About The Sylvania times. (Sylvania, Ga.) 2022-current | View Entire Issue (April 20, 2022)
thesylvaniatimes.com The Sylvania Times Wednesday, April 20, 2022 - Page 3 Editorial From the Editor’s Desk -Joe Brady The Sylvania Times, Editor I don’t know about y’all, but every time I pull into a gas sta tion I have to do a mental check on what side the gas tank is on. I miss the little arrow that used to be standard in cars, pointing dummies like me to the correct side. So the other day as I pulled into the gas sta tion to fill up, trying desperately to remember which side my gas tank was on I was reminded of a “Lucille Ball” moment that occurred in my family. Now, I know my fellow writer, Carmen has “Lucille” moments, she has shared them with us and I believe most of us have them. We just might not want to admit it. Back in the early ‘90’s Nanny decided it would be best to help her recently divorced son, Kenneth raise his daughter; so we loaded her up and moved her from Millen to Brunswick. Just whether or not Uncle Kenneth had a choice in the matter of Nanny moving in is still up for debate. So, we all converge on Emmalane one spring morning, trucks and vans in tow, ready to get this over with. If anyone says they just love to move they would obviously by lying. Nanny had lived in that trailer behind Granddaddy’s store since 1970 so there was a lot of stuff to pack. With the family doing the moving it didn’t take long to get everything Mary Mons owned, loaded and we started in a caravan towards Brunswick. It was at the gas station in Savannah that the “Lucy” moment took place. My Aunt Judy suddenly blinked her lights behind me, Morse code for “I need to stop” so we diligently pull in to the gas station, waiting patiently for her to get gas. We all sat in our vehicles watching her methodically pull the huge white van beside the tank and climb out to fill up. With a bemused look on her face she realizes the gas tank is not on her side. So what does she do? You guessed it; she pulls around to the other tank. This went on for several minutes, Judy ever so slowly circling the gas tanks like a shark cir cling his food. Finally in desperation she throws the van in park, jumps and screams at the top of her lungs, “how are you supposed to fill this thing up? Put the gas in 5 gallon buckets and pour it in!” That’s all for now, take care! Pastor Bill Kent, Memorial Baptist Church A lot with a little The Stock Market rises and falls. Farmers enjoy bumper crops but also suffer through lean years when they lose money. Sometimes our bank accounts are full and then an emergency drains our last dollar. Generally, we think we are doing well when we have more stuff and many friends, but we read in the Bible about God surprising people over and over again by doing a lot with a little. When thousands of people were hungry after hearing Jesus teach for hours, it looked like they would go home hungry, but Jesus multiplied a small portion into a huge feast for the multitude. "...And they said, we have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people. For there were about five thousand men. Then he said to His disciples, make them sit down in groups of fifty. And they did so and made them all sit down. Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven. He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude," (Luke 9:13-16). During King David's long military service, he learned that God could use a small army to bring victory without many weapons, horses and chariots. When God steps forward, then the largest and most powerful army may be scattered and suffer surprising defeat. Though David built a strong army, he relied on God's power. "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the LORD our God," (Psalm 20:7). When Jesus started Christianity, it began as a small group of twelve Disciples. Though most _ _ . „ mn a of the congregations in the Early Church fit inside small homes, the Gospel message spread ^ ee ‘ 1 P a g e 0 Ogeechee Ramblings Scotty Scott 1 — Poor Robin Landing I’d always heard since I was a very young lad that Poor Robin Landing had been owned by one of my Bazemore Uncles who lost his land due to drinking and gambling, then traded his last slave, named Robin, for a gallon of whiskey. When he polished off that jug of whis key, he threw it back over his shoulder into the Savannah River, and said “well, that’s the last of Poor Robin”, hence the name. Pretty good story, ain’t it? I’m sure that many of you have heard it in vari ous ways since you were a child as well. Unfortunately, certain facts have gotten in the way of that tale. Prior to the American Rev olution (1763 or so). King George granted the Bryan family a tract of land in what is today Screven County stretching from Burton’s Ferry to Poor Robin Landing. Whew! I don’t know how wide that tract was, but that’s a good 14 miles lineally. In other words, a pretty good chunk of property. But I di gress. My point is that Poor Robin was already named prior to 1763, and of course, under the Trustee’s Charter, slavery was forbidden. I’d also like to point out that the Bazemores didn’t come to Screven County from Bertie County, North Carolina until