A History of Rentz, Georgia

                             
Rentz, Georgia is located in central Laurens County, Georgia, about thirteen miles from the county seat of Dublin.   It is named for Edward Pierce Rentz, a banker, a sawmill operator, and president of the Dublin and Southwestern Railroad. E.P. Rentz was born in 1862.  He was a son of  Rev. Joseph Rentz and Martha McGeehee.   Joseph was a minister in the Methodist Church.  His family, originally called “Von Rentz,” settled the German Salzburger community at Ebenezer, Georgia. Martha McGeehee’s family’s roots were deep in Methodism.  Her brother, Rev. John McGeehee, the founding minister of  the First Methodist Church in Dublin, still holds the distinction of being the longest serving active minister or presiding elder in the history of the Methodist Church in Georgia with 65 years of service.   E.P. Rentz married Katherine Gaston, whose family traced its roots to Bishop Lovick Pierce and George Smith, two major stalwarts in 19th century Georgia Methodism.

E.P. Rentz, president of the Citizens Bank of Swainsboro, joined one of Dublin's leading businessman, J.D. Smith, in organizing the Citizens Bank of Dublin in August of 1902.  The bank was located on South Jefferson Street in a building designed by Rev. George Thompson, a local minister and architect, and built by local contractor, E.J. Fuller.  This modest, granite-faced building still stands and is today occupied by attorney, Charles Butler.  Early in 1906 the bank was sold to a new group of investors.  The City National Bank opened with $100,000 in paid in capital, making it the largest bank between Macon and Savannah.  It joined the First National Bank as a part of the national banking system. The new board of directors also included E.P. Rentz.   Rentz purchased a stately colonial home on Bellevue Avenue in Dublin from J.D. Smith.   He sold the home after a few years.  Today the home is known as the W.E. Lovett House.

The area around Rentz was once fields of wiregrass and virgin  yellow pine trees.   During the 1880s, timber brokers began coming into the area to harvest the coveted yellow pine.    Once pine trees were harvested, farmers began planting cotton and corn in their place.   On January 1, 1880 J.D. Bates bought Land Lot 131 of the 17th Land District from John T. Rogers.   The land would eventually encompass over two thirds of the Town of Rentz.  The property was later acquired by W.B.Rogers. Rogers lost the property when the Merrimack Savings Bank foreclosed a judgment lien against the property in 1894.

The area was formerly known as Reedy Springs.   The name comes from a nearby spring, which undoubtedly had a lot of reed plants around it.   The Reedy Springs Militia District was created on October 5, 1883.    After the Civil and Indian Wars, the necessary of each militia district was no longer necessary.   The militia districts then began to function as voting districts and Justice of the Peace Court districts.

The Reedy Springs community was also known by the name of Bluewater. That name was derived from a nearby creek to the north and west.  In 1883, the Reedy Springs District had four churches (all Baptist), a common school, a steam gin, a grist and a saw mill.  Farmers produced 800 bales of cotton, 800,000 board feet of lumber, and 8,000 pounds of wool.  The farmers of the area, which extended down to the current day Cadwell area and over to Dexter were: E.F. Alligood, H. Alligood, I. Alligood, A.J. Barron, H.D. Barron, J.H. Barron, W. Barron, W.T. Barron, J.D. Bates, A. Bedingfield, J. Bedingfield, R.A. Bedingfield, W. Bedingfield, W.A. Bedingfield, G.W. Belcher, Eliza Clarke,  H.C. Coleman, W. Coney, J.E. Crumpton,R.H. Crumpton,  C.C. Gay, Hardy Gay, Mrs. M. Gay, Stephen Green,  D.Y. Grinstead, E. Grinstead,  P.E. Grinstead, Robert Grinstead,  J. Hobbs, A.B. Holliday, W.F. Holliday, L.H.  Hudson, S.B. Johnson, W.D. Joiner, A. Jones, W.J. Kinchen, W.F. Kinchen,   G.B. Knight,  J.T. Knight, R.G.B. Knight, B.  Lewis, S. Lewis, T.J. Lewis, J.R. Locke, J. Lowery,  W.A.N. Lowery, G.W. McDaniel, H.R. McDaniel, J.R. McDaniel,  R.F. Mathis, C. Mullis, J. Mullis, W.H. Mullis, R.F. Register,  and A. Rountree.

The local businessmen were A.J. Adams, machinist; H. Alligood, sawmiller; J.M. Bass, miller; W.B.F. Daniels, general store; J.T. Rogers, general store; R.L. Faircloth, machinist; James Lovett, wheelright; J.R. Sheperd, general store; and Wynn Brothers, general store.  Local ministers in 1883 were N.F. Gay, D.E. Green, J.W. Green, T.J. Hobbs, J.T. Kinchen, J.T. Kinchen, Jr., J.I.D. Miller, J.T. Rogers, C.B. Smith, and C.R. Winham.  L.A. Bracwewell was Justice of the Peace and A.B. Clark was the Notary Public and ex-officio Justice of the Peace.

The Williams Lumber Company had built a tram road from Eastman to Rentz where the mill of the Georgia Shingle Company was located.  In 1899, W.D. Harper and John J. Simpson established a saw mill.   By 1902 all of the available timber was located between the mill and Dublin.  The company decided that a new railroad could be built at only a slightly higher cost.  The original plan called for a railroad that would  intersect the Macon, Dublin, and Savannah Railroad near the Dublin Cotton Mills in West Dublin.  Among the early backers of the project were the Macon, Dublin, and Savannah Railroad, with Col. J.M. Stubbs as being the driving force behind the project.  In 1904, Edward P. Rentz and his partners, W.D. Harper and J.J. Simpson purchased the property for $75,000 from Merrimack Savings Bank, which had been leasing the property to Harper and Simpson. E.P. Rentz, a Dublin banker,  took a keen interest in the project, becoming the main owner in partnership with Harper and Simpson.
                                                       
Grading of the Dublin and Southwestern Railroad began on March 2, 1904 near the cotton mills in Dublin under the supervision of E.P. Rentz and superintendent Frank S. Battle.  The organizational meeting of the railroad was held in the Citizens Bank on April 6, 1904.  E. P. Rentz was elected president.  J.J. Simpson and  W.D. Harpe, were elected as vice president and traffic manager/treasurer respectively.  William Prichett, J.M. Stubbs, and David S. Blackshear of Dublin were elected to the board of directors.  The first spikes were driven and the workers raced to complete the road to Rentz by mid May.

The first scheduled train from Rentz to Dublin ran on June 29, 1904 with two daily trips to follow in July.  Engineer J.P. Pughesly immediately began laying out the road along the old tram road to Eastman while Col. J.M. Stubbs was seeking subscriptions from Eastman and Dodge County businessmen. Originally there was only a little interest in Dodge County but when McRae offered to buy into the road, the citizens of Dodge came through with the necessary capital.    Battle's crews began laying rails.  Construction was delayed by legal actions by some Eastman citizens. General Manager W.J. Kessler moved the headquarters of the railroad to Eastman in May of 1905.

