MISCELEANEA FROM THE LAND OF THE 'HOOPEE

RUNNING THE GREAT AMERICAN RACE - Ben Lane, of Wrightsville, Georgia,

driving a 1966 Chevrolet, placed 26th in the 1967 Daytona 500.  Lane, whose prize winnings totaled

$1120.00,  finished 141 of the 200 lap race, just two spots behind David Pearson and ahead of racing

greats Buddy Baker, LeRoy Yarborough, A.J. Foyt, Cale Yarborough and Bobby Allison. The race

was dominated by Mario Andretti and Fred Lorenzen. Greensboro Record, February 27, 1967, p.

21.

LIGHTS OUT! WATER TOO! - In the early months of October of 1917, the lights went

out in Wrightsville. The broken-down power house was unrepairable.   The town’s citizens came

together in a mass meeting to attempt to quickly resolve the problems, bu to no avail.  J.H. Harrison,

the powerhouse superintendent, set out to complete rebuild the power plant.   Electrical service was

sporadically restored, but a severe winter storm and vandals kept the lights out until mid-February

of 1918.  And to make matters worse, there was a shortage of water and when water was plentiful,

the lack of electricity made it nearly impossible to pump it to homes and businesses.  Macon

Telegraph, Oct. 12, 1917, Feb. 4, 1918.   

HOME MAIL DELIVERY - In today’s world when the practice of U.S. postmen delivering

mail to the mailbox on your front door beginning to slowly disappear, the family of W.E. Parker, of

Wrightsville, Georgia would have preferred that the mail man leave their mail in the box out by the

street.  Early in the predawn hours of January 16, 1960, mail truck driver Benjamin Hull fell asleep

at the wheel, left the roadway some 165 yards from the Parker home and made a bee line through

the Parker’s storehouse, striking the wall of their home and landing in the kitchen.  Miraculously the

family wasn’t preparing an early breakfast and no one was injured, except the house which suffered

approximately $1000.00 in damages.  Augusta Chronicle, Jan. 20, 1960, p. 3.

THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED.  Two cars were approaching each other on Highway 319

near Wrightsville, when the car occupied by Herbert and R.W. Jackson of Bartow veered into

another car which was headed from New York to Marianna, Florida and  driven by Lucille

Colosimo.  Colosimo’s husband Philip and Salvatore Carbone along with Lucille were killed.  Two

other passengers, N.J. Zelman and Jack Shomer,  were injured.  What was remarkable was that

Lucille, Philip and Salvatore were the lead vocalist, saxophonist and trombonist of Ray Eberle’s

band.   Eberle, a main member of Glenn Miller’s band, led his own band after Miller’s untimely

death in World War II.  The Bridgeport Post, January 20, 1958.

CELEBRATED SURVIVOR - In the early days of February 1944, a United States Army

Air Force plane’s crew parachuted to safety after the pilot lost control of the plane over Wrightsville. 

The plane crash and crew’s survival was somewhat unnewsworthy except one of the crew, Lt.

William Arnold, was the son of  Edward Arnold.  The senior Arnold was a leading Hollywood actor

for four decades and a President of the Screen Actor’s Guild.  Omaha World Herald, February

5, 1944.

LAST ONES OUT - The beginning of the end of the Vietnam War began in March1973. 

Among the last troops to leave was Claude Green, of Swainsboro, Ga.  As one of the last 1100

combat troops to return home to the states, Specialist Four Green remarked, “The people of Nam

were good.  I am just glad to be out of it.”  Boston Herald, March 30, 1973.

I LIKE IKE - Ray Brinson, a 36-year-old resident of Swainsboro, was proud of his

community and proud of one of its greatest resources, the pine tree.  He was determined to take of

pine seedling and deliver it to the President of the United States, even he had to deliver it on foot. 

So when President Eisenhower spent his Christmas vacation at Augusta National Golf Club, Ray

Brinson decided he would walk the 63-mile trek and hand deliver it to Eisenhower himself.   Brinson

set out walking north from U.S. Highway 1 in Swainsboro at noon three days after Christmas and

arrived late the next day.  After a much needed rest, Brinson hoped to hand deliver the prize seedling,

but was met by the President’s aides, who presented to Cliff Roberts, the Club Chairman, who

instructed the groundskeepers to plant it on the club house grounds.  Omaha World Herald,

December 31, 1953. 

