctor we went... hurt fingers, ears, face,
and all. I remember the thirty-inch Roman candles shooting colored balls of
fire into the air, skyrockets, not those little ones you put in a coke bottle, but
those, which looked as large as your arm.
Once, Daddy brought in a cedar Christmas tree, the only kind in
those days, almost big enough to climb. It was so tall that the top bent over
about two feet in the ceiling; he did not bother to cut more off the base.
Christmas was also special for the adults, and Mama always had much to eat
and a big punchbowl full of eggnog for our neighbors.
My Daddy raised twelve children, bom every two years. I was the
youngest. After his first wife died, he married my mother. He was a most
unusual man... farmer, justice of peace, businessman, and a real character.
At one time, he was in business with, and dealt with, horses and mules. We
had a bam in back of our house, as well as pasture and bams on the north
side of Fourth Street. We always had chickens, ducks, hogs, dogs, cats,
goats, mules, horses, pigeons, and whatever else you can name.
Many people did not agree with Daddys method of animal training
and discipline, but it worked. When one of the horses, and especially Beauty,
the Shetland pony, would get out of the pasture, he would shoot them, at a
respectable distance with birdshot in his shotgun. They immediately ran
back through the gate and into the pasture. Of course, it did not hurt the
animal.
We lived across from the Kings, Mr. Ulrick, his wife Miss Shirley,
Jimmy, Ann, and Leah. Mr. Ulrick would come in from his rural mail route,
and for his pleasure, played cards, smoked, and told us of the happenings on
his route. If you got close to him, he would grab you and pretend that he
was going to bite off your ear.
Also living across the street at one time were the Coxwells. Mr.
Lesters auto shop was uptown, and everyone remembers his help named
Yelp. Our other neighbors were the Tharps, and of course, I played with
our colored friends who lived back of us, named Benny Lee, Floyd, and
L.C.
Sometimes as many as six or more of us boys, each with his own 22
rifle would walk around town, shooting at birds or just about anything. No
one seemed to mind, and thank goodness, no one got hurt. Every now and
then, someone would shoot the water tank just to hear it ping.
112
No one will ever forget the House That We Built. It was 1939 and
there was an empty lot next door to the Kings. A bunch of scrap lumber was
available, and on our own, we built a large one-room playhouse. Of course,
Jimmy, the oldest, did most of the work. We built the foundation, floor,
walls, roof, and doors. One thing we forgot- there were not windows in it,
or did we just want to play in the dark? Probably so.
Harry Lee
Special People
Do you remember some special people? Miss Mitt Sanders owned
a service station where a bank is today. She knew everyone and everything
that happened in town.
Aunt Neva? She was the telephone operator when I was in high
school. She was a jewel. She knew all our secrets. She would tell our
callers where we were, how long we would be gone, when we would be
back. She even let me operate the switchboard once but told me I could not
listen in on calls. By the way, she was not my aunt, we all just called her
that.
Mary Dance was one of those teachers who influenced many
students. Do you remember the big productions that she had once a year?
They were as good as many stage productions I have seen later in life. She
is probably why I became a teacher.
Another great memory was the baseball team Leesburg had when I was
young. My parents and I went to all the games. I cant remember all the
players but some were Goat Yeoman, Dick Forrester, Reid Stovall, Hugh
Stovall, and Golden Scott. When the team played in Cordele we crossed
the Flint River on a ferry. One of my sickest times was after one of the home
games, I was so excited at the game (I had a crush on all the players) that I
kept eating parched peanuts. Mama always wondered what made me so
sick. A follow up on this story, later in my life I married and moved to
Fitzgerald. My husband introduced me to Golden Scott at a dance. I gave
him a big hug and told him about my crush on him back in those days. He
was pleased, but his wife wasnt so pleased. Romantic?
113
Superintendent Pinkney Powell would make a recruiting trip to
Milledgeville for new teachers. He would take a few students from the high
school with him. We loved to go because he stopped in every town and
service station to talk and always got a Coca Cola, crackers or candy. He
usually came back with promises of future teachers.
Gwen Johnson Seanor
A Sister named M
My mother, a character in her own right, had two very good friends
whose names began with the letter M. When my sister was bom, she
wanted to name the baby for one of them, but she could not decide which
one and certainly did not want to hurt the feelings of either.
So, she named my sister, M for both of them, and that way, no
feelings were hurt. Now wasnt that just something my mama would do!
Page Tharp
The Firefighter Found Em
Growing up in Lee County in the 1950s presented young teens, old
teens, college students, and others, with state and federal government jobs
relating to farming in general, and agriculture. After all, Lee is one of the
largest counties in the state of Georgia. One of my jobs one summer was co-
managing the forest fire tower, which was located (and still is) across the
road from the Leesburg Cemetery. Well, one afternoon, I spotted a heavy
column of black smoke rising in the eastern sky, and off I went in an over-
sized jeep loaded down with all kinds of fire-fighting equipment, including
a good size pressurized water tank. I turned on the blinking red lights, shot
over to the Leslie highway, and floor-boarded it, so to speak. Soon after
zipping over the Muckalee Creek Bridge, and finally reaching a dirt road off
to the right, putting the smoke to my left, I frantically searched for a road or
an open field or any opening. I FINALLY came upon one of those little
114
two-path roads, slung a hard left, and was now heading straight towards the
red and orange flames and black smoke. Zipping around a curve, what did I
spot? On fire were some old auto tires and big pile of general trash. Also
there was John Cromartie, Rody Stovall, and Teddy Sparling.
My comment: No comment.
Bill Cromarite
Andys Antics
Marthanne and Tony Bruner, life long residents of Lee County have
a son named Andy Bruner. Andy is grown now and has a family of his own.
He attended Lee County Schools and is now a Civil Engineer in the Atlanta
Area.
Andy was a very innovative little boy who liked animals and enjoyed
the outdoors. He spent lots of time with his grandmother, Greta Stocks. He
liked accompanying her while she worked in her yard and watered her
flowers. He was a most observant child.
One day when the family was busy with other duties, Andy
proceeded to do what he had seen his grandmother do on numerous occasions
while watering her plants. The only problem was that Andy brought the
water hose into the living room and started dousing the entire room. Needless
to say, the family was somewhat upset. Andy just figured the inside of the
house needed watering as well as the outside.
On another occasion Andy really displayed his love of animals. A
family that lived near him when he was a child had a dog that had a litter of
puppies. Andy took a liking to one of the puppies and brought it back with
him to his home. His mother, Marthanne, told him that they could not keep
the dog, and that he should take it back to its rightful owners. Andy, being
very persistent and cunning, devised a plan to hide the dog at his house. His
mother opened the refrigerator door and the dog came tumbling out! The
family had to wrap the dog in towels to warm it up. Again his mother told
115
him that the dog had to go back home, but Andy was not finished with his
schemes to hide the dog.
Andy came up with another creative hiding place. His granddaddy,
Ed Stocks, liked to fish and he kept a minnow bucket full of minnows and
water under a spigot outside. He kept it ready so he could just pick it up and
go whenever he wanted to go fishing.
When Andys mother went to the spigot to move the minnow bucket,
what did she find- you guessed it; the puppy was there among the minnows.
The puppy was all right, but a bit shaken from all the strange hiding places.
Andy was finally convinced with a good deal of coaxing from his mother to
return the puppy to its mother.
Andy, as a grown man, still had a devilish glint in his eye and an
impish grin, his mother, Marthanne, says that when Andy retires from his
job as a Civil Engineer, he might retire to Lee County or come to visit the
home place often.
If you see headlines in the Lee County Ledger that reads Andy
Bruner to Return to Lee County be sure to hide your water hose and pen
up all your dogs. If you can find any hills in Lee County, run for them. Andy
is returning!!
Sandra Stocks
Im Going to Marry Her
My Daddy was working as a mechanic for Lester Coxwell, his
brother-in-law. They were standing in front of the shop when several of the
new teachers walked by the shop. Daddy turned to his brother-in-law and
his Dad. He said, See that girl in the dark dress, Im going to marry her.
His Dad said, Boy, you must be crazy. Sure enough they were married
the next summer in her sisters church in Macon, Georgia. They were both
Methodists but were married in a Baptist Church by a Baptist preacher and
lived happily ever after.
Gwen Johnson Seanor
116
But She Lived and Lived and Lived
Bom 1891 in Lee County, a premature baby, so small that a silver
dollar would cover her face, and even at five months, weighed only five
pounds, BUT SHE LIVED!
At an early age she had the dreaded disease called in those days
hemorrhagic fever, caused by mosquitoes and the accompanying
hemorrhages, not only once, which killed many, but five times BUT SHE
LIVED!
In later life, while crossing Main Street with food for a neighbor, she
was hit by a car, injured and resulted in hospital stay, BUT SHE LIVED!
She had lung cancer and surgery, BUT SHE LIVED:
Then she had breast cancer and surgery, BUT SHE LIVED: But
she really lived to serve her Lord and Savior, and this community with her
musical talents. She was the Leesburg Baptist Churchs pianist for sixty-five
years, also regularly playing in the Methodist and Presbyterian Churches. In
those days, she played for every school baccalaureate, commencement,
graduation, wedding and funerals. There were so many that to count would
be impossible! Stage plays, musicals, and anything else connected with music
my mother played. For all this, she never asked for, charged, or accepted
one penny of money, for it was done by the love in her heart. Kimbrell-Stem
Funeral Directors, still, after almost more than two decades, place flowers
on her birthday in the Baptist Church recalling her service during funerals.
Teaching music to others, there would have never been a Dave
Mercer band had it not been for her instructions to him. She composed music,
both churches and others. Several hymns were submitted to Southern Baptist
headquarters; one popular composition was played at her grandsons wedding
in Atlanta. She just loved to entertain people, and sometimes Ham it up.
Especially fond of ragtime music, she played very difficult pieces such as:
Tickled to Death, Kitten on the Keys, and Scott Joplins Maple Leaf
Rag. So good with these, we got her on the WALBs Town and County
shown when she was eighty years old. They wanted her back, so she played
these same tunes again at eighty-five years old.
Reading extensively about medicine, she was ahead of her time, and
it was this knowledge that helped save the life of her own son, sick with
117
pneumonia. After much other medicines had failed, she prevailed upon Dr.
Frank Neil to try the new drug she read about, sulphumilimide. The sulphur
drug worked, and the child got well. On a lighter note, Dr. William Field
told his office nurse one day to get out his medical books as the Leesburg
lady was coming in for an office visit, being certain there would be many
questions asked. The love for learning about medicine was given and
graciously accepted by her daughter-in-law and grandson.
A student of the Bible, she taught Sunday School for many years
and was a consultant to pastors. It was along this line that a great love and
friendship resulted between her and Rev. Bobby Moye during his Leesburg
pastorate.
Some saw her other traits as somewhat strange and peculiar, but it
was just her nature. Walking to church, school, to town, she would stop
along the way and pull up weeds, especially sandspurs and nut grass. She
could shoot a shotgun, teaching her son at an early age to shoot. Hearing a
noise at night, it was not uncommon for her to get her twenty gauge, double
barreled shotgun and flashlight and walk outside around her house. Someone
once said after hearing a gunshot that must be her running off a stray dog or
killing a wharf rat in her chicken house.
At the age of 94, the little premature baby went to join her Lord and
Savior in Paradise. BUT SHE LIVES, in the hearts and memories of all
who knew and loved her. When that great day arrives for her heavenly
entry, perhaps a call will be heard, Pauline Page Tharp, arise, come forth,
enter, and once again play the piano for all of us.
Page Tharp
Living in Leesburg, Georgia
We moved to Leesburg from Cordele when I was five years old. My
dad was in the Service Station business, and operated the old Waco Pep
Station (where the convenient store is now). He later moved to the north end
118
of town. His station was the second one coming in from Smithville. When
he retired he sold it. It is now a used car business.
We lived in an apartment owned by Mrs. Mary Kimbrough, but later
moved to an apartment next to Billy Stovalls. My first friends in town were
Barbara Lee, Ann and Charles Cannon, the Stovalls, Pates, and Cromarites.
After I entered the first grade, my dad bought the house across the street
from the school, which was owned by Mrs. Cawood. We lived there my
whole 12 years in school.
My mother, Eula, died in 1950 and dad married Frances deVane in
1953. She had a daughter, Phyllisde Vane, and I became her big sister. We
went to all the churches in town, however I was baptized in the Leesburg
Baptist church, but later became a member of the Leesburg Methodist Church
when my dad remarried so that we could all belong to the same church.
One of the best things about living in Leesburg was growing up
with all the peoplewhere everybody knew everybody. I love them all and
think of them often. Many, however, that I grew up with have died or moved
away. Even though my dad is gone and weve sold the house, Ill always
have ties to Leesburg and Lee County. AFTER ALL, THATS HOME!
Eunice Culpepper Vining
In Remembering
How about my first kiss? All the young kids played in a huge sand
box, under a big oak tree beside Mr. Tic Forresters house across from
the Pump House in the middle of the street across from the Jail House, water
tank and the school, I received my first kiss. We were in the first grade.
After a long, long chase, he (James McBride) caught me. How I disliked
boys back in those days.
How about all the kids who used to play out on Friday nights
under the streetlights in the middle of the street. How about the high school
119
dirt basketball court (where the present gym is today). We yelled and cheered
for our team just as loud as they do today.
How about learning to swim in Mossy Dell and shivering in that
cold water. How about piling in one car (few had cars back in those days)
to go places. I remember Doug Lewis was always happy to take as many as
could pile in his car to special events.
How about going to The Black Cat, curb service under the
enormous oak tree, large juke box under that tree also, remember? How
about those socials or pound parties (everyone brings a pound of cookies,
etc) that the Methodist Youth had once a month meeting many times at the
Convict Camp on the Leslie Highway. We played games under the lights.
Mr. Randall was always kind to let us meet there. Would you believe that
high school kids today would play Drop the Handkerchief, Go in and
out the Windows, Farmers in the Dell, Dodge ball, etc. We had a great
time, all 30 or 35 of us. My parents (Joseph and Helen Johnson) were
usually the chaperones. How about learning to dance in the little cafe (Mrs.
Jewel Coxwell ran it) in the old Post Office next to the Drug Store. Thinking
of dancing, I remember what a great dancer my Dad was. After my husbands
death and I came back to Leesburg to live, my Mom would baby-sit with
my two sons so that Daddy and I could go to some of the big dances at
Radium Springs. Im sure many people who did not know my Dad thought
he was out with some young chick. How about when everyone, young
and old, went to the great square dances every Saturday night in the gym.
Wonderful memories.
Saturday nights in Leesburg were exciting when I was a child. We
would park up town and watch the people. The stores stayed open until
midnight. Also on election days, everyone parked in front of the courthouse
and waited around until all the votes were counted. There was much visiting
and catching up on news, etc. at this time.
Gwen Johnson Seanor
120
My Years in Leesburg
We moved to Leesburg in 1957 or 1958, from Indianapolis, Indiana,
where my father had been working with a stable of horses owned by a
wealthy Italian immigrant. My father had decided to return to his home state
and open his own stable. He was from the fourth generation of Wingfields
in Rome, Floyd County Georgia, northwest of Atlanta, but it was too cold
there in the winter for year-round horse training. He decided to look in
South Georgia for a small farm. He bought a portion of Mr. J.B. Cannon,
Sr.s land on the Kinchafoonee, which already had some bams and
outbuildings. In fact, there is still a Circle C mark made of pebbles in the
cement in front of the south bam by the entrance to the old racetrack, and
little buffalo was drawn too, while the cement was wet.
My father built a blacksmiths forge right away for the farrier and
started the surveyors on laying out a quarter mile racetrack. Paddocks were
built and haying equipment bought. Mr. Johnny Groover, soil conservationist
spent a lot of time showing where watermelons and sweet potatoes would
grow best because my father had decided to take produce north in the horse
track when he went to the races.
My parents, my sister Wendy and I lived in a two-bedroom house
we rented from Mr. Ned Crotwell, who was always so nice to us. He dropped
by every once in a while with candy and suggested we could have a swing
set in the yard. He built on a back porch with plumbing so we could have a
washer of our own and told us how to kill cockroaches with little white pills
under all the furniture. He put a rotating clothesline in the backyard. My
mother always spoke highly of Mr. Ned. My brother Neil was born while
we lived in Mr. Neds house and lived his first few years there.
Miss Opal Cannon befriended our family right away. On several
occasions she had story time at her house. She read to us and then we
played and had cookies. We felt she liked us. Later on she was my Sunday
school teacher. Miss Betty Cannon, Miss Ethelind Cannon, Miss Elsie
Cannon, Mrs. Faircloth, and Miss LaVeme Hinds were such wonderful
Sunday school teachers back in those days at the Leesburg United Methodist
Church.
121
I went to Sunday school with white gloves, a handkerchief, and a
dime or quarter in my white purse to put in the collection basket. Every so
often we had covered dish dinners after church or on Sunday night, and I
remember the English peas and sliced egg casseroles. One of my best
memories is of several summers of Vacation Bible School. It was fun to
meet peoples visiting nieces and nephews and cousins. We really learned
our Old Testament then, playing out other great stories of Adam, Noah,
Abraham, Moses, David, and Daniel on flannel boards. We made bulrush
baskets, scrolls of prophecy, plaster ten commandment tables, and matchbox
shemahs. We even made brick out of clay and chopped straw. We spent a
week memorizing scripture and getting ready to get our certificates. Every
day there was fruit punch and scalloped vanilla cookies that were stacked in
their box like flat discs.
From Vacation Bible School we grew up into MYF and Wednesday
night ping-pong games (Tommy Rhodes and Bill Cannon were the
undisputed champs) and traveling together to conferences in neighboring
counties, singing through the dark ride home. I also remember our Sunrise
Services on Easter mornings. With what great feeling I was then impressed
that the story of Christs resurrection was true! Since all of my happiness in
life is founded upon Christianity, I am deeply grateful for this wonderful
Christian foundation laid for me in Leesburg.
My father took his stable up north for three or four months a year to
the races during summer and into fall, and that left Mama to see about the
sweet potatoes, watermelons, oats, and hay. Mr. Jim Odom was our overseer.
He and his wife, Bessie, and their seven children (Verna, Shelby, Betty,
James, Emmy, JoAnn, and Peggy), were my first friends in the world, and
very fine friends they were. I was with them many, many sunny days while
Mama was in the fields with Mr. Odom. We ran around wildly hollering,
climbing, trees, chasing, playing all kinds of games, under the house, in the
loft and com crib, laughing, fighting, or flopping down in the long grass to
cool off. We were always barefooted and covered in red dirt and sweat, and
we ate raw turnips we had pulled up out of the garden and all the pecans we
could crack between our teeth.
I do remember Mr. Odom getting out his guitar some evenings and
Mrs. Odom getting us kids to take turns cranking the ice cream bucket. It
took a long, long time to make. I remember eating that homemade vanilla
122
ice cream out of jelly glasses. We would sit on the porch and watch the stars
come out as the night deepened. The older kids played night games about
ghosts and graveyards, but I was too scared. Peggy always dropped out of
the games to come sit by me. A lot of people didnt have television then. I
dont know where all the Odoms are now, but some of them came to my
mothers funeral and it was a wonderful thing to see them again.
Grandma Wingfield would come down from Rome on the Trailways
bus during the summer to stay with us and help Mama while Daddy was at
the races. She seemed like an ancient lady to me then, but I think she was in
her late sixties. She wore a dress and stockings and an apron all day. She
had very, very long hair and wore it wound up in plump bun. She wore no
makeup, not even lipstick. She was quiet and genteel and serious and always
had something to work on. She was a great needlewoman and crocheted
with fine cotton. She also sewed clothes by hand, especially baby things;
little gowns of air white cloth to keep a little child cool. She always had a
handkerchief to wipe us with and cornstarch to dust us. She knew all about
prickly heat and mosquito bites and all ordinary sicknesses. Most people
back then only had fans to cool off with. How did we stand it? In the
evenings, Mama would put us in seersucker pajamas, load us into the car,
and drive us down the shady back county roads to cool off. Grandma had
her eye out for wild yellow plums along the roadside that she could use for
jam.
Mr. Crotwells house and yard had a very tall privet hedge in back
and both sides, but there was a place to slip through and get to the store next
door. Right behind us was the courthouse with its four clocks, none of
which was ever right, and a row of storefronts extending north with a few
parking places in front. The Cannons had a general store there with wooden
floors, rocking chairs, and glass cases, one of which was full of pocketknives.
They sold tools and garden supplies. Cast iron pans, Dutch ovens, and
combread bakers hung on nails on the support columns. The Kearses
operated a grocery to the south. It was long and narrow with the cash register
to the left of the entrance and the butcher case in back. There were four or
five long rows of jars, cans, boxes, sacks, and plastic bags of things. The
vegetables were along the far wall, as I recall. The candy and boxes of
pencils, pens, erasers and notebook paper were in the front. I thought it was
123
very strange that we could get things and Mrs. Kearse would write something
in her notebook and we could leave without paying, but that was the credit
system back then. There were two sizes of candy bars, a five-cent regular
and a ten-cent king size, and the same with Coke. There was a small glass
bottle of Coke for five cents and a taller, slimmer bottle for ten-cents. I could
have one five-cent candy bar a week, but Coke was only for grown ups.
The Lee County Jail was right behind the courthouse then, and right
behind that was small field with tall, old, broken swings at the east end.
Once or twice a traveling fair or circus visited there, does anyone remember
that? At the opposite end was a great, wonderful, clean, glimmering
swimming pool. It had a high dive, a slide, a baby pool, a shallow end and
a deep end. It opened at one oclock, closed at six, and reopened later for
night swimming. It cost fifteen cents to get in and I spent every summer
afternoon of my life there until I was around fourteen. By then I could swim
the length of the pool underwater without coming up for air. The pool had
a covered side with picnic tables and the lifeguard stand and a jukebox, but
the east side was open and grassy and we laid our towels out so we could
sun there. There was sometimes a game of gin rummy if the high school
kids came, and we watched their summer romances bloom and fade and
wither. At the entrance was a counter where they took our money, signed us
in, and sold snacks. I had an extra nickel a day and usually bought five
BBBats or some Fleer bubble gum and Mary Janes. However, one day my
mother gave me a quarter, and I bought my first Coke and pack of Toms
peanuts. I had seen a lot of people tear the peanut pack open with their teeth
and pour the peanuts into their Cokes, and I wanted to try. I guess that was
the beginning of growing up for me.
School was all on one campus, first grade through twelfth, with a
building for business classes and a gym where we played basketball and
had our dances and PTA Halloween Carnival Miss Opal was the wandering
gypsy, wearing an apron with many different colored pockets containing
small prizes, and wasnt that where I first tasted homemade fudge? Miss
Esther Dobson was the fortune teller with huge gold hoop earrings, and the
guest team dressing rooms were draped with black fabric for the House of
Horror, where the guides made you smash your hands into bowls of peeled
124
grapes and cold spaghetti-eyeballs and brains, of course. Did you know
that down in the girls dressing room in the gym there was a little hole on the
outside wall that acted like a pinhole camera? On the opposite wall of the
pinhole there formed a perfect, but upside down, image of whatever was
happening on the baseball field outside! It was a moving picture, and you
could clearly see who was who. I put my thumb over the hole and the wall
went dark, so I know what Im saying is true.
My teachers were Miss Alice McHan, Mrs. Guillebeau, Mrs.
Graham, Mrs. Finney, Mrs. Poole, Mrs. Stewart, Mrs. Mitchum, Mrs.
Blackshear, Mrs. Tharp, Mr. Willis, Mrs. DeVivo, and Mr. Houston. They
taught me how to read aloud, to answer the multiplication test in three minutes,
to bring valentines for every person in class, to use a dictionary. Mrs. Tharp
brought us all into the auditorium and taught us to sing Stouthearted Men
and Moonlight Bay, and how to behave ourselves on stage. Mr. Willis
taught us everything about grammar and that you have to work hard to learn
worthwhile things. All these good people left me with enduring examples
of integrity and focus.
Life is short. One thing I regret is we didnt learn about the history
of Lee County or our great state. We didnt learn about the Indians who had
lived there or who the early Caucasian settlers were. We didnt hear stories
about the rivers or creeks or any particular sites in our county. We didnt
take field trips to burial mounds or battlefields then; it just wasnt the most
important thing to study in an age of civil rights and rocket science. People
come and go so quickly, though, and most often they leave without a trace.
When we realized my father was not long for this world, I came back to
visit. He and I had a walk over a couple of the fields at home. He had been
ill for a long time and the fences were sagging, the underbrush was beginning
to creep from the woods onto the clearings. A few of the great old oaks
were dying and changing the landscape. It seemed that nature was reclaiming
the land. When he was strong, my father kept things orderly and upright,
and now it was plain to see that he had been the energy and organizing force
on the farm. We talked about it, and he said, Before we were here, there
were others who used this land, and before them, and before them, and
before. We have used it for a time and others will come and use it after us.
So I am glad for stories that catch a glimpse of years gone by.
125
Kim Wingfield Smith
The Old Oak Tree Still Stands
When I was five years old, my daddy and mother, Keith and Eula
Culpepper moved us to Leesburg from Cordele, Ga. Daddy ran the old
Waco Pep Service Station, which is now a convenient store. Later Daddy
moved his station to the north end of town on Highway 19. When he retired,
he sold the station and now it is a used car business.
Our first apartment was rented from Ms. Mary Kimbrough. Later
we lived by Billy Stovalls before buying our home from Mrs. Cawood. We
lived across the street from the school where I attended all twelve years. The
back of our property joined the property of Leesburg Baptist Church. I was
baptized in that church. At the back of the property were three big beautiful
oak trees. The one that is so special to my best friend Irma Stamps, and me
was the Old Crooked Oak. We spent many hours playing and climbing
that tree. Most children in Leesburg have also played in it throughout the
years. It still stands today, just as special and beautiful with its outstretched
limbs as ever.
My mother died in 1950, and in 1953, Daddy married Frances
DeVane of Albany, Ga. I instantly became big sister to Phyllis DeVane. Our
family then joined Leesburg United Methodist Church. It was across the
street from our house.
The big entertainment in Leesburg back then was the ever-popular
square dances held on Saturday nights. People from surrounding towns came
to these dances. This is where I met Sam Vining, whom I married forty-nine
years ago.
126
I no longer live in Leesburg and after Daddy died, we sold our home
to First Baptist Church of Leesburg. Even though I no longer live there,
there will always be ties to Leesburg and Lee County. After all thats home.
Eunice Culpepper Vining
Riding on the Mail Route
My Granddaddy, J.M Johnson, and his sub, Aunt Ruby Kirkpatrick,
would let me ride with them on the mail route. It always amazed me that
people were so kind. People would meet them with a kind smile, a little talk,
and many times ajar of honey, jelly, apples, a cake, fresh bread, fresh veggies,
etc. I wonder if that happens today?
Gwen Johnson Seanor
My Home Town
I grew up in the town of Leesburg back in the 1950s, a time when
everyone knew everyone and all of their business. We lived in what was
called the old hotel. It was right in the middle of town where the Petro
convenience store and the Church of Christ is now located. Actually, I believe
that it was a home built by the Calloway family that had been divided into
many apartments. It was antebellum style with the veranda running all the
way around and white columns in front. At one time I know that five families
lived there. We had an apartment on one side.
At that time, the buildings right in the heart of Leesburg housed a
drug store, the Health Department, a barbershop run by the mayor, a bank,
post office, and a grocery store. I remember going to the drug store and
buying an ice cream cone for a nickel. After school each day, children who
lived in town and had the money to spend (very few did) would go to the
drug store and read the comic books and drink a coca cola, which was also
a nickel. I always got embarrassed because when Mama sent me to the post
office, all the men who sat around the barbershop would speak to us. I
127
imagine that is where a lot of the business of the city and county was
conducted in that day.
During the summer, all the city children would go swimming in a
public pool that was located directly behind the courthouse. Our mamas
would send us to the pool with twenty cents for admission and a quarter for
snacks and we would stay all day. They never worried that something was
going to happen to us, because everyone looked after each other, and we
had a local high school boy who served as a lifeguard. I am not sure if they
ever had any formal training, but I know that they could swim. If we were
supposed to be home at a certain time, all we had to do was watch the clock
located on the top of the courthouse. Back then it kept accurate time and a
bell rang every hour the number of times for that hour.
We could walk all over town and ride our bicycles and because
there was so little traffic there was never much danger in being hurt. We also
would skate up and down the sidewalks. I remember one summer walking
to the pool and meeting the Superintendent of Schools, Mr. Hugh Kearse,
walking home for lunch. He stopped and chatted with us about school, what
grade we were going to be in next term, etc. This is just one example of how
small we were, and the closeness of our community.