Conductor B.W. Hightower guided the first freight train out of Eastman on May 5, 1905.  E.P. Rentz, W.J. Kessler, and Supt. C.E. Rentz were on board the inaugural train. Within a week the first load of freight was received in Eastman. President E.P. Rentz arranged the inaugural passenger service to coincide with the May term of Dodge County Superior Court. The train left Dublin early in the morning of May 15, 1905 with attorneys and clients bound for the nine a.m. court on board.  Passenger service was born as the train arrived just in time for court.

Rentz and his associates had done such a good job in building the road that the Wrightsville and Tennille became interested in the project.  Finally after a year of offers, the W. & T. purchased the Dublin and Southwestern Railroad. The Wrightsville and Tennille made its new runs on July 1, 1906.  Thirty-five years later the story ends when the railroad and an era were closed forever.    

The Town of Rentz was born on October 5, 1904.  E.P. Rentz, acting on behalf of the Rentz Lumber Company, made an agreement with an adjoining landowner, J.D. Bates.  Bates owned sixty acres of land east of or opposite the Rentz Lumber Company Mill.  The railroad bed split the two tracts. Bates agreed that the title to his land would belong to E.P. Rentz.  In exchange for the promise, Rentz promised to lay out lots for sale.  Rentz, Bates  and a member selected by both were appointed to an advisory committee to determine the terms of sale.   The 11.4 acre Faulk Reserve located just north of the intersection of Bates Ave. and Bedingfield Ave. was to be held for sale until Bates agreed that it could be sold.

The Town of Rentz was laid out in a kite-like shape.  The tail of the kite was the intersection of Bates Avenue and Bedingfield Avenue on the eastern end of town. The top of the kite stretched from the academy lot on the north to the Rentz Lumber Mill pond on the south.   There were twenty business lots on the west side of the railroad and twenty four business lots on the east side.  On the west side of Davidson Street there were 10 residential lots.  On the east side of Proctor Street there were thirty eight residential lots.   The streets were named for the early and prominent citizens of the town.    Bates Avenue was named for the co-founder, J.D. Bates. Simpson Avenue was named for J.J. Simpson, a co-owner of the Rentz Lumber Company.  Bedingfield Avenue was named for Dr. W.E. Bedingfield, one of the town’s first doctors and original city councilmen.  Pughesly Ave. was named for J.P. Pughesly, the town’s first mayor and the railroad engineer.  There was Railroad Street West and Railroad Street East which ran from north to south along the sides of the railroad.  Davidson Street was named for A.W. Davidson, an original councilman and the town’s first businessman.  Proctor Street was named after J.L. Proctor, businessman and original city councilman.    Taylor Street is named for Dr. T.J. Taylor.   Church Street is named for the two churches, Methodist and Baptist which are located in the eastern part of town.  On the west side of town around the lumber mill were a dozen or so shanties.  J.P. Pughesly owned a large lot on the west side of the railroad at the southern end of town.  Dr. C.E. Rentz’s house was a little further down on the east side of the railroad.  A hotel lot was laid out on East Railroad Street just south of the corner of the southern margin of Simpson Ave. and the eastern margin of East Railroad Street.  The Academy was  at the northwestern end of town.

The business lots were sold to C.E. Evans (1), Flora Edmondson (2), Francis C. Walker (10), C.E. Rentz (13-16),  W.H. and Eliza Bonner (34), W.F. O’Connor (35), W.E. Bedingfield (37), J.L. Proctor (39), J.H. Proctor (40),  C.F. and J.T. Ussery (42), and C.E. Rentz (48).   Residence lots were sold to C.E. Rentz (48), J.L. Proctor (62-63), H.C. Coleman (84-85), and H.C. Woodard (92).

On March 11, 1905 the post office of Rentz was established.  John S. Edmondson was the first postmaster. Other postmasters were J. Eldredge Chambless, General M. Knight, Lovett  N. Mullis, Olin D. Barron, C. Thurmon Grinstead, Ray Chambless, Billy Payne, and Betty Register.   The office effectively replaced the old Reedy Springs Post Office which had been established on October 27, 1873 with John T. Rogers as postmaster.  This office was discontinued on December 31, 1901.  The mail was forwarded to Dexter.  John F. Silas and George P. Bugg were early mail carriers.

The town of Rentz was incorporated by the Georgia Legislature on August 21, 1905.   The city limits extended to one-half mile in each direction from the intersection of Bates Avenue and the railroad.  The first mayor was J.P. Pughesly. J.L. Proctor, A.W. Davidson, J.E. Guy, Dr. C.E. Rentz, and Dr. W.E. Bedingfield were the members of the first city council.  

As the railroad became a reality, more and more families began moving into the area.  E.P. Rentz offered choice building and residential lots for sale.  A 60 x 100 foot lot could have been bought for $25.00.    Half acre home lots were being sold for $35.00 to $50.00.  A.W. Davidson was the first to build a store  house.    His house store was located on Lot 7, with his home on the adjoining Lots 26 and 27.   He traded under the name of Davidson and Grinstead in partnership with J.T. Grinstead.    Davidson also built the first home in town.  Doctors W.E. Bedingfield and T.J. Taylor established the first drug store in 1905.   J. P. Pughesly established a large general mercantile store.   The store  traded under the name of The  Rentz Trading Company.  Investors in the corporation were T.J. Taylor, J.F. Graham, W.A. Bedingfield, and P.E. Grinstead.   The store, which contained 3500 square feet was considered one of the largest in Laurens County.     Houses and businesses were going up at a fast pace.  Dr. C.E. Rentz built a two-story home on the south side of town along the railroad tracks.  Cullen Evans completed his dry-goods and grocery store in the spring of 1905.    H.C. Coleman, Jr. began construction of his residence in the summer of 1905.    That same year, Haywood Proctor began the construction of a furniture store.    Proctor’s store was modern 20 x 70 foot building with plate glass windows.    J.G. Gay began building his house near the home of J.P. Pughesly in southwestern Rentz.  J.S. Knight built the first cotton gin and grist mill.   J.S. King was also one of the first merchants in  Rentz.  In 1906, T.J. Taylor incorporated his general mercantile business, The Taylor Mercantile Company, with the aid of Joe F. Graham and A.T. Barron.

During the town’s first two years of existence, Rentz was plagued by a series of four fires.  The second and most destructive fire came in April 1906 when the wooden stores of the Rentz Trading Company, Davidson & Grinstead, and the Rentz Pharmacy went up in flames.  A fourth fire resulted in the loss of the $5000 store of J.M. Outler in 1906.  A financial cataclysm struck the firm of Roundtree, Knight & Coleman in 1907, when the firm petitioned for protection from its creditors under the bankruptcy code.

If the railroad was king, cotton was queen in Laurens County.    From 1911 to 1918, Laurens County was a perennial leader in the production of cotton in Georgia. In 1912, the county produced more cotton than any other county in the history of our state, before or since.    John Rigby built a cotton gin which burned in 1908.  Dr. Taylor built a gin a year later.  M.E. Burts of Dublin built the Planters Gin.  In 1923,  O.D. Barron built still another gin.   Several cotton warehouses were located in Rentz.  The Farmers Union Warehouse was established in 1910.  The original building was destroyed by fire in 1940, along with 800 bales of cotton.  H.Y. Grant built a warehouse in 1923.   R.A. Register later established the Planter’s Gin Company.  The last cotton gin, owned by John Lowery, closed in 1978.

