Newspaper Page Text
- Griffin Daily News Saturday, November 18, 1972
Page 2
Historical Society
Simple house grew
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the
seventh in a series on homes
included in the program of work
by the Griffin Historical and
Preservation Society. It tells of
the Mary Brook Farm house at
Rover, occupied by the George
Gaissert family. Dr. Elizabeth
Lyon of Emory University,
consultant for the Society,
prepared the information.)
The Gaissert House provides
an interesting example in the
Griffin area of a homeplace that
has grown from a simple
country farm house to a more
monumental structure. The
original portion of the home is
one of the oldest standing
houses in the area. The history
of the house and property goes
back to 1821 when the land was
ceded from the Creeks by the
first Treaty of Indian Springs.
The two-story portico, a form
that symbolizes the plantation
life of ante-bellum times, was
added in the early twentieth
century classical revival
period.
In part, the history of these
developments can be told from
the deed records. Monroe
County was created out of a part
of the lands ceded by the In
dians in 1821. Josiah Magee
drew the land, which was
designated as Land Lot 43 in the
second district of Monroe
County in the lottery of that
same year. It is presumed that
Magee built the hewn log cabin
which stood until recent times
on the property near the main
house. By 1826 when the land
was deeded to Burrell Orr it was
in Pike County, created in part
from Monroe in 1822. Orr paid
SI,OOO for 1800 acres. It was for
Burrell Orr, it is reported by a
later owner, that the original
plantation-plain style house was
built in 1826-27. The house was
REVIVAL
Hanleiter
United Methodist Church
Comer of 14th and Broad Streets
Continues through Sunday night,
Nov. 19th.
Service Each Evening At 7:30
Evangelist - Rev. Elvyn McDonald,
Pastor of Hanleiter United
Methodist Church
Song Leader ■ Rev. Landon Carey
Special Music - Nursery Provided
FIRST ANNIVERSARY
and
Chapel dedication
FOR THIS JOYOUS OCCASION WE HAVE ENGAGED ONE OF THE OUTSTANDING
SPEAKERS OF OUR MOVEMENT IN:
I AARON W. WALL Superintendent I
of the Georgia District Council of the I
Assemblies of God I
Sunday School - 9:45 A.M. Sunday Evening Pulpit Guest
EVERETTE MOORE
Morning Worship • 11:00 A.M. The founding pastor of Calvary
Evening Worship 7:00 P.M. -Making melody will be-
Wednesday7:oo P.M. JHE REVELATIONS TRIO
Bible Discussion
___and
Calvary’s Little One’s
— NURSERY FACILITIES AVAILABLE —
CALVARY ASSEMBLY OF GOD
1630 Zebulon Rd. Dave Hunt, Pastor
built by Daniel Orr, who owned
much property in the area, for
his son. Daniel is buried in an
old graveyard about two miles
behind the house which, until
recently, was part of the
Gaissert property and belonged
to the Poplar Springs Baptist
Church located there in the
nineteenth century. The Orrs
came originally from Elbert
County, where Daniel served in
the militia as early as 1793 and
Burrell was married to Betsey
Hendrick in 1807.
In 1843 Burrell Orr’s property
was sold at sheriff’s sale by his
brother Matthew, who was the
sheriff at the time. James Neal,
the buyer, sold it again the
following year to Ben Blanton,
Jr., whose daughter Sue Blan
ton Veal was born there in 1844.
By 1852, when Ben’s adminis
trator, William N. Blanton, sold
the property to Henry William
son, the size of the acreage was
reduced to 907 acres. Henry
Williamson, who made sub
stantial changes and additions
to the rear portion of the house,
married Ben Blanton’s widow,
to whom he gave the property in
1894. Several years later, in
1899, when Anna Blanton
Williamson sold the house to the
Merchant’s and Planter’s Bank
of Griffin, the holdings were
reduced once more to 202%
acres. Half of this land was in
land Lot No. 43 and half in No.
44. The property was then
rented out until 1906, when the
present owner’s grandfather,
George Columbus Gaissert,
bought it from the bank. It was
George Gaissert who replaced
an older two-story porch with
the lonic portico and added the
porte-cochere in 1910. Jn 1940,
Mrs. George Gaissert died,
leaving the house to her son
Francis Marion Gaissert and in
1944 the present owner, George
Clark Gaissert, obtained the
property from his mother’s
estate. The Gaisserts came to
Spalding County from
Dougherty County around the
turn of the century.
