Newspaper Page Text
Blakely History Revealed
in a Composition Written in 1886
'BY AMELIA BARKSDALE
A story from Westwego, La.,
on the launching of the Navy’s
newest escort destroyer, Blak
ely, was of interest to residents
of this city, when Lt. Commander
Charles G. Bostwick, USN, a for
mer Blakely resident, who now
resides in Beeville, Texas, sent
a clipping about the 4000 ton
vessel being launched at the
Avondale Shipyards.
It was reported that Hurri
cane Camille didn’t disrupt the
launching of this, the third ship
to be named in honor of Captain
'Johnston Blakely. The ship’s
sponsor, Mrs. Robert J. Mor
gan, great great granddaughter
pf Capt. Blakely and daughter
of the late Vice Adm. C. A.
Blakely, was on hand for the
event.
• Earlier ships named after
Capt. Blakely were a torpedo
boat (1900) and a destroyer
,(1919).
The new destroyer is 438 feet
long, has a 47-foot beam and will
be equipped with an ASROC and
ASW torpedoes.
“ In reviewing early 19th century
'maps, recently, Mrs. E. P.
’Whitehead, Regional Librarian,
•DeSoto Trail, found the name
Blakely was given to a com
_munity near Mobile, Alabama.
; Located below Fort Mims, it is
^questioned did the name have any
.bearing on Capt. Blakely for
whom our city is named?
Here is an article that ap
peared in the Early County News
'Feb. 26, 1886.
BLAKELY
nt
My teacher has given me the
task of writing a composition.
After pondering over various
subjects, I have chosen the name
of our little town Blakely for
my theme.
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AGRI-BUILDER
H. t. McLendon co.
Edison, Ga
Phone 835-2266
It may be, or at least ought
to be, interesting to everybody
who lives in Blakely to know
where our town obtained its
name- In the year 1781, a
little boy was born in Ireland,
who was christened Johnston
Blakely. When he was very
young his parents moved to the
United States and settled in North
Carolina. He received his edu
cation at the University of that
State, and entered the navy as
midshipman in the year 1800,
at the age of nineteen. When
thirty-two years old, he held
the office of lieutenant on board
the brig Enterprise, a vessel
of fourteen guns, which actively
curised along the eastern coast,
doing important work in protect
ing the coasting trade from Eng
lish privateers.
Later in the same year, 1813,
he was made a Commander, and
put in charge of the sloop Wasp.
He sailed from Portsmouth, N.H.,
in May of the ensuing year, and
late in June he fell in with
and captured the British sloop
Reindeer, after a severe engage
ment, which lasted twenty-eight
minutes. The British vessel
was completely cut to pieces,
while the Wasp received very
slight damage. In August he
started on another cruise, and
very shortly made quite a num
ber of captures. Passing by the
various other engagements in
which the Wasp came off vic
torious, I will tell of only one
more fight, in which she cap
tured the brig Atalanta. This
being a valuable prize, a crew
was put on board of the captured
vessel and ordered to Savannah.
The Atalanta arrived safely in
the Savannah harbor, and brought
the last direct intelligence ever
received from the Wasp.
Vague rumors have, from time
to time, prevailed as to her fate,
but none of them could ever be
traced to a reliable source.
Like most sloops of her day,
the Wasp was very deep waisted,
heavily armed and sparred, and
carried but little over five hun
dred tons. Such vessels are
proverbially unsafe, and it is
very probable that she founder
ed in a. gale.
Capt. Blakely possessed great
merit as an officer, and was mod
est, skillful and brave. Doubt
less he would have risen to the
highest professional distinction,
had he lived. A widow and
infant daughter were left to mourn
his loss. The State of North
Carolina educated his daughter.
Such in brief is the history of
the brave and daring officer for
whom our town was named. Don’t
you think it is interesting ?
Blakely And its Surroundings
I have already written an al
most long enough composition
for a schoolboy of my calibre,
in telling you where Blakely got
its name, and have as yet said
nothing of the place itself. Situ
ated in Early County, one of the
most fertile in the State, and
surrounded by a happy and pros
perous people, our town is rapid
ly growing in size and wealth.
