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VOL. 1—NO.
TIIOMASVIL LE, GEORGIA, WEDNESDAY MOItNTNO, MAY 7, 185)0,
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! HIGH WAYS AND BT-WAYS
OF THOMAS COUNTY'
Tis,
INDEED, A GOODLY
LAND.
Homes of Plenty, and Plenty of
Homes for all.
Mrtenlfo Touched Up.
I regret tliat an interval lias come
between the letters commenced, three
weeks ago, under the above bead,
waa made necessary, however, by cir
cumstane.es over which I had no con
trol, and if I be allowed to control
the future, it shall not occur again.
I shall take my readers this week
that part of the county contiguous to
Metcalfe, before the Thomasville
Monticcllo railroad was built, and
consequently before the flottrishin:
village was dreamed of, this section
was covered with large plantations.
Prior to 18(51, I use this term advi
sedly, because I have grown tired of
hearing the expression ‘‘Before the
War,” there was no more prosperous
section of the county, or indeed of
Southern Georgia than this holt of
country. Its fertile lands had made
its owners rich •
Such men as Dr. Isaac Mitchell
father of T. C. Mitcldl. Wni. Ponder.
Sagnr Foirest, John Montgomery
Richard Thomas, Robert Iloddenbmy
Elijah Neel, .Sheldon Swift, John I
Parker, Wm Hof aril, had grown rich
from the products of the soil, and
their hoims wore fine types ot wlia
the homes of the south were before tli
dreadful scourge of war had passed
over our fair southland.
This may not lie the place nor th
time to pay a t'ihuto to the men and
women of the old south, but i cannot
restrain the desire that wells up with
in me, to say that they, the pioneers,
in giving the world a type of civifiz;
tion which, while il had its faults, wi
as far superior to the shoddy tendency
of the present age, as gold to the baser
metals, Of these men it may truly
said, they were all brave and hum
hie, of the women, they were all fair
and noble.
When the days of railroads come
after the war, and the country conti
uous to them had begun to lake on t
new life, it was hut natural that
tricts remote from great arteries along
which ebb nnd liow the tide of modern
travel and trafiie, should fall in
to the background. This was true of
the section of which I am writing.
In 18N8, however, a new day beam
ed and it was the prccursorof a pcrioi
that will bring a more substantial and
abiding prosperity than this section
has ever before known. August 27th
of that year, the Thomasville & Mon
ticcllo railroad was completed to Met
calfc, and a month later it was opened
to Monticello. It was my good for
tune to be one of the first party from
Thomasville that went down to .Met
calfe, the young village among the
pines ; Hon. S. G. McLendon chaper
oned the party, and he did it, as lie does
all such things, gracefully and well.
The place had been so-called in com
pliment to Dr. John T. Metcalfe oi
New York, who has been and still re
mains such a staunch Iriend to our
county and people.
When the village was located, T. C.
Mitchell, who owned the lands of the
west side ot the road, nnd James 8.
Lilly, who owned those on the cast
side ot the road, gave n half interest in
one hundred acres ot land to the S. F.
aDd W. RyC'o., and under the impe
tus of this far seeing policy the growth
of the village was rapid.
W. D. Stegall had begun th* erec
tion of a store house, even before the
railroad was completed, and with J.
II. Davidson, who had a contract on
the road, opened a stock of goods a
few days after the first train run to the
place.
A few weeks afterwards, Mitchell &
McIntyre, of Thomasville, built and
opened a branch store here, which they
put in charge of J. 15. Thomas and
Homer Young.
R. II. Manning moved here from
the neighborhood of lake Iamonia,
and opened a business.
Then T. J. Moutfort and C. C,
Wheeler, hotli living across the Flori
da line, opened a store in the thrifty
young village.
J. M, Ruskiii it .Son opened a mer
cantile business from which the elder
Mr. Ruskin retired a few months af
terwards, his interest having been
bought by F. A. Richter, of Cairo.
In January, 188!), Dr. W. A. Mon
roe and Mr. C. C. Wheeler opened a
drug store next to Stegall it David
son’s and they are still doing business
at the same place.
Dr. Monroe lias a fine practice, ex
tending several miles in each direc
tion
Mr. E. N. Connell had been a
partner with Mr. R. H. Manning
when the latter first began business in
Metcalfe, hut later, lie formed a co
partnership with his father, Mr. W.
T. Connell, nnd they are still doing
business together. Both these gen
tlemen are Floridians, and indeed
quite a number of the citizens of
Metcalfe claim the Land of Flowers
as their birth place.