Since we lived in town, we always had to walk to school. I attended
what was known as Lee County High School for twelve years since all
twelve grades were on one campus. I have the distinction of being in the
first graduating class at Lee County High School that was integrated, back
in 1966. During that time, it was called freedom of choice and we had three
black girls to come over from the Lee County Training School. Before their
arrival, we were given a very serious talk by the principal on how we should
act. To our credit, and to my knowledge, there were never any problems
with integration in Lee County.
We got our first television set when I was in the first grade. I came
home from school one day and cartoons were on. I remember thinking how
great it was going to be to watch cartoons all the time, but of course, that
was not the case. We could only get one channel, Channel 10 in Albany,
and that was with the antenna that you had to go outside to adjust. Later, we
128
graduated to the rabbit ears that sat on top of the television. It was many
years before we got a color television.
We had a telephone, but it was on what was called a party line,
meaning that several families shared the same line. You could not receive or
get a call if someone else was using the phone, but you could listen in to
their conversations if you were very careful not to get caught.
It seemed that almost everyone in town was either Baptist or
Methodist, and everyone attended church. We were so small and so close,
that as a younger girl I joined the GAs at the Baptist Church, even though I
was raised in the Methodist Church. When one of the churches held a revival,
they had services every morning, and we all would walk from the school to
the church to attend, both churches being within walking distance to the
school.
I always thought while growing up in Leesburg that life was somehow
passing me by. I felt that somewhere, or anywhere else, people were really
living it up and having a good time doing exciting things that we were not
doing. Today, I am so thankful that I had the opportunity and good fortune
to grow up in Leesburg, Georgia; we were instilled with Christian values,
good manners, and moral integrity.
Pam Grace Harris
The Chez Nous Club
Back in early 1948, Ethelind Cannon, Claudia Chatham, and Nora
Allen called a meeting. From this meeting a club was organized for young
women between the ages of twenty to thirty. The main purpose was to get
together for fun, fellowship, and to work to improve the community. Chez
Nous which means among ourselves, was the name chosen by the club
members. Among the eighteen charter members were Nora Allen, Claudia
Chatham, Ethelind Cannon, Betty (Gunter) Cannon, Myra Heath, Jeannette
Long, Annibeth McBride, Grace Rhodes, Gladys Thrift, Hazel Tinsley, and
Leah King Mercer. The meetings were held in different homes once a month
and each lady would take turns acting as hostess.
129
Later, in the same year the club, with the help of all the residents and
businesses in the city, entered a statewide contest. It was a Better Home
Town contest sponsored by the Georgia Power Company. There were more
than twenty towns in the surrounding districts and Leesburg was judged a
second place winner. The prize was a check for $500.00.
Working together as well as having fun and fellowship certainly
proved that together as a whole community many things were and can be
accomplished.
Annibeth Woods McBride
Chez Nous Club
Ethelind Cannon, Annibeth McBride, Nora Allen, Leah Mercer
130
Sunday Dinner Time
Back in the days when families got together for Sunday dinners
after church, grown ups ate first. The children had to wait until they had
finished (not like today!).
There was one Sunday that I particularly remember. The Cannon
boys, the Coxwell children, Lester, Geraldine, and Wanda and I were in our
grandparents backyard. James found a pitchfork and would poke it at my
bare feet. He would pause and I would jump back; he did this several times.
Finally I said, No. He poked me one more time and the forks of the pitchfork
went into the soft flesh between my big toe and the next one. I was pinned to
the ground. My screams and yells broke up that Sunday dinner. I dont
remember what happened to James. I never asked.
Gwen Johnson Seanor
Making Friends While Growing up on Main Street
Leesburg in 1930s and 1940s
(Excerpts from the Journal of Mrs. Leah Marie King McGee)
When I was a child living on Main Street in Leesburg in the early
1930s, I remember daddy (Ulric King), who was a postman in Lee County,
would sometimes give us a quarter on Saturday to spend how we wanted!
At that time my brother Jimmy (we called him Bubba), sister Ann, and I
could buy a big sack of candy for a quarter. Silver Bells (candy kisses) were
ten for one cent. Baby Ruth, Butterfinger and Snickers candy bars were
about ten inches long for five cents. A loaf of bread was a nickel. I always
liked pickled pigs feet and would buy one for five cents.
The school was right across the street from our house. When I was
very small, I would go across the street to meet my brother, Bubba, and my
sister, Ann when the school bell would ring and sit on an old iron box, just
waiting for them to come out. Bubba would carry me back across the street
on his shoulders. The iron box was an old thrown away safe. The jailhouse
was right there by the school. The McBrides lived in the bottom part of the
131
building and the jail was upstairs. It looked like an old temple. It had steeple-
like structures on top, on all four comers, and was made of red brick, with a
porch on 3 sides. James, Gladys, and Sara were their children.
The Lees lived across the street in a big two-story house. We thought
they were rich. Harry (now living in Albany) was my age. The Coxwells
lived next door and their children were Flora and Shirley. The Coxwells
house burned down but they moved down the street. Flora and I were always
together. Shes two weeks older then me, but she finished school a year
before me, because daddy wouldnt let me start when I was five years old,
because I was small. I still love her very much.
We played marbles a lot when we were young. We always played at
Page Tharps because their yard didnt have a lot of grass and it was smooth
and easy to shoot. We couldnt play for keeps though; daddy said that was
wrong. So at the end of the game, wed divide the marbles back up. We also
played softball in the street. When a car or wagon would come by, wed just
stop and start over again. I remember one time when we were about ten
years old, Flora was the catcher and I was pitching. Harry was batting and
swung and hit Flora on her cheek. Boy, she cried, and we got her in the
house and put an ice pack on it. She had a black eye for a while.
Growing up on Main Street, it seemed we knew everyone in
Leesburg. Flora Coxwell was my best friend, Eleanor Seagers was Anns
best friend, and Joel Forrester was Bubbas best friend. We really had a
wonderful childhood. I remember at Christmas, wed get a lot of fruit and
fireworks, and always a new doll. Other kids gifts that I remember from my
childhood were tea sets, a wicker rocking chair, and a pearl necklace and
bracelet. I dont ever remember having but one bike, and my sister, Ann,
and I got it together. We were so proud of it! We didnt get a lot of toys all at
once like children do today, but we were happy with what we received.
Daddy would always get up on Christmas morning and go across the road
to build a big bonfire. We would shoot firecrackers, and rockets, and Roman
candles. Kids would come from all over town to play at this little Christmas
party,
We didnt have a lunchroom at school until I was in high school
(early 40s) so we always walked home at lunch and the children who rode
132
the bus would carry their lunch. I dont ever remember getting to eat in the
lunchroom. It cost ten cents and was in the basement. There were only eleven
grades when I graduated in 1946. There were only eight people in my
graduating class. Thats really hard to believe isnt it? There were five girls
and three boys.
When I was thirteen years old, we moved to the hotel in Leesburg,
and lived there for nearly eight years. Many of the teachers boarded with us
and Ann and I had to help cook and clean when we were out of school for
summer vacation. We learned how to cook, clean, wash clothes, and iron.
We had a lot of chores to do. Now, I am so glad we learned to do these
things. Its really good for children to know these things, and its important
for children to know that these days, too. They must learn respect and
responsibility.
When we were growing up on Main Street we had so much fun
playing outside, especially in the summer when the days were long. We
always had to do the dishes after supper, and then we could go out and play.
Wed play hide and seek, cops and robbers, hopscotch, Mother May I,
and sit on the grass and tell ghost stories, or if we were inside, wed play I
spy. I dont know if children play those games anymore. We had a swing
on the front porch and Bubba would swing us so high we would almost fall
out.
Everybody knew everyone back then in Leesburg and we always
had a lot of children at our house. We had a place called Mossy Dell, which
was a swimming hole in the woods about five miles outside of town. Our
daddy taught us to swim very young, so we were never scared of the water.
Every summer we would go there and swim and the water was freezing
cold. At one place there seemed to be no bottom. The water boiled up and
the stream was way underground. Sometimes, on the way to Mossy Dell,
we would stop by the fields on the way and help ourselves to a watermelon.
We would carry it with us to the swimming hole, and put it in the cold, cold
water. After we would swim for a while, we would put old newspaper on
the ground, cut the watermelon and eat it. After swimming we would stay
cool for hours.
There is nothing like good friends and like my daddy always said,
All the money in the world cant buy a dear and true friend. And that is
133
true. The friends that I grew up with in Leesburg are true blue friends, and
many of them live there to this day.
Claire McGee Wright
Deal Me In
Most small towns, USA, have or had a local place where men would
gather to sit, talk, play checkers, or some other form of entertainment. In
Leesburg, during the late 30s, 40s and some 50s, it was the Setback card
game. A game was always going on in the afternoons right out on the
sidewalk, Walnut St., US 19 S, usually between Gunters barbershop and
the H.B. Stovall Store. In cold, rain, or bad weather, it was moved into the
rear of the Stovall Store.
After my high school day was over, and my chores done, I would
take off on my bicycle, (mama saying watch the rr and highway) to watch
the card game. At times a fourth player would be needed, and I would be
allowed to play since I knew the game well. This was all right with my
parents, as there was never any betting, and as I would first check with my
Daddy who was keeping books for Mr. Buck Stovall.
The Game was constant, as some would come and go, and even
some men came from out of town, salesmen, friends, et al. Mr. Phil Roberson,
called Bull of the Woods and father of Albanys Dr. Roberson, loved the
game. The reason he was called Bull of the Woods was because he sold
and was the area representative of Bull of the Woods chewing tobacco. If
there was any chewing going on, and there was, be sure it was his brand.
It would be impossible to recall all the men players, but among them
were B.E. Gunter, Phil Roberson, Ed, Dick, and James Forrester, Frank and
Hugh Stovall, Goode and Goat Yeoman, Red Allen, Wandell Murphy, Otis
and Malcom Cannon, Dewey Mercer, Ulrick King, Steve Duncan, Elash
Davis, Buck Stovall, Cassell Harris, Robert Lee, and E.B. Martin (Mr.
Martins special saying was all contributions kindly received, and large
ones in proportion).
My daddy liked the game, but he was usually too busy to stop his
work and play. As previously mentioned, he did book work for Mr. Buck
134
Stovall, which was no easy task in itself, as Mr. Buck would often write
entries in pencil on the office walls of his business transactions. Not only
was it hard to read his writing, but also the walls were full of various notations.
At any rate, if someone owed him money, and many did, once on the wall it
would not be lost or erased.
Open playing of Setback on the sidewalk stopped after there was a
minor altercation between two of the players, both being respectful residents
of Leesburg. One side lacked two points to go out and win the game, and
they bid two spades. The other side lacked only one point to go out and win
the game. A player on the one point side said, We win, I have the ace of
trumps (spades), and we are out and win. Not so, said the other player
who bid two. If I make the bid of two, we are out and win the game.
Tempers flew hot, and the bidding player slapped the face of the
player with the ace. In the turmoil, everyone jumped up, knocking Mr. Charlie
Cannon, a spectator, who was sitting on the end of the bench, to the concrete
sidewalk. Cards, table, players, including myself, quickly vanished. Mr.
Charlie Cannon was still waving his cane and rendering some choice remarks
for the occasion, as he crossed the railroad on his way back to the Farmers
Exchange Store.
Jumping on my bike, I headed home as fast as I could......laughing
all the way. Sometime afterwards, the game was moved down to the
American Legion Post, but playing cards on the sidewalks will never be
forgotten....Checkers, anyone....?
Page Tharp
The Dear Sweet Lady and Her Special Gift
Miss Annie Long was a frail, sweet little petite lady. Her brother
Francis Taylor Long, let her live in two rooms that included the kitchen in
the back downstairs of his two story house.
Miss Annie enjoyed walking. She always walked to church and
everywhere she went. She would walk in the neighborhoods many times. I
135
would go out and talk with her and sometime walk with her. I enjoyed
talking with her, for she was a very sweet lonely lady. I visited with her
where she lived a couple of times but could stay only a short time. We
became good friends. When I became engaged to Billy Smith, Miss Annie
walked to my house with a beautiful antique bowl she said had been in her
family for years. This was and still is one of my prized possessions.
Paula Stamps Smith
Four Years as A Soda Jerk
April 11,1947.......this will be explained later.
All four of my high school years and one summer of college, I worked
in the afternoon and some days, in the Faircloth Drug Store, and with my
good friend, Spencer, son of Dr. & Mrs. W. Y. Faircloth. Those were the
good old days when we had a real, old fashioned marble top soda fountain,
iron-back drug store chairs, overhead fans, and a place where just about
everybody came sometime during the week.
First thing on Saturday mornings we would fill and label bottles
with castor oil pumped from a large container, then on to filling cardboard
containers with Epsom salts and other medical products. Next, clean the
soda fountain, which had its syrup refrigerated compartment, carbonated
tanks and dispensers, with the freezer area for ice cream. After sweeping
and mopping inside, sweeping the outside sidewalk, we cleaned the windows
with Bon Ami (that is French for good friend).
Drug stores in those days were not like the ones today. They were
just what it says, drug stores. I do remember though, as a child, having
fountain curb service. Of course, we sold everything from Hoyts cologne,
asthma cigarettes, of all things, to Lydia Pinkhams vegetable compound, as
printed on the bottle, especially for women. I wish that I could have saved
some of those old bottles and medical remedies accumulated over the years
from former drug store owners, such as Turner Drug Store. One old bottle I
remember particularly was Dr. Pellmans Pink Pills for Pale People.
136
Speaking of medicine, it was during prior years that a medicine man
sideshow came through town, locating to the rear of the present Tax Assessors
office and south of the peanut mill office. It had a real, live, full-blooded
Indian chief with it, with long black hair down to his waist, fully dressed
with bonnet, feather, and all. He would let the children touch his hair, which
he claimed had never been washed in his entire life. Who would want to
touch thatlThe medicine man in top hat and dress coat, would bellow through
his megaphone...Step right up Ladies and Gentlemen, get you elixir of
love and lift, (consisting mostly of alcohol) only fifty cents per bottle, get
back boy, you are blocking the ladys view, curing most all ailments, internal
and external, also such maladies as colds, moles, and pimples on the belly.
During WWII, there was a shortage of many things. Remember,
Lucky Strike cigarettes red gone to war, being substituted by Lucky Strike
green, or was it the other way around. They came out with White House
cigarettes, and other brands, and Beechnut chewing gum was precious. Like
so, was Coca Cola Syrup, which was replaced on occasion with Major
Cola, that was good, but not as good as Coke. As with Coke, we would put
the concentrated cola syrup, which was mixed with simple syrup pf sugar
and water, into one of the fountain dispensers, then into a glass, add
carbonated water and ice, and you had a fountain coke. Everything was
made from scratch. One day, the water and sugar simple syrup was forgotten
and straight cola concentrate was put into the dispenser. A man from out of
town came in and asked for a dope. Even in those days, people still referred
to coke as dope. I told him that we only had Major Cola, and he said, All
right. I fixed him the drink; not knowing it was only concentrate. He gasped,
holding his throat, and saying, Water, water, water. Are you people trying
to kill me? All, including Dr. Faircloth, came running to his aid and after all
was over, everything was all right. Today it might have meant a lawsuit.
At one time, the only public pay phone in town was located in the
inside front of the drug store, and many came to use it. I dont know why
they would bother to close the booth door, as you could hear everything
they said anyway. Especially loud was Mr. Ware Martin, whose voice could
be heard almost to Albany. At one time, we rented out books like a small
library. We had rental comic books, which young folks would come in, sit
on the floor and read.
137
Mr. And Mrs. Cromartie lived just one and one-half blocks from the
drug store on Walnut St. and Mr. Cro, as many called him, as well as the
family, loved ice cream. The big difference was he wanted it scooped fresh
from the chum container at the drug store rather than store bought.
He would send Bill or John, or both, to the drug store with a sizeable
bowl for the scooped cream. It took a large bowl, as there were children,
Martha, Hendricks, Mary, Bill, and John Drew. Seeing them coming in the
store door with that big bowl, both Spencer and I would run to the back of
the store. Spencer ran some track in school, but his best running time was
inside the drug store. Whoever was last getting to the back door had to dip
all that ice cream!
Dr. Faircloth preferred to smoke Puerto Rico brand cigars which
were made right here in Albany. The tobacco shop was located on the second
floor, south of Broad St. over about where Goodwill is today. I would go
down and pick up a box, and sometimes I would have to wait until they
finished it. It was interesting to see them wrap the cigar with the special
outer layer and cut the ends off with a special knife. The Puerto Rico
resembles the fancy Have-A-Tampa cigar, which, of course, was wrapped
in cellophane.
One day a man came into the drug store saying that he was in pain
up to his neck, and asked for what sounded like a scramblelater. We, nor
Dr. Faircloth, could understand what he said or wanted. Finally, Dr. Faircloth
said, All right, we will scramble him for sure. Bring castor oil, Epsom
salts, milk of magnesia, calomel, caroid and bile salts, black draught, and we
will mix all with a glass of fleets phosphate of soda; a super laxative to say
the least. He drank it all. I guess it did the job, as he didnt come back!
The back of the drug store was the daytime office of many doctors
over the years. I got to know them all well, and I went to some even after I
was grown. Some of them were Drs. Neil, Fountain, Seymour, Field, and
Parrish. Someone said if three of them went into business together, it could
be Neill, Field, and Seymour.
The doctors office in the rear of the store led to many difficulties,
especially on Saturday nights. Times have changed so much since then.
There would be fights and injuries often. The only place they knew to come
was the drug store because of the office in the rear.
138
At the beginning, the figure of 11,947 mentioned was the total of
conservative and educated estimate of our fountain service over those years,
consisting of 365 chocolate sodas, 575 banana splits, 920 sundaes, 1,282
black on whites, 2,911 milkshakes, and 5,894 cokes; plain, cherry, or vanilla.
Who knows how many ice cream cones!
All told, I had an educational and wonderful time working in the
drug store, and I still think about those days often. Way back in our younger
and real silly teenage days, I would softly say, where only Spencer could
hear it, Put a nickel in, take out a dime, Faircloth Drug Store will soon be
mine. Spencer would run back and tell his daddy.. .Did you hear what he
said? Dr. Faircloth would just laugh.
Page Tharp
My Memories Growing Up in Lee County
My family meant the world to me. Daddy always said, PT Bamum
didnt have anything on him. They had a 3-ring circus and he had a 4-ring.
School memories will remain with me all my life. I started school in
September 1941. My first grade teacher was Mrs. Falba Webb, and Mr.
Hardin was principal. My sister and I rode the school bus that had one long
bench down the window sides and two down the middle. They werent as
long as buses are today. Our school bus patrols were Bobby Miller and
Little Jack Usry. They would get off the bus when we got to Smithville
with the busy railroad tracks, and wave our driver across.
All roads were dirt ones back then, and if it rained, we would be late
for school if we slipped in a ditch, which we did very often over the 12 years
I was in school. We traveled over the wooden bridges on Highway 118
until 1953 when the new ones were built and the highway was paved between
Leslie and Smithville. One of them was very narrow and curved. It was
very scary when our bus would be out of alignment, which was often. We
held our breath going over it. No more dust, slipping and sliding, until we
139
got off the paved road. The road was finished just before I graduated in
1953.
We would take small pieces of scrap metal, such as coat hangers and
other items for the war effort. During the war years, I remember large barrels
of raisins in our hallway. That was a good treat for each student. Each class
would go to get a handful. It was a healthy treat. Sugar, gasoline, and other
things were being rationed. We were thankful for our food back then. I
remember buying war bonds and saving our dimes to put in booklets for the
March of Dimes.
Daddy would drive our family to the school Halloween carnival.
Most every time, we would go home with Octagon soap on our windows.
The carnival was a big project. The teachers, parents, and students worked
hard on the fishponds, apple bobbing, Tom Thumb weddings, haunted house
and other games. Oh, what fun we had! The gym was always full of people
having a good time.
In 1948 after I graduated 7th grade in Smithville, we rode the bus on
US Highway 19 to Leesburg. It was always fun watching for the tags from
all over our country. At that time, it was a main highway from the north to
Florida. It helped pass the time if we werent studying, which we did if we
were having tests. I remember in the early 50s on our way home to Smithville,
we had left Neyami, we came upon an accident where a semi truck loaded
with pigs had turned over. They were all over the road: some dead, some
alive. Never have I seen so many Georgia State Patrol officers in one place!
I have heard Daddy tell the stories when he would carry his brother
Jessie up the stairs when he was in high school because he had polio as a
child and never walked. He had one sister, Ellen, who is 91 years old and
taught high school one year in Smithville. She taught many years in Newnan,
Fayetteville, and 33 years in the Atlanta school system. Several of his sisters
went to school in Smithville. Daddy only had an 8th grade education, but he
was the smartest man I knew. He was a member of the Board of Education.
He gave my sister Betty, her diploma in 1950 from Lee County High School.
That was his last year on the board.
The teachers we had in Lee County High School were the very best
any student could ever have. On May 24,2003, my 1953 class held our 50th
class reunion at the Retreat at Lake Blackshear State Park. We had five
140
teachers: Mrs. Opal Cannon, Mr. Sherman Hall, Mr. Fred Kight, Mr. Leonard
Pridgeon, and Mrs. Carolyn Webb who came to share our special day. It
was wonderful seeing all our classmates and teachers sharing many Lee
County memories. I also went to the school reunion in April of 1994. Mama
was in Magnolia Manor at that time, and was not able to go, but she had
memories of Leesburg High School, too. She graduated there in 1930. She
played basketball on a dirt court. I have her purple and gold emblem LHS,
also her class ring, which Ill always treasure. Mamas brother, Golden
Scott also went there. He played baseball where the gym is now at the old
high school in the 1920s and 1930s. I have a picture of that team. Some of
those classmates on his team were Robert B. Lee, Hugh Stovall, and Dick
Forrester. Today, two of our grandchildren are in Lee County schools.
During March and April, many farmers burned brush in the woods.
New grass was sprouting and sister, so I would go across from our house to
look for new wild violets. When I lived in Washington State, she would
pick some, wrap them in waxed paper, and mail them to me in many letters.
Needless to say, that was always a special memory for us. I still have them
in my Bible. I have some in my own yard now.
The Lee County Historical Society published a History of Lee County
several years ago. I was living in Washington State when I ordered mine.
It, too, is a treasure for me. My uncle gave me his book before he died in
1994, so I have one for each of our sons. I hope theyll cherish these books
as much as I do.
Today, children usually see marbles in flower vases. We entertained
each other at home by playing marbles in our front yard. There was no
grass then, and we would dig our little holes - make a huge circle, and sister
and I were as good as our two little brothers, Johnnie and Larry. When you
lived in the country without close neighbors, families were closer, often
doing things together, like chores, checkers, marbles, milking cows, feeding
hogs, picking peas, butterbeans, com, cucumbers, or taking the vegetables
to the canning plant in Leslie. It was work, but we ate well and enjoyed life.
Daddy always said he was the richest man in the world. He had his family.
He never left our table without telling my mother, I enjoyed my breakfast,
dinner, or supper. We took his dinner to the fields a lot of times, or we
would ring our dinner bell and he would come home to eat. He ploughed
141
mules a long time during his lifetime. After he bought his first tractor, one
with no push button ignition or lights, but a farmer back then never had an
air conditioned, radio-equipped tractor, as the later models have.
One year, Daddy planted cucumbers for the family to pick. The first
money we made, I got to go to FFA/FHA camp at Lake Jackson for a week.
Sister will never forgive me for that fun week I had. I know my classmates
will remember that week. It was 1951,1 believe. Lee County boys and girls
were softball champions up there. We shared cabins with Southwest Dekalb
County High School.
When we were young, we sat around our fireplace and would shell
peanuts for Daddy to plant in the spring. He would choose an ear of com
that had straight rows to save for planting. We used a com sheller for getting
the dried ear of com shelled for planting. That was not work, because we
were a family doing things together. I could drive a tractor before learning
to drive a car. During watermelon season, we would help with gathering
the melons and go to Cordele State Farmers Market sitting on top of Daddys
truck, loaded with watermelons, and we could see no danger in it. Today,
you arent supposed to sit in a bed of a pickup. Times do change! We
would take melons home with our tractor trailer for our hogs, throw them
over the fence and jump over to try to beat the hogs to the hearts of those
big, juicy melons. You can imagine what memories I have when my husband
and I go to the market in Cordele.
We always had a large garden. We had English peas, onions,
potatoes, peas, and always sweet potatoes where he stored them after digging.
He saved one mule for years... just to plough his sweet potatoes. Mama
always had a pan of baked ones for Daddy. When we were older, he planted
long rows of butterbeans, peas, green beans, com, and other vegetables.
We all picked, shelled, and canned either in jars or at the canning plant in
Leslie. Mama would layer her fruit and beans in jars because she wanted
them to look pretty. When she died in 1996, those jars were still looking
pretty on the top shelf of her kitchen cabinet. We never got to eat those.
In November each year, our family would pick pecans. Today, most
people dont get on their knees to do that. Under those same trees, I remember
142
Daddy lost many cows that were standing under one of them when lightening
struck. That was a terrible experience for Daddy and all of us.
My sister and I had chores, and milking cows was one of them. We
didnt really like to, but when Daddy said to do something, we did it without
complaining for we were helping him. We were sitting in his comcrib door
one-day shelling com and our feet were dangling from beneath, a cottonmouth
moccasin crawled from beneath, his head was about six inches up looking
at us. I dont think either of us had ever moved so quickly. That did it for us
shelling com that day. We would feed Daddys hogs when he needed us to
do it for him. We really knew how to slop the hogs. I always helped
Daddy outside. Sister liked housework. I didnt like to cook, sew, or clean
house... still dont, but someone has to do it. One year, I drove the tractor
helping Daddy in the oat fields. Later on, I worked in Leslie at the Peanut
and Gin Company in the office. I knew more about farming than doing
housework.
Computers and so many new toys are teaching our children to use
their minds and thumbs, but they have missed out on so many good things
that teach them how things grow and how to leam to do without and do with
what they have. Sure, theyll grow up, but I think we enjoyed what we had
without knowing it was hard work. It was wonderful growing up in the
country. We loved our family and still do. Our Daddy died in March 1960,
Mama in January 1996, and our brother Johnnie in June 2001. Our
grandmother lived with us from June 1946 until June 1968 when she died.
We always enjoyed her children coming to our house to visit, for it was
always a very lively place. They shared stories of them growing up during
wartime experiences, work place stories, and jokes. Our house had always
been a big, happy place as long as I can remember.
When my husband and I moved to Albany in 1965, our children
went to Magnolia Elementary. When our oldest son was in 3rd grade, his
teacher was Mrs. Lucille Melton. She had been my 3rd and 4th grade teacher
in Smithville. You can imagine what a thrill it was for me to have a former
teacher teaching one of my sons. Both of our sons started to school in
Albany at Magnolia Elementary.
I married my husband, Robert, in Macon and we have lived in
Savannah, Columbus, Albany, St. Lewis, Missouri, and Kirkland,
143
Washington. We came back to Georgia in 1988, after retirement, but I have
never forgotten my love for Lee County where I had a very happy childhood
and where I was bom. We have two sons and five grandchildren. My
school friends will always be remembered as special people in my life.
Our church was in Leslie and we always left home with a car full,
but we stopped along the way to pick up our grandmother, aunt, and cousins.
We would always get to church on time. Daddy always wanted to be on
time for everything we did.
Elaine Tucker Douglas
Years Can Tell
When I was a child about eight years old, an old lady lived in a big
house with her little dog. The house and yard were not neatly kept, and
looked almost deserted. Miss Mary walked by my house every day on
her way to town. She fascinated me. She wore party dresses, bright red
smudged lipstick, round red rouge, fluffy hair and high-heeled shoes. Some
days she wore the shoes on the wrong feet and some days she wore the
shoes on the right feet. This was interesting to me. Being a child, I asked
her; Miss Mary, why do you wear your shoes on the wrong feet? She
replied I wear them that way so the heels will wear even. This made sense
tome.
She would always tell me that her dog talked to her. He told her
many things. He could even tell time. They would go to town every afternoon
because the dog would tell her it was time to get his ice cream cone. I thought
Miss Mary and her dog were strange back in those days. Now that I am an
old lady and I have a dog, Im not so sure!
Gwen Johnson Seanor
144
Rabbits and Cub Scouts
When my sons, Lariy and Ken, were Cub Scouts years ago, I decided
to be a Den Mother. All the little boys were excited, but we couldnt find
another Den Mother, Not wanting to disappoint the boys, the Scout Council
decided since I was a teacher and possibly could handle more boys than
usual, I ended up with about 12 Cub Scouts. There are many wonderful
memories and stories to tell. This one I really remember. We were looking
good that afternoon in our Blue Uniforms, even I in mine. This was a little
nature study trip. We found an open field with a hedge running along beside
it. While really being quiet and attentive and concentrating on the plants we
found, I thought the Cubs were learning loads of knowledge about nature.
All of a sudden a rabbit jumped out of the low grass, and began to run across
the open field. You guessed it, no more nature study that afternoon, as eight
little, blue, uniformed boys went after that rabbit, running as fast as their
young legs could go.
