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Volume X—No. 43. PASSING OF A PIONEER WOMAN MRS. ELIZABETH SHELTON ASH LEY, WIDOW OF COFFEE COUN TY LAND AND SLAVE OWNER, DIES IN VALDOSTA. (By Mrs. Lon Dickey.) The. death of Mrs. Elizabeth Shelton Ashley, at Valdosta, on August the 4th. at the age of ninety years I feel deserves more than passing notice in her bid home county of Coffee, inas mu. h as the hardships of pioneer days have caused the graves of many dis tinguished people to remain unmarked ; • r• ravages of the war between the States so closely following have forced the ancestry of many splendid people of the County into obscurity. (I wish here and now to laud the ef forts of Honorable Warren Ward in preserving the records of the county’s early settlers.) Miss Elizabeth Shelton was born in the year 1834, in Telfair County, near Jacksonville. Her father, Charles I. Shelton, “Born Nov, 16, 1787, died July 19, 1871,” is buried at the old Block House there which has recent ly been appropriately and enduringly marked by Oconee Chapter, D. A. R. Site frequently visited Misses Mary and Ellen Ashley, who lived across Oc ttulgee in Ccffee county, and who owned jointly with their brother, Jonathan Ashley, a large number of slaves. This was one of the largest plantations of its day in Coffee, and still bears the imprints of its large , slave quarters in old wells and chim ney mounds. In 1854 she became the bride of Jonathan Ashley, and together they ferried the river and came to preside over the “Big House” together. She was early a member of the Methodist Church, and it was stated in Valdosta papers that she “had been a member of this denomination for a period of , eighty, years, fifty-four years having Vent in VMdosU vvhe.v ehe wit- VrowfnJrT'a s tTagflfiig vil lage to a Pity.” She was of distinguished ancestry, be.' •; herself a direct descendant ot Nathanial Ashley, of St. Mary s, Cam den County, Georgia, who, history tells us. was “In the year 1784 granted by the Colonial and State Government a Headright in Camden County. This ancestor married Miss Jane Wil hr. ns, daughter of an Episcopal rec to'. ot Virginia who “generously con- I tributed to the cause of Indepen dence in 1776.” Their daughter. Miss Susan Ashley, became the bride of Samuel Talbot Boyd, who history rec ords as having “become possessor of a headright in Burke County, togethei with his brother, James, in the yeai 1779, having just come over from S otland.” It was of this union that Jsne Boyd and who afterwards mar ried Charles I. Shelton, the father of Miss Elizabeth Shelton, subject of '■ is sketch. All these people from St. Mary’s, history goes on to say, were “ river, inland by Indians, later join f.._ the Scotch colony of Highlanders in Telfair County, themselves being pure English.” The glories of Ashley Gardens, the ancestral home in England, having been told to her since early childhood fc'. is young bride of Jonathan Ashley s round an ideal setting for her dreams in the beautiful grove of caks, cedar, holly, black walnut, and other native trees, and we regret that we cannot dwell at length on the glories of this old garden made by her hands. Two weeks before her death the writer talked with her as she wishfully ex pressed a desire to sec it. once more. There are still the Carolina Cherry trees with their evergreen leaves, wealth of spring blossom and abund ance of berries for the rcvbbins the cone-shaped cedars with their frosty bine berries; old largerstroemias with their pink blooms, and the western hedge of old-fashioned chinaberry trees described by a southern'writer as “being covered with masses of sweet-smelling lilac-eolorde blossoms in spring, and in autumn the soft, glaves thickly carpeting the ground wit bright gold.” (The slaves always called these “Chaney trees.” Durng her residence here in north ern Coffee she gave three brothers to the southern cause during the years 1861-65, only one returning to her, Honorable Cowpcr Shelton who died in Valdosta several years ago. A son bom to her here row lives in Valdosta, J. Maxey Ashley, Secretary C. of C. named for beautiful Miss Juliet Maxey, as Ashley biide of earlier (ttoffitt ifUnintp JproijtTss, FIRST METHODIST CHURCH Guyton Fisher, Pastor. At 11:30 there will be a mixed service, including songs and enter tainment by the little quartet from the Orpans’ home of the South Ga., Conference. After which the agent, Rev. J. A. Smith will make a, short talk. tlunday School at 10:15, J. H. Breedlove, Superintendent. Col. Rufus Moore will speak to his regular class at the Court House at te same our. It is like ly