the Land Lotteries beginning in 1803. So, it couldn’t have been a Bazemore or necessar ily s slave, right? I’ve discussed this quite of ten with my good cousin, Donny Mallard, who I con sider to be the premier au thority as regards the Bryan Family, and he pointed out to me that Lemuel Martin Luther Bryan, the Captain of the Black Creek Volunteers in the Civil War, is buried fairly close to Poor Robin Landing at the Bryan Family Cemetery (where Poor Robin Road intersects the Newing ton Highway). Looking at the other end of their hold ings, the Bryans also inter married with the Humphreys and Brannon families, from which so many Screven Countians descend. The Humphreys Family Ceme tery is on Mouth of the Creek Road near the Pfeiffers, and of course, there is Brannon’s Bridge Road near the loca tion of the Battle of Brier Creek. I also remember hearing my Dad talking about “Brannon’s Bluff” on the Savannah River, but I’ve yet to discover exactly where it is. Anybody who has a good idea, I would welcome their input. In closing. I’d like to state that through my many years of doing genealogi cal and historical research that there is usually a grain of truth in those old family “myths”. Unfortunately, they are not remembered exactly as told, and become corrupted, so to speak. Still, I’d like to know more about the Bazemores and their link to Poor Robin Landing. Unearthing Camp Lawton Dr. Ryan McNutt, Ph.D, FSAScot, R.RA. 1 ^ Iron Arteries Letters to the editor of The Sylvania Times are wel comed and encouraged. These are pages of opinion, yours and ours.Letters to the editor voice the opinions of the newspaper’s readers. The Sylvania Times reserves the right to edit any and all portions of a letter. Unsigned letters will not be published. Letters mwust include the signature, address and phone number of the writer to allow our staff to authenticate its origin. Letters should be limited to 400 words and should be typewritten and double-spaced or neatly printed by hand. Deadline for letters to the editor is noon on Wednesday. Email Letters to the Editor to: thesylvaniatimes@gmail.com With the start of the new semester, as a teacher/schol- ar— one of the pillars of Georgia Southern’s approach is a commitment to teaching, often through research, but never research at the exclu sion of education—research time is condensed down to reading. As Historical Archaeology is one of my courses this term, this focus on reading will change as the semester progresses, since lab work on extent collec tions makes up part of the course. Consequently, more information about our finds from the spring and sum mer will be forthcoming as they’re analyzed. But for the last week, stolen moments to read chapters, maps, and ar chives has been my research. And this has been exclusive ly focused on the railroads of the Confederacy. Which is, honestly, some thing of a misnomer. One of the largest issues affecting supply and the movement of troops, goods, and essentials from Virginia to Texas within the Confederacy was a com plete lack of not just stan dardization of equipment— rail gauges, engines, etc—but also a deficiency of thought of railroads as a mechanism for interstate travel and com merce. Each state and rail road company approached their rails from an insular, good of the state and local business mindset. There was little conception of aligning rail lines, sharing lengths of tracks, or even railroad cars. For example, there was a real chance an entire train full of freight would need to stop when it crossed into Alabama from Georgia, and the entire cargo moved to a different set of railroad cars owned by the Alabama Company that owned that length of the railroad, and thus demanded cargo travelled on their own cars. In this context too, was the refusal of railroad company owners to coop erate with the Confederacy with the movement of gov ernment freight, including military supplies, within and between states as a result of the loss of profit. What does this have to do with archaeology, and Camp Lawton, and our railroad depot at Lawton, you may be asking your self. . . . LAWTON continued on page 6 - Sds/gcas C&rcfs - /rt \s/t&tions - I— &tt&r f-f&acf - fn isc>/c?&s - FZ&cei&ts ©siUL -mm? Sylvania Times Printing Services SHADY LANE Tree Services. LLC Tree & Slump Removal - Storm Cleaiip - Pniniig Dustin McMillan Call Today! (912) 682-8166 CAR REPAIR A • 1 AUTO TECH PTi I liPH I III Alkil 1 J lk JVJ-li 'i HI Old Greet Hold KevinJlDn EjtnrJm JOl-lS iihli ¥rlli'i| 47J.787.2723 Iltattta ®ttttrs Proudly covering Screven County’s news, sports, and community events since 2022 thesylyaniatimes.com Sam Eades Publisher Joe Brady Editor Sam Eades Advertising Sales Debbie Heam Layout and Design Sarah Saxon Administration/Legals Burton Kemp Sports Editor Jake Gay Staff Writer Scotty Scott Staff Writer Subscription Rates (Includes tax): 6 Months Delivered In Screven County $ 18.00 1 Year In Screven County $30.00 1 Year Online Only $20.00 2 Years In Screven County $55.00 1 Year Outside of County $40.00 1 Year Outside of Georgia $45.00 The Sylvania Times is published weekly by The Sylvania Times 117 N. Main • Sylvania, Ga. 30467 Phone: (912) 451-NEWS (6397)