That ended the nature study for that meeting. Such is the life of a
Den Mother!
Gwen Johnson Seanor
The Big Haunted House
Growing up in Leesburg, we all knew of the big haunted house in
town on Walnut Street. It was a large two-story house worn by weather and
age, trimmed in brown. At night it was totally dark, except for a light in one
window upstairs. Being young people, we could only imagine all kinds of
ghosts living there. We knew this house was owned by a man named Francis
T. Long. He lived upstairs.
Mr. Long was well educated but very eccentric. The story goes that
at one time he taught school at Leesburg High School. It was told when he
resigned from teaching there, he said, They didnt need a teacher, they
needed a policeman. He was rarely seen, except to walk to the Post Office.
145
Mr. Long and Miss Annie Long are of the family which Crawford
W. Long Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia was named.
Paula Stamps Smith
All Stewed Up
Mr. J. B. Cannon boasted that he made the best catfish head stew
around. He had a cabin on the creek where he would go fish and relax.
One weekend, Charles, Ann, and J.B. invited several of us teenagers to go
for a spend the night fling at the cabin on the creek and said that Mr. J.B.
would make some of his famous catfish head stew. He had a boat there at
the cabin for fishing down the creek. He told us he would furnish the bait
and poles, and we could fish from the boat or the creek bank. Of course, the
boys went in the boat and the girls fished mostly on the creek bank. Edgar
and I were among several teenagers to go. Of course, we were up most of
the night talking and giggling until Mr. J.B. told us to go to sleep. We slept
on the hard floor, which didnt bother us at all. Being up later the night
before did not matter, either. Several of us were up early and ready to go
fishing. With our bait and fishing gear, we headed to the creek bank to fish,
while Mr. J.B. began his chore of cooking. We had such a good time and
Mr. J.B. was a terrific host. Just as he promised, he made that stew. We, as
teenagers, did not think the name catfish head stew was too appealing, but
we were so excited to be there and had such a good time that we ate it. We
either liked it or we told Mr. J.B. it was good. We knew it had to be the best
ever made because Mr. J.B. said it was.
Paula Stamps Smith
My Home Town
Living in Leesburg my teen years in the 1940s and 1950s was such
an enjoyable time. It was its own little Peyton Place but a wonderful
place to be. Everyone knew most everyone. It was a caring town where the
people were all friendly. The stores closed at 6:00 p.m. daily, except
146
Wednesdays, when they closed at 1:00 p.m. and Saturday nights until there
were no customers. When there were funerals, for respect of that deceased
and the family, they closed the hour of the funeral and many times would go
to the funeral. They never opened on Sunday.
Church services back then were first and third Sundays at Leesburg
Methodist Church, Second and fourth Sundays at Leesburg Baptist Church
and on the fifth Sunday when there was a fifth Sunday in the month, the
service was held at Leesburg Presbyterian Church. Many times wed go to
Sunday School at our own church and then go to the church that was having
the sermon that day.
The big entertainment back then for Leesburg was the high school
basketball games. When they were in Leesburg, the gym would be almost
packed. The senior plays were always good and supported by the whole
town. Then of course there were the Square Dances on Saturday nights.
This was a friendly, safe place to live where doors and windows
were never locked. To me, this was my ideal town where everyone was
important.
Paula Stamps Smith
Saturday Nights in Leesburg
Saturday nights in Leesburg were exciting when I was a child. We
would get into the car, go uptown, park and watch the people. The stores
stayed open until midnight. On election days everyone parked in front of the
courthouse and waited around until all the votes were counted. There was
much visiting and catching up on the news, etc during this time.
Gwen Johnson Seanor
147
The Mill Pond
The Mill Pond was a popular place to swim in Smithville. Teenagers
would walk from downtown by way of the railroad track to the pond. Zaida
Ivey Poupard, Barbara Sikes Pines, Tommy and Nell Jesup Miller, Joyce
Whately Harpe, Carol Calloway, Joan Hatcher Sparlin, and Janell Ranew
Larkin were the group who particularly enjoyed going together.
One day, Tommy pushed me into the pond, and I couldnt swim.
The others who were standing near the bank started yelling, She cant
swim! Tommy, realizing this, jumped in to pull me out. By this time though,
I had already gotten to the bank doggy paddling. Tommy learned a lesson
that day- never throw anybody into the water unless you are sure they know
how to swim.
Janell Ranew Larkin
Memories of Lee County
I consider myself blessed to have lived my childhood days in
Leesburg, Lee County, Georgia. It will never cease being home to me. My
roots are deeply set here.
My father and his brother owned a General Store for many years.
My father, too, was a Baptist Preacher and as a small child I went with him
many times to Antioch Church in Chokee District. The first wedding he
performed was that of Miss Eddie Hooks and Mr. Robert Clay, parents of
Dr. Bobby Clay, who meant so much to the schools in Lee County in later
years. I attended this wedding in the home of Mr. And Mrs. Tom Hooks.
I spent many Sunday afternoons with Mrs. E.J. Stocks (Granny
Stocks), a member of the Thundering Springs Church where my father also
preached for many years. The Stocks family owned a dairy farm in Red
Bone District. I followed Granny Stocks around the farm. We had chocolate
milk, candy from the store across from her house, and were followed by
some sheep. I believe this might have been the only sheep in Lee County at
that time. There were also two beautiful dogs on the farm named Major
and Colonel. They were gentle and playful.
148
As I grew older my attentions turned to my friends, however, I didnt
forget Granny Stocks. When I graduated from Leesburg High School I sent
her an invitation. She had someone drive her to town to bring her little girl
a gift- a five dollar gold piece. This was a very fine gift back in 1932. The
government later recalled these gold pieces, but I never forgot my Sunday
afternoons with Granny Stocks.
I began first grade in the old Masonic Hall, across the street from our
home on Academy Street. We transferred in the second grade to the new
building on Main Street. Here I finished all eleven grades. When I check the
recent graduation classes, I can hardly believe it. We had only fifteen grads
in my class and we never dreamed of a football team, a band, or a nice trip.
Im glad the children have these advantages now.
I love to see the little park in the center of town and I am so happy to
see and appreciate that it is dedicated to Frank Yeoman and Hines Stovall, as
I went all eleven years of school with both. I wrote to each of them when
they entered Service in WWII and grieved deeply when I heard they were
lost.
Through the years I kept in contact with Florence Tharp Moye and
Sara Coxwell Collier. In out 89th year, I still see Sissy Stovall Lee and we
talk over the phone often. In my younger days we would ride down to
Albany, that is, if it had not rained. This was a two-lane road and was very
slippery when wet. I now live in Albany and I ride up to Leesburg, and I
recall and cherish my memories of Lee County.
Carol Forrester Kirkland
Lee Countys Whiteout
My son, David Kessler invited his friend, Vic Moore to spend the
weekend with him. They were both in Lee County Elementary School at
that time. On Saturday morning Vic was the first one up. He stood by his
bed and looked out the window. I over heard him say, David, get up and
look out the window. David, in turn, called to me to come look also. We
could hardly believe what we saw! A blanket of snow had fallen during the
night and everything was covered, every leaf, every tree limb, every blade
149
of grass, the road, houses, all under this beautiful blanket of white snowflakes!
Since this was and is today a most unusual sight to see anytime in South
Georgia, we were all excited. The boys especially were anxious to get
outside and throw snowballs and build a snowman.
The cat that we had at that time was a house-porch cat. David and
Vic, however, decided to introduce her to the new fallen snow on the ground.
This South Georgia cat was certainly unfamiliar with this! It was interesting
to watch as she picked up one paw, shook the snow off and would do the
other paw the same way! She then went to the back door as quickly as
possible, whining for me to let her into the porch. As I let her in, she ran past
me, got under a table and stayed there for most of the day. She would not let
anyone near her for a long time.
There have been other snowfalls in Lee County, but this one was the
heaviest. Many families had pictures made in the snow, and used them as
Christmas cards. David and Vic are now grown. They will however always
remember the day when Lee County had a white out. Maybe the cat did
too!
Sandra Stocks
Alice Long Kearse told the following stories to the Lee County Ledger
July 9,1981.
My Mothers Stories
My maternal grandfather, Oliver Hays, owned land surrounding
where Century is now. He sawmilled the timber on the land. The sawmill
was there. The railroad put in a siding for him to put his cars on, and they
told him to select a name for the stop or station. He said, Well name it
Century, because it is 100 miles from Macon. So that is the way Century
got its name.
Edgar and Clara Long built their home on Longview in 1918 and
some of the wood for the house was shipped up here from Florida by railroad
over to Century. One of the building contractors was a Mr. Jones from
Columbus and he came in on the railroad. My father, Edgar Long, would
150
meet him every Monday morning and take him back to the train stop over
there every Friday afternoon for about a year.
We had kinfolks in the north and they all came to Smithville to visit.
They were all young. They said, Just for the heck of it well take our ice
skates and let those old Southerners see what ice skates are like. While
they were down here, Wells Mill Pond, which was just north of Smithville,
froze over. The boys took their skates and went up there and did some
fancy skating on the pond and all of Smithville turned out to see it.
In Smithville about 1910 when I was in about the 4th grade, we had
a two-seater surrey. Every morning my sister, Rosalie and I and my two
brothers, Paul and Charles, would get in and wed pick up some other children
along the way. Mr. Salter had a livery stable on the east side of the railroad,
the business side, and wed leave the horse there. Wed all get out and walk
across the railroad tracks to school.
Alice Ann Kearse Holton
Long Family Surrey
151
Fun in the Fifties
One of my fondest memories of Leesburg is the square dance on
Saturday night. The time frame was the 50s and they were held in the Lee
County High School Gym. My aunt and uncle, Lorice and Heyward Cook
were responsible for bringing this activity to Leesburg, or this is what I
always believed to be true. At any rate, Aunt Lorice always took up the
money at the door, and Uncle Heyward tried to see that all the boys and girls
minded their manners (a hard job sometimes).
All of the gang in Albany felt that we had to attend every Saturday
night. We usually got together and traveled in one or two cars. Either
parents would take us or maybe some often-older guys would drive. It was
good, clean fun, and everyone had a great time.
I also remember going to Leesburg to the swimming pool. My Aunt
Lucilla managed it for a while, so Nan, my sister and I were able to go pretty
often. It seemed that the teenagers in Leesburg were always having a fun
time, and Nan and I loved to go and be a part of it.
Lois Westbrook
Childhood Memories on Longview Farm
As a young child growing up, some of my most wonderful memories
centered around my life as a little girl on the family farm known as Longview
My parents, Alice and Grover Kearse, and I lived in the house built in 1918
with my grandparents, Edgar and Clara Long. We all lived in the house
until my grandparents passed away when I was about three years old.
Our first telephone was a wall phone with a crank on the side. You
turned a crank and an operator would come on the line and connect you to
whomever you wished to talk. Several others used the same line. That first
telephone still hangs in the hall, although no longer in use. I still have
memories of the balls of fire, which rolled from it during lightning storms,
and how I feared it was going to bum down the house.
152
Around 1955, we got our first private phone lines and our first
television. About that same time, Palmyra Road was also paved. I was 14
years old and so thrilled! Just in time for my teenage years!
Always at the door to greet me each morning was my cat Cutie
Pie, to whom I felt so close. Mother had a wringer washing machine on the
back porch and as luck would have it, Cutie Pie chose this to be the nursery
for a litter of kittens. My mother was unable to wash clothes for over a week
because we could not disturb the new family. Over her lifetime, Cutie Pie
had 50 kittens and each was welcomed with love.
Longview was, and still is, a working farm. Around 1915, my great
grandparents, Judge and Mrs. Henry L. Long, had large pear orchards. The
thirty acres of pear trees blooming in the spring were a sight to see. They
grew LaConte and Kiefer, pears that they would ship by rail from the
Leesburg train station to the markets up North. The railroad was our link to
the outside world. I remember leaving on the train from Leesburg with
Maxine and Clairose Pate and riding all the way to Annapolis, Maryland to
see my nephew Zack at the Naval Academy. The railroad also took my
senior class to Washington, D.C. and New York, City. My mother once
ordered a pair of Fox Terrier puppies from Fountain Inn, South Carolina,
which were shipped here by rail. There was great excitement as we awaited
their arrival. When they arrived, mother named them Buttons and Bows.
We always looked forward to seeing the Bookmobile as it stopped
by the house once a month to allow us to browse into a small array of books.
It was good to have the library come to us. My mother was an avid reader
and instilled this in me even as a young child. She once said, She had
traveled the world and never left her chair.
I can still remember the wood burning Home Comfort stove in our
kitchen. One day during the hot, humid summer, she was getting ready to
cook supper. She suddenly decided that she had taken enough of that heat.
She called a store in Albany that sold electric stoves and told them if they
could have one delivered in time for her to cook supper, she would buy it.
They delivered the stove in time, and we had our first electric stove.
Mother and Daddy would have wonderful cookouts about once a
month with some friends from Leesburg. They would bring covered dishes
and enjoy the food and fellowship. I can still smell the fish and hushpuppies
153
cooking in the old iron wash pot. Dorothy Forrester told me that when she
and Jack moved back to Leesburg from Atlanta, someone told her: Dorothy,
if you want to go to Alice and Grovers, you will have to learn to bake a
cake. She said that she learned that really fast. What a compliment! My
parents truly loved their friends.
Life on the farm never seemed to be boring. Things to amuse a child
were always there, and we learned to make our own entertainment. Under
the bam in the soft dirt, I found doodlebugs, and would spend time doodling
them out of their holes, citing the saying: Doodlebug, Doodlebug, where
have you been? Been to town and back again. If I were lucky, I would get
one out of the dirt. I did this for my son Patricks class in the 1980s. A few
years ago, one of the girls asked me, You do have to say that to get the bug
to come up, dont you?
In the 1950s, my friends all came out for a coon hunting party. It
was a very cold winter night. Perry Kearse and a friend sent the dogs into
the woods to tree the coons. The sounds of the barking and baying dogs
treeing coons was excitement we can all remember. All of us boys and girls
trying to keep up with the dogs in the woods and cow pastures were a lot of
fun. We would return to the house later to roast hot dogs and marshmallows.
At about the age of 12, my mother gave my friends and me a prom
party. We were all dressed in our Sunday best and stood in the living room.
Each of us had a little card with the numbers 1 -10 on it. The boys would ask
you for a walk and you would put his name by a number. Mother had
placed huge Japanese lanterns hanging from the Oak trees to mark a path.
You would walk with the boy through the path and back to the house and
have refreshments. Some of the ones who came were Joy Johnson, Sylvia
Turner, Glynn Johnson, Max Hardy, and Lady Lee.
My father farmed and knew the meaning of hard work and the
importance of respect and love for the land. As a grower of peanuts, he was
respectfully known to his friends in Lee County as Peanut. He was
somewhat of an inventor, and spent many hours designing and building an
improved peanut shaker.
Down the road from the farm in the back of a pecan orchard lived a
hermit named Guy Turner. He always had many cats and was a very
154
intelligent person. When he met you, he would always remember your
name and birthday, even if you came back years later. Many young people
would come from all around to have him read their horoscope.
At times in his life, he rode a bicycle as his only mode of transportation. He
also helped at the voting precinct. All the neighbors knew he was all right
health-wise if he met the mailman and rolling store.
Alice Ann Kearse Holton
In the Past
In Smithville many years ago the stores used to close at noon every
Thursday (as was the custom in many of the rural towns). After closing, the
children in town would skate on the sidewalks and the skates were furnished
by the Baptist Church. They were also able to skate in the school gym. This
was a fun time for the children, and they always looked forward to skating
day when they could all get together for some community activity.
Zaida Ivey Poupard
The Wheelbarrow Ride
When World War II ended in 1945, people were celebrating all over
Smithville. Willie Smith pushed his brother, Pink Smith, in a wheelbarrow
all over town. The children would follow him and after wheeling Pink
around, they were given rides too. This was such a wonderful time for all.
Zaida Ivey Poupard
155
Yank and His Austin Healey
Frank Waddell was the name of my husband, Busters granddaddy.
He had the nickname of Yank because he was considered a Yankee from
Ohio. He moved to Smithville one day and drove downtown in an Austin
Healey automobile. He would drive it downtown and park it. Then, whenever
he was nowhere to be seen, teenagers would push it off and hide it.
One day Buster was riding around in this little car when all of a
sudden as he started across the railroad tracks, it got stuck! His granddaddy
just happened to see him and yelled for help and they got him off the tracks
just in the nick of time before the train came.
Janell Ranew Larkin
Train Stops
Back many years ago, trains stopped in Smithville. It was a good
place to stop for the famous chicken dinners served at the McAfee Hotel.
Many times there would be as many as seventy-five dinners called in ahead
of time, so that they would be ready by the time the train would arrive.
The hotel burned, however, in 1933. We, as a community are known
as the Smithville Improvement Group have committed ourselves to bring
back those memories that are part of our past. In October 1966 we had our
first Chicken Pie Festival, which is now an annual event. By the way, we
serve pretty dam good Chicken Pie!
Janell Ranew Larkin
Hunting Days in Lee County
James Cannon loves to share stories about his fox and coon hunting
days in Lee County. James father, Henry Cannon, was a hunter and James
learned the sport early in life. Foxhounds are necessary in hunting fox, and
156
James had 15 hounds. He can tell you about his favorite dogs with a gleam
in his eye. Here is James own story.
Frank Bennett was one whom I fox hunted with on many occasions.
We would plan a specific place and time to meet and go before daylight.
One of us always took our dogs out to the designated place and released
them early, before the other one arrived with his dogs. If we let all our dogs
out together, they just got too excited and scattered everywhere. On one
such occasion we agreed to meet at New York, in the northeastern part of
the county. Frank went early and released his dogs, and when I got there I
could hear Franks dogs and knew they had already jumped the fox. My
dogs could hear them too, and were scrambling to get out of the box and go
find the other dogs and join the chase. My dogs took off down the road as
fast as they could run. In a short time I heard a strange sound and, with my
flashlight found one of his dogs dead in the road. He had collided with one
of Franks dogs and it killed my dog. They were running so fast that the dog
was killed from the collision.
I hunted Trigg breed dogs, while others often hunted Walkers. Each
hunter could identify his dog by the sound of his bark. My pride and joy was
my two dogs, King and Prince. They were two of the best fox dogs in
the United States. I later had another good dog which I named Buddy.
One day Frank and I went hunting down below Albany on the Flint
River, a good place to find lots of gray fox. King and Prince jumped a fox
near the river. Frank and I were enjoying the hunt when we noticed a young
puppy I was hunting was staggering like he was drunk. I picked up the dog
and put him in the back of the truck. The dog died right there in the truck.
Frank was quite knowledgeable about animals and suggested we take him
down by the river and see what was wrong with him. Frank cut the dog
open and found out his lungs had collapsed, a veterinarian told us the dog
had gotten hold of a fungus and it had ruined his lungs.
Foxhunters had rather hunt in the daytime so they can watch the
dogs run. I often hunted with Griggs Miller, a good friend. We hunted together
often and when Griggs died he left me his truck and his dogs. That is where
I got King and Prince.
Hunting is not like it used to be. Deer became a problem for
foxhunters, so now there are places called fox pens where we hunt. There is
157
a place below Albany where they have 300 acres fenced in with high wire
to keep the deer out and they hunt coyotes instead of fox. Now the hunters
can build a fire in the woods or in a metal drum and sit around to their hearts
content and talk about their favorite hound. This sport can get to be expensive,
though, with hounds selling for up to $5,000.00.
I also enjoyed coon hunting and know lots of stories about these
escapades. I remember one time when my good coonhound had a coon up a
tree and when the men got to him he would not go to the tree. Usually, he
would be trying to climb the tree and bark his lungs out. This puzzled the
hunters and we would try to coax the dog to go to the tree. He would go to
the tree and jump back and not go back. The hunters shined a light on the
ground around the tree and found a huge yellow jacket nest. The dog didnt
want any part of that situation.
I had some close calls with snakes during his hunting years. I can tell
some scary stories of how my friends and I had narrow escapes with
rattlesnakes and moccasins. Hunting is a fun hobby and I can entertain you
for hours telling about hunting in Lee County.
James Cannon
The Yearly Easter Egg Hunt at Grommys
Every year, the entire Cannon family gathers around the dinner table
at my grandmothers, Opal Cannon, who is known to all her grandchildren
as Grammy. The parents and older adults always take their precious time
eating their dinner, while all the grandchildren chow down and stuff their
faces full of food, anticipating the long awaited hunt. Every year this
Eggstravaganza, is an event for the whole neighborhood. Grammy always
invites the kids from her neighborhood over to hunt with the grandchildren.
So many young children, and even the younger adults look forward to the
Easter egg hunt.
Before the hunt begins, and all the neighborhood kids flock to the
front yard, the older people hide the eggs in the front yard. The front yard
158
doesnt have many trees or much shrubbery, so its easier to find eggs there.
The front yard has always been reserved for the smaller children who cant
hold their own in the back yard with the bigger kids. Considering the
youngest grandchild in my family is seventeen now, all of us hunt for our
eggs in the back yard, where there is a plethora of little obstacles and hiding
places for eggs.
When it comes to the back yard hunting, it gets serious. The older
weve gotten, the more competitive weve become. In the back yard, the
adults hide the eggs, and these are always a bit tougher to find. We wait all
year just to spend the twenty minutes of glory, pushing each other, running,
hunting, and trying to find the prize egg. A few years ago, my grandmother
decided to use an Emu egg as the prize egg because it was green, and it
blended in with everything in sight. Whoever finds the prize egg usually
wins a sum of twenty dollars. Over the years, I have yet to find the prize egg
before either my cousins or my brother.
After both yards have been hunted to death, we all unite in the back
yard to have our traditional awards ceremony. This is the most exciting part
of the hunt, especially for the little ones. Grammy gives everyone a prize
every year, whether it is one dollar, five dollars, or ten dollars. The person
who finds the prize egg gets ten dollars, and the person who finds the most
eggs gets ten. This ceremony used to mean so much more to the
grandchildren because we all used to get prizes for certain accomplishments.
But, now weve all come to the conclusion that not one of us is particularly
special for getting one prize, because we all get prizes.
The presentation of the awards is the highlight of the Easter Sunday.
My grandmother gives prizes to the little ones first. First, she gives one to
the person who found the prize egg in the front yard, and then to the one
who found the most. Then comes the funny part. For the little kids who
didnt think that they accomplished anything great, my grandmother makes
up awards for these young bundles of joy. She gives a prize to the one who
works the hardest, runs the fastest, and the one who has the best attitude.
This way, everyone gets a prize. This ritual of making up prizes was originated
when all of the grandchildren were young, and she wanted all of them to
win something.
159
Now, when all of my grandmothers grandkids are grown up, she
makes up these prizes, mostly for myself, because I can never seem to find
the prize egg or even get the most. Even though last year, my cousin Jenny
and I decided we would work together to try and get the most eggs, and then
we would split the money prize. Our plan seemed to work until a parent
discovered that we were cheating and brought it to everyones attention.
After all the trouble, we didnt even have the most eggs; my cousin, Ned
did. Every year we continue to have the Easter Egg Hunt ritual in the Cannon
family, and as the years have gone by, and grandchildren have gone off to
school, they always come back for the Easter Egg Hunt at Grommys house.
Lindsey Hunkele
Happy Days at Philema
We lived at Philema, in Lee County, at two different times when I
was a child in the 20s and 30s. My sister, Martha was five years older than
me and my sisters Sue and Mary were younger. It was fun having sisters to
play with, except when Martha decided to boss.
There were eggs to gather, games to play, dolls to dress, play houses
to make, paper-dolls to cut out, kittens to feed and best of all rest time when
Martha would read to us from the Bobbsey Twins story books.
Our house faced the railroad tracks and we always called to each
other when we heard the train coming. We would rush to the front yard or
front porch to wave at the engineer. Some days he stopped at the depot to
take on water from a big pipe for the engine. The train ran from Albany
through Philema, over a trestle across the Flint River, and over to Oakfield.
In the summer time our family would gather with other people for
fish fries on Philema Branch, not far from Philema. My daddy, John Jordan,
helped catch the fish, clean them and cook them on the banks of Philema
Branch in big iron pots. I liked the bream fish best!
There were lots of kids to play with at the fish fries and lots of good
food to add to the fish. We enjoyed the swings hanging on long heavy
160
ropes from the tall oak trees. Someone had to push us to get us started
because our feet didnt reach the ground.
Those were long, happy days at Philema. When school started, it
was a long ride on the school bus to Leesburg. The only driver I remember
was a Mr. Bullock. The school bus was where I met and learned to love
Lucilla long before she married Hoke Cannon.
Edward Forrester was the mailman for our area. He delivered it to
the depot and we could pitch it up there from Daddys Aunt, Dolly Crews,
who was the agent at the depot.
Ethelind Cannon
Wisteria on Highway 19 South
In the spring when flowers begin to bloom, dont miss the beautiful
purple wisteria vine about one mile south of Leesburg on Highway 19. The
vine has been there for years for local people to enjoy as well as people
traveling through Leesburg.
The vine has made itself at home and has embraced every bush, tree
and reed it has encountered. But wait! The vine is at home because there
was a small house there on that roadside that was the home of every ladys
handyman, nicknamed Big Head. He was big and strong and loved
working in flowers and cutting strawberries. He often carried home cuttings,
seeds and trimmings to play in his yard. The wisteria vine is a token of his
love of flowers for flower lovers to appreciate and enjoy for years to come.
Thanks Big Head or should I say Arthur Willis.
Ethelind Cannon
161
Neighborly Love In Leesburg
I grew up on Main Street in Leesburg in the late 1960s and 1970s,
just across the street from the Elementary School. What a wonderful
childhood it was! As I reflect on those days, some of my fondest memories
are those involving the love and friendliness of neighbors in Leesburg. Two
neighbors made a vivid impact on me, and I still think warmly of them
today: Mr. Joseph Johnson and Mrs. Gussie Harris.
Mr. Joseph lived right next door and always kept a well-manicured
yard. If I were outside when he was cutting his grass, he would always
stop, and invite me to ride on the back of the riding lawnmower with him.
This was a wonderful treat to me. On particularly special days, he would let
me come into his workshop, or hobby room. This area was a garage-like
room attached to the back of their house, and to me, it opened up into the
most exciting world. There were at least two rooms filled with the most
intricate, glass-encased model train displays. Mr. Joseph had built all the
displays himself. Houses, forests, lumbetjacks sawing wood, children playing,
train stations, and multiple trains- it was an amazing little world, and I felt so
excited to be able to see it. What a treat to me as a young girl to be invited in
to watch the trains, waiting with anticipation as he turned on the power
switch.
Another neighbor who inspires warm memories is Mrs. Gussie Harris.
She lived down Main Street a block or so and across the road from the Long
House. She was a wonderfully kind lady and I can still picture her in my
mind today- always dressed neatly and her hair pulled back in a meticulous
bun. The memory that stands out is of me and my friend, Sonja Houston
(Paulk) playing outside and deciding to go and knock on her door to visit
with her. You see, a child knocking on neighbors doors then was no problem,
and not considered unusual. Mrs. Gussie Harris certainly never seemed to
mind and would always bring the same toy out to the front porch for us to
play with. We loved playing with this toy so much, and truthfully, this was
our hidden reason for going to visit. The toy was simply a wooden spool
and a bowl of water with a bar of soap floating in it. What did we do? Wed
sit on the porch and blow soap bubbles with the spool.
162
Both of these memories, of Mr. Joseph and Mrs. Gussie Harris, have
a Norman Rockwell-ish sound to them: quaint, homey, and simple. This is
only because life in Leesburg at that time, while not perfect, did have
simplicity and openness to it, where neighbors were concerned for each
other, took time for each other, and were sincerely interested in one another.
I think examples like those of Mr. Joseph and Mrs. Gussie Harris are ones
that Leesburg should hold onto closely, and strive for always, so that future
generations can enjoy that same sense of community as the generations that
have gone before.
Excerpt from the journal of Ms. Leah Marie (King) McGee
Claire McGee Wright
A Day at Sara Anns Camp
My husband, Sam Arthur, was in the Air Force and we spent some
time traveling around. It was during this time that our son, Sam Sanford
Arthur was bom. When Sandy was old enough to go along with me, I
started working in recreation and park programs, later at the YMCA and the
Leesburg swimming pool.
When we moved to Baker Village, I had enough room to keep horses,
so I decided to start a small day camp for children from the ages of six to
twelve. I did this from the late 1960s to 1994. The children would arrive
and go the screen house. They called it the scream house. After roll call
and talk about the days activities, we would ride the horses and ponies.
Other activities would fill in the day: Archery, BB guns and trampoline.
Swim time would be before lunch. The children had to bring their own
lunches and would eat in the screen room or most anywhere they wanted to,
in swings, in the big oak tree on small platforms they had built. Afterward,
we would stay in the screen house to do lots of different arts and crafts.