  In the early spring of 1906, Rentz suffered a devastating fire.  The stores of J.P. Pughesley and A.W. Davidson were destroyed along with the drug store of Doctors Bedingfield and Taylor.   The losses were estimated to be between thirty and forty thousand dollars.    The  businessmen of Rentz were not to be deterred.  Police Chief R.A. Watson, broke ground for Dr. Taylor’s new two story store building in May of 1906.    Most of the new buildings were to be built of brick.  The people of Rentz hoped to have seven brick stores, a bank building, an opera house, a city hall and  a Masonic Lodge,  all within three months.

On September 28th, 1906, the Rentz Lumber Company, composed of E.P. Rentz, Dr. C.E. Rentz, W.D. Harper, and J.J. Simpson, sold their interest in the lumber mill to two Dublin agri-businessmen, W.B. Rice and W.T. Phelps.   The conveyance included 12 shanties in the southwestern section of town, three dwellings, the hotel lot, and commercial building lot # 4, along with the lumber yard.
The fifteen hundred dollar sale price indicates that there weren’t a lot of improvements located on the property at the time.

A school was constructed in 1905 under the direction of Hamp Williams on the Academy lot in western Rentz.  The original school was located on the site of the last school in Rentz.  The patrons of the school met and elected J.P. Pughesly, A.W. Davison, J.L. Proctor, Dr. Charlie Rentz, and B.O. Rogers as the school’s trustees. In its first days, enrollment approached 200 students.   In 1914 a two-story brick school building was constructed.  Rev. N.H. Burch and O.K. Jolly served as superintendents for many years.  Among the early teachers were Miss Carswell, Dan Metts, Ida O’Neal, Mr. Miller, Mr. Lawson, and Mr. Murchison.   In 1924, Miss Sadye Wilkinson taught the first classes in home economics.  C.A. McMillan was the first Agricultural teacher.   Many area schools were consolidated into the Rentz School District.  L.H. Cook was the new superintendent.  He was succeeded by E.A. Rusk and W.M. Ouzts.  A vocational building was added in 1939, followed by a business training program under the direction of Gladys Fields.   Six man football, a program designed by school superintendent Elbert Mullis, began in October of 1938.  Teams were fielded by the high schools in Rentz, Dudley, Brewton, Cadwell, Dexter, and Cedar Grove.

The Bank of Rentz was established  in 1910.   T.J. Taylor was President of the Bank.  H.D. Barron was the Vice President.  F.M. Kirkpatrick was the cashier.  John D. Walker served as Financial Agent.  The Board of Directors was composed of J.T. Mercer, H.D. Barron, John D. Walker, T.J. Taylor, J.F. Graham, P.C. Coleman, W.E. Bedingfield, W.A. Bedingfield, and B.O. Rogers.

The Rentz Banking Company succeeded the ill fated Bank of Rentz.    The new bank was reorganized in May of 1914 with the help of several Dublin businessmen. Dr. J.M. Page, founder of the Commercial Bank of Dublin, was elected president of the bank.  H.D. Barron and W.E. Bedingfield were elected vice-presidents.  H.K. Murchison was hired as cashier.  The original board of directors included A.W. Davidson, S.T. Hall, J.S. Adams, W.A. Bedingfield, E.S. Baldwin, Alex D. Blackshear, and J.W. Rowe.  The bank was located on the main street along the Railroad in Dexter.   In 1920 Olin D. Barron was President with H.D. Barron and W.E. Bedingfield serving as Vice Presidents.   In the latter years of the bank, Mr. and Mrs. O.D. Barron, Barron Smith, and Foster Taylor were officers of the bank.  The bank and its assets were purchased by the Citizens and Southern Bank in 1974.  The bank continued to operate as a branch for nearly twenty more years before closing.

On Oct. 29, 1903 the Thaggard Masonic Lodge No. 460, F.& A.M. was chartered on the Thaggard Turpentine still grounds south of Dublin in lower Laurens County.  The charter officers included P.E. Grinstead, Worshipful Master; J.F. Grinstead, Senior Warden; P.D. Couey, Junior Warden; and J.C. Gay, Secretary. In 1905 the Lodge moved to Rentz to a lodge built on city lot 23 and donated by E.P. Rentz on November 17, 1905.    The trustees of the lodge were P.E. Grinstead, R.L. Faircloth, and J.L. Hobbs.    Over the next 55 years, the lower floor of the two-story lodge building was used as a school, canning plant, voting precinct, and the Reedy Springs Militia District Courthouse.  The Masons of Rentz built a new concrete block building in 1960 just in front of where the old building stood.  When the new building was constructed, the officers of the Lodge were J.A. Dominy, Jr., Worshipful Master; G.B. Lindsey, Sr., Senior Warden; J.L.F. Lowery, Junior Warden; Kermit R. Lowery, Secretary; and Leon Keen, Treasurer.  On Halloween night in 1906, the men of Rentz formed a Lodge of the International Order of Odd Fellows.    The institution of the lodge was brought about by the members of the Dexter Lodge.  The original members of the lodge were W.B. McLendon, Frank Lavender, W.D. Register, H. T. Beckworth, J.B. Rowe, D.E. Mullis, D.J. Faircloth, J.L. Gay, S.E. Warren, W.D. Warren, E.D. McDaniel, T.R. Taylor, L.L. Frierson, J.S. Frierson, W.J. Mullis, A.W. Smith, James R. McDaniel, J.W. McDaniel, D.J. Grinstead, J.A. Coleman, H.C. Coleman, J.T. Grinstead, H.C. Burch, J.A. Burch, W.F. Coleman, J.H. Coleman, P.D. Couey, W.E. Silas, Washington Hobbs, L.H. Currie, G.B. Knight, F.M. Sanders, W.E. Bedingfield, J.T. Gay, E.O. Alligood, B.F. Dixon, W.D. Dixon, T.J. Taylor, W.O. Minton, L.L. Ward, J.E. Faulk, W.B. Gay, H.J. Alligood, H.L. Faircloth, G.W. Culbreth, W.H. Bedingfield, W.H. Tate, and J.W. Rowe.   Those admitted from the Dexter Lodge by card were C.C. Hutto, R.L. Faircloth, A.T. Barron, C.H. Wyatt, Otis Davidson, M.R. Mackey, Will Ward, Luther Knight, and Robert Knight.

The officers of the Lodge were R.L. Faircloth, Noble Grand; W.E. Silas, Vice Grand; J.R. Gay, Conductor; J.T. Grinstead, Recording Secretary; Washington Hobbs, Financial Secretary; J.W.  Rowe, Treasurer; J.H. Coleman, Chaplain; W.H. Bedingfield, Jr., Warden; A.T. Barron, Right Support Noble Grand; E.O. Baggett, Left Support Noble Grand; O.W. Davidson, Right Support Vice Grand; W.H. Tate, Left Support Vice Grand; W.W. Warren, Right Scene Supporter; E.O. Alligood, Left Scene Supporter; W.J. Mullis, Inner Guard; and L.G. Knight, Outer Guard.  The Odd Fellows met in the Masonic Lodge.

