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VO LUM K XXX VI -NO. 17 LAFAYETTE BEFORE THE WAR Mrs. Mary Gordon Writes Interestingly Os The Piuneer families—War Time Incidents lUj Mrs. Mary Gordon * first knew LaFayette in 1844 or 45, his l was just going to school here and f dtm't remember much about It, then. I csuir to live liere in 1848, about ('4 yittrn ago, and while names and dates sway from me sometimes, I can •iTisaeaiber a great deal about the town .-.tut. -the people of that time. '?>ie town was filled with a class of rfce jjiost refined, intelligent, best, Chris ridot. .people I have ever met in the j*taste ot Georgia. Some of the families, i}’ remember them, were Judge Spen r.-t-T Aiursh's family, Judge Iloge's, Alex . Shaw's, Dr. It. 14. Dickerson's rf:.wsaiVy itwhy, Mr. ltoh Dickerson's fatli .--UMI iny husband were partners for a ntxtxt utility years, and his mother and St wreue .great friends), the Simmons' I > r sp>:'tky, the families of Thomas and .tames Ititton —and Mr. Jack Patton vs.* an old bachelor. There were Col. Snooper. Capt. Farrlss's family, and .whent whose names would come to me 3X 1 armld stop to recall them. All of itVwtau were hospitable, and we mixed aatsuS ..Mingled together like brothers and rftf.-y.rrs, had splendid dining parties and . serial .affairs, and worked together in •rtf* ichurch; there were no sectarian -.SSSitereuces between us, nor no hard :rSr*Ai«gs. Then, there was Judge A. P. ..vEawoffs family—his wife was Mary .*S*:rsh, a native of this town. THwu, •duPTOJniIC summer of 1841), 1 "t. '<!. ifi. Gordon and Dewitt Farriss ■.iu.fi ,w»nt into the practice of medicine; younger generation coming on, you Kxrr*. .'.l’he Edwardses and Coulters lived lavir. the edge of town, out in the coun ( rsy. The people were more united in ysdigion and politics then than they , nr now. We had many grand revivals jwligion and the great sin of dane »» tliought by some in these days, >.v-,* wn ,prohibited then, and the young s*vsE*le bad grand times. The Kelleys xiv-ug here then —Sister Phoebe K.vJJey lived to be 05 years old, and to r'xs i«st of her days was in perfectly naxionnl, jnind. We lived a kind of life until the time the Civil V* ar broke out. .When the war came, my husband went out -and raised a company of y« >vyog men in LaFayette and the sur r, midintf country, 125 in number, the sj.jy cream of the town and county, of '.v buns only about ten or a dozen ever back. Many, many changes have niUitn place since then. The old Bap church used to stand on the hill, -x-wf! jthe old Methodist church —both sar:< re been removed. We had two good sclwcds. one of which was the female siemimary, taught by Mrs. M. C. John .sivn. where my children were educated. When my husband organized his coin %sany ro go to the front, Spencer Marsh .iuaated the uniforms. It was the white ih»V*-y uniforms, but the soldiers would j-ws- pjo out in them, so he had the cloth oo&jrefl by the tannery here, the old I'hi.ips Tannery, and made a sort of nws»)or; then tlie women of the town urntitt up tlie suits. I made some thirty •.»r forty suits myself. But then, all tJszvncb the war we were making .-ptriv*. to send off to the soldiers; many in nbe time I have sewed until 11 and U .uliiek every night, with a lamp on c'fcTi side of me. When Mr. Gordon’s company was > ii.nJe up, lie went to Atlanta and was jDfflile .Surgeon of Company “G”, oth 4 >■.»/• gin ’Regiment, until the Conscript let inf all doctors who were 57 years »>,S. vj>r. Marsh was a physician and .‘Snfgcon also. Tjrben tlie Federal troops came rtMvmsfb here, they tore down our ho isp itnrl she female seminary and put the w .»*j in their fortifications. I can re gmmSbfr the battle which was fought Hit--, for I was right in it. helping take .r»v> ol‘ the wounded. Old Tom Phipps TT, pc Shot 111 the leg. (It was at his nurnery the cloth for the uniforms of my husband's company bail been dyed.) I (remember the Yankee doctors bad tifea laid out ou the table and were jjjH&ig to cut his leg off. but lie made tTvmi send for my husband, and we •awe* him and put him to bed aud saved him leg for him. «C*n the morning of the 24th of June t was a wakened by the sound of firing •of «3aunon, aud when I got up a line rft soldiers formed across by r!w academy, and that day they had tfuht here and 80 men were killed and MEMORIAL DAY ISSUE-28 PAGES Walker County Messenger. j wounded. They erected a hospital in ■ the Presbyterian church, and took the last sheet and pillow-slip in my house for it. All the town contributed and we took care of the soldiers afterward*. I took care of one soldier for six months. They tore out the pulpit and all the seats and the window sash of the Baptist church, and you ought to ■ have pay