Some wanted to make things all day. Others you couldnt drag out for crafts.
The afternoon was filled with outdoor games and sportsand sometimes
just doing what they wanted to do. The boys would play army and dig
foxholes, and get into them. They werent allowed to dig in their well-kept
163
lawns in town. Sometimes they would have a make believe band, using up
side down buckets for drums and broomsticks, etc. for other instruments.
When pool time came, the boys changed their clothes in a tent. The girls had
a metal gazebo yard house where they would change their clothes.
We had an outhouse, also. When the children would get out of the
pool and go into the house, there would be a stream of water dripping off
them on the floor from the back door to the bathroom. It would be a mess!
When they stayed longer than necessary, I would have to send someone else
in to get them. I couldnt leave the pool to go myself. So, we decided to
build an outhouse! The boys always had to use this, but sometimes, the girls
could go into the house. Some of these children lived in houses with four or
five bathrooms and had never seen an outhouse. They would go in there
and giggle and have fun. It was a two-seater!
In 1980 Brandy came to live with us. She is our adopted daughter,
Brandy Lee Arthur. She always enjoyed camp and was a lot of help to me.
About once a week we had a special event. Sometimes, we would
walk down to Barbara and Bill Robertsons lake, where two alligators lived.
The children would throw marshmallows in the lake and the gators would
come up and eat them. Sometimes we would walk on through to the creek
and get some real clay to bring back for crafts. Sometimes we would take
tubes and put them in the creek at the Slappey Bridge and float down to
Elsie and BB Rhodes house. He would always go along with us in a canoe.
On the fourth of July we always had a parade. Each child had a flag
and would decorate his or her bicycle with red and blue crepe paper. We
invited the neighborhood children to join in that day. They would ride Barbie
cars, tractors, lawn mowers, or anything that would go. Many of them just
marched.
The more experienced riders rode the horses and ponies, each carrying
a U.S. flag. Brandy would, as she got older, help me with the camp, and she
always was up front with the horses to see that they would be well behaved.
At the end of the summer, we would load the children on the Rhodes big
Pontoon boat, take a lunch and go down the Flint River for a nature study.
When we would get to the sand bar, they could swim. Just before it was time
to go home, the children could go back swimming. If there were children
164
who could not swim I would teach them, otherwise pool time was playtime.
When parents picked them up in the afternoon, many times they would go
to sleep on the way home. This outdoor camp was a lot different than sitting
at home in air-conditioning and watching T.V.
Sara Ann Sanford Arthur
Hungry for Home Cookin
During World War II, we lived in Portsmouth, Virginia. My father,
Eugene Sanford, worked at an ammunition depot. At that particular time,
there were four young men from Leesburg who were stationed there. They
were in the navy, and whenever their ship would come into port, they would
always come to our house. They were Joel Forrester, William Long, Jimmie
King, and Arnold Knight. My mama, Sara Hightower Sanford, was an
excellent cook, so the four knew that she would always have plenty of good
ole southern food ready for them.
On one occasion Jimmy happened to have gotten a seventy-two
hour pass. We knew he would come to our house as soon as possible. Mama,
upon hearing about the pass said, What will I feed him for seventy two
hours! (He always had such a hearty appetite). Nevertheless we really
enjoyed them, and looked forward to having them visit.
After my daddy had a heart attack, he was no longer able to do the
work at the ammunition depot. We soon moved back to Leesburg, where
my brother Raleigh and I had finished high school and every year in the
summer we had visited my grandmother, Mrs. Annie Hightower.
In 1946-1959 my daddy became ordinary for Lee County, now
known as Probate Judge. He remained in office until his death in August
1957.
Sara Ann Sanford Arthur
165
The Rolling Store
Everybody who lived in the country was familiar with rolling stores.
People didnt go to town very often, so these stores would be driven over
the county, selling goods.
Among these stores was Lester Etheridges. He would come from
Fussells Egg Farm and drive all over Lee County. He had it stocked with
staple goods such as eggs (of course) meat, milk, bread, etc. There were
candy and soft drinks, too.
We looked forward to the times we could see it rolling down the
road. We knew that we could buy a coke for ten cents, and if we brought
an empty bottle, the coke would only be one nickel. Those were the days!
Jimmie Richardson Etheridge
Growing Up In Lee
It was an honor to stop and remember the good old days and my
wonderful family. I have many happy memories of growing up in Leesburg.
My mother, Joyce Forrester Vonderaa, who at that time was Joyce
DeVivo, taught Home Economics at Lee County High School for many
years. I learned many things from her, but my family to this day all tease me
because in 19691 won the Lee County High Crisco Award for outstanding
student in Home Economics. Well, they like to say that I received this because
my Mother was my teacher and gave me the award. I take great pride in
smiling and saying, No, I did have to live with my Mother at the same
school with me for many years and this meant you had to behave and be the
best that you could be but actually when I won this award my Home
Economics teacher was Mrs. Martha Usry who actually bestowed this honor
upon me and not my Mother. My Mother being the Home Economics
teacher did have its advantages. We got to spend a lot of time at the local
swimming pool while she worked in the summer at the canning plant. The
pool was our famous hangout at that time.
I began working at my Grandfathers, Joe Forrester and Uncle Blues
Mercantile store on Saturdays when I was a teenager. Now, that I reflect
166
back, I really did not do a lot of work. This was my Grandfathers way of
teaching me how to be responsible, but, more so his way of giving me
spending money as a teenager. I have fond memories of Uncle Ticky, Uncle
Ed and other Forrester members stopping by the store on Saturday afternoons
and I, as a female teenager, would always be included in some of their chats.
Uncle Ticky would have come home from Washington for a visit, and the
talk would be of what was going on in Washington. My Grandmother
would always bring us lunch on those Saturdays.
I love Lee County and have lived here all my life with the exception
of two years in college in Leesburg, Florida, yes, Leesburg, Florida. I love
Leesburg so much it was the only place you could live. After two years I
married and came back to Leesburg, Georgia and raised my daughter, Jennifer
who also graduated from Lee County High School. We owe some thanks
for this to Mrs. Opal Cannon who was her principal when she was in first
grade. Jennifer cried all the time to go home. Her Daddy, Tommy Jewell,
had several meetings with Mrs. Opal before the crying stopped. This same
little girl who cried to go home is now finishing up her eighth-year of college
with a Masters in Psychology and an RN degree.
Change is great but lets not forget the old times because they were
wonderful times growing up in a small town! I cant believe I have four
generations of Lee County folks on this one page!!
Donna DeVivo Jewell
Memories from the 50s and 60s
Trips to Albany to the dentist, Dr. Ben Martin, and crying all the way
from Leesburg to Albany, boy that was a long drive!
Leesburg Baptist Church and my family were always there whenever
the doors were open. We received pens for perfect attendance in Sunday
school and if my memory serves me correctly it was 14 years straight
without a Sunday missed. When we went out of town we found a
church to attend. We could not mess up our perfect attendance.
167
Playing on the dirt road behind our house with other neighborhood kids.
We road our bikes all up and down that dirt road. In those days we
could ride the dirt road, starting behind the Fore Service Station all the
way past Leland Farms sweet potato plant.
Dances, etc. at the American Legion.
Being on annual staff and going to Albany to sell ads so we could have
an annual.
Sneaking off the school campus to go to town to get snacks.
Catching lightning bugs with the other neighborhood kids and putting
them in jars after we punched holes in the top of the lids.
Trips to the fair each year in Albany. My mother being the Home
Economics teacher she always have students setting up an FHA booth
at the fair. Also, we would enter items in the fair and win ribbons for
sewing, etc.
The Smithville kids coming to Lee County High to attend school with
use. Some of my best friends were Smithville people.
Growing up in one of the numerous big, old houses, and sleeping under
electric blankets to keep warm and then standing in front of the gas
heaters in the mornings getting ready to go to school.
Dr. Laurence Crimmins being our family doctor and when my
Grandfather was so sick he would even come to the house for visits.
Doctors would still on special occasions make house calls. Dr. Crimmins
was the best.
Frances and Jim Fore when you wanted your hair done.
168
Making up games to occupy us as kids. We had a game where we sat on
the front porch steps and watched the cars go by, we would pick a number,
say ten, and every tenth car would get to be yours and we would sit for
hours and see what type of car we got and whose would be the best.
This was possible because we lived on the main street close to town.
School spirit and the years when we all went to one school, grades 1-12.
Going to Uncle Eds furniture store and dreaming of one day having
your own home and furniture and what you would pick to be yours.
On special occasions getting to go to Atlanta shopping, boy, was this a
treat, from Leesburg to Atlanta.
Seeing the kindness that my grandfather, Joe Forrester, gave to the people
who would come into his store and need help to receive things in his
store, mercantile or groceries.
Everyone rallying around to help others in times of happiness or sadness.
Walking down the street and saying hello to everyone. You at least
knew who they were and most of the time you knew who they were and
a lot more about them.
Going antiquing out in the county with my Dad, Paul Devivo. He had a
knack for knowing what was valuable.
Mrs. Pauline Tharp and Mrs. Pat Tharp and all their wonderful music.
Singing in the childrens choir at church and not really being able to
carry a tune
Rev. Bobby Moye and being baptized.
Being married by my Uncle Blue in the Baptist Church.
169
Living close to family and really getting to know your aunts, uncles, and
cousins being close enough to walk back and forth.
The Tarpley house and as kids we thought it was haunted.
Climbing the big magnolia tree in my grandparents back yard across
from the post office.
My grandparents coming from New York on a yearly basis and all the
Italian food and sharing this with our friends in Leesburg. One item in
particular that they would always bring was Pez candy and we could
not get this in Georgia so we always shared that with our friends and
they would know our grandparents were here from New York.
Having an older brother, Paul to look out for me. Back in those days big
brothers were very protective of their little sisters. Also, having two
younger sisters to help take care of. I remember Geanie and Frankie
Mae helping our family but being the oldest daughter I also helped care
for my little sisters, Debbie and Lisa, especially Lisa since she was ten
years younger.
Riding horses and just visiting in the home of my friend, Connie Cannon.
The peanut process plant (Turners I believe) and the smell of peanuts at
harvest time and eating good old boiled peanuts.
Today is February 14,2004, and I just returned from the dedication of
the new Forrester Parkway. I am a Forrester, and this was a great day!
Donna Jewell
170
Family Pride
1975 Helen Smith was the first African American to be elected Home Coming
Queen
Adrian Smith was the first African American to be elected Miss L.C.H.S
Kelly Dixson was the first African female to be elected Drum Major (Band)
Lillie Smith
The Camping Trip
I once lived at Willmar Plantation in northern Lee County. It was a
large farm with plenty of crops, timber and cows. There was a natural pond
somewhere on the farm, which was enlarged by the owners for fishing. My
family would occasionally go fishing and camping there. This is how one
camping trip went.
Someone, probably Dad, decided we needed to go camping: so we
put the sleeping bags, food, folding chairs and other camping supplies in the
truck and drove to the little tin cabin at the pond. Our two dogs followed
us. The dogs were Snoopy and Rex. Snoopy was a Brittany spaniel, and
Rex was a gray mutt. Both dogs were very nice.
When we got to the pond, Dad cooked hamburgers while Mom and
I talked and played with the dogs. We sat in the folding chairs to eat. I was
leaning back in the chair. I leaned too far back; the chair fell backwards.
The burger I was eating flew out of my hands as I fell. Guess who caught it
and ate it? Snoopy did! After the burger incident, everything went ok.
Zachary Peak
Sidney and Zachary Peak
171
I Remember
All the best Lee County swimmers were trained by Sara Ann Arthur at the
Leesburg city pool.
Pat Tharp and Wallace Willis had what it took to develop a good school
chorus. Those choirs were locally famous.
Good reasons to remember teachers:
First grade beginning experiences - Martha Powell
Third grade multiplication tables - Mae McRee
Seventh grade parts of speech - Mary Frances McNeil
Eight grade sentence diagrams - Wallace Willis
Day one in the fifth grade, Mary Lee Clark went to the chalkboard and drew
a flower garden. There were four flowerpots, one plant grew like this L, the
second plant grew like this O, the third plant grew like this V, and the fourth
plant grew like this E. LOVE, what a way to start a school year, what a
valuable lesson I have remembered for a lifetime!
Educator Excellence - Hobby Clay!!! He always presented himself in such
a way that I knew I wanted to follow in the field of education. This year as
I retire from my childhood school system, I would like to thank Bobby Clay,
his family, and their lifelong commitment to the Lee County School System.
One of the most famous stories from the Long household was when little
Edward convinced big brother Alan to help him pull their four- wheeled
metal pedal rocket up on top of the Long bam. Pivoted on the ridge of a
thirty-five foot high tin roof -line, Edward told Alan: You get in first, and
Ill follow. Zoom-zoom-zoom!! Edward had to dig rocket nose, vehicle,
and Alans body out of the garden soil.
Boy how things change, 45 years ago I was horrified to find out my Sunday
School teacher (B.S.) smoked when not at church.
172
Watching Lee County go from a stall in growth to a mother ship with a
mission.
I have always quoted a good friend (Bill Cannon) of mine as saying: Alan,
we had the opportunity to grow up in Mayberry.
My mothers definition of security: A pocketbook full of money.
Remember when H.L.T. toted his social security check in his front shirt
pocket until it was dog-eared.
Buddy Jenkins Bar-B-Que and pork skins, there has never been any better!
Alan Long
Sweet Sixteen
My brother-in law, Billy Smith, gave daddy a Browning Sweet 16
pump shotgun. Daddy was thrilled to get it, and I was excited about that,
too. Daddy let me hunt with that gun a lot. It was the gun to have back then,
and daddy knew how much I liked it. He told me that upon his death I was
to have the gun. After he died, it was given to me. It was so special to me
that I named it Sweet Sixteen. Mama kept it for me because after graduation
from high school, I joined the navy. One night a little after midnight I was
still away and mama was out of town when our house caught on fire and
burned to the ground. The flames consumed my special gun and many,
many memoirs. It was a very sad time for my family.
Ronny Pug Stamps
Playing Softball Games
All of us kids in Leesburg got together every afternoon after school
in front of the Lee and King houses to choose up sides for softball games.
173
Back then it was just a dirt road, so we would not have to stop the game only
once or maybe twice, in order for a car to pass.
One afternoon I was playing catcher for my team and Harry Lee
was at bat for the other team. I guess I was too close because his bat, hit me
on the bone right below my eye. Of course I grabbed my face and let out a
scream. I had a knot to come up right then, so I was carried to the hospital.
The doctor put me to bed with an ice pack to stay on it twenty-four hours a
day for two weeks.
Since I was unable to go to school, I went to work with my mother,
Jewell Coxwell, who owned and operated the cafe in Leesburg. She put a
cot between the dining area and kitchen for me to lie on during the day.
After about two weeks however, I was able to return to school and of course
my softball games!
Flora Coxwell Hartley
Peanut Shaking Day
Back in the days when they would shake peanuts and stack them on
poles, a group of us young girls, Betty Lee, Ann Kearse, Sara McBride,
Jessie Moreland, Ann and Leah King, Wanda and Flora Coxwell (please
forgive me if I forgot someone) would worry Doug Lewis every time we
saw him about letting us shake peanuts for him.
After so much nagging, he finally agreed to take us to his farm. He
told us to dress accordingly and to bring some lunch and water. He would
pick us up in his pick-up truck early on the morning he named. We got
ready and were waiting on the comer up town. When he drove up, then we
all got in the back of the truck and headed for the peanut field right out of
town.
Tommy Doug (as we called him) told us we had to work until sun
down and he wouldnt be back to get us, or check on us, until then. He said
that we would have to make out the best way we could. Being the big-
hearted man that he was and one of the sweetest men you would ever want
to know, he came after us not too long after lunch. I think maybe we had
174
stacked two poles and started on the third, when he told us to load up and go
home, which we were thrilled to do.
Much to our surprise he told us to go get a bath and get dressed and
that he would pick us up later. He did just that and carried all of us to the
White House Restaurant and bought us a fried chicken supper, enjoyed by
all! What a wonderful peanut-picking day that turned out to be! Ive never
forgotten what a kind gentleman Doug Lewis was!
Flora Coxwell Hartley
Skating on Ice in Leesburg
My parents, Lester and Jewell Coxwell and children, Little Lester,
Geraldine, Wanda, Flora and Shirley used to live in the first house to the
right on Main Street. To the west of the house was an acre of land owned by
daddy and the railroad. He rented half of it for one dollar a year. He used
this land for raising pigs. The north end of this land was much lower and
held water.
During the winter months, this water would freeze over solid all
winter. Everyday as soon as school was out, all the children in town headed
for the ice. We would play, slide, and called ourselves skating on the ice
until dark or until we were called in for supper. We could hardly wait until
the next afternoon to get together again.
Could you believe it was possible to ice skate in Leesburg?!
Flora Coxwell Hartley
Working at the Peach Shed
My mother, Jewell Coxwell, and her sister-in-law, Mabel Coxwell
worked at the Peach Shed in Albany which was located where Giles Building
Supply Company on Pine Avenue is now located.
175
One day I asked her if there were a possibility that some of us
teenagers could be hired. She said that she would ask her boss. After inquiring
she was told that they would hire all the help they could get.
The next working day Leah King McGee, Harry Lee, George Turner
and I all went to work. The four of us rode in the rumble seat of the coupe
car that Mama drove. This wasnt bad as long as the weather was good, but
when it rained we would have to close the top, which made it a little crowded.
Some nights we had to work until one oclock in the morning, and
had to be back early the next morning. The season was short however, so
we made out all right.
We worked with German prisoners. This was during World War II. They
were, however, under military guard. They were allowed to work at the
shed, guarded by these military police. After work they would be escorted
back to their barracks! Some of them were very young, very nice, and it
was enjoyable to work with them. We liked to talk with them, too, hoping
to learn some of the German language.
Later, we and other employees were transferred to the small peach
shed in Lee County on Dawson road. There the workload was much easier,
the work crew smaller and we had only one boss, which made our work
more enjoyable.
Flora Coxwell Hartley
Saturday Night Square Dances
Everyone in Leesburg and all the towns nearby and far away looked
forward to the square dances every Saturday night at the Leesburg school
gym. Mose Bone Head Davis from Albany called the dances. In between
square dances there would be round dances. It was always a huge crowd
every week.
I remember when it was time to round dance, the floor would be
crowded until my Uncle Bud Joseph Johnson and his daughter, my first
cousin, Gwendolyn Johnson Seanor would get on the floor to dance,
everyone would stop dancing just to watch them. You have never seen two
176
people as lovely, graceful, and beautiful dance like they did. They would
cover the entire gym floor. Everyone enjoyed watching them rather than
dance themselves.
Flora Coxwell Hartley
Our Christmas Tree
Christmas is a special time at our house. We begin getting excited
right after Thanksgiving.
First the treeWe do not buy a tree, rather we have a tradition in our
family that goes back to our childhood: we go to the woods! We pile
into our truck, ride down (or up) the road until we see a cedar that we think
is suitable for our house. We sometimes have to climb over a fence to get
one. Once we find it, we cut it down, put it in the pickup, and away we go-
back to the house.
Decorating the tree is always such fun. We make it a family affair,
and all of us help put on the homemade ornaments. These ornaments have
always been special because they were made by our children, and some of
them belonged to my grandmother.
The lights and other decorations are added. When we finish, we
always sit around and look at it and enjoy hot chocolate and cookies!
As time goes by, we have learned to appreciate even more the many
things handed down from our parents. We strive to continue these traditions
now and hope that they will be passed on to future generations.
Winnie Richardson Beamon
From Denmark to Lee County
George Larson I was bom in Denmark in 1867. He, with his family
came to America in 1879. They came over on the ship (a 70 foot steamer)
the Ethiopia. While on board they stayed in the steerage with one hundred
beds to a room. Each person had his own spoon and one bowl. Breakfast
177
consisted of oatmeal and syrup. George and his brother, Louis, figured out
that if they got in line first and ate fast, they could go back for seconds.
After landing in America, they went to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and
purchased land, and grew potatoes, peas, raised pigs and cows. Later, they
moved to Mississippi. While there my grandfather Elmer was bom. From
there they moved to Florida, and at the age of 60, moved to Lee County. It
was here in the county that he purchased 850 acres in the northern part of
the county. This was during the Depression, and the land was purchased
from an insurance company. The land was considered extremely poor;
however, he utilized it by raising crops that would improve the land. Grass
mixtures and clover were planted in the pastures. He also had a dairy which
was in operation for a number of years.
Today the land is still occupied by members of the Larsen Family.
Harry, my father, Sue, my mother, and I still maintain the land that was
purchased by my great-grandfather. I am the fifth generation of Larsens to
live on the land.
Although George Larson I had lived in four states before he came to
Lee County, he said that he settled for Lee County for the remainder of his
life because, I like the people, I like the climate, and the taxes are lower.
George Larsen
Winnie and R.J
Winnie and R. J. Richardson were our grandparents. We called them
Ma Ma and Pa Pa. They lived in Smithville and were very active in
community affairs. Pa Pa was City Clerk Treasurer, owned a seed and fertilizer
warehouse and an Insurance Agency. He and Ma Ma worked together.
When someones bill was overdue, PaPa would always send her a ridin in
her car to collect. She would ride up, blow her hom really loud, and they
knew Miss Winnie had come to collect and they better pay up!
We lived in Smithville also, and whenever we could, we always
liked to visit them. Ma Ma was a very good cook. It didnt matter if we had
just gotten up from the table at our house, we had to eat again. She always
178
planted a big garden, and whenever kin folks came, they always looked
forward to eating vegetables from her garden. We always liked to eat her
cold biscuits and home made jelly! She always had these on hand.
She and Pa Pa had many happy years together. They lived in the
home that our great grandfather had built and remained there all of their
married life. Their yard was well groomed with flowers and shrubs. Their
beautiful ferns, camellias, and Irises were used to decorate for many weddings
in Smithville. Grandparents are really special, arent they?
Denise Richardson Bell
Winnie Richardson Beamon
The Hero-Almost
After playing in various leagues for towns around the southeast, my
older brother, Hendrick, had finally decided that he wasnt going to become
the next Ted Williams, so in mid-July of 1949, he called it a career as a
first baseman, or any other position.
But a strange thing happened along his road of retirement. Soon thereafter,
he, daddy, my younger brother John, and I went to see the Albany Cardinals
play the Cordele Indians (a Cleveland Indian farm team). Pitching for Albany
that night was a true-blue phenomenon by the name of Wilmer Mizell, a
6-4, 19 year old wild southpaw, who would go on to win 90 games in the
major leagues. Well, Mizell struck out the Cordele first baseman four times,
and this prompted a quick phone call the next morning from Daddy Hendrick
to the Mr. Howard Lee, the Cordele manager, asking for a try out. Well, Mr.
Lee was impressed enough to sign him up, and Hendrick joined the team
on July 26, 1949. Now fast forward to August 22, when Cordele was at
Cardinal Park in Albany. It was also Fan Appreciation Night and the biggest
crowd of the season, 3,046, was on hand, according to The Albany Herald.
The Cardinals led 3-0 entering the seventh inning, but Hendrick hit
a 3-run, inside the park home run to center field for a 3 all tie. Cordele
tallied twice more in the ninth for a 5-3 lead. In the bottom of the ninth,
Albany had two runners on base, and two outs.
179
A guy by the name of Russell Rac then blasted a long home run over the left
field fence, ending the game, which resulted in a 6-5 score, not in Cordeles
nor Hendricks favor.
Bill Cromartie
Another Car Pushing Story
Many years ago, everyone hung around James Cannons filling
station on Walnut Street, a good place to meet and shoot pool. Usually,
having really nothing else to do, old man N.N. Nelson, City policeman,
would be there. We called him Newt. Newt did his policing, if you could
call it that, in his own pickup truck. Also, usually around was kinsperson,
Elaish Davis, who we called Laish.
One day, Laishs pickup would not start, and he asked Newt to give
him a push with his pickup. Newt said, No, I am on duty and doing my
police work. Shortly, feeling bad about it, Newt got in his truck and began
pushing Laishs truck, which was empty at the time.
You can guess what happened next. He pushed the empty tmck into
Miss Mitts Sanders front porch, causing much damage to the porch and
truck. Of course, there we no police investigation or charges made. Newt
didnt have any paper to make a report on anyway, or would he have known
how, and he sure was not going to charge himself, but might have considered
a charge for Laishs leaving an empty truck around!
George Moreland
Annie Jessups Cafe
Annie Jessups Cafe was located on the big curve in Smithville. It
was a gathering place for people who liked to sit around the pot-bellied
stove, tell jokes and tales.
On Saturday nights Roy Gosas band would play for dances there.
June Croxton Andrews, Scrap Israel, and Mr. And Mrs. L.J. Miller were
always regulars on those nights.
Zaida Ivey Poupard
180
Culture Shock
In 1957 we moved from Atlanta to Leesburg, and I was totally
shocked at the size of the town. I was not very happy because living in a
small town everyone seemed to know everyone. I felt so out of place. We
moved into an upstairs apartment, right across from the school. Another
shock was that everybody went to the same school. Students in Elementary,
Jr. High and High School had the same people in classes year to year! Our
downstairs neighbors were the Pridgeons. Mr. Pridgeon was Principal of
the entire school.
The first person who came over to see us was the paperboy (Cecil
Stamps), and I was surprised when he asked me to come out and play ball.
Well, culture shock set in when he and his friends yelled at me to chunk the
ball. After a few seconds of holding the ball, I asked, Do you want me to
throw the ball? Laughter set in, and I was sort of embarrassed not knowing
what chunk, meant. A few other words I learned from Cecil were wash
house because I only knew Laundromat; white bread to me was a loaf of
bread, and watcha riding on. This was the most puzzling phrase of all! I
never rode on a car in my life, only in one. Cecil turned out to be not only
the love of my life, but my best friend. We rode bicycles together, and on
weekends, I even helped him deliver the Albany Herald. His mother, who
became my MeMa, would drive us on Sunday mornings, with us riding on
the hood of her car. We could finish the route a lot faster than riding a bike.
I didnt do this but a couple of times because riding on the hood was very
tricky. One Sunday morning as we were delivering the papers, MeMa sort
of braked a little harder than normal, which resulted in Cecil and me sliding
off. At that point MeMa stuck her head out the window and said, I declare!
I thought you chiluns were supposed to be holding on! That taught me
not to ride on the hood again. Moving to Leesburg was the best thing that
ever happened to me, because thats where I met Cecil!
Marie Rainwater Stamps
181
A Crabby Lady
There was a lady who used to live where the Smithville Post Office
is today. It was said that she was just a crabby old lady who did not even
like children. Some of us would walk past her house on the other side of the
street. She would see us and start yelling at us, as we would walk on by. I
think we did it just to see what she would do.
Barbara Sikes Pines
A Unique Little Lady
A good many residents of Lee County have fond memories of my
one-of-a-kind, Aunt Greta Stocks. Aunt Greta will always be remembered
for being so special, so kind, and so short! She truly enjoyed going to all
kinds of different places and special events. She was always on the go, and
was willing to stop and pick up others in the neighborhood to go along with
her.
While I was in high school, I invited several of my girl friends to
spend a few days with me at my parents home in Lee County. None of us
girls could drive at that time, but we didnt let that bother us. We knew that
we could rely on Aunt Greta going somewhere and we would always be
welcomed to ride along. She lived just a hop and a skip down the road from
our house. We girls kept a vigil to see when she would leave her house and
head toward Albany. The girls would let me know that she was backing out
of her garage and headed our way. I would run out of our front door in a
flash and flag her down. I asked her one day where she was going, and she
said that she was on her way to see a Cardinal baseball game in Albany. At
that time, the Cardinal team in Albany was a Saint Louis Cardinal Farm
Team. I asked Aunt Greta if we girls could ride along. She told us to get
into her little car. She was so short that she could barely see over the steering
wheel. Now just wrap your minds eye around this picture: You are driving
down the road, when you notice a little Henry J car approaching. You do a
double take, because the car seems to be driving down the road by itself, full
of squirming, giggling teenage girls. Aunt Greta didnt seem to let her car,
182
full of hormone-raging girls, bother her! We were on a mission! Our mission
was to see the Boys of Summer in their tight uniforms. It did not matter to
us what the score was, or who won the game! Now Aunt Gretas mission
was another story. She was a loyal fan that supported her local team and she
went to as many of the home games as she could. As normal, well as normal
as any group of teenage girls will be, we girls jumped at any chance to see
the ball players!
One day as we were on our way to the Cardinal game, we drove
down the Old Leesburg road in front of what is now the Flea Market. The
Flea Market is near what was Watkins Lumber Company. The Watkins
family always took good care of their business property. They planted many
climbing roses on the fences that encompassed their lumberyard. As we
approached the property, Aunt Greta took her eyes off the road for just a
second. She told us to look at the beautiful climbing roses on the lumberyard
fence. When we looked out the window, we saw something entirely
different! We glanced out and instantly slumped down to the floorboard
and yelled with our startled voices, Horse! It was too late. The horse at
that very moment and the Henry J car collided! Luckily, no one was injured.
