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Robert Grier
Georgia's
First
Astronomer
By Tina Simms
An intriguing and little known figure in Georgia’s early
history is Robert Grier, an astronomer and mathe
matician, founder of Grier’s Almanac, and uncle of Alex
ander Hamilton Stephens.
Practically every Georgian, especially if reared in a rural
area, has seen the familiar almanac with its homely advice,
gardening tips, zodiac and weather information. The adver
tisements stick in one’s mind. Over the years, since 1807,
the almanac founded by Robert Grier has promoted
down-home remedies for everything from croup to female
weakness.
Back in the old days the almanac advertised some real
zingers. Search Grandma’s attic and maybe you’ll turn up a
bottle of Mexican Mustang Liniment for Man and Beast. If
you do, for goodness sakes, don’t throw it away. Old patent
remedy bottles are now collector’s items.
Robert Grier was born, the son of Aaron W. and Jean
Gibson Grier, in 1780, in what was formerly Wilkes
County. “Near Augusta” seems to be the most useful
designation today. Governor Wright in 1773 had purchased
from the Indians a large tract of land north of Little River
and stretching westward to the Ogeechee, known thereafter
as the “ceded lands.” It was in this area that the early
Georgia Griers had settled.
Asa youth, Robert Grier attended old Union Academy
in Green County, where he studied mathematics and
astronomy under his uncle, Mr. Burns. One of Robert’s
sisters, Margaret, married Andrew B. Stephens and became
the mother of Alexander Hamilton Stephens, the dis
tinguished “Little Aleck,” Vice-President of the Confed
eracy. Robert Grier’s brother, another Aaron, was a Major
General in the War of 1812. Little Aleck for a time lived
with General Aaron Grier’s family.
It is not known in what year Robert Grier moved from
the place of his birth to Butts County. However, his family
home still stands in the Stark Community, near Jackson.
Supported mainly by entangled vines, it would seem, the
old Robert Grier home presents a rustic sight to the modern
eye. The wide, hand-hewn planks are truly a remnant of the
past. Grier, who died in 1848, is buried in a family plot
hidden in the woods near the house. The large rock on
which he is reputed to have sat and made his astronomical
observations is too overgrown by vines to be readily
located.
The Grier house is privately owned. In the past a
historical marker stood at the crossroads in Stark Com-
#ofltflnmcwi Openings
From a Great American Carpet Dealer
by permission of THE BETTMANN ARCHIVE
1848: The golden years.
What luck! Just as a weakened Mexico turns over California
to us, one of Captain Sutter’s men finds a few pieces of gold
in the sand along the Sacramento River. The men don’t stop
looking. They find more gold and cross their fingers while
it’s being tested. It’s.gold, all right. In such rich deposits that
a prospector could gather SSOO worth in just a few hours.
The word spreads. Doctors, lawyers, farmers, merchants,
even servants leave their jobs and rush for the gold fields.
Some sail around Cape Horn. Others risk their lives to plod
their "prairie schooners” across deserts and mountains. By
the end of 1850, San Francisco is transformed from a sleepy
Spanish village to a city of 15,000. By 1853, California
boasts 250,000 people. All looking for the rich life.g
CLEVELAND
CARPETS
JENKINSBURG— HWY. 42
GRIFFIN-141 N. EXPRESSWAY
THE JACKSON PROGRESS-ARCUS, JACKSON, GEORGIA
C' \ . ■ %
The old Grier home in Butts County
munity, about one mile from the house, but it is no longer
standing.
Almanacs have played an important part in the history
of publishing and journalism in our country. A cherished
piece of our national mythology is that Benjamin Franklin
“invented” the almanac in this country. Actually the first
American almanac was printed by the Harvard College
press, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1639, almost a
hundred years before Poor Richard’s Almanac made its
appearance. During the eighteenth and nineteenth cen
turies, close to 2000 different almanacs many short-lived
- were published in the United States. They were a popular
advertising medium and, having a different fold from
newspapers, were the forerunners of today’s magazines. The
almana’c, with its wise sayings and useful information, was
highly valued by our thrifty and pious ancestors.
Grier’s Almanac, founded in Georgia, was first published
in 1807 as The Georgia and South Carolina Almanack and
printed by the Augusta firm of Holly and Bunch. A copy of
that first edition is preserved at the University of Georgia, a
part of the Deßenne collection. Subsequent to Grier’s
death, the almanac continued under various editors and
publishers. Now published by an Atlanta firm, Grier’s
Almanac hasn’t missed an issue for 168 years.
Back in the .early nineteenth century, Robert Grier
predicted for his fellow Southerners the dates of eclipses,
the lengths of days and nights, and— so important to
farmers the weather prospects for the year.
Was he Georgia’s first astronomer? He seems a likely
candidate indeed.
This story on Robert Grier was reproduced from the
Winter, 1975 edition of Georgia Magazine with the
permission of Mrs. Ann Lewis, Editor. The author, Tina
Simms, a graduate of Mercer University, holds a Master’s
Degree From Stephen F. Austin State U., and is currently
employed by the Gwinnett County Board of Education as a
teacher of gifted high school students.
