About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 12, 2022)
4B I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com Wednesday, January 12,2022 The truth behind Oscarville, a once prosperous Black community now covered by Lake Lanier Photo submitted to DCN Oscarville was once a thriving Black community, today it lies beneath Lake Lanier. By Sabrina Kerns DCN Regional Staff Many living in North Georgia have heard the tales of what lies beneath Lake Sidney Lanier. From graves buried by the water to alleged super natural sightings near Browns Bridge, rumors surrounding Lanier con tinue to be shared not just across Georgia but across the country, garnering attention toward what some call Georgia’s most haunted lake. Some of those stories shared highlight Oscarville, a rural majori ty Black community that once stood in northeastern Forsyth near the border of Hall County on a portion of the land later used to build the lake. Though Oscarville has become a source of leg end, what follows is the community’s tragic real- life story as recorded in historical records and other sources. 'Strong Black community' Many remember Oscarville simply as a rural area that was later taken up as land to make room for Lake Lanier. But many years before that time, it was a bushing Black com munity. Just before 1912, there were nearly 1,100 Black residents in Forsyth County — with 58 of those residents being landown ers, mostly in Oscarville. According to the Digital Library of Georgia, 109 Black residents paid the farm tax, meaning they rented or owned farms. Other Black residents worked in Cumming as craftsmen or other labor ers. There seemed to be a feeling of community in the town, which quickly became known for their churches. Pastors such as Grant Smith and Levi Greenlee Jr., were “spiritu al leaders and outspoken advocates for Black resi dents,” according to the New Georgia Encyclopedia. Not only did they help to protect the community, but they worked to bring Black residents together. Surviving records from Greenlee’s church show they organized picnics for churchgoers and collected tithes from many in the community, including some White residents in Cumming. A local newspaper archived by the Georgia Newspaper Project showed that Oscarville was a “strong Black community” where many children also attended local schools. A 1908 Georgia schools cen sus shows that 316 chil dren of color were enrolled in school in the county. But at the time, some White residents in Forsyth saw this community as a sort of threat. One White subscriber wrote a letter to the local paper, expressing a fear that the children attending school might eventually be able to pass the state’s lit eracy tests for voting that were created to keep Black residents away from the polls. And by the end of 1912, two incidents in the county led to the complete aban donment and destruction of what was a successful Black community. Racial cleansing In September of that year, two alleged assaults against White women were reported in the county. The first alleged assault took place on Sept. 5, when a woman reported that two Black men had assaulted her in Cumming. By Sept. 7, Sheriff William Reid had arrested the two men and four “accomplices,” according to the Digital Library of Georgia. Just days later, the body of 18-year-old Sleety Mae Crow, a White resident, was found in the woods just east of Cumming. Several Black residents were named as suspects for the alleged rape and mur der, including Ernest Knox and Robert Edwards. In an effort to provide safety, Knox was trans ferred to a jail in Atlanta while the remaining sus pects stayed at the jail in Cumming. Despite Knox being transferred, a mob of angry White residents gathered outside of the jail that night. The mob seized Edwards, a 24-year-old farmhand, from the jail, beating him to death before he was hanged from a telephone pole in the town square. This instance started a wave of violence directed toward the Black commu nity in Forsyth County. Mobs came through Oscarville, threatening res idents and firing guns into homes. “Night riders,” White residents who came through the town at night on horseback, also burned down homes and threw explosives into nearby buildings, according to archived reporting by the Gainesville News and Dahlonega Nugget. The violence continued until nearly all of the coun ty’s Black population was forced to flee. According to “Blood at the Root: A Racial Cleansing in America,” a book written by Patrick Phillips and published in 2016, the county’s Black residents fled in all direc tions, but the majority made their way to Hall County. Oscarville was aban doned, the churches and pillars of their community burnt to the ground. The residents who used to live there were forced to start over, securing jobs and opening businesses where they could in Gainesville. And those who owned land in Oscarville no lon ger felt safe coming back to claim what was theirs. What lies beneath Lake Lanier Moving forward nearly 40 years, the land that once made up Oscarville in Forsyth County was still mostly