the children from the Orphans Home will be at the Sunday School too. All are cordially invited to these vices and Strangers are especially wel come. The pastor will preach at 8 p. m. SIDE WALK PAVING" TO SOON BEGIN. The Mayor and Council are making plans as rapidly as possible to begin paving the walks of many of the main streets of the city, and there re gains nothing left to do hut adver tise for bids, secure contracts and the project will begin. The paving will extend to many of the main residence streets of the city and throughout the paved street area, and according to plans, the paving will bo so extended as to reach just as many people as oossible. An ordinance is published in this issue of The Progress stipulating those streets which will be paved, and also stating the plan by which the work will be done. The certificates which will be sold-allowing a period of ten years to make’ payments hv property owners will cause the ex pense of this great improvement to come without material inconvenience to property owners. « The paving of sidewalks has' been deiaved ’ftrt ftdeoffhft bf th ssioil in money matters for some time, but many of the property owners are an xious that the work begin. When his has been completed the city ad ministration will have well-nigh com pleted their plan of improvement be »un a few years ago. Mr. T. A. Fulgham ,of the Im perial Tobacco Company, Lid., was among those to visit the Douglas to bacco market this week. .Mr. Shuff, popular buyer fur this company and Mr. Majettee were hosts to Mr. Ful gham while he was in the city. days. It is said in Valdosta that one can trace her places of residence by tne presence of beautiful flowering shrubs which she always planted. On leaving- her plantation home she sold it to her cousin, Captain Julius War ren Boyd, who reared a large family there, his bride arriving there in 1870 when the old garden was in its greatest glory, having been referred to by a well-known Georgia writer once a s “Elizabeth’s Georgia Gar den.” \ During the reign of Mrs. Elizabeth Ashley over the slaves on the planta tion, she worked unceasingly for their Christian education, and there were many of them given Bible names by her. Left to choose their own names they invariably chose flowers, and [ recall having a little city cousin visit us once, who after springing numerous bits of knowledge on us was final I' asked if she “ever saw a black Rose.” On being calmy led to old black Mammy Rose, she burst into indig nant tears at having been gotten the best of. There were black pews re -rved for thorn at Oak Grove church where this good woman worshiped, and they heard, perhaps, better prech ,ng that they have heard since. And perhaps no berter misisoneries have ever gone out of our State of Georgia than those good.woman who helped to educate and christianize these black people fresh from the jungles of Af rica. When I last talked to this good woman, as I looked into her gentle face „under its crown of snowy hair, I thought of a -Latin inscription I once read on an old sundial, “Horas non numero nisi werenas,” (T count no hours but unclouded ones}. I like to remember many things in her life that, t have not hero the space to re cord. but I offer this in her memory to the good pcoote of Coffee County who are interested in those who have made its history before them. OFFICIAL ORGAN COFFEE COUNTY. CITY OF DOUGLAS, AND THE CITY OF NICHOLLS DOUGLAS, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 1924. PRICES MOUNT HIGHER AS BETTER GRADE COME ON LOCAL MARKET There seems to be some apprehen sion upon the part of some of the to bacco growers that the warehouse will be open for only four weeks in Geor gia this year. The report has gained considerable proportions, and is with out foundation. The Georgia ware houses will remain open just as long as there is* tobacco to sell, though it be six or eight weeks. There is hard ly question but they will remain open ai least three weeks longer, and if necessity demands, still longer. Instead of a weakening in prices, there is a tendency to grow stronger, and the average will be considerably higher this week than at any time since sales began. seems to be no doubt but that excellent prices will prevail throughout the present season. We’ve no foundation for this statement other general condi tions as presented. The quality is good and the demand strong for the Georgia product. We do not believe it necessary at all to rush the tobacco on the mar ket as has been the case since open ing of the sales. The warehousemen end the buyers are anxious to move the crop as rapidly as posible, but