VOTE FOR DURDEN - To some, election ballots can be confusing.  To the voters of

Emanuel County in the autumn of 1957, the ballot was more confusing than usual.  The incumbent

Judge of the Court of Ordinary, known today as the Probate Court, had been appointed to the

position.  Judge Durden chose not to seek election for a full term causing a special election to fill the

vacancy.  Running for the post were Kelmer Durden and Geroude Durden.  When the ballots were

counted, Kelmer Durden was declared the winner by 181 votes.   Dallas Morning News, December

7, 1967.

POSTMASTER PRESIDENT - William C. Layton, Swainsboro’s postmaster, was chosen

to lead the National League of Postmasters at their organization’s convention in the summer of 1960.

Washington Evening Star, August 7, 1960.

AND THE WINNER OF IS - The people of Swainsboro were very proud of their

community’s title as the “Turpentine Capital of the World.”  So proud, that they sponsored a farm

queen contest.  They even were able to secure Georgia governor Marvin Griffin to travel to

Swainsboro to announce the winner.  After the elimination rounds, only Janice Ridgdill and Sarah

Ellen Phillips remained.  Ridgdill, described by a UP writer as pert and pretty, was the unanimous

choice of the three judges.  But, when Governor Griffin announced that Sarah Ellen Phillips, “a whiz

in 4-H Club activities,” as the winner, the judges were shocked.    When the opinions of the judges

were made public, protests within the community  abounded, even among the community’s most soft

spoken leaders.  Ridgdill, an Oak Park junior,  had her winning name removed from the judge’s

envelope  during a secret meeting of the Farm Bureau’s directors, reportedly because Sarah Ellen

was more talented when it came to 4-H club activities.  She accepted the decision with charm and

grace, bowing out when the controversy began to expand.   Later in the year, Janice proved her

worthiness in 4-H activities by capturing the award for the most progress in the club during the year

and a state award for her entomology project.    Miss Phillips, the official winner and a  senior from

Graymont, felt sorry for Ridgdill but vowed to take the crown and carry on her assigned duties. 

Augusta Chronicle, May 8, 1955, Dec. 26, 1955.  

THE LEADERS’ LEADER - The Jaycees, United States Junior Chamber of Commerce

make it their mission to train through community service to become leaders of their community.  The

state leaders of this national organization came together in Miami, Florida in 1951 to elect their

national president.  The delegates chose Lee Price, a Swainsboro, Ga. attorney and Coca-Cola

executive.  During World War II, Price worked for the OSS in Norway in espionage work and

surpvervised European immigrants coming to the United States after the war.    Price joined Coca

Cola in 1951.  He was named Vice President of Personnel in 1954 and Vice President of Public

Relations in 1960.  Price tragically died in 1962 from a heart attack at the age of 44 years.

Greensboro Daily News, June 9, 1951, Augusta Chronicle, February 8, 1962.  

STILLMORE, GEORGIA

Why do they call it Stillmore?  Was it because turpentine baron and town founder George Brinson thought that his prolific still would run forevermore?  Or was it because when you got there, you had still more to go?  Or was it the simply a sarcastic response to the office of the Postmaster General when the list of names for a new town were already taken?  Whether you believe one or more of these legends, believe that this Emanuel County town with a most unusual name was once one of the most bustling railroad towns in East Central Georgia.  This is the story of the early years of Stillmore, Georgia.

In the mid 1880s timber and turpentine man George Brinson and his cousin B.L. Brinson constructed a turpentine mill in the middle of nowhere in a piney forest covering rich and fertile sand.  The Brinson kinsmen expanded their operation to include a large saw mill.  In order to more economically get his sawed timber to markets in Swainsboro and Savannah,   George Brinson knew that he needed a railroad.  Without the aid of profit seeking and demanding Northern capitalists, Brinson began construction of a railroad known as the Brunswick, Athens and Northwestern Railroad.

 Brinson’s enterprises brought in employees by the droves.  With such a large population concentrated in a small place someone thought why not incorporate the new town and allow the residents to govern themselves.  On November 13, 1889, the town of Stillmore was officially created by the Georgia legislature.

 Following a devastating fire which destroyed his mill, Brinson began construction on a thirty-four-mile railroad from Swainsboro to Collins, a depot town on the Georgia-Alabama Railroad.   In 1891, when railroads began to rapidly spread across the state, work was commenced on the Atlantic Shortline, a railroad designed to run from Macon, through Laurens County and eastward to Savannah.