In February of the present year,
Messrs. Crenshaw it Crenshaw moved
to Metcalfe from Centerville, Leon
county, and opened n store imme
diately ia fruit “f the depot.
Hancock Brothers Ir.d operate.! a
aw ill'll a ftw mi'es from Metcalfe,
before the building of lie- railroad,
which th :v moved to the place soon
after the road was opened These
nllemeii were unfortunate enough
to lose their mill bv fire a few weeks
ago, bti« they ere re building and in a
few weeks its merry tune will again he
The same gi-nlleinen started
a steam gin here las*, fall and they
-red oui many hales of the fleecy
q.V.
In the spring of 1889 Reynolds &
Wilkes opened a blacksmith and wood
shop in Metcalfe, and they are doing
ood business. Mr. Reynolds is
one of the best known citizens of the
county; Mr. ' ilkes moved here from
Columbus.
N T . S. Eaves the well-known Thom
asville contractor and builder put up
the first houses 111 Metcalfe; after.'ards
Mr. \. S. White built sever"! stores
and residences.
W. J. F. Hinson has a!-o consltuc
ted a number ol houses here, among
them the Methodist and Baptist
churches. Mr. Hinscn is a na'ive of
North Carolina though he Ins been a
citizen of Thomas county for a num
ber of years.
L. V. Rackley, another worthy son
of the Old North State has beer, in
Metcalfe about 18 months, and his
ork as a contractor and builder is to
be seen on every hand.
W. H. Sanders has recently opened
livery stable in the village, and he is
prepared to furnish the public with
teams. J
rectinn. The building has not been
finished as yet, lmt the necessary
money has been subscribed and work
will begun in a few days and contin
tied until the church is ready for oc-
citpancy. Tito Friendship congrega
tion still use their old church, but as
soon as the new one is finished it will
lie occupied, Rev. T. A. White is
the devoted pastor, and his eloquence
in tile cause of his Master, and his
zeal for the welfare of his congrega
tion hears abundant fruit.
In the fall of 18811 Mr. T. C. Mitch-
ell, with his usual liberality, gave the
ground on the hill on the west side of
the railroad as a site for a Methodist
church, and work was begun on the
building soon afterwards, When the
church building is finished it will he
one of the charges of the Thomas
county circuit. W.
(to he i'oxtixceh)
Close up that railroad subscription.
E. J. Freeman, of Camilla, was in
the city yesterday.
Dr. E. 1’. Rose, of Fayetteville, N.
C., is registered at the Gulf.
Touch elbows on the railroad ques
tion, and close up the subscription.
Mr. J. \V. Malone, wife and daugh
ter ol Quincy, Fla., were guests of the
Gulf yesterday.
One and it half incites of rain fell
on Monday; and every drop of it was
needed.
Mr. R. W. Dialling left yesterday for
.1 tr p to Savannah, Jacksonville, and
ti er points.
Conductor Palmer is running the
■ Ibany passenger ia the absence of
Conductor I.ike, v;lm with his family
have been visiting in Savannah.
Rev. C. I. I,a Roche left yesterday
morning for Milledgcville to attend a
meeting ot ministers of the Episcopal
church, which is mnv in session there.
SIGNAL SERVICE BUREAU
AT
li. Thomas Jr's' 126 Broad Street.
G-S-Bondurant Volunteer Observer
Weather Itiilletin for the 21 hours ending
nt 7 o’clock I*. M., Slav 4 1890.
Tkmi’Eiiatuii-:.
7 a. in OH
2 p. in C 5
7 p. 70
Maximum for 24 hours 77
Minimum '• " " 0.7
Ruin-fall 00
Continued rains, stntionuly temperature.
Three of a Kind.
That was an unusual spectacle seen
on Madison street yesterday, when
three runaway teams were seen dash
ing down the street at the same time.
And nary a driver held the lines. A
long eared mule, attached to a wagon
a horse and buggy, and a pair of grays
minus tiro vehicle formed the proccs
sion ; and it .moved rapidly. They
cleared the street of pedestrians in
short order. They all brought up in
the neighborhood of Mr. Clifton's car
riage repository. Quite a large crowd
gathered to sec what damage had
been done. With the exception of a
broken tongue, tin uncoupled wagon
and some damage to harness, but lit
tle harm was done.
Mess. Henry Hoffman, of New
York, and f.eo Frank, d Savannah,
were among the commercial men at
the Gulf yesterday.
lion. Isaac Alderman was in town
yesterday, lie reports au unusually
heavy rain over the river on Monday.