pre fer to give the best service they can at the same time, and this is best done when the houses are not ove* eroweded. AS OTHERS SEE US (By Erskine Caldwell in Monday’.', Macon Telegraph, and Augusta Her ald.) Douglas, Ga., Aug. 17—Probably there is, no .county ip the. state that ►is raismg* ifs 'ecOno rm d L sl: ructur eon firmer foundation than Coffee County No county in the state has put great er street on scientific diversification and it is doubtful if there is a county in the state that is in a better fi nancial position than this county. Here are some of the things that makes Coffee one of the most pros perous counties in the state: Last year the county shipped 255 carloads of hogs end beef cattle that were raised on Coffee County feed and there will be about the same amount this year; a small cotton acreage will produce about 7,000 bales, the larg est corn crop in the history of the county, 187 farmers have cream sep arators and are shipping cream, and have enough hogs and chickens to consume all the skimmed milk, 50 per cent of the farmers are raising tobacco, having on an average four acres to the plow and making from S2OO to SSOO to the acre. It is almost impossible for one who has not been on the ground to gain any adequate condition of what di versification has done for this coun ty. This is especially true in regard to the part that tobacco has played in saving a large section of the state from absolute bankruptcy. It is ad mitted by everybody here that to bacco has not only made money for the people, but has actually saved the county from economic debacle. First Tobacco in 1905 It was in 1905 that a man from South Carolina raised the first Coffee County tobacco. There was no mar ket in this state and the product was shipped to Florence, S. C. This tobacco was poorly handled and the returns were not attractive, but this man and one cr two other men con tinued the experiment. Cotton was king and his loyal subjects frowned upon the would-be usurper. Tobacco was an economic Cinderella and it was not until 1915 that a small ware house was built where she might en tertain a few friends. Today in Douglas alone there are two large warehouses, one of them with an acre of floor space, and a stemming and redrying plant where the China- American Company prepares tobacco for direct shipment to China. To bacco has raised Douglas from the position of an unknown wiregrass vil lage ?nd placed in the center of re gion of unexcelled prosperity where P.ig Business is eagerly spending mil lions for the golden weed. During the last week the streets of Douglas were crowded with peo ple from far and near. All available tit is natural that a person wants to sell their tobacco the same day that it is brought to market. When this canpot be done, it is natural to sup pose that the i-esults will be some dis satisfaction.' It may he that the peak t»f sales has been reached. On the floors Thursday morning was as much tobacco, or more than was here on opening date, and no one knows how long this will continue. The' excellent prices paid here are attracting growers from several oth er counties, and in one shipment alone seven car loads of tobacco was re ceived on the Douglas warehouses Monday. Other car load shipments have been arriving during the week, and a continuous stream of trucks are flowing into the city day and night, and the traffic on the streets was nev er greater on any special occasion than it is all during the day from early nmrn to late at night. Hun dreds of visitors who do not make themselves known, but merely come to see for themselves, tmd go away, are here every day. There is a much greater rush on this market than was even anticipated Had tw*o sets of buyers been on the Dcugla.4 market, there is little doubt that tPye would been at least a third more of' the Georgia crop sold on the Douglas market. jparking space around the warehouses . was occupied by cars belonging to the men who had tobacco on the floors. The sales at Douglas during . the ‘Secyhd week of the sale has av orv.go*' • ■ ■:i a quafi-p-r - million i pounds for each day, bringing the j farmers fer the week about a quar ter million dollars. This enormous amount of money is reflected in every line of trade. The two local news papers carried several page adver tisements for local merchants in their two Jssues. Fred Ricketson, editor of the Progress, says that the busi ness in his office for the past month is the largest in the histoi’y of the paper. This reporter spent two days in conversation with farmers and busi ness men and not one was found ■who did not look with confidence