I couldnt speak for the horse, but he didnt seem to be injured. We did
notice, however, that he staggered across the road shaking his head with a
stunned expression and glazed eyes. I am pretty sure that he didnt know
that he almost became the hood ornament for a Henry J car! We stopped
just long enough for him to cross the road! A little thing like running into a
horse didnt deter us from our mission of going to the game.
Aunt Greta has long ago passed from her earthly home to her
heavenly home, but memories of her still linger on in the hearts of many.
My fond memories of her are numerous. She will be remembered by me
and all who knew her as the short little lady who took a special interest in
children, teenagers and the soldiers that were stationed at the Turner Air
Force Base in Albany. She would, at various times, bring soldiers into her
home and cook them delicious home-cooked meals. When you wrapped
your tongue around one of Aunt Gretas homemade biscuits, you felt as if
the angels were singing and looking down with envy! I watched her make
her famous biscuits one afternoon. She got out a large wooden bowl and
poured some flour, shortening and milk into the bowl. She was so adept at
183
this that she didnt even have to measure anything. Her little hands worked
that flour so fast that it looked as if there were two tornadoes in the bowl.
She could mix and pat out the biscuits as fast as I could open a container of
canned ones and get them in the oven. I still have visions of the small room
where there was just shelf after shelf of fruits and vegetables that she had
canned. She had quart jars filled with beautiful green beans. As a child,
what impressed me the most was the many jars of beautiful canned pears
that she had made up. She had added all different colors of food coloring to
the pears. It was like walking into a small room and seeing a beautiful
rainbow sitting on a shelf. I can also remember seeing her sitting on the
piano stool as she played the piano for the Thundering Springs Baptist Church.
She really had to stretch her short little legs to reach the pedals, but that did
not stop her from playing lively and peppy tunes. Her little hands sped over
the keys like flashes of lightning.
Her legacy as a fine Christian lady lives on through her daughter,
Marthanne Bruner. Marthanne strives to see that this legacy lives on through
her children and grandchildren.
Sandra Stocks
Democratic National Convention
During the early 1990s I became politically active in the Georgia
Association of Educations. I began lobbying state legislators at the state
capital and participating in the Political Action Committee at the state level.
During my visit to the capital in February 1992 where then presidential
candidate Governor Bill Clinton was speaking in the Senate, I decided to
run for the position of a delegate to the Democratic National Convention.
I gathered up family, friends, and co-workers to travel on a Saturday
morning to Camilla, Georgia to vote for me to represent our district. I tied
for first place with another schoolteacher from another South Georgia County.
My state representative, Ray Holland, came in third place. There were only
three delegates selected for Clinton. I was glad that my representative was
one of them. He never let me live down the fact that I won over him. Having
won the delegate position I contacted the chairperson for the Lee County
184
Democratic Committee, Mrs. Gladys Thrift. She informed me that I was the
first person from Lee County to ever be selected as a delegate. The Lee
County Democratic Committee helped to fund my trip to the Democratic
National Convention in New York City that summer. Also, local residents
were generous as well.
That was a summer I will always remember. I attended every session
from the beginning bell to the ending bell. I voted on all issues before the
floor. I represented our district very well. I received lots of television and
newspaper coverage from the local, state and national media. I am truly
grateful for have the opportunity to serve our county.
Nothrice Willis Alford
Remembrances of the Ranew Family of Lee County
I am Gloria Ranew Parker, daughter of Richard Wilson Ranew and
Lois McDowell Ranew. My father was bom in Lee County, although the
year is debatable, to Grover Dudley Ranew and Louise McDonald Ranew.
Daddy was the fourth child of his parents. Those before him were
son, C.D., daughters Velma and Elizabeth, and those after him were daughters
Betty Jean and Janelle, and to finish out the group came Merritt and Clifford.
Some of my best memories are Christmases, Easters, or any other occasion
when we all gathered at Grandmas and Granddaddys. With this many
aunts and uncles, imagine the cousins and great aunts and uncles and distant
cousins that showed up too! In the summer, or if Easter was late enough,
after lunch, we would all load up in the back of Granddaddys pickup and
head for the creek. I just recently learned that some of the adults that we
trusted didnt even know how to swim! After swimming, Granddaddy would
usually find a watermelon, and do his magic thump, to test for ripeness. It
seems like he always got it right.
Some of my fondest memories came from Grandmas kitchen. For a
while in the 1950s, my mother, daddy, my sister, Gail, and I stayed with
Grandma and Granddaddy and Uncles Cliff and Merritt. Grandma actually
churned her own butter. I remember loving to sit with her while she did this,
and she would give me fresh bread, spread with her fresh butter, and add to
185
it a very healthy sprinkling of sugar. Cholesterol city lookout! On summer
days Gail and I looked forward to spending the nickel or two that we had
been given, and would wait for what seemed like hours for the Rolling
Store! What a treat that was, a cinnamon bun, and an orange NEHI! Back to
the kitchen wed go happy as larks. All of these things took place at a house
in the country called Colonial Plantation. Granddaddy worked for Mr. Farran
who owned the farm. The house is no longer there, but the memories from
a loving family go deep and are precious to me. I am grateful for a large
extended family that knew how to enjoy each other and the simple way of
living.
Our own immediate family grew by two more when Mama and
Daddy added my brothers Michael and Gary to our little group of four.
Michael was bom while Grandma and Granddaddy still lived at Colonial in
1957, but Gary was bom in Cordele, and my grandparents had moved to
Albany by that time. We all continued to gather together until all the cousins
began their own families, Grandma had her stroke, and as in most families,
the ties began to stretch. Lee County has changed so much from the childhood
that I remember; the red dirt roads, the wooden bridges that I used to pray
would hold up as we went down Palmyra Road, and the acres and acres of
farmland in southern Lee County. Our family has changed too, mostly for
the better, some not so good, but we are still family and I cling to the early
memories that go back to the fun times I had as a child in Lee County.
Gloria Ranew Parker
Mr. Jack and Miss Amelia
Mr. Jack and Miss Amelia were two of my favorite people long
before I married their son, Jack Bell Jr. They were friends and mentors after
that.
I learned so much from both of them. When I was a child, Miss
Amelia raised laying hens and sold eggs to just about everybody in the
county and delivered them most of the time. When Mama needed eggs for
a cake to be taken to the church or a special occasion, we always had to get
186
eggs from Miss Amelia because they made it taste better. After I married
into the family, she taught me a lot about taking care of children and keeping
the home fires burning. We shared lots of hours talking about the entire
family and her love of Indian artifacts.
Because we lived in the country, we had snakes to come in the yard.
I was and am totally scared of them. She would always come with her gun
and be my snake killer. She was a marksman shooter. I remember Mr.
Jack telling of how he taught her to shoot and took her with him to a turkey
shoot at the America Legion in Leesburg one year. They didnt allow women
to shoot, but finally agreed and she out shot all of them and won the turkey
for best shot!
Mr. Jack was always joking around about different things, but he
sure taught me a lot about fishing and hunting. He loved to ride around and
look at the deer in the fields. We would ride late in the evening and when I
would fall asleep, he would hit the brake to wake me up. We loved to go
down to the creek or the pond and catch fish and cook them there. These
were some of the special times we spent together as a family.
Mr. Jack and Miss Amelia loved their family and spent countless
hours with them. After Mr. Jack died, Miss Amelia was known for
riding her grandchildren all over the county and stopping by the Suwannee
Swifty for a cold drink and some candy. She also taught them all how to
drive on the dirt roads back to the farm.
These two people are truly missed by everyone who knew them.
Denise R. Bell
187
Qurd Life
Jordan Grove Baptist Church
The Bell that Didnt Ring
Daddy used to tell this story about a friend of his when they were
young boys. The friend decided to raise pigeons, but he had none. Finally,
he thought about the pigeons that roosted in the church steeple. He knew
they went to roost late in the afternoon, so he climbed up the ladder with his
sack to the belfry. He sat patiently waiting for the pigeons and the birds to
come to roost. About this time, the sexton who rang the church bell for
Wednesday night prayer meeting came slowly into the small room and
reached for the bell rope. The young boy knew if the bell rang it would
scare all his pigeons away. What to do? He grabbed the rope and held on
tightly. The sexton pulled on the rope, nothing happened, he pulled again,
nothing happened. Hearing a light noise in the belfry he said, Whos up
there? The boy lowered his voice as best he could and answered. Its the
Lord. The man left the church with his coat tails flying. He never returned
to ring the church bell again!
Gwen Johnson Seanor
Cant Back Out
Leesburg Baptist Church has a special place in our hearts. This is
the Church in which our family, Paul & Evie Stamps and five children,
Edgar, Paula, Irma, Ronny and Cecil Stamps all attended. I accepted Christ
here and Brother Taylor who was the pastor at that time baptized me. Billy
Smith, whom I was dating, started attending every Sunday, picked me up
and we would go to Sunday School and Church. He would spend the day
with our family and we would go to Training Union and Church in the
evening. Billy accepted Christ here and G. Ashton Smith, pastor, baptized
him. One Sunday evening, our Training Union class put on a play in church.
The character Billy played had to ask the character I played to marry him.
Billy and I had been dating for months and the two of us were seen together
constantly. After that play, Mr. Ticky Forrester, who was also a member
there said to me, We heard him ask you to marry him and he cant back
189
out... we are all witnesses! A few months later, on August 20,1950,Billy
and I were married in the same church by G. Ashton Smith.
Paula Stamps Smith
The Lost Buffalo
There was a little boy whose mother had died. They had her funeral
in the church and buried her in the churchyard cemetery.
During the burial ceremony the boy was walking around in the
churchyard barefooted, looking down and crying as hard as he could.
Everyone was in sympathy for the boy and many bystanders were teary-
eyed, thinking how sad it was to be a motherless child.
One lady gathered enough courage to take hold of him, hug him,
wipe his tears and clean his nose. She told him how much he was loved,
how sorry she was that he had lost his mother and that he was going to be all
right. The boy yelled out in sobs, I know, Ill know it anywhere I see it,
because it has a buffalo on it. The poor little boy was crying because he had
lost a Buffalo Nickel.
Flossie Bolden
Palmyra Baptist Church
190
Somebody Stole My Sermon
Many years ago in Leesburg it was customary for all churches to
visit the church that had a new minister on the ministers first Sunday night
in Leesburg. This was the way the community would welcome the new
minister and family and attendance was always good for this occasion. The
host church usually provided a reception so the minister could meet everyone
and the community could size up the new preacher in town.
On one such occasion, Emory Gilbert, Jr., a young minister, had
been assigned to the Leesburg-Leslie Charge and was preaching his first
Sunday here. Everything went well that Sunday morning at the 11:00 service
and the local congregation was looking forward to introducing their new
minister to the community at the evening service and reception. Emory left
his notes for his evening sermon in the lectern so it would be there that
evening when he came to preach.
As the crowd gathered for the evening service there was a larger
congregation than usual of Methodist, Baptists, and Presbyterians, who were
all there to support the new minister. Emory was excited and sang lustily as
the service began, but things soon went awry. It was only when he was
introduced, stood to preach and reached under the lectern that he realized
his notes were gone. It seems that he had a friend who lived in Albany who
thought he would have a little fun with Emory. He came up to the Leesburg
church that Sunday afternoon and, since in those days no one would have
ever dreamed of locking the church on Sunday, he had easy access to the
sanctuary, easily found Emorys sermon, and took it with him. Emory was
really put on the spot! He tried to go ahead with the sermon he had planned,
but kept saying I had my Scripture, but SOMEBODY HAS STOLEN
MY SERMON!
At first the congregation seemed really concerned, but did not know
what to do. Emory preached a little longer, hesitated, and exclaimed again,
I did have point number two, but SOMEBODY STOLE MY SERMON.
By the time he finished his sermon, it became more and more comical and
the congregation was laughing aloud. Emory handled it like a good sport,
but on Monday morning he went over to the two houses across from the
church and asked the ladies if they happened to see anyone go in the church
191
on Sunday afternoon. They both informed him that a stout new man in a
Studebaker car went in the Church on Sunday afternoon. Emory knew
immediately from this information that it was a fellow minister friend, Archie
Haygood, who was serving the Palmyra Road Methodist Church in Albany.
So, onto Albany Emory went, and immediately headed to Haygoods office
and told him he just wanted to know if he did it. Haygood just grinned and
replied, Thats funny, neither admitting it, nor denying it. Emory saw the
notes of his sermon on Haygoods desk, but never mentioned that he saw
them. Emory served the Leesburg area several years and was loved by the
community, but I bet he never forgot the time SOMEONE STOLE HIS
SERMON!
Opal R. Cannon
My First Church
My family were members of the Leesburg Presbyterian Church
established in 1872. My parents, Grandparents, sister, grant aunts and
uncles were all members there. The membership at the Church was small,
we didnt even have a Sunday school; most of the children went to the
Methodist Church for Sunday school. We only had church once a month on
Sunday afternoon. The church is still there even though they are few in
number. They sponsor many projects and help others in a quiet way.
Jacqueline Martin Bowling
Church In Leesburg
I remember as a little girl always going to church. We lived next
door to the First Baptist Church. Living so close naturally made it easy for
us to just walk across the street.
I remember all of the old hymns we used to sing, and one of the
choir members who would close his eyes as if he were asleep.
I remember my Aunt Ida Murphy who would sometimes play the
piano, and Miss Pauline Tharp playing either the organ or piano.
192
I remember as a little child putting my head in my mamas lap
during church as she rubbed my forehead and I would play with her
beautiful hands.
I have always felt so loved by my parents, and my daddy could
always make me laugh (even now) because he has always been so funny. I
remember one Sunday night my daddy got tickled about something. Then
we all got tickled and started laughing. It was so hard not to laugh when you
are tickled in church!
In the spring of the year we would always have church dinner on the
grounds. Everyone would bring a covered dish. Brother Bobby Moye was
our minister during some of those years. We, as well as so many people felt
very close to him and his family.
Theres something so special about a small church. A place where
you know all the people, you know your preacher and his family well. The
music, simple hymns like Standing on the Promises, Just as I Am etc.-
all made for a close-knit family. There was not a lot of formality in our
church, just plain ordinary people worshipping together as a church family.
It was good.
Rosemary Lee Dozier
Looking for a Church
I have been told that an older man came through Leesburg early one
Sunday morning and asked a black gentleman on the street where the
Leesburg Baptist Church was located. The black gentleman looked up at
the man and told him We dont have a Leesburg Baptist Church, but we
have a Forrester Baptist Church and a Cannon Methodist Church.
Elizabeth Young
193
Leesburg Presbyterians
The Leesburg Presbyterian Church was a central part of our family
life for many years. Our grandfather, Albert E. Wheaton, served as a church
elder in the 1950s. Our parents, Billy G. Manning and Patricia Lee Wheaton,
were married in the small, simple sanctuary in 1961. And, although it was
several years before we joined the church as a family, once we did it became
a rich source of friendship, fellowship and lasting memories.
When the Manning family joined Leesburg Presbyterian Church in
the mid 1970s, under the pastorship of Reverend Carson Rhyne, our entire
congregation would gather in the front parlor of Mrs. Emma Cromarties
home for church meetings. The long-time members, including Mrs. Jennie
Hines (our pianist), Mrs. Sara Sanford, Mrs. Lissie Coxwell, Mrs. Laura
Martin, Mr. and Mrs. Sam Arthur and Mr. and Mrs. George Thrift, welcomed
a number of new members into the church family during those years. A
small trailer was added behind the church to serve as a fellowship hall for
monthly covered-dish dinners and youth activities. An active membership
began to grow. The younger members would fight for turns to tug the long
braided rope that hung from the bell tower and ring in the church service.
All of our members contributed in various ways, teaching Sunday school
cleaning the sanctuary on Saturdays, baking bread for communion or
delivering a sermon when our pastor was away.
Each year there would be a beautiful candlelight service on Christmas
Eve. As we filed out of the church into the cold night air, holding tightly to
our candles as we sang the final verse of Silent Night, we knew that surely
no church service, not even Midnight Mass at the Vatican, could have been
more moving. And while the church service paid a beautiful tribute to the
birth of Christ, the activities immediately following were slightly less reverent,
the annual Christmas Eve Open House at the Mannings.
There was always a procession of headlights filing down Highway
19 toward our house following the service. The men would crowd around
the makeshift bar (including the pastor), while my Sunday school teacher
mixed the high-test eggnog! You didnt need a drink to be in high spirits.
The house was filled with people talking and laughing and hugging. The
children, frenzied with anticipation for Santa, ran wild through the house
194
despite occasional warnings from distracted adults. There was food, more
food, and in typical Southern fashion, more food. When Mrs. Jennie would
take her seat at the underused piano in the living room, children and adults
alike would gather round to sing Christmas carols and songs of Santa. A
spontaneous caroling expedition would sometimes develop and surprised
neighbors would open their doors to find a makeshift choir, rarely on key,
warbling, We Wish You a Merry Christmas.
Our parents were the quintessential hosts, making everyone feel
welcome to stay as long as they wished. And everyone stayed, and stayed,
and stayed. But once the final friend was wished a Merry Christmas and
waved goodbye, my parents had plenty more work to do. The tables needed
clearing, the kitchen cleaned, and the children put to bed so that Santa could
assemble the new bicycles and put batteries in the talking, walking baby
dolls.
Although we may now live at different ends of the country, hold
different political views and have different interpretations of key events from
our childhood, we all completely concede to the following: (1) we will never
be able to recreate the magic of growing up in the congregation of Leesburg
Presbyterian Church; (2) we will never be able to throw a Christmas Eve
party like our parents did; and, (3) Christmas will never be as close to perfect
as it was at 8 Cannon Drive, Leesburg, Georgia.
Monica Miller, Veronica Johnson and Mitzi Conners (The Manning Girls)
195
The Lords Acre
My Daddy, John Robert Green planted peanuts on the land where
the Sanctuary of the Leesburg United Methodist Church is presently located.
He called it the Lords Acre. The proceeds from the sell of the peanuts
went to the Leesburg Methodist Church.
Mary E. Green
Leesburg United Methodist Church
196
4
appene
J
Old Wood Bridge across Kinchafoonee Creek
On GA Hwy 32
Broad, Charlie, and Red
When I retired from the Carlton Company, I wanted to find something
I could do for a hobby, and one that no one would steal or copy. I remembered
that as a young farm boy I had used a team of oxen to pull logs out of the
woods; so I decided to raise a team of oxen as my hobby. I bought three,
Broad, a full-blooded Holstein, Charlie, one-half Holstein and one-half Black
Angus, and Red, one-half Guernsey and one half Santa Gertrudis. They
were from thirty minutes to four days old when I got them.
Everyday the steers were fed natural food, a regular diet of hay (one-
third of a bale), crushed com (five gallons) and also pasture grass. I brushed
them about once a week with a Curry Comb, and as I combed one, the
others would line up for their turn.
These very large pets of mine participated in many events and parades
in Leesburg, Dublin, Albany, Cuthbert, and Calvary. I made a yoke that I
used to steer them during those times; however, they would respond to my
voice and do what I asked of them.
They were smart too. One night a windstorm blew a tree down,
breaking down the pasture gate. Charlie came within two feet of my bedroom
window and mooed to wake me up. Broad once leaned over the garden
fence and was eating my turnip greens. I spanked him on the leg and he
never leaned across the fence again. Red helped me move my fence by
pulling up posts, carrying them, and putting them in a pile. Once I showed
him how to do the work, he continued to repeat the process.
As times changed and my having some health problems, I knew that
I could no longer care for them, and I would have to sell them. This was one
of the hardest decisions I had ever had to make. After sixteen years of
caring for them, I had to say goodbye to Broad, who weighted 3,300 lbs,
Charlie, who weighed 3,300 lbs, and Red, who weighted 2,800 lbs. I still
miss them and mentally feed them everyday.
Raymond (Hoot) Gibson
198
Mr. Hoot Gibson with Broad, Charlie, and Red
The Unwelcomed Visitor
It was a quiet Sunday morning until my Mama burst into my bedroom
screaming, Theres a bird in my room! It took me a little while to wake up
and focus in on what she was saying. What? I answered. A bird? Where
did it come from? Well, I was in bed, and I heard the glass in the window
break. I looked down and there was a hawk lying on the floor. I think it is
dead. I threw my housecoat on top of it. Come look at it.
We entered her bedroom and the hawk was NOT dead! It had started
to move around; so, we took the comforter off the bed and threw it on top of
it. Who to call? We certainly couldnt get the thing out by ourselves. Mama
called Robby, my brother-in-law to come over and help. By the time he
arrived, the hawk had come out from beneath the covers and had lighted on
the edge of the beds footboard! Robby took one look, closed the bedroom
door, and said No way!
Since it was a Sunday, animal control wouldnt be open; so Mama
called the Lee County Sheriffs department. They sent a deputy over to
199
help. The deputy came in the back door all cocky and being patronizing to
us, So, you have a bird in your bedroom and you cant get it out? No, we
answered. He strode all confidently down the hall, and we followed behind
cautiously. He cracked open the bedroom door and the hawk was on the
footboard, wings spread wide in attack mode and it screeched at him. That
deputy slammed the door and took off running down the hall! Thats a
hawk in there! he exclaimed. Yes, we know, we told you that already!
we exclaimed.
Finally, we worked out a plan of attack. Robby and the deputy got
the comforter out of the guest room, sprang into the master bedroom, and
threw it over the hawk. Then, they wrapped it around him good, and ran it
out the back door. We could see its talons fighting and poking out as he was
unwrapped in the yard and set free. He circled the yard a couple of times
before he went off on his way. We were just all relieved that we were home
and able to catch it before it was able to fly through the house and destroy
everything in sight. That was one Sunday when we had an unwelcome drop
in visitor well never forget.
Stephanie Hayes
A Flounder in the Kinchafoonee?
Would you believe a flounder in the Kinchafoonee? Well, if you
had lived in Leesburg back in the 1970s you might really believe it. Yes, it
was written up in the Lee Countv Ledger with a picture of the fish and the
man who caught it.
It happened like this: Roy Johnson had been to Florida on a fishing
trip and brought home a nice flounder in his ice chest. Hazel told Roy after
a day or two to do something with that flounder or it was going to start
smelling. Roy decided to take it with him when he, Ray Spillers, and J.G.
Worthy got their boat out to go fishing in the Kinchafoonee Creek.
The two fishermen had just settled down in the boat when J.G.
hooked a fish. Roy told J.G. to go handle the motor and he would take care
of landing the fish. J.G. no sooner got his back turned before Roy slipped
the flounder out of the ice chest and replaced the bream on the hook with the
200
big flounder. Needless to say, when J.G. turned around and saw the flounder
and Roy getting it into the boat, he jumped up with excitement and started
shouting, Roy, do you see what I caught? Looks like a flounder, Roy
answered. J.G. became ecstatic and started talking about what people would
say when they found out he had caught a flounder in the Kinchafoonee
Creek in Leesburg, Georgia. Before Roy could slow J.G. down to tell him
what he had done, the joke had gone too far. By this time J.G. wanted them
to stop fishing and go right into town and show the fish. Roy didnt know
then how to tell J.G. it was a joke, so he just went along with J.G. and took
the fish to town to show it to the people. Someone passed word of the
incident to the editor of The Lee Countv Ledger and he came over and
made a picture of J.G. Worthy with the flounder he caught in the
Kinchafoonee Creek. So, you see, there WAS a flounder in the Kinchafoonee
Creek, but not for very long!
Opal R. Cannon
Tall Betsy
Early in my childhood, I remember my mom trying to make me be a
good little boy by using certain scare tactics. I supposed that worked to
some extent when I was smaller but as time went on and I got to be a good-
sized boy, I was beginning to get tired of it. Mother would tell us about this
fictitious character named Tall Betsy who supposedly lived in the attic.
She was said to be a mean, old woman who was tall and ugly and didnt like
bad children. We were always threatened with her if we got unruly.
After getting to be a big boy, one day Bobby and I persuaded
Mom to call Tall Betsy out of the attic and let us see her. To do this, she
had to take one of my sisters and dress her up to look like she had always
told us Tall Betsy looked, so she took a stick broom to give her some
height, put a cloth flour sack over the bristles, pained an ugly face on it and
topped it off with an old hat. While my sister held the broom up, she covered
herself with an old bedspread fastened to the open end of the flour sack.
While Bobby and I waited out in the front hallway, she prepared to make
her entrance through the curtain. When she did, Bobby and I simultaneously
201
knocked the lock off the doorway entering the bedroom and made our exit.
That was the last time we heard of Tall Betsy.
Virgil A. Booker
Ghosts and Apparitions
I live in the house my great, great grandfather and great grandfather
Clay built around 1917. It is located in northern Lee County in Chokee
District. My grandfather, Robert A. Clay, Jr., was bom in this house.
My great grandmother, Eddye Hooks Clay, comes to visit us often.
One night my mother and I were upstairs getting ready for bed when I
remembered that I needed something downstairs. So, I went down to retrieve
the forgotten item. While there, I turned to look toward the front door, and
there stood Granny. This was the first time I saw Granny. Another time I
was in my room using the computer. Granny came into the room to visit
with me. Often we can smell the chocolate peanut butter fudge that she
cooked for her children and grandchildren.
My great grandfather Robert A. Clay, Sr. has come to visit a couple
of times as well. A friend, Stephanie Hayes, had been out to fix the computer.
That day, my granddad, Robert A. Clay, Jr. and cousin, Clay Sheffield had
been in and out of the house. As we were getting ready to leave, Stephanie
turned to my mom and asked, Carol, why did your dad go home, change
clothes and come back? Mom replied, Although he has been in and out of
the house, he did not go home to change clothes before coming back in the
house. Stephanie thought he had changed from his khaki clothes into a
dark suit and was standing at the landing looking out the window checking
on the cows. Mom pointed to a picture of my great grandfather and asked if
that was whom she saw. Stephanie said it was. Mom told her everything
was okay, that it was her grandfather that she had seen, and he was just
checking on things. I saw him a couple of weeks later on the staircase.
It is always nice to have the great grandparents come to visit.
Zachary Peak
202
Big River Dan Green and Little River Dan Green
I always did like a good true story and this one is true. The Greens
had a big plantation and they traded with the Ferguson Company in Desoto
who sold everything from buggy whips to coffins. When Big River Dans
first son was bom, he was named after his father. Instead of calling him
junior they called him Little River Dan Green.
Big River Dan loved chewing tobacco and ate just enough to live.
Little River Dan ate like a hog and got as fat as the fat lady in a circus. When
Big River Dan died, they bought the smallest coffin for grown people that
granddaddy had, as he only weighed 98 pounds.
Ten years later when Little River Dan Green died he weighed 595
pounds and granddaddy did not have one big enough for him. They had to
get a carpenter to build one big enough to hold him. When a coffin was
bought, my granddaddy always gave the family a pint of smelling perfume.
Granddaddy gave the Greens a quart for Little River Dan. Back then nobody
was embalmed and you couldnt hold them out too long. It took about three
days to build a coffin this big.
This is a true story but it was always funny to me about Big River
Dan and Little River Dan Green. If you cant figure out about the perfume,
ask somebody.
Billy Ferguson
The Strawberry Train
During the 1940s there was a train with a boxcar load of strawberries.
It derailed, however, somewhere around the Century area. Strawberries were
everywhere! Word got around that the berries would be free to those who
would go and get them. Needless to say, nearly everybody in Leesburg
hurried to Century to get berries. It has been said that most of the lights in
town were still on way into the night because so many people were doing
what? Cooking up those strawberries!!
Annibeth Woods McBride
203
A School Teacher Goes to Hollywood
Mrs. Louise Whiting, the Society editor of The Albany Herald for
many years used to write in her column about the annual visit of her friend,
Maude King Chasen of Hollywood, California to see her friends and relatives
in the Albany area. Mrs. Whiting said that Maude enjoyed visiting with
guests from back home who came to her famous restaurant, Chasens in
West Hollywood.
In July of 1978 Opal Cannon, Martha Dye and Barbara Jones took
a trip out west and decided to visit Chasens when they were sightseeing in
southern California. Shortly after being seated, Opal told the waiter to please
tell Mrs. Chasen that some people from Leesburg and Albany, Georgia would
like to meet her.
Maude came to their table immediately and ordered complimentary
drinks as she asked about her friends and the news from home. The group
was pleased to see how friendly this small, pretty blonde was and to learn
that this glamorous lady used to teach elementary school in Leesburg! She
said that she enjoyed teaching there and remembered how students went
home for lunch each day. She had to wait for them to get back before
resuming class.
One of her friends in Leesburg was Opals sister-in-law, Lucille
Cannon Crotwell. Although Maude was a popular teacher, she decided to
go to New York and to seek a different career.