abandoned as the Black population in the county remained low. Some say when it came to building Lake Lanier in the 1950s, the area was specifically chosen to cover up the town to silent ly remove the history from the area. Robert David Coughlin, the author of “Storybook Site: The Early History and Construction of Buford Dam” and a former park ranger on the lake, said the construction of Buford was originally planned in Roswell. It was later moved to Forsyth County because the area was more rural at the time. Through the process of preparing for Lake Lanier, the U.S. government acquired the rights to more than 56,000 acres of land in Forsyth, Hall and Dawson counties to make room for the 38,000-acre lake and more than 700 miles of shoreline. This included several small towns, most of which consisted of farm land. And the acquisition of much of the land did not go smoothly. Coughlin said many families in North Georgia held their land close to their heart as it had been passed down from generation to genera tion. Some refused to leave their land despite generous payments offered by the government, and at least one resident had to be physically removed by force. These removals did not seem to be targeted toward Black landowners at the time. Records suggest that Black residents did, how ever, lose the land they once owned in Oscarville after they were driven out of the county after 1912. According to Elliot Jaspin, a historian and jour nalist, only about 24 of the nearly 40 Black landowners in Forsyth County at the time were able to sell their land. The other properties have no record of sale, and some believe the aban doned land was simply taken by White residents. Today, Lake Lanier pro vides water to the metro Atlanta area and draws more than 10 million visi tors to its shores each year. Most of that shoreline is in Hall County, though it also borders Dawson, Forsyth and Gwinnett counties. It is Georgia’s most popular lake and also sees several drownings in a typical year, earning it a reputation for being dangerous and deadly. This article was published in The Times and compiled from information originally published in the Forsyth County News, sister publi cations of DCN. Church bells that no longer ring RONDARICH Columnist Of all the things that have faded away and become no more than faint memories, the one I miss the most, are church bells. It was about 25 years ago that church bells began to fall silent. I don’t know what happened. Perhaps the bells fell in disrepair and were too expensive to repair or replace. Perhaps the official bell ringer retired and no one stepped up to take over. Perhaps someone forgot to ring them one Sunday so it was easier to forget the next Sunday. In the tiny, white clapboard church in which I grew up, there were many things we didn’t have. There was no indoor plumbing so a little outhouse set out in the woods. There was no air condi tioning. During the hot summer services, the windows were lifted and hand fans, advertising a local funeral home, were passed through the pews. There was no fellowship hall to gather for a casserole or home made cake. There was, instead, a long concrete table built upon cement blocks and shaded by mas sive oak and maple trees. Our annual homecoming - a time when country churches cele brate its membership - was the second Sunday in October. I shall always remember the beauty of those October Sundays when the hardwood trees of the Appalachian foothills had been kissed by Autumn’s frost that turned their leaves to brilliant shades of reds, oranges, and yellows. From the church’s perch upon a steep hill, we could see only God’s beautiful palate everywhere we looked. There, on that concrete table, the women of the church laid out a remarkable spread of home cooked food. Mama was known far and near for her homemade chicken and dumplings. She cooked several gallons that were made from fresh chickens and then filled with her hand-stirred biscuit dough. People lined up to get her dumplings first. Within minutes, the pots were scraped clean. There wasn’t much heat in that littie church. On each side of the altar set propane fueled heaters. These were a step-up from the wood burning pot belly stove that had warmed the sanctuary previ ously. Still, when the temperatures dipped low on a Winter’s day and the wind wrapped the little struc ture in its mighty grasp, it was chilling until halfway through Sunday School. It often seemed colder inside than out. Coming down the aisle, our warm breath steamed the air, then we huddled around the heaters, rubbing our hands together and shivering. In the early years, the parking lot was gravel with many a pothole and red clay glistening through the rocks. Back then, there were no Sunday School rooms so the church was divided into children and adults. The grownups had Sunday School teaching in the choir loft and the children gath ered on the last two benches in the back. Our teacher would sit on a pew in front of us and awkwardly turn to teach our lesson. In truth, we had much less than we had. But we had a church bell. Two gray