E.P. Rentz sold a lot to the Laboring Friends Society for their Lodge on April 29, 1905.  The  Lodge was located between the Colored Methodist Church and the Colored Reedy Springs Baptist Church.   Wiley Ginn, John Anderson, and Seaborn Rozier were Trustees of the Lodge.
       

The Baptists of Rentz organized a church on June 28, 1905.  They met at the L.G. Knight home.  The fourteen charter members were Mr. and Mrs. B.O. Rogers, Mr. and Mrs. L.G. Knight, Mr. and Mrs. G.M. Knight, Mrs. John T. Rogers, G.W. Knight, John S. Knight, D.J. Knight, Mr. and Mrs. W.F. Cooper, and Mrs. George Coleman.  They moved to a brush arbor and the Methodist Church before moving into their permanent church in 1906.  E.P. Rentz sold the church Lot No. 69 for $1.00 on August 5, 1905.  The deacons of the church were B.O. Rogers, W.S. Cooper, J.S. Knight, J.W. Barron, and J.P. Pughsley.  The first pastor was J.T. Smith.  Other early ministers of the church were T.J. Hobbs, T.Z. Bush, T. Bright, O.O. Williams, T.E. Toole, J.R. Kelly, L.N. Jessup, T.J. Barnette, W.E. Harville, Frank Synder, C.H. Hornsby, J.C. Daniel, Otis Garland, F.B. Pickern, E.A. Price, W.O. Brown, J.W. Harper, William Burns, C.E. Vines, Thomas E. Moye, Harry W. Bentley, Charlie Smith, Hugh Harber, Francis F. Bush, Billy Lee, Richard D. Hinely, Hubert F. Woodyard, Jack Sapp, Otis Bentley, and Grady H. Mimbs.   Among the earliest deacons of the church were J.F. Cooper, B.C. Coleman, B.O. Rogers, W.F. Cooper, and H.Y. Grant.  J.E. Chambliss served as a deacon for 40 years.   L.H. Cook served over 50 years as deacon.  Clerks in the church included A.W. Couey, A.J. Cooper, A.W. McCleod, G.M. Knight, F.M. Barron, L.A. Gibson, F.C. Taylor, D.P. Knight, W.W. Fordham, J.E. Chambless, H.A. Rountree, Mrs. Adon Woodard, Linda Morton, and Ruby Knight. The first church was torn down in 1929.  Until the new church was completed in 1931, services were held in Grant’s Cotton Warehouse and in the Methodist Church.

The Methodist Church was organized in 1905.    E.P. Rentz sold a lot to the Church for $1.00 on April 27, 1905.   The property was conveyed to C. E. Rentz, E.P. Rentz, RL. Shy, J.T. Warthen, and J.E. Gay as Trustees .    Among the early members were Mr. and Mrs. C.E. Rentz, Mr. and Mrs. J.D. Warthen, Mr. and Mrs. J.S. Pughsley, and Mr. and Mrs. Joe Keen.

E.P. Rentz sold a lot for $1.00  to the Reedy Springs Colored Baptist Church on November 29, 1905.  Richard Allen, Richard Moss, and Henry Roberts were the Deacons of the Church.   Rentz also sold a lot the Colored Methodist Church, but there is no indication that the deed was ever recorded.

The lights came on in Rentz in the early 20s when the town operated off a Delco battery system.  On April 1, 1927, Georgia Power began furnishing power to the town.   In a history of Rentz written by Charles L. Schell in 1998, a list of the men providing law enforcement for the Town of Rentz were town marshals Rawls Watson, Will Coleman, Charles Tipton, W.D. Register, J. Frank Schell, Alfred Davidson, and Prentice Coleman.

Despite the growth of area in the early years, the population of the Reedy Springs Militia District dropped from 1,904 in 1900 to 1,619 in 1910.  The trend turned around in 1920 when the population rose to 1, 886.    In 1910, the first census was taken in the Town of Rentz.  The population was 275.   Ten years later following the war and the coming of the boll weevil, the population dropped to 219.   The population of Rentz climbed to 400 in 1940.

Last Train in Rentz

The death blows to the growth of the small towns along the Dublin and Southwestern Railroad came in 1941.    The world was at war.   The railroad tracks were pulled up.    At the pinnacle of the history of Rentz, the following merchants and businesses were located  in Rentz: Grant Warehouse, Farmers Union Warehouse, Barron’s Pharmacy, J.R. Chambless Hardware and Electrical Store, J.A. Daniel Gen. Merchandise, E.J. Woodard, Gen. Merchandise, J.A. Davidson Dry Goods, James L. Davidson Grocery, Allen D. Davidson Hardware, J.G. Register Grocery, Z.C. Register Grocery, Eugene Couthern Grocery, P.R. Coleman Grocery, R.A. Register’s Service Station, Mack Strozier’s Lunch Room, O.D. Barron’s Rentz Service Station, F.R. Phelp’s Service Station, Z.C. Register’s Barber Shop, Rentz Wagon Works, O.D. Barron Gin Company, Planter’s Gin Company,  and O.B. Barron’s Stables.

Many people say the best thing to happen to Rentz since the coming of the railroad was the formation of the Rural Telephone Cooperative, Inc. in 1953.  The founding officers were C.J. Burch, President; L.K. Keen, Vice President; W.B. English, Treasurer; and J.B. Fordham, Jr., Secretary.   The original party telephone lines were completely replaced by private lines by the early 1970s.  By the mid 1970s, extended area service gave residents the third largest free calling center in Georgia.  Since the installation of fibre optic lines, the cooperative serves over 5100 customers located over an area of 500 plus square miles.

The drug store, then owned by Herbert Bedingfield, closed in 1955.  Dr. T.J. Taylor and Dr. W.E. Bedingfield died in 1948 and 1942 respectively.   The Rentz school closed.  Students went to Laurens High and then to West Laurens High.  A new post office was constructed in the 1960s.  A new city hall was built in 1985. Despite all the changes, the town of Rentz perseveres.

Congratulations to the people of Rentz and may you always remember your heritage.

Professor L.H. Cook

KILLER TWISTER, DEATH NEAR DEXTER

                         
                             
In Laurens County, tornadoes rarely kill.  The worst ones seem to come in March and April.  When they occur, they tend to strike in southwestern Laurens County -  in and around the Dexter community.   On April 25, 1929, seventy years ago this week,   the worst one ever recorded struck the Dexter area,  killing two people and injuring two dozen more.  At the end of the day, the murdering storm had killed sixty persons and injured several hundred more in six Georgia towns.

In 1929, there was no Doppler radar. The only warning came when the  southwestern sky turned black as a moonless night.  The storm began near Cochran,  where five persons were killed and at least fifty were wounded.   It steam-rolled along a northeasterly course -  the way they usually go when they are up to no good - headed for a collision with the town of Chester.  Tall pines, which fifty years before had covered the sandy soil like grass on a football field,  were skinned like bananas. The Chester School, a substantial building and the pride of the town, was lifted off its foundation and dumped flat on the ground a few feet away.  C.A. Mullis, never had a chance.  He was killed instantly when the funnel sucked him up and slammed him into a tree.

(The above photo depicts what the tornado may have looked like.)