Little is known about the On
family which built the original
section of the house beyond the
information provided in Daniel
Orr’s tombstone. The father of
Burrell and Matthew was a
Revolutionary War soldier and
a deacon in the Baptist Church.
On the other hand, Henry E.
Williamson, who made substan
tial changes in the building, was
the son of Isaac Basil William
son, for whom the town of
Williamson nearby in Pike
County was named. Isaac
Williamson was a pioneer
farmer and settler of this town.
He acquired large land holdings
in the period before the Civil
War and was a successful com
and grain farmer who was
known for his willingness to
loan money to the citizens of the
area. His second son, bom in
1831, was Henry Edwin, who
married Benjamin Blanton’s
widow, Lucinda, on November
4,1852, and moved into the older
section of the present Gaissert
house. In 1886, when the
Georgia Midland Gulf Railway
(now part of the Southern) was
completed using rights-of-way
donated by Henry and his son,
Isaac William, in memory of
Isaac Basil, the junction down
the road became Williamson. At
the same time the small
community around Henry’s
home became known as Rover,
a substitute for Grover, the
name chosen by Henry to honor
President Grover Cleveland.
The railroad on which a stop
and post office called Rover
once operated, still passes in
front of the old house. Its portico
also faces the road now known
as the Williamson Road, which
began in the 1850’s as the Plank
Road. Ironically, this road was
planned as an alternative to a
railroad connection between
Griffin and West Point but
completed only as far as Flat
Shoals. It was used by wagons
carrying cotton and produce
into the young town of Griffin.
When the Gaissert family
acquired the land and made
additions to the house in the
early twentieth century, they
continued a long tradition of
farming and community
responsibility. The form of their
country house reflects its long
succession of owners. The
characteristic tall, narrow sil
houette of the original planta
tion-plain style building is
clearly visible, yet the initial
impression of the facade is
created by the monumental
lonic portico. This facade looks
out onto the railroad and the old
wagon road which the planters
• hHh
used to bring their produce to
market either in Griffin or
westward through Williamson.
The form of the house with its
functional and symbolic addi
tions together with its location,
reflects the history of Griffin
and the surrounding country
side.
The Gaissert House is an
example of a country house that
began as a simple plantation
plain style structure and has
grown with a succession of
owners’ fortunes. The original
portion, which forms the
essential core of the present
■
■I ""
U»' ' •
mH • -s**. 1
■ra
East Griffin Elementary School PTO candy sales champion
Ricky Martin holds the trophy he received for selling 720 bars
of candy. Ricky was proclaimed top salesman in the
Southeast by the candy company representative.
Health Dept.
to prosecute
The Spalding County Health
Department says that it will
prosecute Willie Blanton of
Katherine road on charges of
having a defective septic tank
and of keeping pigs illegally.
The department said that
neighbors have complained and
that he has been arrested.
Food needed
Members of the American
Legion Post 546 Auxiliary have
been asked to bring canned
goods for Thanksgiving
baskets, to be distributed to
needy families, to the Post
home Monday night from 7:30 to
9:30.
MR. BUILDER
Would You Like To Save
up
To
Per House On Your Appliances?
Save Time?—lf so. see or call
HUGH PRESCOTT
DISCOUNT
Building Materials And Supplies
201 West Vineyard Road
Phone 228-4498 Office- 227-2114 Home
house, was built in 1827. It was a
four-room, central hall, shed
plan with outside chimneys. The
characteristic tall, narrow end
facades with the outside
chimneys are clearly visible as
the dominant features of the
side views of the house. Across
the front a twostory, four
column lonic portico of 1910
obscures this older section. In
the rear, later additions built c.
1852 and remodeled more
recently have replaced the
original shed. The old kitchen,
also c. 1852, originally a stone
structure but later stuccoed,
still stands a short distance
Weaver, Jr. named
Otis H. Weaver, Jr., local
commerce attorney, was
elected to the board of directors (
of the National Industrial
Traffic League at its annual
meeting held in New York City.
The National Industrial
Traffic League has ap
proximately 1,800 members
representing several thousand
industries located in every state
of the Union.