Some four or five years ago,
before the Southwestern Rail
road was completed to Blakely,
the town contained only ten or
fifteen business houses and three
or four hundred inhabitants; now'
it has between twenty and twenty
five businesses and a population
of nearly one thousand. Commo
dious Railroad buildings were
erected; three Warehouses
sprang up in our midst (we had
none before), and the cotton re
ceipt's have Increased from about
two thousand to four or five
thousand bales annually. A hand
some and commodious new hotel
has been built, and many nice,
new dwellings have gone up on
all sides. So much for the Rail
road-
Now let me imagine myself
in a nice, new buggy, behind a
fast trotter, with my best girl
by my side, taking a drive around
Blakely. First, I will go down
Main St., on which will be found
many pretty residences. On
either side are long rows of
water oaks, which, when balmy
spring has clothed them in bright,
new dresses of green, present
a most beautiful appearance.
Turning to the right when we
reach Uncle Peter Howard’s nice
new residence, we soon come to
the cemetery, where the old Bap
tist Church used to stand, which
our city fathers have recently
enclosed with a substantial new
fence, and catch a cursory glimp
se of the "city of the dead,”
containing many dear friends and
relatives. Turning to the left
here, we pass beyond the cor
porate limits, out on the Cedar
Springs road, and give our step
per a touch of the whip as we
mount the top of the hill onto
the firm, level stretch of ground
which leads us past the inviting
homes of Messrs. Buchannon,
Hobbs and Hammock. Turning
about just here, we retrace our
way as far as the cemetery,
where we take up Church Street,
which has been opened up only a
few years and has few residences
on it as yet- It is a good place to
try the speed of our horse, how
ever, and we soon find ourselves
in front of the elegant new Bap
tist Church, which has few equals
In beauty of finish in Southwest
Georgia. Further on up we reach
Ft. Gaines Street, from which
point can be seen the Methodist
house of worship. It is well
located and admirable fills the
wants of its congregation. We
drive by, however, and go on
and turn across by the depot,
and take down Cuthbert Street,
where the most marked of the
recent improvements in our town
have taken place. A short, quick
drive brings us to the public
square, near the center of which
stands the Court House, and to
our original starting point.
There are many other nice
drives around the town, which
I would like to say something
about, but I have already tres
passed too much upon your time,
and will leave them, and a des
cription of our business men,
as material for a future com
position; and take my girl fur
ther out in the country, where
I can drive slower and enjoy her
company more.
Card of Thanks
I would like to express my
sincere thanks to my friends
for your many contributions dur
ing my stay in the hospital and
since my return home. 1 would
like to personally say thanks
and may God bless Bud Bynum
and Mrs. C. C. Middleton and each
and everyone who made a con
tribution to the Ruth Ann Payne
Fund.
Sincerely,
Benny Payne
Rt. 1 Box 112
Ashford, Ala.
51 POLLED HEREFORDS
SELL IN DOTHAN OCT. 21
22 BULLS 20 - 57 Months Old
29 FEMALES Bred & Open Heifers & Cows
HOUSTON COUNTY FARM CENTER
Cottonwood Road at Circle, Dothan, Ala.
AUCTION 1 P. M. FREE DELIVERY
Bo Swilley, Auctioneer 100 Miles for each
Memphis, Tenn. i o t y OU purchase
These purebred, registered Polled Herefords will im
prove your herd. Buy ENOUGH TO MAKE A DIFFE
RENCE. See them during the morning, eat Bar-B-Q in
the barn, and buy at the sale.
WIREGRASS Polled Hereford Assn.
» P.O. Box 1083 Dothan, Alabama
EARLY COUNTY NEWS, THURSDAY, OCT. 23, 1969
-BOOK TIME-
Quotations and Poems
BY Mrs. Paul Morell
I read somewhere some a
musing words that as I recall
went about like this:
"Now that vacation is over
And I give it a backward look
I could havedone better with twice
The money and half the clothes
I took."