  The storm turned a little more to the north,  heading straight for the Mt. Carmel community.  Mt. Carmel Baptist Church, one of the most modern and best equipped church buildings in the county, was totally destroyed.   The Mt. Carmel School and the teacherage, located across the road from the church, were amazingly untouched.  Several homes in the community were destroyed.  The J.D. McClelland home and that of Mrs. W.A. Witherington were destroyed. None one in the McLelland family was harmed, but Mrs. Witherington, her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Milton Witherington, and infant grandchild  were seriously injured.   Jim Dawkins lost his house and most of its contents.

  Thankfully and most mercifully, his wife and five children only suffered minor injuries.  Calvin Patisaul’s house was destroyed. Almost  all of his large family suffered some type of injury, though none too serious.   Lee Floyd’s wife was badly injured when their house was destroyed.  One vacant tenant house and the vacant old Dave Fountain home were torn to pieces. Tornados don’t distinguish between occupied and unoccupied houses.

The storm picked up  in strength, rushing toward the Donaldson community two or three miles from Mt. Carmel.   The destruction of homes, worse than at previous points along the storm’s path, suddenly became deadly.   A nine-year old daughter of W.J. Southerland was killed when her house was demolished.  Mrs. Dan Knighton and her baby, living in the Southerland home, were injured and taken to the hospital.    M. J. Crumpton noticed the blackening southwestern sky near Dexter, jumped out of his Chevrolet (ABOVE), and ran to pick up the seven members of his family.  Crumpton then drove “like a bat out of Hades” for a few hundred yards to the home of his son-in-law.  After rescuing four more family members,  Mr. Crumpton drove as fast as could, but not as fast as he wanted to,  for two miles before coming to a settlement road.  He dashed through fields, branches, and ditches,  barely reaching safety, just to the very edge of the storm’s deadly reach.  The family returned to their home, only to find that  it had been completely destroyed.  Parts of the house, useless now and  only a painful memory of more pleasant times,  were found on a hilltop a quarter of a mile away.  Many chickens were slaughtered in the maelstrom - a fate which was only hastened by the swirling winds.   The cows fared better, coming out of the storm virtually unscathed, oblivious to what had just passed them by.   Two tenant houses on the Joe Donaldson place were destroyed.

Just before the funnel lifted off the ground,  it reeked a cataclysm on the home of John Knight.  Mr. and Mrs. Knight were seriously injured, each blown some distance from the home and landing in different places.   Mr. Knight’s scull was fractured, and his heart and that of his wife was to be broken forever.  Their baby was found dead, lying forty yards from the house  in a mud puddle, that had rapidly formed in the freshet accompanying the storm.  The brick pillars and the chimney of their house  were picked up and thrown around as if they were small stones.    Mrs. J.W. Thomas lost every building on her farm,  including her house.   J.Q. Pittman also lost his home and just about every thing he had.

Before leaving the county, the storm struck the Greystone Farms (LEFT)  about a mile from Garretta.  One farmer was hurt.  A tenant house was destroyed.  The roof of the overseer’s house was snatched completely off,  like the lid on can of soup.   At that point,  the storm lifted off the ground -  headed toward Emanuel County,  where two were killed and several injured in Norristown.  Two others were killed further over in Emanuel County.   When the twister touched down for a third time, it became even more deadly than ever before.  Eighteen  persons were killed and many more were injured in Metter.  Thirty one  people lost their lives in Statesboro and over a hundred were injured.  Before it was finally over, four more persons were killed in South Carolina. Tornadic activity continued in subsequent days across the Southeast.

B.H. Lord, President of the Wrightsville and Tennille Railroad, the artery which had carried the life blood for the Dexter community for thirty or so years,  arranged for a special  train, which he sent to Dexter on the evening following the storm.  The seriously wounded were returned to Dublin for treatment.   Dublin doctors H.L. Montford, E.B. Claxton, Sidney Walker, and J.W. Edmondson rode the train to treat the  wounded in homes around the devastated community.   Dr. O.H. Cheek, County Health Director, worked all night with members of the local National Guard unit,  supplying the homeless with blankets, bedding, and cots.  Army trucks were converted into ambulances.   Countless women, with no formal training, became nurses - it  seemed the only natural thing to do.  When the comforters, healers, and those who just wanted to help out arrived back home in Dublin, they were greeted by over three hundred grateful and applauding citizens.
 
On Friday morning, when the sky showed no evidence of the previous day’s unrelenting  fury,  property owners and local officials assessed the damages.   B.H. Lord, chairman of the disaster relief committee, witnessed the mass destruction first hand, along with Red Cross chairman H.R. Moffett, Red Cross secretary Mrs. Frank Lawson, and treasurer W.H. White.   Two little children were dead. Twenty five people were seriously injured.  The seven most seriously injured persons were carried to the Claxton-Montford hospital in Dublin.  Many more suffered minor scrapes, cuts, and bruises.   Crop and property damages , originally estimated at one hundred and twenty thousand dollars, were revised to over three hundred thousand dollars.

The local chapter of the Red Cross sprung into action.   A national officer of the Red Cross arrived in Cochran in the late afternoon.  The disaster became the first test of the disaster relief committee -  one they passed with flying colors.  Calls from the Dexter City Council and Laurens County officials went out for any type of help.  Senator Walter F. George introduced a bill to bring Federal relief to the devastated areas of Georgia.   A local fund raising effort was initiated by Laurens County, which donated one thousand dollars along with five hundred dollars by Dexter’s neighboring city of Dublin.  Those amounts were nearly matched by local citizens with contributions from ten cents to the thirty five dollars and fifty cents given by Cochran Brothers Grocery.   The national Red Cross donated two thousand dollars for replanting the cotton fields.   Women from all parts  of the county  gathered together at the Chamber of Commerce to coordinate fund raising efforts and make plans for distributing supplies and necessities.  Mrs. Frank Daniel served as chairwoman of the Dexter ladies.

An interesting footnote to the story was the death of a young eagle.  Walter Prescott and T.R. Taylor were out on the T.V. Sanders farm near Dublin.    All of a sudden,  the befuddled and somewhat amazed duo saw the young bird falling to the ground,  mortally wounded by large hailstones.  J. Guyton Sanders brought the poor pitiful corpse of the bird, which had a wing span of five feet,  to the offices of the Courier Herald.

THE GREEN HAND

Success through FFA

For nearly four decades, the novel and its movie version of Paul Chapman’s “The Green Hand,” proved that any child, no matter how disadvantaged or troubled could succeed in life if he learned and followed the creed of the Future Farmers of America.  This story, which was told over and over again, has its roots right here in Laurens County, Georgia.

“Learning to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live, Living to Serve:” That is the motto of the young men and women of the Future Farmers of America.  Originally founded as the Future Farmers of Virginia some ninety years ago, the Future Farmers of America were officially organized in 1928.

Still today when many youngsters have left the farm or never live on a farm at all, the F.F.A. is one of the nation’s largest youth organizations with a membership of  more than a half a million.

It was in the year 1932 in the midst of the country’s deepest economic depression, when University of Georgia professor of  agriculture Paul W. Chapman wrote a novel which he called, “The Green Hand.”  The book was intended to show that the Future Farmers of America could and would improve the lives of the youngsters who participated in the new program.