She said that she became a friend of the Don Ameches who introduced
her to Dave Chasen. When she and Dave fell in love and married, Maude
moved to Hollywood where Dave had owned a restaurant since 1937. His
restaurant, Chasens was a favorite hangout for the show business crowd for
more than sixty years, and Maude became a best friend of Jane Wyman.
During World War II when Dave went into service, he left his
Georgia Peach in charge of Chasens. Maude said that Dave was pleased
to leam that she had been very successful in running the business in his
absence.
204
For many years, Chasens was the favorite place of movie stars to
have a special lunch, dinner, or a fabulous Oscar-night party. Jimmy Stewart
had his bachelor party there in 1949. Cyd Charisse and Tony Martin had
their first date at the original Chasens and their golden wedding anniversary
at the new restaurant. When Elizabeth Taylor was making the movie
Cleopatra in Rome, she had chili from Chasens flown to her.
Chasens was Ronald Reagans favorite restaurant. He proposed to
Nancy in Booth Number 2 and entertained former British Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher there as his guest forty years later. This booth is now in
the Reagan library.
After the guests from Georgia finished their dinner, Maude showed
them her office whose walls were frilled with autographed celebrity
photographs. She delighted the guests with anecdotes about many of their
favorite movie stars. None of the celebrities was any more fascinating than
Maude King, the little school teacher from Leesburg!
Martha Dye
One Long Taxi Ride
A crew consisting of Harry Lee, Charles Cannon, Col. A. A. May,
and I decided to go rambling, leaving Leesburg for Columbus, and all the
way having a real good time. After staying in Columbus for a while, we
decided to go on to Montgomery, Al. and see my brother in law, Wandell
Murphy. By this time, we were all having a real, real, good time, if you
know what I mean.
As time went by, we decided to get a room in a hotel, not wishing to
attempt to drive all the way back to Leesburg. It was about that time that
Harry and Charles decided, for reasons not to be explained here, that they
wanted to go back home right then, I mean right that minute. We said, No
its too far; too late! Since it was our car, they decided to see if they could
rent a taxicab to take them home. The driver must have been nuts or drunk
but agreed to take them and get paid when they got to Leesburg. Now that
was a long and expensive trip, but off they went.
205
Some time after, Col. May and I thought about the fact that when
they arrived in Leesburg, all would be wondering where we were and why
they got home ahead of us. So with Col. May driving we headed on back to
Leesburg, at this point not having as quite a good time as before. The taxi
must have stopped somewhere along the way as we caught up with them
just outside Leesburg; we could see the dome light of the taxi far ahead of
us. We agreed not to pass them and to follow and just see what all would
happen.
They had spent all their money and had none to pay the driver. When
they got back to Leesburg, they had to borrow from other friends in order to
pay for their ride back home. They got mad because they had no money left
and realized that they could have ridden back with us for nothing! They
asked us not to say anything about his because they didnt want to be teased
and given a hard time by the local hang outs at the restaurant.
George Moreland
My First Tech-Georgia Football Game
This little saga began on Friday afternoon the day after Thanksgiving
in 1954.
I got a call from Elbert Williams asking me if I wanted to attend the Georgia-
Georgia Tech football game in Athens the next day, as he had an extra ticket.
I immediately said you betcha! After all, I had never seen a game of any
kind in Athens, much less a Tech-Georgia game. But it must be said that
Elbert warned me that the weatherman was calling for rain. Ahhh, a little
rain never hurt anybody was my reaction.
It was a long way from Leesburg to Athens, so Elbert picked me up
at 4 oclock a.m. in Mr. Williams four-door Desoto auto. We were making
good time, but if you rode with Elbert back in those days, you always made
good time. Somewhere way on up the road there suddenly was a bright,
orange glow in the east and we both agreed that the weatherman was all
wet in his forecast, but not for long. The orange sky suddenly turned a
light gray, then a dark gray, followed by rain and lots of it. Then, just outside
of Madison, WHAMO! We were rear-ended and in turn knocked into the
206
car in front of us. As it turned out, nobody was hurt but a few cars, including
Elberts DeSoto, had a badly bruised grill and trunk. By the time we inched
our way to the stadium, parked, and sat through the game, Elbert and I were
just as wet as if we had jumped into a swimming pool, Literally! We all had
coats and ties on!
As for the game, we left early to beat the traffic but we didnt beat
it. Both Elbert and I just remained wet throughout, and arrived back in
Leesburg about 10 oclock that night, damaged DeSoto and all.
Oh, who won the game? Tech, 7-3.
Bill Cromartie
School Bus Trip
My family (Jessie, Harry, Rosemary, and Susan Lee) and the Tharps
(Pat, Page, Tommy, Jeffrey) went on a weekend camping trip to Ft. Gaines.
Mr. Tharp had renovated a school bus into a camper. Eight of us in one
camper made for rather snug quarters.
Not wanting to disturb anyone, my mother gently woke Miss Pat up
about 1:00AM to get her to show her the outside bathroom facility. Having
found it and finding it undesirable, Mother and Miss Pat moved on to find a
spot. It was so funny (I think we were all awake by this time) to see Miss
Pat leading the way with a flashlight with mother right behind saying Where,
Pat, where? Needless to say we laughed about it all the way home. Those
were such good times and we enjoyed being together so much.
Rosemary Lee Dozier
Jail Bird
I was bom at the Lee County Prison Camp on Leslie Highway. The
present County School Bus Depot is located there today. My father, Jim
207
McBride was the warden of the camp and we lived in a house there on the
property.
When I was about two years old we moved to the jail, which at that
time was located on Main Street. There I lived for many years, after my
father became Sheriff-. Later on, after years went by, I was employed at the
Post Office. My fellow employees having learned that I had grown up in
places of incarceration would tease and named me Jail Bird. These employees
back then were W.W. Rivers, who was Postmaster, Thad Gibson, Frank
Stovall and Ed Forrester. Later on when I became Postmaster and would
attend meetings, the Postal Inspector would introduce me as Jail Bird.
Gladys McBride Thrift
Old Lee County Jail
Nora Moreland Allen
When Nora Moreland graduated from Leesburg High School, there
were only thirteen students in her senior class. In this small setting, she
received the inspiration from her social studies teacher, Miss Mary Dance to
work to establish a two party political system in Georgia. Miss Dance, who
was a life long Democrat, told her students that voters in the South were
being taken for granted by the Democrats because the party had no
208
competition. She stressed that this situation would not improve until
Southerners had a true choice between two parties as other states did. This
teachers words had a profound effect on Nora who would later help establish
Republican parties on the precinct and district level and would represent
Georgia in Republican Party affairs on the national level.
Nora Moreland Allen realized how important it was to have a goal
and to use good organizational skills to help establish a grass roots Republican
organization in the state. George Clardy organized the Republican Party in
Lee County and became its first president. Nora became its second president.
She worked hard to identify Republican voters in Lee County and
in the Third District and to get them to the polls. She has not forgotten the
disappointment when a Republican candidate for Sheriff of Lee County lost
by thirteen votes because a few Republicans did not vote.
As chairman of the Third District, Nora set the goal of a Republican
primary to be held in each county for the first time. This was not an easy
task to accomplish in some of the counties. In Chattahoochee County where
no one could be found to hold the Republican primary, two University of
Georgia students, who were from that county, were hired to conduct this
election even though not a single Republican vote was cast! Nora was still
proud that 100% participation had been achieved by all the counties in the
Third District. Bo Callaway was especially grateful to her and credits her
hard work in his successful election to Congress.
Noras organizational skills and hard work were rewarded with new
responsibilities as vice-chairman of the Republican Party of Georgia. She
remained active in the womens organization, also. Noras highest office in
the party was National Republican Committee Woman for four years. She
attended both Republican national conventions in Miami.
Nora remembers the first time she saw George Bush in Miami in
1968. She considered him quite a hunk with his pretty blue eyes, and he
was dressed in blue and white and looked as if he had just come in from
sailing. She also saw his wife, Barbara, the Silver Fox.
Many times Nora was mistaken for Pat Nixon because of their similar
hairstyle, blond hair and coloring. One time at a fundraiser for Nixon, the
Secret Service came over to Nora and looked surprised and then said, You
know who we thought you were. We wondered how she got away from
us.
209
Another night, all of the waitresses in an Atlanta hotel restaurant
came over and watched Nora eat breakfast. She asked them what was the
matter. They replied, You are Mrs. Nixon, arent you? Nora laughed and
said, Mrs. Nixon is in town, but she has probably been in bed for hours!
Nora Allen with President Nixon
She was mistaken for Betty Ford on other occasions. Once in Atlanta, she
had her picture made with Nelson Rockefeller for the Atlanta newspapers.
She visited the White House on numerous occasions and gave input in
convention and presidential meetings such as when Vice-President Agnew
resigned. It was hard to believe that Nora was a little girl from Leesburg
rubbing shoulders with so many important people. Wouldnt Miss Dance
be proud!
Nora admired Richard Nixon because he was so smart and was so
disappointed when he resigned. She enjoyed her association with Gerald
Ford, however, because he was so natural that Nora felt that she could say
anything to him and talk with him as you would to a friend.
210
Because her husband, Red, was going to retire, Nora decided that
after four years as National Republican Committee Woman from Georgia,
she would not run for her re-election. Nora paid all of her expenses as a
Republican leader, but had the use of a WATS line when she was vice-
chairman of the state party. Nora says that she loved every minute of her
career and it was worth every cent and effort that it cost her.
Martha Dye
A Hair Raising Episode with Two Cousins
A haircut with bangs straight across was the style of my hairdo when
I was a little girl. One day while sitting at my Mothers dressing table, I
decided to play beauty parlor. All of a sudden I had a brilliant idea-1
would cut my bangs myself because I thought they were too long. With that
in mind, I picked up the scissors and whacked away-not in a straight line,
but wound up with a lop-sided haircut. I, however, was proud of my
accomplishments; not so with my mother! She gasped and ran to the phone
for a quick call to her beautician. She told her that we were on our way
because of a hair-cutting emergency.
When we arrived, I sat down under this contraption that had zillions
of wires attached to curlers. I said, I dont want to be electrocuted! (This
was long before wireless perms). Nevertheless, I was put in what looked
211
like an electric chair, hooked up to wire curlers, which were then attached to
my hair and the power was turned on, and the curling began!
After what seemed to be a very long time, they pulled the plug. It
seemed to me that I had been fried and I really did smell like fried chicken!
All this was of little concern to my mother. She was just satisfied that I no
longer had lopsided bangs, but had a head full of Shirley Temple curls.
However, instead of the curls, it looked more like pig-tailed corkscrews.
With this very unpleasant experience, I finally decided that after all,
I liked the new look, so when I got home, I could hardly wait to show my
new hair-do to my cousins, Cynthia and Harold. They lived on Stocks Dairy
Road and were playing outside with a water hose. I bragged and boasted
about my new do. I expected accolades, but what I got was very hair-
raising. Harold picked up the hose and turned it on me and my hair-do full
force!!! My new perm frizzed up like I had been in a fight with a weed-
whacker. I ran home crying, Harold laughing, and Cynthia just ran!
I really didnt get too angry with Harold because I guess they were
just tired of listening to me and he just decided that would be a way to stop
my bragging.
This is just one of the many memories that I keep tucked away in the
safety box of my mind. I take these precious memories out of my minds box
from time to time to polish them up and relish in their glow. I place them
very carefully back into their place of remembrance in order that I might
retrieve them to brighten my day. As we grow older, we discover our good
childhood memories can help us cope and deal with adult trials and
tribulations.
Sandra Stocks
The Manure Pile
A common practice each spring was for farmers to clean out their
bams and stables and lots of the livestock waste, which had accumulated
over the past year. This substance would, in turn, be piled in the appropriate
fields before being spread throughout. Well, James Cannon had a huge pile
stacked up in a field that was located on the left side of the road, going west
212
towards the Kinchafoonee Creek. Meanwhile, Charles Rhodes, Ed Forrester
and Bill Cromartie had borrowed a 34 Ford belonging to Bills grandmother,
to ride to the creek to check out the construction of a new steel and concrete
bridge being built. On the way back, however, there was a sudden BAM
BAM! And they had thrown hard dirt clods against the car. I immediately
stopped to see what in the blue-blazes had happened, and there were Billy
Crotwell, James Macolly and Jimmy Bowles scrambling to get away.
LETS GET EM! shouted one of us. And we did.
And to shorten a long story, we did get emall three of them got pitched
directly into the pile of ripe manure. They were a mess. That night, Billy
Crotwells mother, Lucille, called my mother and the conversation went like
this:
Mrs. Cro: Oh, hello Lucille, fine, yeah, were all doin fine.
Phone: Silence
Mrs. Cro: He did WHAT?
Phone: Silence
Mrs. Cro: You dont mean it!
Phone: Silence
Mrs. Cro: Why, that the worst thing Fve ever heard of!
Phone: Silence
Mrs. Cro: Well thanks for callin Lucille, and I sure am sorry.
Mrs. Cro wasted no time in scolding Bill.
And guess who had a ringside seat behind some bushes directly across the
road from the manure pile? It was one, John Drew Cromartie. He recently
said, Yeah, I witnessed that entire sordid disaster and I definitely think that
the young boys got what they deserved. Some 20 years later, making it the
early 1970s, James and Billyplus their lovely wiveswere in Atlanta
and along with my lovely wife; the six of us had dinner.
Naturally, the old days were brought up, but I was not about to mention
the manure story, as I didnt know if their wives knew about it. Well, in
no time at all, Billy and James both brought up the fact that I was indeed in
on it.
213
Their wives got a real hoot over it, saying things like; I wish I had been there
to see it, etc. etc. etc.
Bill Cromartie
Lee County Postcard
I was living on Stocks Dairy Road in October 1993. It was then that
I had my own experience and version of Gone with the Wind. A tornado
destroyed my home on Halloween night. The force of nature had really
played a trick on me that night.
After the disaster that night, I moved in with my son David Kessler, who
lived on Flowing Well Road. This was a big mistake. He lived alone and
his work in Albany requires that he work long hours. Therefore, there was
little food in the house, only a jar of peanut butter and a stale loaf of bread.
The Philema Road Baptist Church came to the rescue after this
tornado. Pews were lined with all kinds of food items. Upon entering the
church, we were handed a cardboard box. We were then instructed to pick
out what we needed, at no cost whatsoever. This action taken by the church
was truly a sermon to me. My church, Central Baptist in Albany presented
me with a generous donation. Also, my cousins Sunday School Class sent
me a donation. This was truly an act of Christian giving, especially since I
was unknown to them. I am so grateful to these churches for their help.
What a blessing we have to be able to live in a country where we have the
freedom to worship and help others in times like these.
Just one year before the tornados struck, my mother passed away.
Theyearwas 1992. Afterwards, my son and I went through her possessions.
We soon discovered that she had saved every letter and postcard that I had
written to her. We then gathered them altogether and stored them in an
empty building on our property.
A few days after the tornado, my son told me that a lady in Dublin,
Georgia had a piece of my mail. She had contacted the Lee County Chamber
of Commerce for information concerning my address. My son brought my
mail to me soon after that, and there was a letter addressed to me from
214
someone in Dublin. As I opened the letter, a post card that I had written my
mother in 1954 while on a Senior Class trip, fell into my lap!
Her letter stated that she worked in a manufacturing plant there in Dublin.
While outside cleaning the grounds there at the plant, she noticed a post card
there up against a fence. She stated that what caught her eye was it was a
two-cent post card from Leesburg, Georgia. How could that card be in
Dublin! I answered her letter and explained to her that the card was indeed
written to my mother those many years ago. The tornado had completely
destroyed the building where papers had been stored. Evidently the storm
had picked it up and blew it to Dublin.
It was so amazing to think that this lady was considerate enough to
take the time and make the effort to save this two-cent postcard! The card
was still in fair condition. The message was still readable and the card itself
was not even tom. How astounding, considering the conditions endured on
its journey over to Dublin!
I eventually moved to Albany. Sadly in the process of moving I lost
the card. However, the memory of the storm and the journey of the card will
never be forgotten.
Sandra Stocks
Mrs. Kate Profit
Mrs. Kate Profit was a lady who was not easily defeated by a
challenge. She loved nature and didnt do much trimming on trees and
shrubs.
She had a snake that lived in her well. I am sure more than one lived
there. Sometimes as she drew a bucket of water, the snake was in the bucket.
She would just let the bucket down again so the snake could get out. She
said that snakes help to keep the water clean.
She liked animals and raised black and white rabbits. She had good
sales on her rabbits, especially around holidays.
Sis Flossie Bolden
215
A Grandmothers Last Gift
My mother, Jane Tison McRee, died on February 9,2003. Several
months after her death, we were packing up some of her things and came
across a box of unused cookbooks published by the Smithville Garden Club
in 1977. One of her granddaughters said she would like to have one. So I
reached into the box and gave her one to take home. That night I got an
excited phone call from her. To her surprise when she opened the cookbook
she found a note addressed to her from her grandmother written in 1978.
The next day we searched the box of cookbooks, and as we had hoped,
found two other cookbooks each one addressed to her other two
granddaughters and also dated 1978. We assume that mamas intentions
were to write a message to each of the girls and give them the cookbook
when they were older. She evidently put these three books back in the box
with the others and they stayed in there lost and forgotten for over twenty-
five years.
It has been difficult for us to believe that this was just a coincidence.
That out of a whole box of forgotten books, we would randomly pick up a
book and give it to the one person for whom it had been intended twenty-
five years ago. I guess that coincidence is the only
Claudia McRee Copeland
Hospitality, Two Rabbits and More
During World War II, a cousin, Martha Griffith, was employed as a
librarian at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama. She had
frequent visitors in the library. Among them were four young men stationed
at Maxwell: Ramie, Ernie, Smitty and Bill (Bill later became my uncle Bill
Hopkins, who married my Aunt Neva). They all soon became friends with
Martha.
Often she would invite them to her home for some good home cooked
meals, which they enjoyed. They liked to visit with Martha and her husband,
Griff, any time they had an invitation.
216
These young men soon learned that they were being transferred to
Turner Field in Albany, Georgia. When Martha learned this, she immediately
told them they would soon have another home to go to in Leesburg for that
southern cooking. She, of course, was referring to my Grandmother and
Granddaddys house, Bessie and Bob Green. As soon as they were settled
at Turner Field, they called my grandparents and told them what cousin
Martha had said. Shortly thereafter, the four men were invited up to Leesburg
where they became frequent visitors and always looked forward to the good
ole home cooking!
One day Ramie asked my Mother and Daddy if I could have two
male rabbits. They agreed and soon I got them and Daddy built an unlined
pen for them.
It was soon discovered that someone had made a mistake! I had gotten a
male and a female!
Before long they began to multiply. There were rabbits, rabbits, and
more rabbits! They soon began to dig out of the pen, so I had to help catch
them and put them back into the pen. This continued on for a little while,
but soon it was evident that I could keep them no longer, so I was willing to
give them to Kate Profit.
For many years after that when someone wanted a rabbit all they had to do
was to go see Kate.
Mary E. Green
A Chance Meeting An Old Friend
I did have a funny experience with one of my friends from Leesburg
and it occurred at an EVAC Hospital in France. I was in a Ward with a
number of other soldiers and I saw Dick Forrester in a bed across the way,
but I wasnt sine who he was. In that deep voice he told me his name and
that he was from Albany, Georgia. About that time I recognized him and I
said, Youre from Leesburg. He replied, Yeah, that is right but nobody
here knows where Leesburg is. I said, Heck, nobody here knows where
Albany is.
217
The home my mother was bom in was known as the Byne House,
just off Palmyra Road. The home, still standing, has been remodeled with
the kitchen and dining room, once separated from the home, now included
in the main body of the house.
GM Byne Bom 1825 Died 1910
Georgia Byne Bom 1854 Died 1924
Marilu Byne Bom 1890
Gil Barrett
The Game
Daddy used to tell this story about a very strong willed woman (no
names please). Her husband did love to play cards. She disapproved. One
Saturday after getting paid, he decided to stop by the GAME and play a
little. After losing his entire paycheck, he slowly made his way home. Being
late getting home, his wife was waiting at the door. After finding out what
had happened (remember these were hard times), she rushed into the closet
and grabbed a shotgun. She ran down to the GAME and swept up every
penny of her husbands paycheck out of the pot in the middle of the table.
Not a man at that table stopped her nor, did they say a word looking into that
double-barreled shotgun!
Gwen Johnson Seanor
The Cat and The Flashlight
Charles and I moved into our new bam red house from our old house
next door, across the street from the first Baptist Church, August 1978. Not
long after that, the Tommy Bryan family bought and moved into the house
in back of us.
Luke Bryan was 4 or 5 years old and he and Charles became close
friends. Luke would come over and borrow nails, or just sit on the stool and
watch Charles work, talking all the time. Luke was curious about a hole in
218
the door of a small room where we kept garden tools. Charles told him a cat
went in it and had kittens. Luke then asked how the cat could see to find the
kittens. Charles, having a good imagination, told him the cat had a little tiny
flashlight! Luke was puzzled, so he went home and thought about it. Later
he came back and said Mr. Williams, you know a cat cant hold a flashlight!
Charles said, Oh, yes, this is how he does it; Charles got down on his all
fours and then held his right hand out as if shining the flashlight (Wish I
could have seen that). Luke was still baffled, but he went home. When
Luke graduated from LCHS, Charles and I gave him a check and a small
flashlight with a note that said The cat doesnt need it anymore. Lukes
parents said tears came in his eyes when he read the note.
We moved to Loganville April 2, 1997 and Charles passed away July 12,
2001
Bernice Williams
Lee County Car Tag Number
When my father, Sam Stocks, passed away, my Aunt Sara moved in
with her sister, my mother, Maggie Lee Stocks. These two people were as
different as night and day. Maggie Lee was very domestic, and Sara was
very business like.
After Sara retired as a buyer for Rosenbergs Department Store, she
assumed some of the household duties from my mother. Hating every minute
of the domestic scene, Sara would try her best to finish her tasks as quickly
as she possibly could. On the other hand, Maggie Lee would take her sweet
time and scrub and polish every inch of the house. One day Sara informed
me that it was very easy to remember her car tag number, which read MLW-
925. I asked how was this so, and without hesitation she replied, Maggie
Lee Wipes From Nine To Five.
Sandra Stocks
219
A Skunky Story
Endoline was the name of our plantation, which was located in Lee
County. One day the workers there were moving irrigation pipes and
unearthed a mother skunk with two babies. Mother skunk was killed, but
we took the two babies and went to our veterinarian, Dr. Martin, to have
them de-skunked. It was not soon enough for Dr. Martin because he got
skunked two times during the procedure. One skunk died during the
procedure and the other survived. Dr. Martin was pretty distraught over his
skunking and said, Dont you ever, ever, bring me anything like that
again!
We took the one who lived home and named him Waddles. We
had to bottle-feed him since he was just a baby. He grew older and soon
became another pet and just had run of the house. When startled by
someone he didnt know, he would pounce his paws and throw up his tail,
ready to spray. (He didnt know he had lost his sprayer)
One day an insurance salesman came to our house. I told him that
we had a new pet. Waddles was somewhere in the house and I called him
(he knew his name). When he came into the room with us the man startled
Waddles and Waddles startled him. With that, Waddles put up his line of
defense. The man, put his hand over his heart and said, Oh, my gosh! I
thought I had been had!
Waddles became a television celebrity, a guest on the childrens show,
Captain Mercury, which was a local television show with Grady Shadbum
as Captain.
Barbara Robertson Mercer
Dead Give Away
Back when we were teenagers, we did not Trick-or-Treat at
Halloween as they do today. We were full of mischief and fun. We, meaning
the teenagers around town, did not go from house to house. We all met
down town after dark at the stores that were closed. We took bars of soap
and wrote on the store windows. We took chairs and everything else in
220
front of the store that was not tied down, and put them on telephone poles or
some place else away from that store. We played pranks, but never destroyed.
There was only one policeman in Leesburg at that time, and no police car.
On Halloween night, the policeman would crank the old fire truck, ride
around where we were, and chase us. We out ran him on foot everytime.
Oh! I think he knew he was not going to stop us. He just wanted to make
us think he was after us. I worked at William & Pete Longs grocery store.
One year every store was soaped, except Longs Grocery. Those who worked
in each store had to wash the windows the next day. Well, I wouldnt let
them soap Longs Grocery because I knew I would have to wash the
windows. Yes, they put two and two together. You guessed it. They knew
I was involved. That was a dead give-away.
Edgar Paul Stamps
Hey, Bill... Give me a Push
James Kilpatrick stopped by the Leesburg train depot to see his
daddy who was depot manager and Morse code telegraph operator. The
depot, open as they say now 24/7, was a hangout to many, a place to
warm around the potbelly stove in the winter, to get a cold drink in
summer, to visit, gossip, watch the tickertape, hear the endless sound of
the telegraph keyboard, or just to talk to Mr. Kilpatrick. Of course, all
talking stopped when a train came through, especially the fast ones like
the Dixie Flyer, the Seminole, the Flamingo, and in later years, the
Streamliner City of Miami. The train that transported troops through Lee
County during World War II was the Southwind.
On leaving that day, Jamess car would not start, and since there
were no men around to push, he hollered over the street to Bill Davis to give
him a push with his car. Bill agreed, but temporarily went back into his
store.
As Bill Davis did not come with his car for some time, James
Kilpatrick, leaving his car in neutral, went back into the depot. In due course,
Bill came with his car and drove to the back of Jamess car to push it off. In
221
those days, to jump-start a car usually took pushing only a short distance,
maybe 15 to 20 feet.
Thinking that James was in his car, Bill began to push Jamess car,
and as no signal came to stop, Bill gave it the gas going faster, faster, and
faster, pushing an empty car. All ended when Jamess car hit head-on with
the big oak tree across from the Forrester filling station, doing extensive
damage to its front end.
Harry Lee
My Hijack Journey to Jordan
When I was 13 years old, I went to Frankfurt Germany to visit my
sister Carolyn. She and her husband were stationed at Ramstein. I was
there for five weeks and had a marvelous time. While there I went on a
cruise down the Rhine River, took a motor coach tour of Paris and went to
Berlin.
After visiting from August 9 to September 6, it was time for me to go
back home to Leesburg. On Sunday morning Carolyn and her family were
all at the airport to see me off. (I had flown over with a friend, but was
returning alone) and after the hugs and goodbyes Carolyn, being the protective
sister said to me, Jayne, now dont you get hijacked!
There were 39 individuals who boarded Flight 741 at Frankfurt.
There were already 102 other passengers and a crew of 10. I was one of the
last persons to board, but soon found a place about half way toward the
back where I sat next to an elderly woman. The 707 took off and headed
west. New York was 8 hours away and Mama and Daddy were to meet me
in Atlanta that night. On board, we were just beginning to relax a little from
take off. Our pilot came on the intercom and told us wed be passing over
Brussels, Belgium.
All of a sudden there were two hijackers that ran through the plane.
They were nicely dressed and had dark complexions. One was a young
man and the other a young woman, and they ran toward the cockpit after
wed been in the air about fifteen minutes.
222
The lady announced that she was the new captain and that the plane
had been taken over by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
She told us to stay in our seats and with our hands behind our heads and if
we cooperated, no one would be harmed.
I was petrified and the little German lady I was sitting by kept saying
over and over, I thot someting was wrong mit der machine.
Nobody told us where we were going or how long it would take us
to get there. The real captain Pilot R.D. Woods, had radioed Frankfurt to
tell them we were being kidnapped. He could give no destination, but
instead of heading to the Atlantic, we were turned toward the Mediterranean.
Mama and Daddy were waiting in Atlanta for my plane to arrive.
When they found out that I was not on the plane they had expected me to be
on, they soon were notified that I was on the plane that had been hijacked
and that I was in a hotel. I wasnt.
The stewardesses were told that they could keep on serving lunch.
The hijackers stayed in the cockpit most of the time, but the man would
come out and walk toward us. He had a pistol and would stay in the aisle
looking at us, then turn around back toward the cockpit.
Our stewardesses said that if we needed to go to the bathroom the
hijackers wouldnt mind. When a lot of us got up, the hijackers ordered that
not too many leave at the same time.
We were all very scared. One woman, traveling with her whole
family lost control and became hysterical. She was given a tranquilizer and
finally got quiet.
We all wondered who the Popular Front of the Liberation of Palestine
were. It was a band of commandos (we later found out) that were strongly
opposed to Jordanian King Husseins acceptance of U.S. plans for peace
talks between Israel and the Arab nations.
Terror is the weapon of the guerrillas and they had planned the
hijacking very carefully. After about 8 hours in flight, we learned that we
were landing on an airstrip outside Amman, Jordan. We were in a desert,
where it was very dark. Inside our plane the lights went off and the air- flow
stopped. We were tired, hungry, hot and scared.