to the future. There may be farmers who cid not succeed in growing to bacco. but they could not be found among the hundreds who crowded the warehouses Thursday and Friday. For Instance— Here are afew examples of what farmers have done. H. Cole planted nine acres of tobacco last year. His expense account for labor and other cash items w'as S7O. He sold his crop for $2,590. This year he has fifteen acres and has spent $260. The grade of tobacco this year is better than that he raised, last year and the pro duction amounts to 27,000 pounds. On Thursday -one of Mr. Cole’s small sons sold 130 pounds of sand lugs which his father had thrown away as worthless. The lugs were sold for 12 cents, the pounds. Mr. Cole is a share cropper and his half of r’ns year’s crop will go far towards buying a la n. Will Stafford, a colore I share crup per last year cultivated two and a half acres of tobacco and his share of the proceeds was $340. This year he has four acres of tobacco. He sold, his sand lugs Friday, the lowest price being 32 cents. One lot brought 48 cents. After receiving his check} he and his family went home in an automobile. Mr. Pegram, a North Carolinan, who operates one of the warehouses, bought a large tract of land last year and made enough off his crop to pay for the land. Four brothers bought an immense tract of land for which they paid $1,200. They have SB,OOO worth of tobacco at current prices and will have 1.200 bushels of corn to sell. These examples were taken at ran dom and in no sense are they excep tional. Dr. C. A. Moody of University of Ga., spent several days with Dr. S. J. SHrley this week, resisting him with his work. PEANUT GROWERS URGED TO USE CARE IN GATHERING PEANUTS FOR MARKET ALBANY. GA., Aug., 18.—Warning by the Georgia Peanut Growers Co operative Association, from its head quarters at Albany, against threshing peanuts, instead of picking them on a picker, has brought criticism from some sources, This criticism, how ever, has in no way caused the Peanut Association to recede from its posi tion that peanut growers will make a mistake to thresh their peanuts, J. J. Watson, Head of the Sales and Pro duction Department of the Associa tion declared. Advice against the use of threshers was inspired by no desire to injure the business of any man who sells threshers or to help anyone who sells pickers, Mr. Watson said, but was issued solely for the purpose of help ing farmers grow peanuts. The only way to secure the best grade andthe best price, he declared is to put their crops on the market in the best mar ketable condition. Each year sees a larger percentage age of the world’s peanut crop used for edible purposes, Mr. Watson con tinued, this condition having progress ed to the point where the entire domestic peanut crop is used for food except what is too badly damaged to be fit for human consumption. In the nine month period from November 1923 to August 1924, the amount of peanuts used for edible consumption in the United States increased fifty million pounds compared with the same period the year before. This enormous increase in consump tion for elible purposes and the high prices prevailing for peanuts make it necessary to apply the most approved methods in handling the crop so that a considerable portion of it can be j stored and distributed to the trade I throughout the year as the demand j requires, he addefcl. In order .to ! make this possible' ¥he ! be in good condition when stored. If the hulls are cracked, even through the kernel may fceem unin jured, the peanut is immediately ex posed to the air and will become rancid in store, and if kept until spring or | summer will most likely become in i fested with worms. In fact, cracked or shelled kernels when stored be come often badly infested with worms by February or March. On the other hand, a sound, dry peanut, where the hull is net cracked, will keep in stor age throughout the summer without injury, Mr. Watson stated, as evi denced by the fact that peanuts re cently shipped by tnc Association af ire ten months stoiage came out in perfect condition. M st of the peanuts to be held over along pernd he stated, will generally be stored in Federal Licensed Ware houses. The mtipt.s irsued by these licensed warehouses are th eoniy re ceipts which ur Federal Intermediate Crone rank wi.l ac opt as collateral fir lo«ns o pe:»U£" As all such loans are made for at least six months the warehousemen is allowed to issue a licensed receipt for threshed peanuts, because, in the judgement of the United States Department of Ag riculture, they cannot be kept safely in storage for the