The plot line features a fictional and hopelessly delinquent student, Fred Dale.  The inspiration for the bad boy turned good came on a night before Christmas in 1927.  Set in the fictional community of Cedar Falls,  the story actually took place in Cedar Grove, Georgia, situated in the southern tip of western Laurens County.

Cedar Grove School was one of the first in the county to develop a vocational agricultural program following the adoption of the Hughes-Smith Vocational Act of 1917, which was adopted by the Congress after the sponsorship of Hoke Smith, a United States Senator from Georgia, and Congressman Dudley M. Hughes of Danville in neighboring Twiggs County.

The story goes that in attendance at the banquet were two professors from the University of Georgia. The occasion was a father and son banquet held at the school.   In the midst of a traditional, yet unexciting speech, a gang of rowdy youngsters interrupted the Christmas merriment and fellowship.  The culprits were apprehended and punished for their malfeasance.

The professors returned to the campus and told the story.  One thing led to another and Paul Chapman decided to write a book based on the event.  In 1932, Chapman, who was named Director of Vocational Education of the College of Agriculture of the University of Georgia in 1934, completed his work, which began to  be read by many a future farmer. Chapman accepted an offer to turn his novel into a movie.

Senior officials of Sears-Roebuck & Co. saw the potential revenue in producing the movie, which was primarily shot in and around Athens, Georgia.  Most of the cast was composed of students and regular citizens of Clarke County and around the state.  The lead male character Dale goes on to success in government and business in the 29-minute film, which was completed in 1939.

The movie reaffirms the book’s plot that F.F.A. can change the life of a bad kid.  Dale is at first expelled from school, but is given the chance to by a vocational school teacher to return to school and make amends for his delinquent behavior in a classic story of bad becomes good.  The story features romance, fights, a trial, and saving the family farm from foreclosure in the traditional Hollywood style.

It was only natural that the film premiere in the home of the University of Georgia in Athens With 4000 F.F.A. students in Georgia, as many as 5000 people were expected to visit the Classic City to see the new film, which many of them could relate to.  All of Athens promoted the film, which premiered on January 12, 1940.  Georgia Governor E.D. Rivers and the founder of the National F.F.A. were in  attendance at the premier activities,  which were broadcast over WGAU radio.  The next day, a Saturday when traditionally farmers came into town, was declared “Future Farmers of America Day in Athens

During that winter and the following spring, the film was shown in theaters, high school auditoriums and gymnasiums around the state and around the country.  A big theater screening of the “The Green Hand” became a feature event of the 1940 National Convention of the Future Farmers held at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. .

Future Farmers Programs in Laurens County began in 1936 at the high schools of Dudley, Dexter and Rentz.  Rentz organized its chapter in October 16, 1936. Professor Luther H. Cook (left)  and businessman Ralph Chambless led the effort to build an educational building in 1939.

Dudley High boys organized a chapter  in October 1937 under the leadership of president Addison Hogan.  Oliver Heath was named Vice President. Secretary Clinton Perry, Treasurer Lawton Johnson and Recorder R.W. Parker served under the leadership of Doyle Bedingfield.   Clyde Greenway, Vocational Teacher at Cadwell High, led the formation of the Cadwell chapter. Cedar Grove established its own chapter later under the leadership of H.D. Jordan.

The Laurens County Future Farmers of America joined forces at a fish fry held at Session’s Lake on the evening of March 26, 1938.  Addison Hogan, of the Dudley Chapter, was selected as President of the consolidated chapter, with the leadership rotating on an annual basis.  Danville High School  from Twiggs County was allowed to join the Laurens County Future Farmers Clubs in March 26, 1938 as that county had no program at the time.

On May 15, 1940, the local premier of “The Green Hand,” sponsored by the Lions, Exhcnage and Rotary clubs, was presented at Dublin’s Ritz Theater on West Jackson to a full house.  The next day on “4-H/FFA Day” in Dublin, some one  thousand county school students were released from their classes to attend the grand festivities in downtown Dublin.  A two-block long parade and a concert on the courthouse grounds  by the Laurens County Marching Band  thrilled the large crowds during the noon hour.  Dublin optometrist and long time advocate of vocational education in the county, Dr. Charles Kittrell, helped to organize the spectacular event with the unwavering  support of County Demonstration Agent Nelle Robinson.

For the last seventy five years plus, the boys and girls of the Laurens County chapters of the Future Farmers of America have proved Paul Chapman’s theorem, that good, decent farm kids and even some of the bad ones who were set on the path of the straight and arrow can make a difference in their community, their state and their nation.

THE BIG ONE THAT STILL GOT AWAY

The World Record Large Mouth Bass

As fish stories go, this is a big one - a really big one.  For more than three quarters of a century, this verified fish story has withstood the test of time, a drove of doubters, and a congregation of cynics,  and though there is no existing direct evidence to prove, or disprove, his claim, George Washington Perry, a former resident of Telfair County and a native of Laurens County, Georgia, still holds the record for catching the biggest large mouth bass in the history of the world.  This is the true story of his catch and how it still got away.

George Washington Perry was born on March 1, 1912 in Dublin, Georgia.  One of six children of Joseph and Laura Perry, George grew up on farms in central Georgia.  When he wasn't helping out with the chores or working in the fields, George dreamed of going fishing, not only for the sport of it, but for something good to eat.  You see, George lived in the days when the boll weevil came and devoured most of the cotton plants which brought money to everyone, regardless of whether or not they owned or even worked on a farm.  This was the Great Depression.  There was little food to eat.  With what little money George and his family did have, it was a shame to waste it on buying food, especially when he  could reel it in out of a stream, creek, pond, lake or a river for free.

It was early on the morning on Thursday, June 2, 1932.  George woke up, saw it was raining and immediately thought to himself - no farming today,  the fields are too wet.  But, it would be a good day for fishing.  Fish usually bite better when the atmosphere's pressure falls during storms.  So, George called upon his buddy Jack Page to join him for a day of fishing.  The pair hoped to catch a mess of fish for supper that night, but just in case they didn't, it would be good for two teenage boys to talk about things teenage boys tend to talk about, not to mention missing a day of toiling in the hot Georgia sun.

With only one lure between them - a Creek Chub Fintail Shiner - George hopped in Jack's pickup truck bound for Montgomery Lake, an ancient ox-bow lake formed over centuries as the meanders of the Ocmulgee River's were cut off from the river's main run.  The 1931 Creek Chub catalog boasted that the No. 2101 Natural Perch fintail shiner with its beautiful, natural colors, scales, fins, with flat sides and a swishing tail and flexible fins was as near like a living, breathing and wiggling minnow as any human could make.  The company guaranteed their lure would make a fool out of any big old wise fish.  Their promise would turn out to be more than mere puffing, more than George could ever imagine or even dream.

George didn't want to lose his prized plug.  After all, it cost him $1.25 - which in those days, was a good wage for a long  day's work.  Perry pulled back his $1.50 rod and reel and carefully cast his lure between two horizontal cypress trees lying on the surface of the once bountiful lake.   Perry saw a splash.  He felt a tug.  He pulled back.  When nothing moved, George feared that he had hung his line on a pesky stump or a submerged log.