The hijackers soon left the plane and were greeted by their people
and five more boarded the plane and had us fill out cards. It was very
223
important that they know our religion. I filled out BAPTIST. As we were
filling out these cards, these men were walking the aisles with machine guns
and shining flashlights in our face. They wanted to see if any Jews were on
board because they were considered the enemy.
Another plane, a Swiss Air DC-3 had been hijacked and landed
very close to us. Soon some Red Cross workers came on board and said we
would be there in the desert for two days. When daylight came, we were
fed breakfast, a boiled egg, sweet roll and hot tea. It was the first food since
lunch the day before.
We never knew why we were there until later we learned they were
trying to get people released from prison. There were threats to blow up our
planes, too.
Soon we were taken to a hotel in Amman and it was there that I met
someone who knew where Leesburg was. She was Mrs. Mary Cain, who
had taught school at what was then Lee County Training School! Can you
imagine that someone that far away knew where Leesburg was? We had
much to talk about from then on.
There was fighting going on outside of our hotel, a civil war.
Jordanian troops blasted their way from house to house searching out
Palestinian Commandos. This continued for several days while we remained
inside the hotel.
On Sunday morning a TWA man called and said for us to be ready
to leave at 7:30 a.m.! There was a convoy of buses, escorted by Jordanian
and Palestinian Commandos who took us to the airport. I was flown to
Cyprus. After some delays I finally arrived in New York, where Daddy and
my brother Jim met me. Mama and the others met us when we got to Atlanta.
When we all got home, practically everybody in town was there to
greet me. It was a big welcome home with family and friends in Leesburg.
Jayne McBride Cannon
224
The Dummy Incident
This is a true story. On a Saturday afternoon about 1950,1 entered
our house from the back porch where I discovered my younger brother
John, and his buddy Rody Stovall stuffing a dummy with newspapers.
After asking some questions, I discovered that their master plan was to dress
it in Mr. Cromarties old hunting and fishing clothes and, under cover of
darkness, place it beside the much-traveled Leesburg to Albany highway
which ran directly in front of the Cromartie house. Smart! Well, after about
two hours of boredom and total failure, IT HAPPENED! Boy, did it
ever.. ..A car heading north (to Indiana) came to an abrupt stop, and this
man and his wife came running towards the dummy and they were both
telling the other dont touch it, it might be hurt, dont touch it, it might be
hurt! The man then bellowed out, Ahhh, its only a blank-blank-blank-
DUMMY, and with that he stormed the Cromartiess front porch and pounded
on the doorbig time!
MAN: I want to use your phone to call the police!
Mr. Cromartie: Well, Im the Mayor, can I help you?
MAN: Come out here and Ill show you! Well, with that, Mr. Cromartie
looked down and saw that the dummy had on his old hat, his old shirt, his
old pants and his old boots.
He was LIVID! SUPER livid! The Indiana couple continued complaining
and wanting to call the police over the situation. But Mr. Cro finally sent
them on their way and quickly turned his attention in my direction. To say
that he was mad would be an understatement. Where were John and Rody
all this time? Well, John later said that he was under Judge and Mrs. Feeneys
house right next door, and that Rody and gone home.
But the story was still very much alive on Monday. It was about four oclock
on Monday afternoon and I was walking home from school and as I crossed
the train tracks, Dick Forrester, or I should say SHERIFF Dick Forrester,
shouted and motioned for me to come there. DRATS, I thought! He is
going to give me some kind of court order and I was going to have to face
Mr. Cro AGAIN that night with it.
DOGGONE IT! That dumb dummy wasnt even my idea and here
I am catching all of the grief over it, while John and Rody had escaped
225
unscathed. As I approached the barbershop I saw six or eight men in or
around the place and they all wanted to hear all of the details of the Dummy
Story. Who got the biggest kick from it? Dick Forrester. My goodness,
what a nice man he was and all of us teenagers were crazy about him. Every
time I see Ward Bond on TV or in old movies, he reminds me of the good
Sheriff!
Bill Cromartie
A Close Call
Life in a small burg, even in the early nineteen-sixties was not totally
devoid of excitement. During that period, there were several car wrecks, a
few house fires and a couple of train derailments to break the monotony and
entertain the towns residents. For most people who bore witness to those
events, remembrance has faded over time, but there was one calamity that
set the town on its ear and made it laugh for a long time. For me, even forty
years after its occurrence, the thought of it still brings on more than a smile.
Johns father, Mr. Hopkins, was a distributor for Gulf Oil products
and had been in the business for many years. As a natural result of those
years of commerce, his company had worn out several vehicles of various
types. Most businessmen would have traded or sold the old trucks, Mr.
Hopkins put them out-to-pasture in a field behind his house. The field
was overgrown with weeds and was waist high in brown straw, all as dry as
a chip.
One afternoon John and his friend, Jimmy, were playing war in
Mr. Hopkins private junkyard, and lobbing cherry bombs at imaginary enemy
positions. In the inventory of this junkyard was an old gasoline tanker truck.
It was not a huge semi-trailer type, but it was a large four- wheeled truck
with a large cylindrical tank on the back. John decided to drop a cherry
bomb into it, thinking that it would produce a nice echo effect. He thought,
after all, that the truck had been out of service for years and that, surely,
there was no gasoline in the tank. It was a good thought, but it was not
necessarily so. The tank was full of fumes.
226
Fortunately, John was standing by one side of the tank when the
cherry bomb was dropped into an opening on top. The explosion was so
powerful that it blew out the back end of the tank. A huge fireball erupted
and set the field afire. Several nearby houses suffered broken windows and
the loud report rocked the town. A local farmer claimed that he heard the
sound at his place, and he lived about four miles out in the country. At that
point, except for John and Jimmy, no one knew what had happened, but
many could see smoke and flames rising from the field. The two boys fled
the scene immediately and hid out in a bamboo thicket next to the Post
Office, not knowing what to do. Neither was hurt, but they both received
the scare of their lives. Meanwhile, the volunteer fire department came
around and put out the grass fire. A short time later, they came out of their
hiding place and told Mr. Hopkins what had happened. All was forgiven
and things returned to normal.
Nelson Forrester
One Bad Fishing Trip
In our younger days, Lamar Cannon, Bill Odom, and I planned to
go down to Steinhatchee, Florida. To fish we needed an outboard motor; we
figured wed rent a boat down there. Knowing that James Cannon had a
motor like we needed, we decided to ask him to let us borrow it. At first, he
was reluctant, but finally said all right if we would take real good care of it.
Once in the river, Bill Odom started playing around with the motor,
letting it up and down, up and down. The next thing we knew, the motor fell
off into the river at its deepest point. There was no retrieving it. Some
suggestions were to get some sponge drivers to dive down and maybe get
the motor, but they would charge a big amount of money, which we did not
have, because we barely had spending money.
Our only outlet at this point was to buy another motor. When we got
back to Albany, we decided to go to a local finance company for enough
money to make a down payment. Lamar and I went in, acting like big shots.
One of the first questions asked was where we worked. We told them we
did not work; we lived in Leesburg! Out the door we quickly went.
227
I thought of my aunt, who lived in Albany, as a source of a small
loan, and we went to see her. There, we met a cousin of mine who had a
motor of the same model and make as the one we lost in the river. He saved
the day by agreeing to let us buy the motor and pay for it over time. This was
a salvation to our dilemma. We took the motor to James, thanked him, and
as far as we know, he never knew the difference in the motors. In fact, he
might have been better off in the deal, but in any case, it was some experience
for us young folks.
George Moreland
We Got A Whippin!
When we was about 13 or 14 years old living in Leesburg we had
some exciting times. Ed Forrester, Billy Cromartie, John Cromartie, Bobby
Gunter, Rody Stovall and several other boys in town would lay a dummy in
the road. We had a rope attached to it so we could make it move.
One night about 9:00 at night we laid it across U.S. Hwy 19 in
Leesburg. As the cars came by we would make the dummy move, one car
slid on brakes and fishtailed on the highway, they hit the dummy and boy
did they scream! We tore out running and we went to Mrs. Yeomans house.
She always took us in and looked after us. She would turn the lights out and
make us all be quiet. These people that hit the dummy looked for the Mayor,
who was my Daddy. About 10:30 Mrs. Yeomans let us go home, my dad,
Mr. Gunter, was waiting for me to get home. The people were there waiting
too. Dad had contacted Mr. Cromartie and he was waiting on Billy and
John also. We all had to apologize to the couple at Billys house. When
they left and went home, I had to sit and watch Billy and John get a whipping
with Mr. Cromarties belt. They yelled after every lick, and naturally, it hurt
me also. When I got home my Dad used his belt on me.
Needless to say, we never used our dummy trick again. On Halloween we
would trick or treat for a short time. Then we would go to the schoolhouse
228
and ring the bell that was located outside of the school. It was big and really
made a noise you could hear all over town.
Several of the men in town would come after us on the Fire Engine.
We always ran behind the gym and bus shop, and into some swampy woods.
We hid in the swamp until the men left and then rang the bell some more.
They came after us again so into the woods and swamp we would go. They
never caught us, but when we got home we always got a whipping. We
really enjoyed what we were doing even though we knew the whippings
were coming when we got home.
Bob Gunter
Funny Incidents in Leesburg
A Happy Mothers Day
My oldest son was reminded at school to do something real nice for
me on Mothers Day. He decided to serve me breakfast that morning, much
to my surprise.
He asked how to make pancakes. I told him where to look in my recipe
book and to half the recipe. I stayed in bed at his request and in a few
minutes he dashed back into the bedroom with flour on his hands and arms.
He asked how in the world do you half an egg? I told him to go ahead and
use the whole egg and so he did a very nice job, and I had some delightful
pancakes for my breakfast.
A Fathers Duty
As my husband worked diligently trying to put together a toy he
continued to read the instructions. The child looked up and said, Oh, Daddy,
you just need to follow the prescriptions and you can do it.
229
The Unknown Voice
Many years ago one of the stores in Leesburg put in a loud speaker.
Some of the men decided to play a joke on an old man. He was walking
down the sidewalk across town in front of the courthouse, not knowing
what was being planned for him. As he walked a voice called his name. He
looked around and saw no one. In a few minutes he was called again and
still not knowing where the voice was coming from he looked straight up
and said, Here I is Lord.
Jeannette Long
Driving Lesson
One day I went down to Neyami with Dad to get groceries. Dad let
me do the driving. I hadnt been driving very long, and on the way down
there, right where the shoulder of the road was the narrowest, some guy
decided to pass an 18-wheeler, which I was meeting. Somehow or another,
we all three passed in one spot on that narrow road without any of us getting
hit. Dad said, Well, son, you surely got us through that one nicely, but you
better stop up here and let me go to the bushes for a few minutes.
Virgil A. Booker
The Luckiest Man Around
One of the luckiest people in Leesburg was William Coxwell. He
was known to be a survivor. One time he was driving his truck on Palmyra
road in Lee Country when he ran off the bridge with his truck, turning over
into the creek. When they started looking for him in the creek he was nowhere
to be found. Law officers and friends were summoned to assist in the search,
wading in the creek, but there was not a trace of William. Many thought he
might have drowned. Finally, someone went to his house to check on his
230
wife and found William sitting at the table eating supper. He said he couldnt
get his truck out so he just hitched a ride and went on home.
On another occasion, William was driving his red car across the
railroad tracks in Leesburg when the train hit the car, dragged it down the
track and totally destroyed the car. There was hardly enough metal left to
identify it as a red car. Everyone thought they would find Williams dead
body underneath the wreck, but he had been thrown in a ditch and the motor
in his car had flipped straddle of the ditch over him, keeping him perfectly
safe. He didnt have a scratch.
Back in the days when nobody dared do any plowing in their fields
on Sunday, Williams father was behind with his field work; so he took
William to a field out beyond where the State Prison is now located and
started plowing. They thought no one would ever know they were even
back there plowing on Sunday. After awhile, when the tractor had stopped,
William told his father that he was hearing chimes ringing, but his father
thought it was just Williams imagination. After another minute or two William
clearly heard the chimes playing Nearer My God To Thee. He told his
father he did not want to stay out there any longer. He was scared to death
and came home, only to learn that the Cannon family had given some chimes
to the Leesburg Methodist Church and they could be heard at quite a distance.
No one knows for sure, but it is speculated that this experience ended
Williams plowing on Sunday. William died a few years later, not from an
accident, but from a heart attack.
Opal R. Cannon
The Talking Dog?
There was an older widow lady who lived on Walnut Street. She
would always tell all the young folks that she was Charlie Chaplins lady
friend, among other stories.
She also had a small dog named Sambo. She told my brother and sis
that the dog could talk. They decided one day that they would try to get
Sambo to talk. Well when he wouldnt talk they set Sambo on fire with
gasoline. Sambo did survive but never talked.
Elizabeth Young
231
Do Bees Laugh?
In the late 1920s, Daddy, Mama and I were going to visit my Mamas
brothers somewhere between Lumpkin and Fort Gaines. When I asked
from the back seat of a Model A Ford, Where are we going, Daddy said,
Frog Bottom. About that time Mama screamed, Bee, bee, a bee in the
car! (all the windows were down because there was no air conditioner).
Daddy said, Ill stop and slowed down. Mama opened the door and jumped
out, and lost her balance in the red clay hilly ditch; fell and rolled in the red
dust. Daddy finally stopped the car and ran around to help Mama. By that
time, I was crying and screaming Mamas dead! Daddy checked Mama
and then helped her up, dusted her off as best he could, and helped her back
into the car. Then he reassured me Mama was ok. He then started off again.
I noticed Mama wasnt very happy and was not saying anything, but Daddy
laughed all the way to Frog Bottom!
Gwen Johnson Seanor
Hit by a Car
When I was three years old, my mother Jewell Coxwell, was
pregnant with my baby sister Shirley Coxwell Gibbs. Early one morning
Mr. Lee (Harry Lees father), walked across the street where we lived to get
me, my bucket and shovel to go back across the street where Harry was
sitting playing in the sand, as we often did on pretty days. After sitting there
together playing for quite a while, a car driven by Dorothy Hall, pulled up
next door to put Florence Tharp out. As she pulled out to go home, Harry
was facing her and rolled out of the way. Since my back was towards her, I
didnt see her. It was then that she ran over me, knocking me unconscious.
The kids in the neighborhood ran out, saw me lying there, ran
screaming to Mama Floras Dead. Mr. and Mrs. Colin Hall, Dorothys
parents, rushed around and took Mother with me in her arms to the hospital.
After treatment and recovery, I was sent home to get back to a normal
every day life. I just thank God that the shock did not cause Mama to have
232
a miscarriage and lose Shirley for I dont know what I would do without her
today. She and I are the only ones left in our family.
Flora Coxwell Hartley
A Teller of Tales
Florence Paul, who married Silas Page, was my grandmother, and
had the unusual ability to tell stories and tales as no one I have ever
known. In fact, all ages from children to adults were spellbound when
she began to talk. She also had some degree of extra-sensory perception,
and though a devoted Christian, was close at times to spiritualism.
Her younger years were spent at their farm known as the Page Place,
located on the south side of the present New York Road. Once while sitting
on the porch after supper, she told my grandfather that there was a snake in
the house. Nonsense, he said and continued to play his violin. After they
retired and were in bed, she again told him of the snake and that it was in the
room. Finally getting up, lighting the kerosene lamp, he looked all over, but
found no snake. She told him to shine the lamp in the fireplace, and there it
was in the chimney, a six-foot long white oak runner.
The Page Place house had a large hall all the way through the middle,
with rooms on each side. Upstairs, there was a large, open room. One day
after leaving her bedroom, she went into the kitchen. On returning the same
way, right in the middle of the bedroom door floor was the double barreled
shotgun that hung over the doorway. This may not be so unusual except for
the fact that the gun was completely disassembled and in dozens of pieces,
taking hours to reassemble. It was not there when she first passed by, and
was no noise heard whatsoever.
Mention was made of the large upstairs room, and it was there that
many parties and dances were held. Musicians and bands would come from
as far off as Americus, play, and spend the night. It was because of her
dancing that she was turned out of the Baptist Church. After getting her
membership letter, she put it in her trunk and never rejoined the Baptist
Church.
233
Losing the farm for various reasons, they moved to Leesburg. Once
while buying groceries at a local store, she lost her wedding band. This
created much concern for all and certainly a restless night. Around three in
the morning, she sat up in bed and said she knew where the ring was and
that she must go there at once. Finally persuading my grandfather to get up,
hitch the horse to the buggy, she told him to go to the Ragan Store. Getting
out, she walked over hundreds of dirt hoof prints, stopped, telling him to
shovel here, right here, in this spot. He did, and there was the ring.
She, along with friends, had gone to a picnic at Mossy Dell; a local
place for swimming and fun located about five miles east of Leesburg. When
a friend on horseback rode up in a hurry, she, before he could say anything,
said, My son has been killed. This was true, as several boys had left school,
gone to her house, played with a pistol, and one accidentally shot him in the
back of the head. Racing back to Leesburg, she found friends looking for
the boys. She told them that they need not look further as the boys were
hiding in a stump hole out in the old jail pond. Thats where they found
them. She then said, You need not look further for the bullet that killed my
son. It is on the floor behind the trunk. There it was.
Her ability to tell stories was uncanny. She could walk to town,
come back, and relate her trip as if it were a major event. Also, she could tell
tales, such as Cousin Dora trying to get into the well, and make it funny. It
was this gift that mesmerized the minds of children with ghost stories. Scared,
the hair would stand up on the back of your neck. If the children came over
after supper, on the way back home after dark, they didnt walk.. .they ran.
My grandfather having passed away, a major event changed her life
when a piano tuner came to town to tune pianos. Within one week, they
were married, and moved to Dade City, Florida and it took years for mama
to get over this.
While living there, she became friends with a woman who was a
spiritualist and they attended many seances. They were walking along one
day, and the woman told her that the spirit Silas Page, my grandfather, was
with them and to tell her that he still had the burned scar on the back of his
neck. He did in life, and there was no way this woman could have known
this. The woman later moved to California, and wrote my grandmother a
letter in which she stated that the spirits were bothering her badly that day,
234
having trouble writing in a straight line, her writing going up and down all
over the sheet. She wanted her to know that by the time she got the letter,
my mother from Georgia, would be there visiting her and reading the letter
at the same time together.
After the death of her second husband, grandmother returned to
Leesburg to live the rest of her life and tell more interesting tales.
Page Tharp
The Cemetery
My Grandfather, Pitt Martin, told me the following tale:
There was a homeless man, who died in the county. He was to be
buried in a country cemetery. As the coffin was lowered into the ground, a
man in the crowd who could throw his voice (a ventriloquist) said, Let me
down easy, boys!! All of a sudden the men dropped the coffin and ran.
They had to get the sheriff to make them go back and bury him!
Jacqueline Martin Bowling
Bad Eye to the Rescue
Our neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Burt, had a mean old turkey gobbler
that roamed around in our yard from time to time. He would strut around,
feathers spread out, and walk like the cock of the walk he was.
I was so afraid of that turkey that as a child I didnt even want to go
outside and play. However, when I was about eleven or twelve years old, I
decided that I was going to go outside and play, provided the turkey was
nowhere around. Sure enough, he was out of sight. I then proceeded to go
out, and no sooner had I started to play, when HE appeared! He, of course
immediately saw me, and jumped up on me before I had time to run back
into the house. Naturally I started screaming.
235
We had a pet bulldog that had a black ring around his eye; so we
named him Bad Eye. He had been outside also, and had heard my screams.
He came running toward me and the turkey, jumped up on him, and got him
off me. Of course, then the turkey made a fast run back home!
Bad Eye had always been a special pet to me. He was even more,
particularly since he had saved me from the turkey attack.
Years later, my husband Cecil, and our two sons, Ashley and Lester,
and I decided to look for a pet bulldog for our family. Guess what? We
found one, owned by a man who lived on Stocks Dairy Road. Yes, he had a
black ring around one eye. We decided to buy him and we named him, you
guessed it Bad Eye H.
Years went by and we bought a boat. Because the dogs meant so
much to us we, in honor of them, decided to give it a well-deserved name,
Bad Eye I!
Shirley Coxwell Gibbs
The Ghost in the Tree
My stepfather, Jordan Jackson, like to put a ghost in the tree on
Halloween. He would make up a ghost, fix a pulley, put it where the ghost
could be pulled to the porch from the tree. This made it look as though it was
flying.
One Halloween night Freddy Montgomerys wife, Dewan brought
their children to trick or treat. She was from Thailand, and had never seen
a ghost. As she approached the house, she discovered a very dimly lighted
porch. Then in a quick flash, Jordan used the pulley to bring the ghost down
to the porch. As soon as this happened, Dewan turned around, left her children
and ran home. It was said that it took a lot of persuasion for her to go back
later on to get her the children!
Denise Richardson Bell
236
An Embarrassing Moment
When teaching phonics we would play games to get the class
motivated. This particular day, we were working on the letter T. We
pretended to be cheerleaders on the football field who were cheering for the
players. The teachers would call T give me a T and the childs response
was supposed to be a word that began with the letter T. Additionally, on
this day the Board of Education were taking a tour and would stop into each
teachers classroom for awhile to observe and evaluate the effectiveness of
the teachers skills. The following lesson took place in front of the Head of
the Board:
Teacher: T, give me a T!
Child: T-tomato!
Teacher: T, give me a T!
Child: T-top!
Teacher: T, give me a T!
Child: T-titty!
I had never seen anyone turn so red! He just raised his hand and
silently left the room. I got warm all over and wished for a hole to open up
and swallow me whole.
During my tenure with the Lee County School System, I was out 3
times for pregnancy. I think my superintendent thought in his mind that I
had learned to do something other than teach. Facing him became very
embarrassing! I taught school for 27 years. And through it all, I learned
patience, diligence, and endurance for those struggling to understand.
Lillie Smith
237
Skinny Dipping
There is nothing better on a hot summer afternoon than a cold dip.
A group of about four to six of us boys would go down to our favorite
spot on the Kinchafoonee Creek, where a little cold fresh water spring had
sprung up on the edge of the creek. It was not big enough for swimming but
the spring was very deep. The creek was only about three or four feet deep
there. We would park the car as close to our blue hole, as we could and
walk down about fifty feet or so to the water. We pulled our clothes off and
jumped in to cool off. There were tall trees there, so we put a long rope high
in one of them, and tied a stick about 18 to 24 inches long at the end of the
rope. We would then get on one side of the creek, hold on to the stick and
swing across and drop down into that cold spring water we called our blue
hole. Most of the time, Jack Varner, Luther Breeden and I would go. Many
times there were as many as four to six of us boys, but never any girls. It
was too small to swim in, but we had loads of fun swinging and skinny-
dipping in that cold water and even swimming up and down that shallow
creek.
Edgar Paul Stamps
Hollywood Comes to Lee County- Twice
In 1956 I was having lunch with my parents at our Lee County
home, when someone knocked at our front door. My dad tried to get me to
answer it, but I did not want anything to interfere with mothers delicious
meals. Dad went to the door and was gone from the table for quite a long
time.
When he returned to his lunch, I asked him who was at the door and
what they wanted. He replied, Oh, it was a crew member from a Hollywood
Production Company that wants to make a movie on some of the Stocks
property. My mother and I dropped our forks and started giving my dad the
third degree. We wondered how a crew from Hollywood would just show
up, out of the blue, at the front door of our home. My dad explained to us
that a production company name Batjac Productions, owned by John Wayne
238
wanted to make a movie from a book written by James Street entitled,
Goodbye My Lady. They had located the first film, The Biscuit Eater,
also written by Street, which had been partially filmed on different sites in
Lee County. With this film in hand, they discovered the Lee County locale.
The crew came prepared for the climate and conditions that exist in
South Georgia. They came armed with numerous cans of bug spray and a
large amount of cream to treat red bug bites. One of the crew members
asked to use our phone. He was very surprised that they were just like the
ones in Hollywood. They were astonished to learn that we even had indoor
plumbing!
Hollywood Movie #1- The Biscuit Eater
The first time Hollywood came to Lee County was in 1939 to film
the movie The Biscuit Eater. It was about two small boys who were given
a bad puppy. The puppy just happened to be the runt of a litter of healthy
bird dog pups. The boys were devoted to the dog, but as time went by, they
discovered he had some bad habits. The Biscuit Eater was an unflattering
name that was given to a bird dog who would eat the birds that he was
suppose to retrieve. The dog would chase chickens and eat eggs. His name
implied he was of no use and had a bad reputation. Sometimes some of
these dogs would be destroyed because they could not be retrained. These
small boys worked with this dog and before too long he had regained its
good reputation.
This was the first sound movie made in South Georgia. Some of it
was made in Lee County and some of it in Dougherty County. It was made
entirely at these two sites. Numerous people from these two sites were used
in several scenes.
Movie #2- Goodbye My Lady
The second time Hollywood came to our area was to film
Goodbye My Lady. This movie was also based on the novel written by
Street. This was about an odd dog. The nature and habits of this type of dog
is uniquely all its own. The dog cleans itself the same way that a cat would
clean itself, and he has no fleas. The dog never barked, but when in distress,
seemed to moan and shed real tears. This is a very rare breed known as the
Basenji breed. It is a very old breed thought to have originated in Africa.
239
It was most intriguing to see how a movie was made. Some local
people were also hired as extras and to help with other jobs. The crew came
and filmed the last scene first. Many of the scenes were shot at and around
Mossy Dell in Lee County.
Many Basenji dogs were brought to the set. Each dog was trained to
do special tricks. Quail were kept in cages hidden in tall grasses and released
just as the dog came near.
The movie was shown in Albany, Georgia on April 11, 1956. The
price of a ticket for the movie was $ 1.00. Even though these movies were
made many years ago, the good story and lessons expressed in the movies
hold true today. The movies were rated B and were in black and white,
but the good points shown will never grow old.
The cast members of Goodbye My Lady were as follows: Phil
Harris, Brandon de Wilde, Walter Brennan, and Sidney Portier.
I have in my possession both videos and the book, signed by the
actors. These items bring back pleasant memories of by-gone days and how
fascinating it all was.
Sandra Stocks
Brandon DeWilde
Goodbye My Lady
240
Phil Harris
Goodbye My Lady
Where Theres Smoke Theres Fire
When I was about 12 years old, I decided to see what it was like to
smoke. I found me a Prince Albert tobacco can and packed it with rabbit
tobacco and hid it in the outdoor privy for later use. One day while I was
out there, I remembered where it was hidden and pulled it out, got me a
piece of brown paper sack and rolled me a cigarette and started puffing
away. About the time I had the place filled with smoke, my dad saw it
coming out through the holes and cracks and decided he should investigate.
When he came out there, he caught me outright puffing away on my Prince
Albert rabbit tobacco cigarette. And my britches instantly got hotter than
even the cigarette had it been lit on both sides.
Virgil A. Booker
241
A Corny Tale
I had a com planter that I loaned to George Moreland so that he
could plant bird feed plots. After using it, he returned it and some com seed
was left in it. I decided to plant them.
Blooming and silking began, as the com stalks grew. On July 11
there were eleven silks, and the next day on July 12 there were twelve silks.
When it matured there were four grown ears on the stalk, although normally
there are only two. I could have used an acre like that!
Raymond (Hoot) Gibson
Mr. Hoot with his Com
242
Fortune Teller
There was a lady who lived in Smithville named Mrs. Doll Daniel.
She was a fortuneteller, or so it was told to us. The children in town would
pay her a nickel to get their fortune told. They wanted to know if they would
keep the same girl or boyfriend.
Do you suppose she was ever right? Anyway, it was good
entertainment, especially if you had nothing else to do!
Barbara Sikes Pines
Fish Flavored Ice Cream
The only ice cream we ever got in those days (late 20s and 30s)
was a pan of milk flavored with a little vanilla and sugar set out on the back
shelf at night to freeze. It would be frozen by morning if the cats didnt lap
it up during the night.
One night my cousin changed the water in her goldfish bowl and
forgot and left it out on the shelf. The next day the water - with the fish in
it was frozen solid. She just knew shed killed her fish, but when they
thawed out, they just started swimming around again.
Virgil A. Booker
Lee County Cool Cats
Many years ago the Stocks family owned and operated a dairy in the
southeastern portion of Lee County. It was located on what is known as
Stocks Dairy Road. There were several cats that lived on the property.
They would hang out around the dairy on a daily basis.
Over time, the cats soon learned when it was time for the cows to be
milked. When the milking began, the cats would line up in a row at the bam
door. They would never enter the bam but, just sit there waiting very patiently
for my Dad to squirt milk toward them. They would then catch it in their
mouths in mid-air!
243
These cats were very polite and courteous towards each other in that
they never invaded one anothers space. So each time they lined up, they
each had their own spot.
It was a very comical sight to see and reminds the family of pleasant memories
of the Stocks Dairy operations!
Sandra Stocks
Sears Roebuck Toilet Paper
Once Uncle Jeb decided to order some toilet paper from Mr. Sears
Roebuck. He didnt have the catalog since he had already used it up, so he
just wrote them a letter saying, Please send me six rolls of your toilet paper.