 The bold venture died for lack of financial support.  The owners of the Brewton and Pineora  Railroad laid their tracks along the mostly intact grading and gave Stillmore it second rail line and a fairly direct route to Savannah at the end of the 19th Century making Stillmore a junction town.  More fortune seekers moved in search of work and success.

 Stillmore remained virtually stagnant until 1892 when the town was laid out into lots. By 1900, Stillmore was home to a college, four churches, two lodges, a newspaper, a public library and a large number of mercantile establishments.  

 But by far, Stillmore owed it’s entire existence to the railroads and the opportunities they brought.  The Rogers and Summit railroad became the Millen and Southwestern, which eventually became part of the Georgia-Florida Railroad.  The Brunswick, Athens and Northwestern later became known as the Stillmore Air Line and eventually a branch of the Wadley-Southern Railroad.  The Central Railroad of Georgia, the state’s largest rail company, took control of the Brewton and Pineora.  These three railroads, all intersecting  in the town of Stillmore, provided the spark which catapulted Stillmore into a position as the leading city in Emanuel County.  At least that’s what they said outside the county seat of Swainsboro.

  

Stillmore’s greatest pride outside of its railroads and Mr. Brinson’s mills was the Stillmore Military College.  The college was under the leadership of Professor Y.E. Bargeron,  who also worked as a city official, editor of the town newspaper (The Budget,) and finally as a lawyer.  Mrs. Bargeron taught courses too.   Capt. M.W. Bargeron took over the duties of drill master when the military program was added to the curriculum.  Florence Moore, a sweet lady and a graduate of an outstanding music conservatory,  taught music to both boys and girls.  With the wave of patriotism which swept across America during the conflicts with the Spanish, the ranks of the military students swelled to more than seventy young men.  George Brinson donated the funds to provide nearly three dozen Springfield rifles to the school.  School officials and other townsfolk saw to it that every student soon had a real rifle to train with.  Crowds often gathered in the late afternoon to watch the students demonstrate their military skills on the lawn of the college.  Adult males also wanted in on the action and patriotism.  Joseph Phillips, along with M.W. Bargeron and Dr. R.Y. Yeomans, led the formation of the Stillmore Guards, which trained in case their services were needed across the state or against the nation’s enemies.   In addition to military and music courses, students studied bookkeeping, pedagogy, chemistry, literature, oratory.     

 A fine public library, free to the town residents, was affiliated with the college. Capt. Joseph Phillips, the auditor of the Stillmore Air Line, kept the library filled with the latest new books and periodicals to educate and entertain the students, townspeople and even visitors who walked over from the hotels.

When visitors came to town, they roomed in relative luxury.  Mr. and Mrs. Nat Hughes ran the three story Victorian hotel where people from all over gather from as far away as fifty miles to enjoy the food and fellowship.  If the Canoochee was full, then you could spend the night and get a good meal in the Brown House or the Edenfield House.  

Some of the earliest merchants and businessmen of Stillmore included George Brinson, attorneys Frank R. Durden, Y.E. Bargeron, merchants John R. Hargrove, J.A. Woodward, John H. Edenfield, Sallie Kennedy, E.A. Miller, J.F. Tanner, Wyatt and Frierson, Stillmore Mercantile Co., W.B. Heath,  E. H. Heath, Bessie Nichols, J.L. Martin, J.M. Duberry, Canoochee Pharmacy and many others .  The professional men included attorneys Frank R. Durden,  Dr. L.P. Lane, Dr. J.M. Emmitt and Dr. S.E. Brinson.  Dr. J.R. pulled teeth when necessary.   There were at least two banks in town, the Bank of Stillmore and the Planter’s Bank.

In 1913, a movement began to create a new county of Candler with Metter as the county seat.  The people of southeastern Emanuel County wanted to be a part of it.  They wanted their own county with Stillmore as its capital.  Stillmorians hoped that portions of Emanuel, Tattnall and Bulloch counties could be joined with Stillmore in the center.  They proposed to honor one of the Confederacy’s greatest heroes by naming their county “Stonewall Jackson County.”

 The failure to become a county seat, coupled with the loss of the cotton crop during the second decade of the 20th Century, led to the end of Stillmore’s prosperity.  But don’t call the coroner yet.  Stillmore is still there.  The trains don’t come like they used to.  The college is now in Swainsboro along with the all of the county’s motels.  But the fine folks are still  there and will still be there as long as there is a Stillmore.