But then, the tug became a pull.  The pull became a strain. The strain became a struggle. a Adrenalin gushed through George's veins.   His instincts took over.  George pulled.  He pulled harder. After an arduous fight, George and Jack got the monster bass to the bank and put it in Jack's truck and set off to Helena, the closest town.

George and Jack pulled up to the store of J.J. Hall and Company.  They knew they had something special, certainly the biggest bass they ever saw and naturally they wanted to show it off.   As they strode into the store to exhibit their prized trophy, all eyes turned, gazed and bugged out in disbelief.

George laid the lifeless bass on a pair of scales.  No one would question the accuracy of these scales which were actually the official scales of the Helena Post Office.  The needle stopped at twenty-two pounds and four ounces.  Someone grabbed up a measuring tape and wrapped it around the twenty-eight inches of the fish's girth and then laid it out on the counter and marked off thirty-two inches.

      There were no digital cameras in those days and certainly not any cell phone cameras.  It was more than six decades before any purported photograph appeared.  The one that did showed an unidentified man and an unidentified young boy holding a big fish.  The palm trees in the picture's background still stand on the post office property and lend some credence to its authenticity.

Someone suggested that Perry submit his fish to Field and Stream Magazine as a part of their annual fishing contest.  Obviously George won it  that year.  Though George Perry was a legend in the Big Bend region of the Ocmulgee River, he never received much of any national recognition until later in life and more so after he died.    As a part of his prize winnings, George did receive a shotgun, a pair of boots, a rod and real and a tackle box, a  seventy-five-dollar value, as the catcher of the biggest fish of the year.   Today his picture and story would be all over the Internet and plastered in every fishing magazine in the country.   Just to put the doubters to rest, George went out and won the contest again in 1934, with a bass weighing a mere thirteen pounds and fourteen ounces.

So what did George Perry do with his big fish?  No, he didn't have it mounted and put on his wall.  He did what every country boy of the 1930s would have done. He gave it to his mama, who cut it up into pieces and fried it in a big cast iron pan. Mrs. Laura served the world record fish with some tomatoes and onions she picked out of her garden and a mess of good old fashioned skillet-fried cornbread.  The Perry's finished off the rest of fish the next day, much to the consternation of ichthyologists around the world.

Jack Page seemingly disappeared.  No one ever seemed to know whatever happened to Jack.  Maybe he left Telfair County to see if he could catch an even bigger fish, always regretting the fact that it could have been his turn to cast the lure into Montgomery Lake that day.

George Perry put aside his fishing tackle as a vocation and took up an interest in aviation.  He worked on planes and opened a flying service in Brunswick.  In 1973, at the age of sixty-one and before he could tell the complete story of his world record catch, George Perry crashed into the side of a mountain near Birmingham, Alabama while ferrying an airplane.

No one in these parts ever caught a more celebrated fish.  Kelly Ward of Laurens County did manage to snare the largest striped bass ever caught in Georgia when he reeled in a 63-pounder in the Oconee River in 1967.  Some say it might have rivaled the world record had it been weighed immediately after Ward caught the big fish.

Catching the world's biggest large mouth bass is no secret.  There are some necessary skills; careful planning, good weather, and a lot of luck that goes into landing the big one. In the words of my late daddy, who considered himself a fine fisherman, when it comes right down to it, "sometimes, you just have to hold your mouth right."

FARMING IN LAURENS COUNTY IN 1915

The somewhat lackluster year of 1915 was more remarkable for what did not happen here

than what did happen.  After a quarter century of unbridled growth, Laurens Countians began to

suffer from business closures, cotton crop failures and general uneasiness about their future.  The

county had reached its zenith in 1913 and 1914, but there were always people here who never

lost faith in themselves and the county they loved.

For example, take a look at an article penned by "A Dublin Resident," in the August 10,

1915 edition of the Macon Telegraph, which he titled, "Laurens County Proves Its Splendid

Richness - Brilliant Opportunities in Laurens for The Worker."

In proclaiming that life is worth living the writer pointed to a "countywide" spirit

progressive reform in bettering schools and churches in addition better home lives and farming

conditions.  Credit was given to the county commissioners, school officials and teachers, Sunday

school, the Laurens School Improvement League and school agricultural clubs for the continued

growth in the county.

First and foremost on the minds of Laurens Countians in 1915 were good roads, not only

passable and maintained county dirt roads, but the coming of the Dixie Highway to Central

Georgia.   As the year progressed, Dublin appeared to be a sure spot on the highway's two route

selections from the trans continental Columbus to Savannah route, the future Highway 80, or the

Savannah to Atlanta route, which was not chosen. 

With its half million acres and 810 square miles of area, the need for new and better

county roads were always on the all-important minds of the voters. With improved roads came

the need for things we take for granted today.  Concrete culverts and bridges were on the need list

of the commissioners, who, in those days, were called "Road Commissioners."  The first

non-river crossing bridge was the steel bridge over Hunger and Hardship on North Franklin

Street.  With new and improved equipment and an abundance of natural soil resources, the

commissioners began to further appease their voters as tax dollars would allow.  

Boasting the fact that Laurens was a "Two-Crop County," the author pointed to the fact

that the number of farms was increasing every year. That figure would peak in 1924, when the

county boasted more than 4000 farms, an all time state record.  Part of the increased number of

farms was attributed to the subdivision of once larger farms and former ante bellum plantations

across the northern portion of the county and the cultivation of the pine and Wiregrass section

along the lower southwestern edge of the county. Prime farm lands brought between 25 and 50

dollars per acre, far below the prices of farms in other southeastern states.

The boastful, status quo  idea that a cotton-corn dominated agricultural economy would

continue to support Laurens Countians soon dissolved into oblivion.  The coming of the boll

weevil and the near destruction of the cotton crop led to a massive crop diversification

agricultural pursuits for the first time since the Civil War.  Before the war,  the plantations across

the northern end of the county were forced to diversify to support all of the needs of the residents

of the county.  

As the cotton economy began to fail, farmers looked to other vegetables, grains and

grasses, such as oats and vetch,  as well as increasing the production of livestock, swine and their

byproducts. 

Dublin, the county seat, was pointed to as the key to the economic development of the

county, which was the center of a developing commercial and industrial area.  The writer saluted

the communities of Dexter, Dudley, Cadwell, Rentz, Tingle, Montrose, Rockledge, Brewton,

Lovett, Minter, Orianna, Catlin, Cedar Grove and Poplar Springs for working together with

Dublin and each other.

By all accounts, this writer was hopelessly optimistic as to the near future of Laurens

County.  With the escalation of World War I and the country's eventual entry into the war in

Europe, agricultural activities began to stabilize.  Once the war ended and the cotton crop failed

to rebound, the economic consequences were staggering.    As the county peaked in  its number

of banks to a mark only behind Fulton and Chatham counties, one bank after another began to

fail.  Before the end of the 1920s, the county's banks dwindled down to two, the Farmers and

Merchants Bank and the Bank of Dudley, which were owned by single families.

The sole purpose of the 1915 article was to show that Laurens County, though ravaged by

the boll weevil, had the power to survive any agricultural crisis.  With an average annual rainfall

of 51 inches over the previous four decades, Laurens farmers were poised to continue their large

yields.