Their reply was, Please refer to shipping number of item you wish to order
on page 621 of our catalog and we will be glad to fill your order. Uncle
Jebs reply was, Dear Mr. Sears Roebuck, if I had your catalog, I wouldnt
need your toilet paper. Please send another catalog right away.
Virgil A. Booker
Asleep at the Midtown Mall Carnival
One night we went to Albany and there was a carnival at the Midtown
Mall parking area. The guys who worked at the Carnival told us that if we
would come back at 11:00 and help break down the equipment, wed each
get twenty dollars. That was a lot of money back then. They told us that it
would only take about an hour to get the job done. We had to be home at
12:00, so that would not be any problem. Wed make the money and be
home in no time. Well, my buddies, Wiley McClendon and two other guys
were ready to get the job done at 11:00, after the Carnival closed. The man
said that he only needed three boys instead of four. I figured that wouldnt
be a problem. I would sit in the car and take a little nap while they made the
money. When they got through, wed go home. That sounded fine to me. I
leaned back and closed my eyes. It seemed like no time when I heard a tap
244
on the window. It was a policeman. He said, Are you Jackie McCorkle? I
said that I was. He then said, Your parents are worried about you. They
have already called and had me looking for you. I said, It isnt 12:00 yet!
He then said, Boy, dont you know its 5:00 in the morning? I told him
that I didnt know it was that late because my friends were tearing down the
Carnival. When the cop went over to see what was going on, he called my
parents and told them that we were going to be home shortly. My friends
had experienced enough of that job, and after about five hours of work, they
finally got their twenty dollars. It was a long, long time before my buddies
and I got to stay out late again. I dont thin they ever volunteered to tear
down another carnival ride!
Jackie McCorkle
Bully Bags a Big One
When people in and around Leesburg talk about deer hunting, one
name often enters the conversation. B.T. Eason, better known as Bully has
been hunting deer in our area for the past fifty years. Anyone who has ever
been to his home on Pinewood Road cant help but notice the hundreds of
deer antlers he has in his two carports. You dont become a good deer hunter
like Bully without spending many early mornings and late afternoons in the
fall deer hunting seasons in Lee County.
Ive hunted with this man for over twenty years and he is the most
knowledgeable deer hunter anyone could spend time with in the woods.
Deer hunting to him is both an art and a science. He studies the feeding
habits of deer and the moon phases that affect their movements dining the
day. Before every hunt, he bums a small fire to determine the direction of
the wind so he will know what particular deer stand will prove most
productive. One thing I noticed about his hunting habits is the keen sense of
sight he has and how quickly he can spot a deer standing still in heavy
woods.
245
Knowing his habit of looking for deer the moment he heads out
on a hunt gave me and a couple of his friends an idea to have a little fun with
Bully. Charles Rhodes, a County Commissioner, George Gill, a local farmer
and Geno Fedelie, a local land owner helped me plan an interesting hunt for
Mr. Eason. In the afternoon hunts, we knew he always looked down a
particular firebreak on the way to his farm near Bronwood. So, we decided
to take an old 8-point deer head I had mounted several years ago and see
how good Bullys vision and shooting was one bright fall afternoon.
The plan was set and the deer head was mounted on a sawhorse
with a fifty-foot rope leading back into the woods. The head was placed just
out of the brush, in the firebreak, where you could only see the antlers and
part of the head. If Bully saw the deer and shot, Charles Rhodes would pull
the rope and make the deer fall. Around 4 oclock in the afternoon, George,
Geno, and I met at Bullys house to go hunting. Charles, the bravest of the
bunch, was already in the woods with the mounted deer head mounted on
the sawhorse. As usual, Bully started a small fire to check the direction of
the wind. George and I rode behind Bully and Geno as we all headed toward
the Bronwood farm where we each had stands already set up for hunting.
Bully drove slowly down Pinewood Road and we kept out fingers
crossed that he would look down the firebreak as he usually did each time
we went hunting. Everything was in place. As we entered the hunting land,
George and I noticed the truck slowing at the firebreak and Geno said Bully
immediately spotted the deer. The truck stopped in front of us and Bully
said, Look at that buck, Geno, Im going to take a shot. Just as we planned,
he fired a shot and Charles pulled on the rope. The deer fell backwards as
Bully shouted, I got him. He jumped the fence and ran down to the dead
deer. We all started laughing and knowing Bully, we were prepared for a
good cussing. He ran to the deer and immediately knew he had been had.
When he walked back to the truck parked in the middle of the road, the only
thing he could say was damn you all. He took off in his truck and Geno,
George, Charles and I laughed for two hours. The amazing thing was the
shot Bully made on the deer head. He hit the neck perfectly in the center
from a distance of over 100 yards. This is probably the only deer in South
Georgia that has been killed twice. I still have the old deer head in storage
246
and everytime I see it, Im reminded of that fall day when Bully bagged a
big one.
Lee Stanley
Leesburgs Centennial
Perhaps one of the most memorable experiences of the people and
surrounding areas was the 1974 Leesburg Centennial. To accomplish such
and endeavor required the participation of all citizens and professional
organizations. Among the activities that took place were Beauty Pageants,
Fashion Shows, Quilting Parties, Arts and Crafts exhibitions, Rope pullings,
Tobacco spitting contests, parades, and numerous other events. The
Centennial Committee sponsored a store where costumes and memorabilia
of the period could be purchased. It was a fun and exciting time to participate
in Leesburgs 100th birthday celebration.Future generations will have the
opportunity to open a time capsule, which is buried on the courthouse grounds,
to be opened in 2074.
Patricia Tharp
247
Index
Alford, Nothrice Willis- 77,86,185
Arthur, Sarah Ann-163, 165
Bailes, Sue- 42
Barrett, Gil-217
Beamon, Winnie Richardson-177,
178
Bell, Denise Richardson- 53,76,
178, 187,236
Bell, Lin- 58
Bolden, Flossie-190,215
Booker, Virgil- 2, 50, 64, 83,
93, 105, 107, 201, 230, 241, 243
Bowling, Jacqueline Martin- 60,
192,235
Breeden, Sallie Smith- 3
Byars, Elizabeth-107
Cannon, Ethelind-160,161
Cannon, James-156
Cannon, Jayne Mcbride- 58,222
Cannon, Opal Rogers- 34,47, 66,
191,200,230
Carson, Ada Lee Cook- 95
Clay, Betty Ann Pace- 55
Clay, Bobby- 55
Clements, Betty Jean Ranew- 35
Connors, Mitzi Manning-194
Copeland, Claudia McRee- 75,216
Cowart, Lucy Ann Stocks- 37
Cowart, Eddie- 21
Cowart, Sue- 21
Cromartie, Bill- 35,114,179,206,
212 225
Crotwell, Bill- 59
Daniel, Carolyn Clay-1
Danhessier, Debbie Land- 48
Douglas, Elaine Tucker-139
Dozier, Rosemary Lee-192,207
Dye, Martha- 204,208
Ellington, Kim Mercer- 67,76
Etheridge, Jimmie Richardson-166
Faircloth, Spencer- 83
Ferguson, Billy- 26,203
Forrester, J.W.-109
Forrester, Nelson- 226
Gibbs, Cecilia Raybon-100
Gibbs, Shirely Coxwell- 235
Gibson, Raymond Hoot-198,
242
Green, Mary E- 65, 196,217
Gunter, Bob- 228
Hand, Christie Williams- 87
Harris, Pam Grace-127
Hartley, Flora Coxwell- 36,173,
174, 175, 176,232
Hayes, Stephanie-199
Holton, Alice Ann Kearse-150,
152
Hunkele, Lindsey-158
Hyman, Matthew Vest-101
Jewell, Donna Devivo-41, 166
Johnson, Betty Cooper-32
Johnson, Veronica Manning-194
Kearce, Linda Kearse- 79
Kennedy, Helen Worthy- 68
Kirkland, Carol Forrester-148
Larkin, Janell Ranew-23,24,147,
156
Larsen, George-177
Lee, Harty-lll, 221
Lee, Jessie Moreland-55
Long, Alan-172
Long, Jeanette- 229
Miller, Monica Manning-194
Mays, James- 27
McBride, Annibeth Woods-129,
203
McCorkle, Jackie- 25,33,51,244
McDaniel, Patricia Heath
Blackshear- 82,98
Mercer, Barbara Roberson- 220
Moreland, George- 180,205,227
Murphy, Alaoudia Oliver-Jones-1,
3,57
Parker, Gloria Ranew-185
Peak, Carol Ann Clay-104, 106
Peak, Zachary-171, 202
Peterson, Sylvia Turner- 61
Pines, Barbara Sikes- 182,243
Posey, Neal Crotwell- 32,53
Poupard, Zaidalvey-155,180
Powell, Judy- 39
Rhodes, Grace- 22
Rhodes, J.M. Jr.- 73, 78, 89, 94, 99
Rhodes, Marinel Hall-102
Rivers, Mattie Arnold- 28
Seanor, Gwen Johnson- 12, 14,
38, 49, 113, 116, 119, 126, 131,
144, 145, 147, 189, 218, 232
Simmons, Marvin-16
Singletary, Ralph and Katy- 72
Smith, Kim Wingfield-121
Smith, Lilly-7,171,237
Smith, Paula Stamps-9,135,145,
146,189
Spillers, Estoria Tripp-17
Stamps, Cecil- 71
Stamps, Edgar Paul- 64,220,238
Stamps, Marie Rainwater-181
Stamps, Ronnie- 39,173
Stanley, Lee- 245
Stocks, Sandra-10,13,41, 115,
149, 182,211,214,219, 238, 243
Stocks, Sara-14
Tharp, Page- 8,11, 37, 114,117,
134, 136,233
Tharp, Tommy-12
Thrift, Gladys-66,78,207
Turner, Alton-31
Usry, Tom- 24
Usry, Belle Geise- 44
Vamer, Jack- 5
Vining, Eunice Culpepper-118,
126
Vonderaa, Joyce Forrester- 56,90
Westbrook, Lois Crews-152
Williams, Bemice-218
Willis, Lula B.-40,89
Wright, Eva Claire McGee-131,
162
Young, Ann King-19, 26
Young, Elizabeth- 65,74,79,193,
230
The following are some of the
ladies and gentlemen who are no
longer living, but who helped to
improve the quality of life for
people in Lee County. This book
would be incomplete if their names
were not included.
Adams, Mrs. Emma
Adams, Mrs. JoRene
Aired, Mrs. Lois
Arnold, Mrs. Irene
Arnold, Mrs. Mamie
Arnold, Mrs. Mattie
Arthur, Mrs. Lily
Barber, Dorothy
Bass, Mrs. Brownie
Bass, Mrs. Mabel
Bass, Miss Nettie Mae
Beamon, Mrs. Elsie
Beauchamp, Mrs. Nell
Bell, Mrs. Amelia
Bell, Mrs. Dot
Bell, Mrs. Leah
Bogan, Mrs. Bertha
Booker, Mrs. Ethel
Bowen, Mrs. Mildred
Bradley, Mrs. Matt
Bunkley, Mrs. Mary
Burton, Mrs. Evelyn
Bumey, Mrs. Emma
Cadwell, Mrs. Barbara
Callaway, Mrs. Florence
Campbell, Mrs. Alma
Campbell, Mrs. Mary
Cannon, Mrs. Annie
Cannon, Miss Bertha
Cannon, Mrs. Elsie
Cannon, Mrs. Florence
Cannon, Mrs. Lois
Cannon, Mrs. Lucilla
Cannon, Mrs. Sheila
Cawood, Mrs. Myrtle
Chatham, Mrs. Claudia
Christie, Mrs. Rosa
Clark, Mrs. Annie Laura
Clark, Mrs. Mada
Clark, Mrs. Mary Lee
Clay, Mrs. Eddy Hooks
Clayton, Mrs. Annie Bell
Coachman, Mrs. Louise
Collier, Mrs. Sara
Comer, Mrs. Janie
Cook, Mrs. Lorice
Cooper, Mrs. Eula
Covin, Mrs. Pinkie
Coxwell, Miss Geraldine
Coxwell, Mrs. Jewell
Coxwell, Mrs. Lissie
Coxwell, Mrs. Mabel
Coxwell, Mrs. Wanda
Cromartie, Mrs. Mary Emma
Crotwell, Mrs. Helen
Crotwell, Mrs. Lucille
Culler, Mrs. Julia McAfee
Dance, Miss Mary
Daniel, Mrs. Minnie Jewel
Daniel, Mrs. Pearl
Davis, Mrs. Grace
Dismuke, Mrs. Evelyn
Dobson, Ms. Irma
Duncan, Mrs, Jeannie
Enzor, Mrs. Lula
Everett, Mrs. Lula Bell
Faircloth, Mrs. Una
Feeney, Mrs. Mary
Fomby, Mrs. Marie
Fore, Mrs. Esther
Fore, Mrs. Frances
Fore, Mrs. Marie
Forrester, Mrs. Beulah
Forrester, Mrs. Ethel
Forrester, Mrs. Helen
Forrester, Mrs. Jewel
Forrester, Mrs. Kitty
Forrester, Mrs. Lucia
Forrester, Mrs. Ethel
Forrester, Mrs. Mary Lizzie
Forrester, Mrs. Thursba
Forrester, Mrs. Virginia
Fox, Mrs. Ruth
Fussell, Mrs. Jewel
Gates, Mrs. Maxine
Gillis, Mrs. Rutha
Godwin, Mrs. Eula
Green, Mrs. Bessie
Green, Miss Susie Lee
Gunter, Mrs. Annie Mae
Hall, Mrs. Annie Mae
Hall, Mrs. Katybel
Hamilton, Mrs. Johnnie Mae
Hardy, Mrs. Kalah
Harris, Mrs. Gussie
Harris, Miss Kate
Hargrove, Mrs. Arva
Hayes, Mrs. Bell
Heath, Mrs. Blanche
Heath, Mrs. Jewel
Herrington, Mrs. Clara
Hill, Mrs. Verga
Hines, Mrs. Jennie
Hooks, Mrs. Carrie
Hubbard, Mrs. Lila
Humphrey, Mrs. Grace
Hutton, Mrs. Sandra Maylene
Jenkins, Mrs. Maybell
Jenkins, Mrs. Mamie
Jessup, Mrs. Annie
Jessup, Mrs. Louise
Jimmerson, Mrs. Febia
Johnson, Mrs. Bell
Johnson, Mrs. Ellen
Johnson, Mrs. Helen
Johnson, Mrs. Mary
Jordan, Mrs. Mattie (Totsie)
Kaylor, Mrs. Carilu
Kaylor, Mrs. Mary
Kearse, Mrs. Alice
Kearse, Mrs. Bessie
Kennedy, Mrs. Bonnie Mae
Kennedy, Miss Hazel
Kennedy, Miss Ruth
Kimbrough, Mrs. Mary
King, Mrs. Eva
King, Mrs. Shirley
Kirby, Mrs. Helen
Kirkpatrick, Mrs. Ida M
Kirkpatrick, Mrs. Ruby
Kirkpatrick, Mrs. Virginia
Kitchens, Mrs. Jewel
Kitchens, Mrs. Sally
Kleckley, Mrs. Ethel
Knowles, Mrs. Sara Mae
Laramore, Mrs. Eva
Larsen, Mrs. Christina
Lee, Mrs. Blanche
Lee, Mrs. Jessie Moreland
Lee, Flora (Cissy) Stovall
Lee, Mrs. Mary
Lewis, Mrs. Fairlella
Lewis, Mrs. Lutherine
Lindsey, Mrs. Lucy
Long, Miss Annie
Long, Mrs. Mae
Love, Mrs. Jodie
Lyon, Mrs. Barbara
Manning, Mrs. Edna
May, Mrs. Eloise
Martin, Mrs. Edith
Martin, Mrs. Laura
Martin, Mrs. Missouri
McBride, Mrs. Marie
McCray, Mrs. Elmira
McGhee, Mrs. Leah King
McRee, Mrs. Jane
Mercer, Mrs. Martha
Milledge, Mrs. Jobbie
Milledge, Mrs. Louise
Miller, Mrs. Luna Maude
Milton, Mrs. Helen
Miller, Mrs. Ruth
Mitchell, Mrs. Daisy
Moreland, Mrs. Allie
Moreland, Mrs. Tommie
Moses, Mrs. Ruby
Myrick, Mrs. Juanita
Nesbit, Mrs. Mary Ella
Odom, Mrs. Bessie
Peek, Mrs. Lois
Phillips, Mrs. Mary
Phillips, Mrs. Willie
Pitts, Mrs. Lois
Powell, Mrs. Martha
Powell, Mrs. Willie
Price, Mrs. Tearose
Profit, Mrs. Profit
Radcliff, Mrs. Lola
Relifore, Mrs. Lily Mae
Rhodes, Mrs. Clara
Richardson, Mrs. Winnie
Rivers, Mrs. Ethel
Roberson, Mrs. Lillie Mae
Roberts, Mrs. Thelma
Robinson, Mrs. Lily Ann
Robinson, Mrs. Lucy Bell
Rutlamd, Mrs. Lucibel
Samilton, Mrs. Mary
Sanders, Mrs. Mitt
Sanford, Mrs. Sara
Segars, Mrs. Ruth
Shell, Mrs. Maureen
Singletary, Katy
Smith, Mrs. Diane
Smith, Mrs. Mae
Snider, Mrs. Mary
Stamps, Mrs. Evie
Stewart, Mrs. Bert
Stillwell, Mrs. Mary Reid
Stocks, Mrs. Greta
Stocks, Mrs. Maggie Lee
Stocks, Mrs. Nanelle
Stovall, Mrs. Adelaide
Stovall, Mrs. Bernice
Stuart, Mrs. Clara
Styles, Mrs. Winnie Mae
Tarpley, Mrs. Annie
Teele, Mrs. Maggie
Tharp, Mrs. Pauline
Tucker, Mrs. Elizabeth
Turner, Mrs. Christine
Tirmer, Mrs. Eva
Tyson, Mrs. Ella
Usrey, Mrs. Emma Barber
Usry, Mrs. Belle
Usry, Mrs. Mary Eva
Varner, Mrs. Mary
Vest, Mrs. Mary
/Ward, Mrs. Agnes
Washington, Mrs. Dollie
Watson, Mrs. Kate
Webb, Mrs. Falba
Webster, Mrs. Sis
Wheaton, Mrs. Mae
Whitsette, Mrs. Lucy
Williams, Mrs. Ethel
Williams, Mrs. Lucille
Willis, Mrs. Irene
Willis, Mrs. Victoria
Wingfield, Mrs. Norma
Woodard, Mrs. Maxine
Wright, Mrs. Cora
Wright, Mrs. Dora
Yeoman, Mrs. Carrie
Yeoman, Mrs. Henrietta
Young, Mrs. Anna
Young, Mrs. Mary
Adams, Mr. Furlough
Adams, Mr. Louis
Allen, Mr. Red
Aired, Mr. Homer
Alvis, J. K.
Ansley, C.C.
Arnold, Mr. Charlie
Arnold, Mr. Howell
Arnold, Mr. Reid
Avery, Mr. Dan Sr.
Barber, Mr. Frank
Bass, Mr. Dan
Bass, Mr. Tom
Beamon, Mr. Mitchell
Beamon, Mr. Ross
Beamon, Mr. Wylo
Beauchamp, Mr. Mason
Bell, Mr. Bill
Bell, Mr. Jack Jr.
Bell, Mr. Jack Sr.
Bell, Mr. Lin E
Bell, Mr. Red
Bozeman, Mr. Cecil
Branch, Mr. E.H.
Breeden, Mr. Dock
Breeden, Mr. Lawrence
Burton, Mr. George
Callaway, Mr. Red
Campbell, Mr. Lewis
Campbell, Mr. Lynn
Cannon, Mr. Charlie
Cannon, Mr. Edward
Cannon, Mr. Charles
Cannon, Mr. Henry
Cannon, Mr. Hoke
Cannon, Mr. J.B.
Cannon, Mr. J.M.
Cannon, Mr. Malcom
Cannon, Mr. Otis
Cannon, Mr. Raymond
Chambers, Mr. Bill Sr.
Clark, Mr. E.A.
Clay, Mr. Robert A. Sr.
Collier, Mr. John (Jap)
Cook, Mr. Heyward
Collins, Mr. O.W.
Coxwell, Mr. Ernest
Cook, Mr. J.L
Coxwell, Mr. Lester Jr.
Coxwell, Mr. Lester Sr.
Coxwell, Mr. McEwen
Coxwell, William
Covin, Mr. Hawkin
Cromartie, Mr. H.L.
Crotwell, Mr. Jim
Crotwell, Mr. Ned
Crotwell, Mr. Sam
Culpepper, Mr. Keith
Davis, Mr. Bill
Davis, Mr. Elash
Davis, Mr. John
Dobson, Mr. J.S.
Dobson, Mr. Pete
Duncan, Mr. Early B.
Duncan, Mr. Steve
Eubanks, Mr. J.C
Eubanks, Mr. Mac
Everette, Mr. Henry
Faircloth, Mr. W.Y
Farrand, Mr. Ed
Fenney, Judge Gene
Fore, Mr. Ernest
Fore, Mr. Elmer
Forrester, Mr. R.H. (Blue)
Forrester, Mr. Ed
Forrester, Mr. Edward
Forrester, Mr. E.L. (Ticky)
Forrester, Mr. Jack
Forrester, Mr. James
Forrester, Mr. Joe
Forrester, Mr. Joel
Forrester, Mr. Paul
Forrester, Mr. Wallace
Fox, Mr. Jonathan
Fussell, Mr. Hugh
Gardley, Mr. Harry
Gates, Mr. John
Garrett, Mr. Jack
Gibson, Mr. Thad
Green, Mr. Bob
Green, Mr. John R.
Goforth, Mr. Floyd
Gunter, Mr. B.E.
Godwin, Mr. A.W.
Hall, Mr. Colin
Hall, Mr. Goodwin
Hardy, Mr. Max
Hargrove, Mr. Otis
Harrington, Mr. Charlie
Harris, Mr. Cassell
Hayes, Mr. Willie
Heath, Mr. Robert Jr.
Heath, Mr. Robert Sr.
Hightower, Mr. Isom
Hill, Mr. Otis
Hinds, Mr. Harry
Hines, Mr. John Mark
Homer, Mr. Gus
Hopkins, Mr. Bill
Home, Mr. J.P.
Jenkins, Mr. Buddy
Jimmerson, Mr. Peter
Johnson, Mr. Joseph
Johnson, Mr. Tom
Kearse, Mr. Grover
Kearse, Mr. Hugh
Kearse, Mr. Perry Sr.
Kennedy, Mr. Freddie
Kimbrough, Mr. George
King, Mr. Ulric
King, Mr. Jimmy
Kirby, Mr. Red
Kirkpatrick, Mr. Cline
Kirkpatrick, Mr. James
Kirkpatrick, Mr. Marvin
Knowles, Mr. Albert (Marcene)
Laschober, Mr. Gene
Laramore, Big Bill William
Lee, Mr. Harry
Lee, Mr. Charles
Lee. Mr. E.B
Lee, Mr. James
Lee, Mr. Robert
Lewis, Mr. Henry
Lockett, Mr. Willie
Long, Mr. Frank
Long, Mr. W. H.
Long, Mr. William
Love, Mr. Tom
Long, Mr. Clifford
Malone, Mr. J.B.
Martin, Mr. E.B.
Martin, Mr. Gus
Martin, Mr. Pitt
Martin, Mr. Ware
McBride, Mr. J.D. (Capt)
McBride, Mr. James
McGee, Mr. Lou
Mercer, Mr. Dave
Mercer, Mr. Dewey
May, Mr. Tony
McAfee, Mr. Fort
Mitchell, Mr. Jim
Moreland, Mr. George Sr.
Moreland, Mr. Simp
Moses, Mr. Yep
Murphy, Mr. Wandell
Nelson, Mr. L.H.
Nelson, Mr. N.N.
Nesbit, Mr. Bill
Odum, Mr. Jim
Pate, Mr. Zack
Phillips, Mr. Vernon
Poole, Mr. Marlin
Powell, Mr. Albert
Powell, Mr. Pinkney
Powell, Mr. S.J.
Price, Mr. Percey
Pye, Mr. J.W.
Radcliff, Mr. Hoyle
Rhodes, Mr. J.M. Sr.
Rhodes, Mr. Charles
Richardson, Mr. R.J.
Rivers, Mr. Joe
Rivers, Mr. Johnny
Rivers, Mr. Major
Rivers, Mr. Rich
Rivers, Mr. Wilfred
Rutland, Mr. Willis
Sadler, Mr. John M. Sr.
Sanders, Mr. Gerry
Sanford, Mr. Eugene
Segars, Mr. Jeff
Shaver, Mr. Leonard
Shackleford, Mr. Dan
Smith, Mr. Buddy
Smith, Mr. Charles
Smith, Mr. Tom
Stamps, Mr. Paul
Stephens, Mr. Bo
Stocks, Mr. Ed
Stocks, Mr. Joe
Stocks, Mr. Mercer
Stocks, Mr. Jessie
Stocks, Mr. Sam
Snider, Mr. J.L.
Stovall, Mr. Buck
Stovall, Mr. Frank
Stovall, Mr. Hugh
Stovall, Mr. Reid
Stovall, Mr. Rody
Tarpley, Mr. W.E.
Tarpley, Mr. Bill
Tharp, Mr. T.C
Toole, Mr. Joe
Turner, Mr. Don
Turner, Mr. George
Turner, Mr. Guy
Turner, Mr. H.L. (Hank)
Usry, Mr. Charles
Usry, Mr. Hiram
Varner, Mr. Lin
Vamum, Mr. J.D.
West, Mr. Fred
West, Mr. O.C.
Wheaton, Mr. Albert
Williams, Mr. Charlie
Williams, Mr. Charles
Williams, Mr. Hershel
Williams, Mr. James
Willis, Rev. Murray
Willis, Mr. Arthur (Big Head)
Whitley, Mr. Billy
Wingfield, Mr. Jimmy
Worthy, Mr. Clote
Worthy, Mr. J.G.
Yeoman, Mr. Frank (Peck)
Yeoman, Mr. Goode
Yeoman, Mr. Sol
Yeoman, Mr. William (Goat)
Leesburg Depot
Old Callaway Hotel
Old Leesburg High School
Wilmar Plantation
Leesburg Mercantile
Smithville Class of 1923
1977 Big Snow
Lee County to Oakfield
Graduating Class of 1952
Smithville Baptist Church
Smithville Methodist Church
Redbone School
Philema School
Mt. Pleasant School
Phillips Grove School
Smithville School
Macedonia School
Public Watering Trough 1915
Oouthern 2^4^05
Fit as a Fiddle
Sleep Tight; Dont let the Bed bugs Bite
The sweetest meat is next to the bone
Straight as A B Martin to his Gourd
Straight as an arrow
Quick as a wink
If you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas
If the shoe fits, wear it
Fast as greased lightning
Dont count your chickens before they hatch
Make hay while the sun shines
Flat as a flounder
The early bird gets the worm
A stitch in time saves nine
Dont cry over spilled milk
Beauty is only skin deep
A bird in hand is worth two in the bush
Study long, study wrong
Pretty is as pretty does
That apple didnt fall far from the tree
If it aint broke dont fix it
Full as a tick
All that glitters is not gold
Laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and you cry alone
As the twig is bent, so grows the tree
Dont put all your eggs in one basket
You dont miss the water till the well runs dry
Sharp as a tack
Birds of a feather flock together
Cant stand the heat, get out of the kitchen
Smart as a whip
Quick as a wink
Busy as a bee
Rode hard put up wet
Poor as Jobs Turkey
Lonesome as a train whistle
Finger-licking good
Skedaddle (get a move on)
Fishing for compliments
Out of the frying pan into the fire
Ill do that when hell freezes over
Ugly as sin
Broke to smithereens
A month of Sundays
Broke as a haint
Knee high to a grasshopper
Thin as a rail
High as a kite
Hoppin mad
Lost his marbles
Living on borrowed time
Down the road a piece
Raining and the sun shining, devil is whipping his wife
Tied to mamas apron strings
Fly in the ointment
Dead as a door nail
Wait till the cows come home
Buttermilk sky
Down at the mouth (down in the dumps)
Smug as a bug in a rug
Too hot to handle
Squeeze a penny till it hollers (stingy)
Goobers, or ground peas (peanuts)
Meet yourself coming back
Let sleeping dogs lie
From here to kingdom come

some so wild you will find them hard to
believe, but all are interesting and true,
according to the writers.
In the heart of south and southwest
Georgia is the setting for these stories.
They will cause you to reflect and reminisce
about your own childhoods fondest and
most memorable experiences. You can
almost hear the sound of the whistle as
the Dixie Flyer passes through Leesburg.
So get on board and get set for some great
entertainment as you follow the tracks
down memory lane.
ALL ABOARD!