Fine Attractions
For Jackson
Chautauqua
Automobile Parade
A Feature
Everything About
Completed for Great
Gala Week
Program Consists of
Many Excellent
Features That Are
Attracting Wide
Attention
With an automobile race,
minus prizes, a sham battle,
Bishop Candler, Hoke Smith, in
addition to the regular num
bers, insures Jackson of one of
the best chantauquas in the
history of the state. The
program has been received
and is given below:
Sunday June 12, sermon by
Bishop Warren A. Candler.
Monday the 13,10 a.m. music
by DeKoven Male Quartet and
Alkahest band and orchestra,
concert by the Apollo Concert
Company, of Chicago; 8 p.m.
grand concert by the orchestra
and quartet.
Tuesday the 14, Home-Com
ing Day; 8 p.m. the usual
musical preludes by the
quartet and orchestra, concert
by the Apollos.
Wednesday the 15, Military
Day, 11 a.m. music by the
quartet and orchestra, lecture
by Dr. Thos. McClary; 8 p.m.
the usual musical preludes,
entertainment by Walden the
magician, assisted by Prof.
Heverly the handcuff king.
Thursday the 16, Automobile
Day, 11 a.m. music by the
orchestra and quartet, lecture
by Dr. Thomas McClary; 8
p.m. grand concert by all the
musical talent.
Friday the 17, 11 a.m.
musical preludes, lecture by
Dr. Henry Clark; 8 p.m.
musical preludes by the
Alkahest band and orchestra;
entertainment by Edwin R.
Weeks, assisted by his wife.
Many letters of acceptance
are being received from people
in different portions of the
state. The different commit-
THURSDAY, JULY I, 1976
Plans Accepted
For New
Baptist Church
Baptists to Erect
Handsome Edifice
TO COST ABOUT
$25,000
At the meeting of the Baptist
church Sunday morning the
plans for anew church building
were accepted and steps were
taken to further the movement
for anew church.
The plans accepted were
drawn by architects Sayre &
Baldwin, of South Carolina,
and were selected from a
number submitted. The build
ing, as planned, will be of white
pressed brick, of Grecian -
Doric architecture, and will be
one of the prettiest and most
modern church edifices in the
entire state. It will be modern
in all the appointments, costing
about $25,000.
The new building will have a
swimming pool, gymnasium
and a pipe organ to cost about
$2,000, half of which will be
given by Mr. Andrew Carnegie,
and other attractive features.
Anew Sunday school room will
be added and altogether the
new church will be a very
handsome one.
It will be next spring, it is
stated, before work is started
on the building. A good many
details in connection with the
church remain to be worked
out. These are in the hands of a
building committee composed
of Messrs. F. S. Etheridge, J.
H. Carmichael, R. J. Carmi
chael, S. O. Ham, W. J. Wood.
Work on the new building is
not to begin until the full
amount is subscribed, it is
declared.
--Butts County Progress, Nov.
15, 1912.
tees are at work in rounding up
the final details of the
Chautauqua. The outlook for a
successful chautauqua are
growing brighter all the time.
The advertising and automo
bile committees had a meeting
Tuesday night in furthering
their plans and got through
with a good deal of important
work. -- Butts County Progress,
May 20, 1910.
From a Great American Variety Store
by permission of THE BETTMANN ARCHIVE
1781: The end of a very long war.
Lord Cornwallis has been joined by Benedict Arnold, who is
most unhappy about not advancing fast enough in our army.
Their objective: to conquer Virginia. They see it as a weak
link, protected only by Marquis de Lafayette and his meager
force. Cornwallis waits in Yorktown for his reenforcements,
but the French navy gets there first. And so does General
Washington, who’s always at the right place at tl a right
time. We surround Cornwallis and his troops. He has no
choice. On October 19th, he surrenders his sword, and his
army becomes our prisoners of war. We march them to
Lancaster, to Cornwallis’s chagrin. To the King’s chagrin,
many a Britisher thinks we’ve done a topnotch job. Years
later, even Cornwallis admits he agrees. $
BECKHAM'S
#catl!!mt(injfpp9S
From a Great American Grocery Store
by permission of THE BETTMANN ARCHIVE
1836: The high price of Texas.
We’ve always been a restless people. More room, more free
dom, more opportunity, that’s what we want We’ve settled
°u r ! 0U^ Weste AA boun dary with Spain, and agreed to stop
short of Texas. Meanwhile, Mexico has joined the ranks of
Spanish-American colonies to gain its independence. That
means trouble. Mexico has been welcoming us into Texas
territory for years. But by now, so many of us have become
Texans, we ve become a threat. We’re forbidden to continue
to emigrate to Texas They’re sending troops and even a
warship to keep us down. We declare our independence
against the cruel Mexican president, Santa Anna. And we
fight for it at a mission called the Alamo We’re brutallv
exterminated All 166 of us from Davy Crockett to the sick
m the hospital ward But we ll get back at them in a month
General Sam Houston and 750 volunteers will rout the
Mexican army at San Jacinto, take Santa Anna prisoner,
Etna tree Igxhs. m
STEPHENS .
GROCERY