Old Reliable
Old Faithful, a geyser in
in Yellowstone National
Park, erupts for about 4
minutes once in every 65
minutes. Men have ob
served it for more than 80
years, and it has not missed
an eruption during that
time.
behind the present kitchen
wing. The green lattice breeze
way which connected this
structure to the house is no
longer standing. On the eastern
side of the house blunt lonic
half-columns support the house
end of the porte-cochere which
was added, along with the
facade portico, in 1910. Match
ing columns which once sup
ported the outer end of this
covering deteriorated and have
been replaced by ironwork.
Some of the original details
remain inside the house. A
Federal style mantel in the
eastern parlor is framed by
slender fluted pilasters and
elaborately panelled en
tablature under a projecting
mantel shelf. The original stair
way with turned balusters and
heavy newel post which
originally ascended through the
shed portion, has been placed at
right angles to its older position
in the eastern side hall. The
original six-panelled front door
opens into this hall from the
porte-cochere. A mantel,
probably dating from the 1852
remodeling, remains in the
dining room in the rear of the
house.
I can not got
beyond his 10ve...
nor my
responsibility
“Go ye therefore . . . and Io I am with you.” Matthew 28:19, 20
The comforting, strengthening presence of Christ is our constant
daily treasure. We could not even make it out of our beds to meet a
new day, let alone struggle through the crises of life, were it not for
His promise to be with us.
From an anguished “God help me in this hour of trial" to a gentle
“Now I lay me down to sleep,” we call on that Presence with
persistence. We continually claim it as our own.
As the distressed disciples watched Him go into the heavens one
day, they too were sustained by that Promise.
But there was a difference.
They heard, and understood that the Promise was linked to a
responsibility. “Go ye therefore and teach all nations." They did
just that, and shook their world.
But that was then. And this is now. The blood of First Century
martyrs cannot buy off the responsibility that is MINE.
Neither can the gifts my neighbor makes.
• BIBLE STUDY 9:45 AM
• 11:00 AM WORSHIP
"Patterns of Generosity”
• WORSHIP 5:30 PM
"Peace With God”
• FELLOWSHIP SNACK 6:15 PM
• 6:45 DISCUSSION GROUPS
(MI o
THE CHURCH THAT CARES ABOUT YOU
Y W SCHOOL ۥ? Y
T H LUNCH MENU li; Y
The master menu for the
Griffin-Spalding School System
for the week of Nov. 20-22 is as
follows:
MONDAY — Wiener, baked
beans, cole slaw, peach half,
bun, milk, butter.
TUESDAY — Beef vegetable
soup, pimento cheese sandwich,
fruit cup, green salad, milk,
butter.
WEDNESDAY — Turkey
with dressing and gravy, glazed
sweep potatoes, English peas,
cranberry sauce, roll, milk,
butter.
THURSDAY — Thanksgiving
holiday
FRIDAY — Thanksgiving
holiday.
Suspect gave
wrong address
William Steve Hurt, one of the
suspects arrested on burglary
charges at the Moose Club early
yesterday morning, does not
live at 130 Woodmont drive as
he told lawmen.
Mr. and Mrs. L. C Fowler live
at that address. Mr. Fowler has
notified sheriff’s officials that
Hurt gave an incorrect address.
FIRST UNITED
METHODIST CHURCH
Rev. Dumas Shelnutt
Minister
Rev. Harry Hawkins
Associate Minister
Morning Service 11:00 A.M.
Sermon By Rev. Neal Windom
"Stewardship And
Commitment”
Evening Service 7:30 P.M.
Sermon By Pastor
"God Is Able”
Permanent
injunction
is denied
Superior Court has denied a
request to issue a permanent
injunction against gathering
names on liquor petitions near
polling places on election day.
Judge Andrew Whalen heard
the request by Attorney Steve
Squires in Spalding Superior
Court yesterday but declined.
He told the lawyer, though, that
if such efforts are made near
polls on the Board of Education
and City Commission runoff
date to let him know.
He had issued a temporary
injunction during the general
election on Nov. 7 when women
posted near the polls asked city
voters to sign the petitions.
They ceased their activity
immediately after learning of
the order.
Today, Jack Faulkner who is
asking for the liquor referen
dum says that the wets have
enough names and that he has
notified the city that he will
present them “some time after
Christmas.”
A group called Citizens
Organized for Protection of the
Environment is opposing the
referendum.