Elbert Hubbard is responsible
for this quotation: "This coun
try will never be a civilized
country until we spend more
money for books than we do
for chewing gum.” I never buy
gum but I do buy books.
Do you like history? Here’s
something to ponder and weigh
our merits in regard to it. "The
average life of the world’s great
civilizations has been 200years..
and during that life it has pro
gresses through the following
sequence: From bondage to
spiritual faith, From spiritual
faith to great courage, From
courage to liberty, From liberty
to abundance, From abundance to
selfishness, From selfishness to
complacency, From complacency
to apathy, From apathy to de
pendency, From dependency back
to bondage.
In a few years the United States
will be 200 years old- Are we
in the Bth period now . . . apathy
to dependency stage ?
Some one has said, "Patience
is the ability to idle your motor
when you feel like stripping your
gears- ’ ’ We need to work more
and to laugh more. A personnel
manager was interviewing a job
applicant: "What have you
done?” and the applicant replied,
"About what 7 ’
Let me quote Kalil Gibran here:
"You work that you may keep
pace with the earth and the soul
of the earth.
When you work you are a flute
through
Whose heart the whispering of the
hours turns to music.
“Work is love made visible.
And if you cannot work with love
but only with distaste, it is bet
ter that you should leave your
work and sit at the gate of the
temple and take alms of those
who work with joy.
For if you bake bread with in
difference,
You bake a bitter bread that feeds
but half man’s hunger.
And if you grudge the crushing
of the grapes,
Your grudge distils a poison
in the wine.
"And if you sing though as
angels, and love not the sing
ing,
You muffle man’s ears to the
voices of the day and the voices
of the night. ’ ’
Isn’t that majestic and beau
tiful plus a few other things?
Have you heard that “what we
go after here is where we go
hereafter? Isn’t it intriguing
that we ourselves determine whe
ther our future life will be de
sirable or undesirable? The un
derstatement of the year.
Most of us are thinking about
school and people pertaining to
it. I managed to save a few of
my report cards and certainly
am glad that I did. John G.
Whittier wrote an old old poem
about his school days that were
certainly different from today.
1 memorized it-
Still sits the schoolhouse by the
road
A ragged beggar sunning;
Around it still the sumachs grow
And blackberry vines are run
ning.
Within the master 's desk is seen,
Deep-scarred by raps official;
The warping floor, the battered
seats,
The jack-knife’s carved initial.
The charcoal frescoes on its wall,
It’s doors wood-still betraying
feet
That creeping slow to school
Went storming out to playing.
Long years ago a winter’s sun
Shone over it at setting,
Lit up its western window panes
And low eaves’ icy fretting.
It touched the tangled golden
curls
And brown eyes full of griev
ing
Os one who still her steps de
layed
When all the school were leav
ing.
For near her stood the little boy
Her childish favor singled,
His cap pulled low upon a face
Where pride and shame were
mingled.
Still memory to a gray-haired
man
That sweet child face is show
ing;
Dear girl I the grasses on her
grave
Have forty years been grow
ing.
He lives to learn in life’s hard
school
How few who pass above him
Lament their triumph and his
loss
Like her because they love
him.
Those were the days when
pupils stood up in line to spell
and if a little boy missed a
word he certainly wouldn't think
more of a girl if she spelled
the word, took his place in the
line and pushed him farther from
the number one spot. This me
thod produced many excellent
spellers. In fact a poor speller
was the exception. A favorite
story of my father's concerned
a football player who was fine in
athletics but poor in other sub
jects, especially spelling. To
keep him on the team the prof,
said if he would spell just one
word right he would pass him
in spelling. Then persuasive
friends said, "Aw, you know he
can’t spell cat. Can't you be a
little more liberal with him?”
"Very well,” replied the pro
fessor, "I'll give him one word
that everybody can spell and if
he insists on missing that, all
right, but I shall insist he get
ONE letter right.” All agreed.
The brainless wonder was
brought into the room and the
professor asked him to spell
coffee. The hero thought long
and hard then in triumphant tones
spelled, "Kauphy.”
