WHY THE GERMANS NEVER TOOK RHINE
There is a story, said to be true, about an Army officer traveling from Jacksonville, Florida to Macon, Georgia in the late afternoon of a day in the middle years of World War II. Parts of it I have to explain to those of you who have not lived in or near Dodge County for a long time. For those who have, you will know exactly what I am talking about.
It was getting dark and the officer decided it would be a good idea to stop in Hawkinsville to get something to eat, fearing that there would no place open by the time he got to his destination in Macon. So, he pulled in at a roadside eating joint. Beside the front door were two older gentlemen sitting on a bench. As he approached the men, the officer saw one of them reading a newspaper with a big headline on the front page. The man read out loud, "Germans take Milan." Here's the explaining part. The man pronounced the word "Mi-lun," a reference to a small town in southeastern Dodge County, once known far and wide for its toughness and lawlessness, instead of the Italian city, "Mi-lon." The other old gentleman quickly responded, "Yeah, but they'll never take Rhine!" (A town in southwestern Dodge County, a German sounding place also once known as far and as wide for its toughness and lawlessness.)
Rhine, Georgia was incorporated as a town on September 1, 1890, one hundred and twenty years ago tomorrow. Named for a large river in western Germany, the community of Rhine long held a reputation for being a raucous place in southern Central Georgia. Listening to these stories will make you believe, but if you look closely enough, you'll find that these kinds of bad boy behavior happened in many places across the state and our country.
John D. McRanie and Henry Lancaster didn't like each other. They met first in the court room. Then they stepped outside into the streets of Rhine to settle their differences. Both men grabbed each other with their left hands, reached in their pockets, grabbed their pistols, and began firing with their right hands. Lancaster struck McRanie five times. Lancaster somehow managed to come out of the fracas with a harmless glancing blow to his scalp. McRanie went to his grave in the summer of 1903.
Somehow money always seemed to figure into the killings in Rhine. In the days before January 27, 1905, temperatures had fallen to the coldest levels in years, but the tempers of several Rhine residents were as hot as ever. It was reported that Bailiff W.P. Livingston, W.B. Bryant, and W.T. Bryant attacked and severely beat a son of M.A. Burnham, all over a dispute regarding a tract of land. The following day, friends and family of the victim gathered at the assembly area to prepare for an attack on the scoundrels. Shots rang out. Mrs. Ray, a sister of one of the Bryants, rushed to the scene of the battle, only to be struck by an errant shot. Bailiff Livingston was killed. In addition to Mrs. Ray, M.A. Burnham was injured, along with both Bryants and Tom Coffee.
H.G. Everett and Manly Peacock hated each other much worse than McRanie and Lancaster. Peacock had alienated the affections of Everett's wife. Not taking too kindly to Everett's advances, Peacock's response to the incident erupted from a scuffle to all out carnage. Everett filed a damage suit in the amount of $20,000.00. When Peacock traveled to Rhine to settle the matter, the melee began. As the men were sitting on the steps of a store in the cool afternoon of November 7, 1905, Everett told Peacock he had written letters to his wife. Peacock rose to his feet and screamed, "you lie!" Peacock drew his gun and fired a blast into Everett's side. As he fell, Everett returned a single shot, striking Peacock in his head just above his ear. Peacock died an hour later. At first, doctors feared that both men would die of their wounds, but miraculously Everett, the non-aggressor, survived.
Town Marshal Tom Burnham was making his rounds on New Years Eve 1913. Burnham had tried to put a lid on the illegal liquor selling activities of the ubiquitous "blind tigers" in the town, which had the potential of elevating revelry into chaos. Walking with Burnham, who had himself been acquitted of a murder at Bowen's Mill, was M.A. Davenport. Marshal Burnham was cut down and murdered by a volley of bullets which broke his thigh in two places. Davenport was hit by shrapnel which had passed through Burnham's body. Speculators believed that the dead lawman was killed by spirit sellers or angry relatives of the victim at Bowen's Mill.
Just five years later, in the days before Christmas, another Tom Burnham met death on the streets of Rhine. Thomas W. Burnham, a restaurant owner, was gunned down by 19-year-old James Cullen Dowdy. The two got into a scrap when Burnham demanded payment for some syrup he sold to Dowdy. Dowdy exclaimed, "this syrup won't make Kennesaw liquor!" The men exchanged curses until Dowdy picked up his walking stick and whopped Burnham up side his head. Bystanders broke up the fight, if only for a little while.
Dowdy was outside the barber shop when Burnham walked up. "I'll kill him," the ego hurting youngster screamed! Burnham, urging a truce to discuss the matter, turned to go inside the barber shop. Then, Dowdy unloaded his revolver into his antagonist's abdomen, killing him dead on the spot.
New Year's hootch was again the catalyst for a near fatal fight in the early days of 1922. Cleve Studstill, a former town marshal, was working in his butcher's shop late on a Saturday afternoon. A ferocious hail of shots rang out from the direction of Mr. Stuckel's store across the way. As Studstill and his 15-year-old son ran out to see the nature of the commotion, they were ambushed by unknown assailants. After the firing of more than fifty shots, both Studstills, William Harrold, Dan Smith, George Smith, and six or seven others were lying wounded in the streets. Cleve Studstill, the most severely wounded combatant, was taken to a Dublin hospital for treatment.
