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E OLD RAILROAD STATION IN THE PIONEER DAYS OF WAYCROS3
m
^rges. Tebeauville knew little of the
bleak winter days. Saw mil’s and tur
pentlne plants had not gotten in their
pernicious work of stripping the er
mine from her shoulders. Flowers
bloomed here the year round and the
time seemed far off when nature would
demand her crisis. The chilled winds
-of war were about to blow but life in
this Utile town rejoiced in the sun
shine under the blue skies.
A vague unrest entered the bosom of
the sober minded men of this quiet
little village. There was an approach
ing cataclysm. The question they
often asked “Is It Just?" and the very
air told of a coming storm. The hana
nirhed me with its following early
history: '
“Mr. Philip C. Pendleton settled in
that portion cf Wa.vrross known as
“Old Nino", or Te^eauvillo, in 1857
At that time a Savannah Company
headed by Mr. Jas. Screven, father of
the late .John Screven, was building
a railroad from Savannah to Thomas-
villa. The western terminus for the
time was at a point twelve or iirtcen
mile3 cast of Diackshear. The laying
of the iron reached Mr. Pendleton’s
place about a yegr later. The old
stage road between Thomasville and
Brunswick passed here with a fork
running to Burnt Fort on the Satllla
EihOSEYE VIEW OF WAYCR033 TAKEN FROM PARKER THEATRE, SHOWING PLANT MEMORIAL PAR K, THE FOUNTAIN AND THE OLD
PASSENGER STATION, "NOAH'S ARK."
and Gienmore was Number 10, etc.
While General Robert E. Lee v
in command of the coast defenses,
Carolina, Georgia and Florida,
stopped for a few hours in Tebeau-
ville. Many of the people who lived
here then remember seeing this "Man
of the Hour” who still lives in the
hearts of the people tpday. Among
the citizens who resided here were
the Tebeaus, Reppards, Remsharfs.
Parkers, Grovenstoins, Millers, Beh-
rcceive such assistance as the people
of this city and county can render U3.
NEW PASSENGER DEPOT WHICH REPLACED THE OLD “NOAH’8 ARK.”
upon the wall was tracing in fiery
letters, “Brother against brother." Old
institutions crumbled and new ideas
dazzled the men. The War between
the States was on. Colquitt’s BrlgaJe
received several recruits from Tebeau-
ville, among whom was the Honorable
Philip Coleman Pendleton. He
engaged in planting and looking after
his splepdid timbered lands when the
Tvar caim on. He raised a company
°f vo’iinfeers In Ware county and
upon Its organization became major of
the fifteenth Georgia regiment. He
participated In several Virginia cam
paigns, being In the thick of the fight
at the second battle of Manassas.
Mr. Pendleton organized the first
Sunday school in Ware county and
was ably assisted by Mr. Speer.
Wtcn they left to Join the Confederate
River. There was a post office at this
place known as “Yankee Towny. It
was called “Yankee Town” because
northern people operated the > stage
J coaches, and they had at this place a
relay stable; but all this passed away
with the coming of the railroad, and
* Screven named the station “Pendle
ton.” Mr. Pendleton took the first
train to Savannah and had it changed
to Tebeauville, fater his father-in-law
Capt. F. E. Tebeau, of one of the old
Savannah families.
“A year or so later a civil engineer
came along surveying the route for
| the old Brunswick and Albany road.
I When he arrived at Tebeauville, he
made a side proposition to Mr. Pendle
ton to-run the prospective city off in
lota and give him every alternate one.
Mr. Pendleton did not think he waaj
WAYCROSS AND WARE COUNTY.
Waycrosa, the gem of South Geor
gia, is located in the northern part
of Waro county. Ware is compara
tively a new county, having been form
ed from the immense domain of Ap
pling which once Included the five ad
joining counties and comprised the
urea of a small state.
A portion of the Okefenokee Swamp
extends over tho Florida lines Into
the southern border of Waro county.