I sort of promised or
threatened to name the six books
। LOCATIQN . . I
■ We are pleased to announce I
I that our feed and seed store I
IH j|H FEEDS ■ B
■ at the corner of Church and College I
■ Streets in Blakely is now open. S
I We have a complete line fejjjjj I
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I ant * il^^l I
■ farm and garden I
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I PHONE 723-4335 JOHN PUCKETT, MANAGER B
Thomasville
native missing
in Alaska
A Thomasville native, Miss
Caroline Bowman, has been re
ported missing in a glacial park
area near Juneau, Alaska.
Miss Bowman, 45, is the
daughter of Mrs. Onida P. Bow
man, 225 E. Jefferson St., who
for many years served in the
admitting office at Archbold
Memorial Hospital.
Miss Bowman has been
serving for the past two years
as a social worker for a federal
project associated with the
Juneau public schools.
She was reported missing
from her work on Oct. 6. Her
car later was found parked near
a local hiking trail. It was pre
sumed that she had stopped for
a view and walk after calling
on the last case that was re
corded in her travelog.
A large search-and-rescue
party was dispatched from the
point where the vehicle was
located. Although hikers, planes
and helicopters were employed,
an intensive foot-and-air search
proved futile. No trace of the
woman had been found by the
weekend.
Authorities then notified Miss
Bowman’s sister, Mrs. C. E.
(Katherine) Walters of
Eatonton, Ga.
Said Mrs. Walters today:
"Since Caroline’s arrival in
Alaska, it has been her avoca
tion to spend as much of her
leisure as possible driving and
walking to enjoy the natural
beauty of the region. She has
written all of us glowing reports
of the inspiration she received
from the beautiful scenery.”
Juneau has a population of
about 10,000 and is Alaska’s
capital. It is described as a nar
row strip of land located on the
ledge of a mountain range, ac
that would be excellent com
panions on a desert isle- Frank
ly a permanent list would be
dreadful. One year one list,
next year perhaps another. First,
the BIBLE and the rest as they
occur to me. God's Smuggler
by John and Elizabeth Sherrill,
Abundant Living by Stanley Jones,
Palgrave’s Golden Treasury,
Tennyson’s poems and Catherine
Marshall’s To Live Again. If
possible, I might tie together
the three small books of poems
by Daniel Whitehead Hicky and
make one book out of them, sub
stituting that for Palgrave's or
Abundant Living. Otherwise I
would re-memorize about a dozen
Daniel Hicky poems.
Alumni Assn, of
Sparks College
holds reunion
The Alumni Association of the
Sparks Collegiate Institute and
^jarks College meets in Sparks
near the old college site in the
elementary school building Sat
urday, November 22, 1969 at
10 A.M.
This will be the sth reunion
of the men and women who at
tended this institution, founded
by the South Georgia Methodist
Conference and the citizens of
Sparks in the year 1902.
This school played a vital part
in the education of thousands
of men and women who became
leaders in the Christian ministry
and other vocations in the south
ern part of this state-
Although it existed as a pre-
cessible only by foot, ferryboat
for cars or plane.
Miss Bowman was graduated
from Thomasville High School
in 1942, attended Georgia State
College for Women at Milledge
ville and received her master’s
degree as a social worker from
Tulane Universitv.
Miss Bowman is the niece of
Mrs. J. G. Collins and Joe R.
Bowman of Blakely.
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।
Bethel Baptist
Homecoming set
for Nov. 2
The Bethel Baptist Church,
Clay County, announces "Home
qoming”, November 2, or the
first Sunday in November.
All resident and non-resi
dential members and interested
friends are invited to this annual
occasion!
paratory school nineteen years
and as Sparks College seven
years, its Christian cultural in
fluence left a mark upon the
character of the people of South
west Georgia that time will never
erase-
The faithful few will gather
at a banquet on Friday night
before the annual meeting at
the Holiday Inn, Barneyville, for
a get together dinner.
The committee appointed to
erect a permanent marker on the
site of the old school in Sparks
will make their report at the
annual meeting.
The Alumni and friends are in
vited to be with us on the above
date.
Alabama became a state in
1819.