It seems that it was always open season on the marshals of Rhine. J.J. Lancaster had only been on duty for a few weeks in February 1923, when an unknown assailant hiding under a small bridge attempted to assassinate him right on the town's main street. No motive was found for the attack. Authorities later arrested B.W. Smith and his sons, Joe and J.B., for the attempt to murder the marshal.
The Dowdys were back in the news in November 1923, when Mrs. Oscar Kirkland shot H.A. Dowdy after he allegedly made some unflattering remarks about her. Mrs. Kirkland, believing the maxim that some men need killing, emptied a load of buckshot into her nemesis, breaking one of his legs.
The Germans had heard these and many more reports about the residents of the namesake of their homeland. And, they completely abandoned all plans to invade the lower Ocmulgee valley. But, if the Germans, or any other invading army, ever decide to attack us, I am digging my foxhole in downtown Rhine, where it is said, "all the good people have killed off all the bad people."
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
HOME OF MELANCTON, THIGPEN, BLACKVILLE, GEORGIA
This home is located on Georgia Highway 86, about a mile east of the point where Johnson, Laurens, Treutlen, and Emanuel Counties join. It was built as early as the early 1800s by Melancton Thigpen, one of the earliest settlers of the region.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
WRIGHTSVILLE, JOHNSON COUNTY
AT THE DAWN OF THE 20TH CENTURY
When the 20th Century dawned a century ago, Johnson County had reached its pinnacle. The population of the east-central Georgia county, named for antebellum Georgia governor, Herschel V. Johnson, had ballooned to nearly eleven and one-half thousand folks, nearly doubling the 1890 population of 6,129. Taxable property doubled in the five-year period centered around 1900. The immense growth of the county was due mainly to the impact of three railroads, the Brewton and Pineora, the Wadley and Mt. Vernon, and the Wrightsville and Tennille, which was presided over by Alexander F. Daley, a Wrightsville attorney.
Agriculture was the predominant industry in Johnson County. Nearly every acre of land which could be cultivated or built upon was improved and each such acre was valued in the amount of $2.66. Unimproved lands, which totaled fifty five-hundred acres out of one hundred and eighty thousand acres in the county, were valued at $1.21 per acre. The county's farmers produced slightly more than four million pounds or eighty three-hundred bales of cotton during the year 1900. Sheep herding was still a viable agribusiness. The forty-two hundred wooly animals ran wild over the grasslands of the county, much to the chagrin of the cattle farmers who owned an equal number of cows. Twenty four-thousand chickens produced a reported thirty-five thousand dozen eggs, which were delicious when served with the meat of seventy seven-hundred pigs and hogs. As for the equine animals, there were five hundred ninety three horses, five hundred four mules, and only three donkeys. Another large agribusiness was the manufacture of forest products. Shingles, rosin, and turpentine were the taken from the forests, which were estimated to be at fifty percent of their original state.
In the year 1900, electronic media was non-existent. Communications were made via the railroads and the postal system. While today there are only a few post offices, a dozen or so post offices were established in the county. The largest of these were Wrightsville, Kite, and Adrian, which continue to function today. Among the others, most of which were located along the railroads were Tom, Ethel, Hodo, Riner, Meeks, and Odomville along the Wadley & Mt. Vernon Railroad; Scott on the Brewton & Pineora Railroad; and Donovan and Spann/Meadows on the Wrightsville & Tennille Railroad. Regnant was located northeast of Scott, and Kittrell was situated in the northwest corner of the county on the Old River Road. Other post offices included Garnto, Ennis, Fortune, Rosa, and Shortpond.
Businesses were booming in Wrightsville at the turn of the 20th Century. The Bank of Wrightsville's assets were approaching thirty thousand dollars. The bank's president, T.J. Arline, resigned to devote more time to his business interests. These interests included the purchase of W.H. Harrison's gin and warehouse with his partners, J.M. Mason, J.E. Smith, Jr., S.A. Corker, and Frank G. Corker, all of whom formed the Wrightsville Gin Company. Dr. Jeremiah W. Brinson, Sr. purchased the Beehive Grocery building on the northwest corner of Marcus and Elm Streets where he built his drug store, which served the community for six decades. There appears to have been three drug stores. Along with Brinson's, there were the City Drug Company and J.W. Flanders' Drug Store. Mason and Arline moved their general merchandise store into a new building adjoining the Brinson building. There were two newspapers in town, "The Headlight" published by J.M. Huff and "The Record," published by A.B. Pierce. Unfortunately, all of the issues of these and other papers have not survived. The Lovett Brothers, Richard T., Ervin A., and William H. had their own businesses. The former two were in the mercantile business, while the latter was engaged in the insurance business with O.L. Little.