The author pointed to the ten million dollars of farmland encompassing a quarter of a

million acres and 400 square miles, and  fed by the streams of the Oconee and Ocmulgee rivers,

the county was perched on the precipice of greatness.

Two indicators of better time was the formation of the Farmers Supply Company and the

Laurens County Farmers Union.  Cotton production in 1914 rose to nearly 60,000 bales, or

30,000,000 pounds.  Beating that second highest record, set in 1911, would be difficult for

Laurens County's farmers, who had led the state from 1911 to 1913 and finished a close second

in 1914.  

Production plummeted in 1915 by nearly a third in Laurens and in the other leading

counties in the state.  When the bales were counted and estimated, production for the year 1915

amounted to 40,000 bales, although respectable, was regarded as a devastating loss to Laurens

County's farmers.  

The Laurens Herald looked at the 40,000 bale figure and applauded it as a sign of

increased diversification.  On the optimistic side, the first carload of hogs, sponsored by the

Farmers Union, were shipped to Moultrie in hopes of agricultural diversification.  A county wide

soil survey was completed to give farmers a better knowledge of soil conditions across the

county.

In retrospect, not even the invulnerable Four Seasons Department Store, which had been

the leading store in the East Central Georgia area for nearly a decade, could withstand its losses

when it filed bankruptcy.  

Despite drastic changes in cotton crops and prices and the national economic woes,

Laurens County farmers persevered for the next three decades.  As World War II ended, the

county's farmers once again led Laurens back to the top of the list of the most productive farming

counties.  

GROVER C. NASH

Soaring to New Heights

Grover C. Nash could fly a plane with the best of any pilot of his day.  In 1938,  he made history during National Air Mail Week.  This is the story of a poor farm boy from Twiggs County, Georgia who piloted his plane into history as he became the first African American pilot to fly and deliver the U.S. mail.

Grover C.  Nash was born in Dry Branch, Georgia way back on April 4, 1911.   He was seventh child and third son of Joe and Annie Nash.  No one alive seems to remember what his life was like as a child, but history tells us that it had to be tough.

Nash marveled in wonder when he saw planes flying overhead.  Like most boys of his day, Grover dreamed of flying like a bird.  But being black and being in the South, his chances of getting to fly in an airplane were just about as slim as his sprouting wings and flying on his own power.


Grover Nash went North in hopes of attending flight training classes.  The color of his skin prevented him from being accepted. But in 1931, Grover was  accepted into flight school. A graduate of Curtiss-Wright Aeronautical University in Chicago and Moore's Flying School in Dayton, Ohio, Nash had earned a Master Mechanic's certificate within two years.  Flying his own plane, a midwing monoplane he dubbed Little Annie, Grover Nash honed his flying skills under the tutelage of Roscoe Turner in St. Louis.  Turner, a World War I pilot, was a champion racing pilot in the 1930s.  He also studied under John C. Robinson, who was one of the founders of the Challenger Aero Club, one of the first black pilots organizations.

Tuskeegee Institute was supposed to be the destination of Nash's first long distance flight. Flying with him would be Col. Robinson and Cornelious Coffee, two of the nations' most famous pilots. The trio were engaging in a southern tour to Birmingham, Chattanooga, Murfreesboro, as well as stops in St. Louis, Terre Haute and other cities in Illinois.  While they were approaching Decatur, Alabama, Robinson and Coffee had to crash land their two-man plane.  Being the junior members of the group, Coffee and Nash remained in Decatur, while their leader went on to address students at Tuskeegee. Nash's disappointment vanished when he returned the following year to visit the renowned black educational institution.

Nash made headlines in January 1935 when he gave a dazzling exhibition at an air show celebrating the seventy-second anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.  As a lieutenant of the Military Order of the Guards and a member of the Challenger Aero Club, Grover's reputation in Chicago continued to grow.  To help pay the bills, Nash managed the service department for a chain of automobile parking lots in the Chicago area and operated his own flight school for six years.

A well-experienced private pilot, Grover C. Nash was somewhat of an automobilist.  In 1937, Nash set out from his Chicago home to visit a sick relative in Los Angeles.  Driving with little or no pauses, Grover made the 2,448 mile trip in 48 hours for an average of 50.8 miles per hour, a record for any automobile at the time.  It wouldn't be the only time that year that Grover Nash would take a long trip to see a relative.  When Grover left home in 1929, he promised his daddy that one day he would return home  in a plane.  There was much joy that day in Dry Branch when Grover's monoplane came over the tree tops and landed on the red clay soil of home.

The United States Postal Service established National Air Mail Week in 1938.  As a part of the celebration, an experiment was conducted to determine the feasibility of picking up and delivering air mail throughout small cities and large towns throughout the country.

It was early in the afternoon of May 19, 1938.  Excitement was escalating in Mattoon,  Illinois.  It was the first time the city's mail would be flown to its recipients around the state and the country.  As Nash landed his Davis monoplane in Mattoon, he was greeted by the post master, the police chief, city officials and somewhere near one hundred curious onlookers.   Grover was given a hero's welcome, a tour of the city, and dinner at a local caf‚.  Nash stashed about seven hundred more letters inside his plane and headed off to Charleston, only ten minutes away.

Charleston had never had airmail service either.  But, Grover Nash couldn't have dreamed that his reception there would dwarf the welcome he received on his first stop.  An estimated eight thousand people crammed the runway of the city's first airport.  A band played.  The crowd cheered. Nash waved to his adoring admirers.     After waiting out a severe thunderstorm, Nash took off at 5:45 for Rantoul with another two thousand letters.

An astonished Nash later told a reporter for the Chicago Defender that no one seemed to notice his color along the way - especially the  hundreds who pressed him to autograph their letters.  It was, however, the first time that an African American had carried U.S. mail through the air. And, on that day, Nash made the longest flight and carried more letters than any of the 146 pilots, before returning to Chicago, five minutes ahead of his scheduled arrival.

Five months later on Halloween Day, Grover Nash joined hands in marriage with his sweetheart, Miss Lillie Borras.

A group of black pilots in the Chicago area organized as the National Airmen Association of America in an effort to stimulate interest in aviation and understanding of aeronautics.  On August 16, 1939, a petition was filed to incorporate the organization in the state of Illinois.  Naturally, Grover C. Nash was among the founding directors.  The Airmen staged the first national all black air show in United States history earlier that summer.

During World War II, Grover Nash served his country as mechanical instructor at the US Army Air Force Aircraft Mechanical School.  He spent sixteen months as an instructor for the Army Air Force Training Command. In his first ten years of flight, Grover Nash  logged more than 3,000 flight hours in thirty different types of aircraft.     In 1943, Nash was the only black instructor at Keesler Field in Mississippi and Lincoln Air Base in Nebraska.   After the war, Nash was a member of the faculty of Dunbar Vocational High School in Chicago, where he taught before his retirement to Los Angeles.

While visiting his relatives back home in Twiggs County, Grover Nash died on August 10, 1970.  He was buried in the church cemetery of White Springs Baptist Church.  Ten years after his death, Grover Nash was honored by in the exhibit "Black Wings" in the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.