It was upon the Islunds cf this swamp
that the Indians fortified themselves
po long during the Seminole War. It
was a mystery to the army how they
I maintained themselves until nn en
trance to tho “cow house", nn elevat-1
I ed fertile island, was discovered by I
‘.he scouts of Gen. Floyd's army.
I Through this opening they hud driven)
| groat number of the small black cat- j
t!o, that were found so numerous in * 1
South' Georgia, when settled by th}
whites.
It Is said tho word “cracker’’ origin-
lottos, Sweats, Smiths and dotting- j ated from the uso of tho long whips
hams. Among the first settlers of used by the early settlers in drivini
Ware County were: William Smith, A. j these herds. The popping of tho
Jornagin, Wm. Drydcn, James Full- whips on every side to keep the drove
wood, John Wiiilams, James Sweat,' from scattering/ gave the term to tho
John Moore, Thomas Allman, Joseph whip and afterwards to the driver,
Dyall, P. Bryan, \V. M. King, Thomas * and so we have the word “Cracker” so
Newborn, L. Walker, James Jone^, commonly applied to the rural popula*
M, J. Miller, Thos. Hilliard, M. Ad* j Mon of the South,
dicon. a ridge runs through the county
A mile away from Tebeauville is a .upon which the town of Waycrosa is
net work of railroads around which a located. All streams to the east of
city grew almost In a night. Her.it flow Into the Atlantic, and t:*oao
lights are shining over miles of terri- j west Into the Gulf of Mexico. Thirty
tory, beautiful homes are dotted here years ago Immense forests of yellow
and there. Progression is seen on pine was abundant in Ware county,
every side. The railway crossing sag* j except near the water courses where
gested the name for this ‘town. Way- other varieties of trees were
cross, the Arcadia of Southern Geer- abundant. Saw mills and. turpenrfjQ
j farms have given employment to
MR3. J. L. WALKER. 1 ikeurends, and brought Into this sec-
through them runs the historic stream
of Kettle Creek, where file Wildes
family was massacred in 1838 by tho
Indians. ,
This roil Is tho home of the water
melon, the ffrupe and pear; nuts,
peaches, sweet and Irish potatoes and
garden vegetables of every kind. Su
gar cane, highland rice and outs yleia
fine crops. Cotton, both longn and
short, produce well, and those who
plant wheat have succeeded finely,
although the Intter is a crop that has
not been extensively cultivated.
Tho Southern Division of tho At
lantic Coast Line centres at Way-
cross, giving five lines running out
from the town to Jacksonville, Tampa
Savannah, Brunswick and Albany, it
rid miles to Savannah, CO to Bruns
wick and 70 to .lackfonvSFo, and ths
roads connect at these ports with
Foreign"and -Coast wise Atlantic
steamer linos. At Trim pa with* ships
to Cuban and the Gulf ports, nnd
gradually began the development of
this rection, nnd in 1SS0 Waycrosa
numbered 028.
| In 1882 a prohibition contest began
and a license of $20,000 w-as estab
lished by legislation and went into
effect In 1883.
i In 18f»0 the population had increas
ed to 3,364, and the taxable value of
county property five times. The li*
cense was increased in 1802 to $30,000
nnd Waycrosa is nn object lesson
showing that towns can progress and
i become permanent without the salo
of liquor, as the population has been
steadily growing since that dute, and
in 1900 numbered 6,010.
In the 1910 census Wnycross had
Increased . hor population more than
any other city in Georgia, and gave
the phenomenal figures of 14,183.
The town has a complete system
of artesian water works, end an elec
tric light plant, ice factory, plaining
mills, foundry, etc.