Among the other merchants in the town of Wrightsville were H.C. Christian, barber; A.F. Daley, lawyer; S.L. Linder, barber; P. Weinberg, jeweler; J.L. Kent, lawyer; E.A. Outlaw, barber; H. Connellee, furniture; Rouss Racket Store, general merchandise; J.A. Cobb's City Market Grocery; J.W.A. Crawford, wagons and buggies; Stewart and Dale Dry Goods, Cook and Morrell Grocery, Hayes Bros. Grocery; Farmers and Planters Hotel, Kennedy House, Lee Barnes Gin; Thompkins and Johnson Gin; and Walker and Simpson Warehouse.
Kite businesses included A.S. Sealey and M.A. Whitaker's Blacksmith shops; W.W. Pearce, carpenter; I.I. Smith, druggist; G.M. Johnson, J.M. Johnson, W.N. Kight & Son, Neal & Wheeler, and L.A. Perkins General Merchandise stores; Mrs. C.T. Smith's hotel; L. B. Lightfoot, Lawyer; C.T. Smith, Jr.'s livery; S.M. Norris and I.I. Smith's doctor's offices. The town of Rosa had seven general merchandise stores owned by T.F. Brantley, T.C. Bray, G.A. Moye, G.T. Prescott, A.L. Pridgen, and J.E. Smith, along with five cotton gins operated by T.F. Brantley, T.C. Bray, E.V. Jenkins, G.A. Moye, and G.H. Tarbutton. Businesses in the town of Scott included C.T. Thigpen, blacksmith; J.G. Carter's cotton gin; G.W. Pullen's Gen. Merchandise; and J.G. Carter, physician. Spann was home to the blacksmith shop of E.A. Hall, C.F. Boatright's carpentry business, the cotton gins of G.W. Bush and G.W. Wynn, the general merchandise stores of Edmondson & Stewart, G.W. Thomas' Lovett Academy, and the Spann Hotel. Other Johnson County hotels included Dora Williams' hotel in Arrieville and the Wallace House in Riner. Regnant, which was located northeast of Scott on the Adrian/Wrightsville Road, was improved with the blacksmith's shops of John Calley and G.W. Spring, John D. Smith and Lott Foskey's carpentry businesses, E.J. Sumner's and J.E. Welch's cotton gins, G.W. Pullen's Store, W.H. Smith's grist and saw mills, and J.G. Carter's saw mill.
J.A. Dent of Arrieville, L.D. Tison of Meeks, S.T. Ellis of Riner, and A.I. Haynes and Henry Hodges of Rosa were among the other turn of the century physicians of Johnson County. See the December 14th, 1999 issue of the Courier Herald for the businesses of Adrian, which lies partly in Johnson County.
Wrightsville was the home to Nannie Lou Warthen Institute, a college which was located on South Marcus Street and was supported by the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Professor Homer C. Woodard was elected in 1900 to serve as President. He was assisted by Prof. J.A. Mershon and Mrs. J.L. Rozar. Ethel Fincher taught music in the school, which later became Warthen College. The school began in a building which served as the courthouse prior to the construction of the new courthouse in 1895, moved to the site of the old elementary school site, where it burned in the mid 1930s.
The biggest event of the year, besides the political elections and events, was the first annual Chautauqua which lasted from June 3rd to June 8th. The headline speaker was Gen. John B. Gordon, a former Georgia governor, United States Senator, and Major General of the Army of Northern Virginia. General Gordon, as he was always called by those who idolized him, spoke on "The Last Days of the Confederacy," a topic which he was intimately familiar with as he was commander of one-half of Lee's dwindling infantrymen at Appomattox. The remainder of the five-day session was filled with musical performances and lectures, which took place in the courthouse and the Chautauqua Hall.
Among the other news-making events in 1900 was the return and burial of the body of Edward Burnett. Burnett, a young Wrightsville man, was among the first American soldiers to die in the Spanish American War during the invasion of Cuba, where he contracted a fatal case of fever. Even the killing of animals made the news. William Snell picked up a sweet potato and threw it, instantly killing a large hawk on the Ransom Hall Place. George Spivey, of Regnant, killed an eagle with a five-foot wing span. One of the big events of the year was the coming of the Cooper and Company Railroad Circus on November 20th.
Among those holding political office in the year 1900 were J.E. Page, Judge of the Court of Ordinary; J.W. Rowland, Sheriff; W.W. Anthony, Clerk of the Superior Court; Joe H. Rowland, County School Superintendent; R.A. Bradshaw, Tax Receiver; Beverly D. Evans, Judge of Superior Court; S.J. Moye, Tax Collector; C.T. Claxton, County Treasurer; E.A. Douglas, Surveyor; and George Schwalls, Coroner. Turn of the century Justices of the Peace included: Allen Meeks, J.T. Snell, B.B. Blount, A.S. Mayo, L. Foskey, W.C. Wiggins, S.P. Price, and E.J. Sumner.
WASHINGTON COUNTY COURTHOUSE, SANDERSVILLE, GA.
Washington County Courthouse
Sandersville, Georgia
Circa 1910
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
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