ropes to ring it hung down at the left of the front door. I was around seven when I received the privilege of becoming the bell ringer. “Littie ‘un,” Daddy would say. “It’s time to start. Go ring the bell.” The bell was so heavy that it took all my small might to pull the first rope. As the heavy bell began its initial chime, the rope I was clinging to lifted me off the ground. I wrestled hard to bring it down again. After I had been air lifted two or three times, the bell swung back and forth on its own. It was the most glorious of sounds. Churches spend time and money on mission fields or having mem bers knock on doors and invite people to worship. I purpose this: A return to church bells to remind folks of the assembling together of God’s peo ple. What a beautiful sound. Florida Rich is the best-selling author of What Southern Women Know (That Every Woman Should). Visit www.rondarich.com to sign up for her free weekly newsletter Warm chowder for cold nights ADLEN ROBINSON Columnist As I write this, it is in the 20’s outside. The wind is blowing, making it feel even colder! My long-time readers know how much I hate the cold weather, and for the next three months, all I do is pine for spring. That being said, there is never a better time for chowder than when it is cold outside. Here are some of my favorite chowders that are sure to warm you up on a chilly night. They are also great the next day for lunch! I grew up eating lots of canned New England clam chowder. It wasn’t until I was a young adult that I had homemade clam chowder at a fancy restaurant. What a difference! Of course I headed to the kitchen to experiment making the chowder. I was surprised how simple it was to make the chowder and just how delicious it was. I also learned, over the years, that the very best canned clams and bottled clam juice is the brand called “Bar Harbor.” They are from Maine, and are totally worth seeking out. Publix carries them! New England Clam Chowder • 6 slices bacon, chopped • 2 stalks celery, finely chopped • 1 small onion, finely chopped • 4 tablespoons flour • 2 cups chicken broth • 2 cans of chopped clams, with juices • 1/2 cup bottled clam juice • 1 bay leaf • 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce, more to taste • 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves • 5 potatoes, peeled and chopped (Russet or Yukon Gold) • 11/2 cups whole milk • 1 cup heavy cream • 1 teaspoon salt • 1/2 teaspoon pepper In a Dutch oven, cook bacon until crispy. Drain on paper towels. Discard all but 3 tablespoons bacon fat. Add celery and onion and cook until vegetables are soft, about 8 minutes. Add flour and cook for a minute, stirring constantly. Add chicken broth, stirring well. Add remaining ingredients and bring to an almost boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking until potatoes are cooked through, about 20 to 25 minutes. Taste for season ing. Remove bay leaf and top with bacon before serv ing. In the summer I would make this with fresh corn, but in the winter, I like to use frozen corn kernels, preferably organic. Corn Chowder • 4 slices bacon, chopped • 1 onion, finely chopped • 1 carrot, finely chopped • 2 stalks celery, finely chopped • 1/4 cup flour • 4 cups chicken broth • 1 1/2 cups whole milk • 1/2 cup heavy cream • 4 cups frozen corn kernels • 3 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and chopped • 2 teaspoons salt • 1 teaspoon pepper • 1/4 cup chives, chopped In a Dutch oven, cook bacon until crispy. Remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towel lined plate. Add onion, carrot and celery to pot and cook until very soft, about 8 minutes. Sprinkle on flour and stir for another minute. Add chicken broth, milk and heavy cream, stirring well. Add corn and potatoes, salt and pepper and cook until pota toes are done, about 20 to 25 minutes. Ladle into bowls and top with chives and bacon. Creamy Seafood Chowder • 1/4 cup butter • 1 small onion, chopped • 2 stalks celery, finely chopped • 1/4 cup flour • 3 cups bottled clam juice • 1 cup chicken broth • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream • 1/2 cup dry white wine • 3 Yukon Gold pota toes, peeled and chopped • 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves • 1 teaspoon Cajun sea soning • 1 teaspoon salt • 1/2 teaspoon pepper • 8 ounces firm white fish, cut into bite sized pieces • 8 ounces bay scallops (frozen is fine) • 12 ounces shrimp, if large, cut in halves • 1 can chopped clams, with juices • 1/2 cup parsley, chopped In a Dutch oven, melt butter and add onion and celery. Cook until vegetables are very soft, about 8 minutes. Sprinkle on the flour, stirring constantly for another minute. Add clam juice, chicken broth, heavy cream, and dry white wine. Raise heat until almost boiling. Add potatoes, thyme leaves, Cajun season ing, salt and pepper. Cook until potatoes are done, about 20-25 minutes. Add fish, scal lops, shrimp and clams with juices. Cook another 3-5 min utes, just until shrimp are cooked through. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with pars ley.