TEBEAUVILLE
B y Mrs. J. L. Walker, •'"VJT*!*"
Mra, J. L. Walker, State Historian
and Historian for the Lyman Hall
Chapter D. A. R.. has kindly furnished
The Herald with the following
Interesting history of Tebeauville, or
k “Old •Nine", as it has been somethin s
called. Mrs. Walker has written a
number of very fine articles on tho
♦extinct towns of Georgia. In the Te-
^beauville write-up Mrs. Walker's rep-
ation as an Interesting writer is
|ly sustained:
TEBEAUVILLE.
ine can hardly call Old Tebeauvlllo
pad town for the lights have never
out of the village although her
ved a mile further up the
^taking the railroad station with
1 This level plain of wiregrass
Jtreeu no longer echoes only the
Ee of her people. Various sounds
can emanate from an up-to-
date railroad shop, that cost more
than it would have taken to buy the
whole county of Ware in the pioneer
days, keep this old town from being
silent. The undauntable and imper
ialistic railroad tracks now cover the
Bite of Tebeauville.
Protected from the cold winds of the
north by the beautiful pine forests
that had been almost unmolested for
i Army the Sunday School room was
• closed. After p. few months it was
reorganized by one whose life has been
; a success and has furnished Inspira
tion to many in this section. Mrs. B.
F. Williams, the wife of one of the
surgeons in the Confederate Array.
Mrs. Williams lived a few miles from
* Tebeauville at Sunhystde, near the
FatlUa river. She was a woman with
a purpose, never faltering until she
;had accomplished what she designed
| to do. She was-not only the superin
tendent of the Sunday School but
helped to organize a union church,
composed of “Hard-Snell’s", Metho
dists, Baptists and Presbyterians,
Mint existed and flourished for years
in perfect harmony.
The distinguished Louis B. Pendle
ton was born at Tebeauville. He is
editorial writer for the "Macon Tele
graph” and is an author of note having
written a number of novels and juve
niles including: Bewitched; In Tho
Wiregrass; Blind Tom nnd The Runa
ways; The Wedding Garment; The
Sons of Ham; Carita; In The Camp
Of The Greeks, etc. Mr. Charles Pen-
db ton also of the “Macon Telegraph”
spent five years of his boyhood days
at Tebeauville. Ho has kindly fur-
the one to deal with and told him $o,
and suggested that the president of
the road come to see him about It.
The engineer went back three or four
miles, pulling up his stakes its ht
went, and made a ct-rve to miss Mr.
Poftdleion's land, if one will stand ai
| the crossing near Tebeau Creek in
I the heart of Waycrosa and look to- •
wards Brunswick he can see the curve
I lr. the read caused by this effort
\
the engineer to make something
the side.
: ; Sketch Of Way cross : :
"Thus Wi
beauvllle died,
to Lowndes cc
“Tebcauvilio was called “Number
Nine" because in those days the raiir
road company numbered all its sta
tions. . Diackshear was Number 8
PREFACE.
The Herr.ld will devote ono \ ago
each week to show tho ptoplo all
over this and other states what wo
have in Waycrosa und Ware county.
We arc not going to promise you that
we will mail out ten, twenty or thirty
thousand copies, only our regular edi
tion of some 2,000 copies. The Herald
will give views of Waycrosa and Ware
county, its industries, factories nnd
other enterprises, and will be glad to
• tlon considerable wealth. Thus it is
! that Jarge bodies of land have been
denuded of the best timber, nnd the
soil being fertile and easily cUtivat-
€d, agricultural interests have devel
oped greatly in the past ten years.
Although tho saw ntiiis and turpen
tine farms nro growing fewer each
year there is still In this county largo
bodies of (ine.uncut timber of immense
size. Among these trees the curly
pine in great numbers are found, and
through Albany and Balnbrldgo wlUi^
the north and west. The Atlantlr*
Birmingham and Atlantic R. “R., by
construction and purchase, ir' addins
new short Hues to that system which
’puts Waycrosa in direct line with
1 the coal fields of Alabama. The fa
cilities for freight In every direction
is unsurpassed, and the passenger ser
vice is superb. The road now being
built from St. Marys, will give us IKe
third seaport, and another road con*
necting the town with the interior
points is projected.
In tire year 1870 Waycrosa was only
a rail wav crossing,, warehouse, saw
mill, a few cottages and not over fifty
inhabitants. With the builutng of the'
Short Line into Jacksonville nnd the
renewal of business life in th<5 south,,