period covered by the Federal Warehouse License It has been demonstrated too often to be denied that a threshing machine will jsheli a considerable percentage of kernels and crack a still larger percentage of hulls, thus exposing the kernels to decay and insect dam age rendering them unfit for per manent storage. The Association, therefore, insists that the only safe plan for the peanut grower to avoid the use of a thresher and. a pick ail his peanuts on a picker and to be, i sure that the picker itself is in good condition and is operated efficiently. DAN L. GIBSON. Editor and Mrs* W. E. Bradley, otV the Baxley News-Banner were visitors in the city Monday In addition to being an editor, Mr. Bradley has ex tensive farming interests, and this year, has grown a large crop of to bacco, about twenty acres, which he bus marketed at Douglas. Mr. and Mrs. Bradley were accompanied by Miss Winrified Gilmore, of Baxley, who spent the day with friends. Mrs. Horton Christopher was the hostess to her bridge last Thursday afternoon at her home on Gaskin Avenue. 1 $1.30 Per Annum in Advance TOBACCO TRADE BOARD ORGANIZED HERE, A Tobacco Board of Trade was per fected at a meeting held at the Geor gia State Bank Monday evening of this week. The new organization is composed of warehousemen, buyers, auctioneers, and representatives of the various tobacco companies of the country, and practically every one on the local market have become mem bers. Mr. Arthur Barber, of the China- Amerisan Company, and the Georgia American Company, acted as tern porary chairman. He was elected as permanent president, and Mr. G. H. Pegram, of the Big Tobacco ware house was elected vice president, and Mr. J.JI. McLean, of the Growers Warehouse was elected secretary. treasurer. Membership dues were assessed at $lO annually, and a number of com mittees were appointed, including an arbitration committee and a sales committee. The purpose of the organization is to function for the tobacco industry just as a similar trade body would function for a city. The better co operation of the farmer, the ware housemen. the louver, and all interest ed parties for the better handling, and placing tobacco on the market, the protection of the buyer against fraud on the part of any one, and vice-versa. The organization will meet and discuss problems in general and work in harmony for the best plans o follow in facilitating the hand ling and promoting the best interest of the local market. COMMISSIONER J. BPOWN SPENT THURSDAY IN CITY # ' . —■— n : j ,* C-fKmiDsioftet - 4 f "Brown* of Aalanta, with Mr. Goodtoe Yancey, a former prominent Georgian but now of Tampa, Fla:, and Mr. Newbern, secretary to Mr. Brown, spent Thursday in Douglas. Mr. Brown is on a speaking tour of the state in his race to succeed himself. Te spent the day here attending the tobacco sales and meeting friends who were here from many sections. He spoke confidently of his re-election, and stated that assurances had come to him from all over the state that he would be elected again by the lar gest majority he had ever received. Mr. Brown was tendered a luncheon at Hie New Douglas hotel. Ho left in he late afternoon for Irwin county. KIWANIS CLUB RESUMES LUNCHEONS AT NEW DOUGLAS After a lapse of five vvekes the Ki war.is Club resumed their luncheon at i,hi New Douglas hotel and e spirited meeting was held at the new hour of meeting—one o’clock on Friday. A. lumber of subjects came up for dis ■ussion and some old business des •atched. The program committee was instruc ted to arrange a luncheon to which vouid be invited those in Douglas in the tobacco business, and the ladies Another committee was appointed to investigate the erection of an addi tional tobacco warehouse for another ;casr»n, end in addition, suitable pack houses to handle the immense crop ixpected to be marketed here another year. President John R. Slater pre sided over the meeting, orodan: sd hie ..inolunch. fflUf shr KUAN PARADE ATTRACTS LARGE CROWD THURSDAY The Klan pa Fr LCROOD mhhh The advertised Klan parade was pulled off on schedule time on Thurs day evening at eight o’clock. Tre mendous crowds thronked the streets and witnessed the fire works and the gigantic parade which marched about 8:30. A torchlight and flag was car ried by each Klansman in the parade and the marchers surrounded the court house while holding the buring tapers creating a pretty scene. NOTICE SERVICE AT PRESBYTER*AN CHURCH. Rev. Fritz Rouschenberg will hold two services at the Presbyterian church next Sunday, preaching ser vices rt 11:30 a. m. /nd 8:00 p. m. The publif is cordially invited to hear him.