It was a regular ligluwood knot
floater.
CHURCHES AXI) SCHOOLS.
Friendship Baptist churchy was or
ganized many years ago, nnd it is,
perhaps, one of the oldest churches
organized in the county. The church
building is about two miles from the
illagc, and is surrounded by one of
the finest oak groves in the state.
Near the church is a cemetery, in
which sleep many of the earliest settlers
of this part of the country, men and
women that made their impress on
the day in which they lived, and now
sleep peacefully neatli the shadows of
the oaks. Soon alter the completion
the railroad a move was make to
build a better church for the Friend
ship congregation in Metcalfe. Mr.
Lilly gave the land on which the butld-
I'he L. A N. Ry. has placed adver
tising matter in the Mcnon Route
oif’. a here, and Mr. Glading will lie
pleased to give any information in his
power.
The English sparrow ought, if possi
ble, to be exterminated in Thomasville,
before they get so numerous that it will
he- impossible to do anything with
them.
The monthly meeting ot the Gene
ral Benevolent, Society will he held
to day, Wednesday, at -1 o’clock, p. m,
at the Public Library. A full at-
eiidance is earnestly requested.
Mrs. E‘ M. Smith, Pros.
Miss Jn.tA Stark, See.
The spring fights opened in Thom
asville ,'yesterday on .Jackson street,
lit the neighborhood of the express
office was the scene of the conflict. A
piece af a puling tigured in the me
lee, and a wa r nnt for an assault will
lurthcr figure in the early spring
drama.
They are Just the Same Here.
The Marietta Journal pays the fol
lowing pretty tribute to the pretty
women of Marietta:
There is no question about it,
Marietta is full of pretty women.
They are here in budding girlhood
and blooming womanhood—single
and married—bright and charming,
pure and true, lovely and lovable.”
There is a certain young man here
wlio, since the meeting of the Sunday
School Convention, will endorse the
extract; at least in so far as one
young lady in Marietta is concerned.
Here Arc the Premiums.
The to'al amount ot premiums that
will be paid at the coming stale fair
at Macon is $10,000. The prizes for
best individual agricultural display are
as follows: First, $300; second, 200;
third, $150, and fourth, $100. All
articles in individual displays can go
to make up the county displays, giving
counties a chance at $4,000 in premi
ums. The highest agricultural premi
um will ho for the best county display,
Si,200, In all $3,000 will given to
counties. There will be three other
prizes, giving all a show. Second,
8900; third, $500; lourtli, $300. In
all departments an increase of 10 to
50 per cent, lias been made in premi
ums, running up the grand total to
810,000.
We hope Thomas county will reach
out for some of these rich plums.
The many friends of Mr. Anton P.
Wright j r., will he pleased to learn
that he has won a champion debaters
place tit the coining commencement
of the State University, at Athens.
This will he the more gratifying when
it is known that lie will he the young
est debater in titc contest, and that,
alhougli in tlie Junior class, he won
the place over a number of brilliant
young men in the Senior class.
A New Industry for Whigham.
Wiiihiiam, G.v., May •">.— Dirt was
ing and the public spirited citizens of broken here to day for a cotton seed
the village and the surrounding eoiin-I oil mill and fertilizer factory. The
try gave liberally of their substance, I orders for lumber and other material
and the neat edifice that points hcav- j have been placed, and the building
onward with unerring finger is a ■ and equipments will lie pushed to
monument to their efforts in this <li- 1 completion,
Savannah was struck by a forty
mile an hour gale on Monday. No
great damage was done.
Atlanta is, already, doing some
good blowing for her exposition this
tall. They always "get there” in At
lanta.
The Washington correspondents
have relumed to Washington from Au
gusta. They were delighted with their
trip and reception.
An army ot drummers have invad
ed Atlanta. They will he right roy
ally entertained in the Gate City. It
is Atlanta’s way of doing things.
A small cyclone struck Camilla and
vicinity on Monday morning. Sev
eral houses were unroofed. No lives
lost. The blow was quite severe at
Albany, considerable damage being
done ill that city also.
Mrs. Ann Hyde, the widow of a
veteran of 1812, is the oldest pensioner
in the United States.
Just wait about a iiuncred years i
and you'll hear lots of fellows telling
how they run the rebels at Bull Run,
when they step up to draw their pen
sions. They should not forget to
state that they worked in the lead on
that Sunday in July, iS6t.
Call and see our
New Challies, New
Drapery Nets,New
Fans and many
other New Goods.
LE YY’S
HOUSE!
MITCH KM. HOCBfi CORNER.)