for that. I think the Presb.v terian church was damaged a great deal, too, but to what extent I don't re member. In tlie battle General Pillow com manded, and be was drunk, and sat down under a hickory tree and sat there 1 until his inferior officers brought in the men and had the fight. They fought from the courthouse and from the Go ree Hotel, and from all the largest buildings in town —the Marsh building, too. The Union soldiers were encamp ed here grazing their horses when Pil ! low’s command came in ou them. They ! had done a great deal of damage to the buildings before the battle. They were going to turn me out of the Goree House, but I told them “No, I wouldn’t go.” The fight was warmest from just about where the Baptist church now stands to the courthouse. About (he time the fight became hottest 400 cav alry from the 4th Kentucky Federal soldiers came in from Chattanooga and the Rebels retreated, but they did not whip them, all right. During the fight, one of my house servants was shot in the calf of the leg, and my old cook got so scared that she rail under the house and huddled up against the chimney until the fight was over, while my children kept running around crying for “Mammy”, as they always called her. I put the children, four of them (I only had four), up in the fire place of the Goree House, and then hung cotton mattresses in the win dows to keep out the bullets. My hus band was in the thick of tlie fight, car ing for the wounded, and I was kept mighty busy helping with them. 1 must tell you about the time i went to see my husband in Virginia, after ! the battle of Manassas. Captain I. D. Allen met me at the terminus of tlie railroad. He had taken the place of Dr. Gordon after he was made surgeon in Atlanta. He met me at the terminus of the railroad and we had to walk two miles; my husband was sick with ca tarrhal fever and I did not expect to see him until I got to camp. They had given strict orders not to let any women go inside the lines, hut Captain Allen said, “You are going in there.” I was scared. We passed the first vidette, and he raised Ids hill and let us pass, ard the second, and the third, and they let me in all right. I looked across a little branch there and saw my husband, and fetched a scream and went flying. Then we went ou to camp. I had a big traveling trunk full of presents for the boys of Compang G, that their folks had sent them. I un packed It in the captain's tent, and each of the boys came and claimed what ids father and mother had sent him, clothes and good things to eat. I boarded while I was there at the Captain's tent. I remember that a man by the name of Marion Satterfield was cook of Com pany “G”. In tlio evening I would stand on the bill with Captain Hoge and watch the drill; I don’t know how many men were there, hut It was the finest body of men I ever saw. I stayed there two weeks, and on the third day after I got there I saw a commissioned officer riding up, and I thought he was going to arrest me for coming inside the lines. My husband said he wouldn’t arrest me, aud the toys all said the whole 9th Georgia will muster to your rescue, if he does. When the officer came, lie got down from his horse and shook hands with me and bid me wel come, and I surely was relieved. I was as white as a sheet. My husband told me I needn’t have been afraid, for their wasn’t an officer there hut what was 1 bis personal friend and brother and 1 .*ouid have done anything for him. I never saw such a fine tody of men, ' it was the cream of the State of Gcor | git—Hood’s Division. After the war everybody was hunk nipt. A great many had refugeed, and a great many like me, had lost every thing they had hut their children and a little piece of land. There was scarcely a whole house in the town, everything I LAFAYKTTF, GEORGIA, FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 1912 EIGHT NOW AFTER TREASURERSHIP B. N. White, Os East Ar muchee Makes The Eighth Entry A new candidate for county treasurer entered the field Tues day when the friends of B. N. White, of East Artnuchee, entered his name in the list. The entry of Mr. White makes eight candidates in the race for this office and still further com plicates the outcome of this race Mr. White is a young man who on account of his splendid char acter and the fact that he is a cripple, will get a splendid vote in the Armuchees. The card issued by his friends follows: The friends of 11. N. White announce him as a candidate for county treasurer in the primary of May Ist and ask the voters of the county to give him their sup port. He is a young man of fine character, but is a cripple and tin able to do physical labor. No more needy man is in the race for this office. REPUBLICANS WILL HAVE COUNTY TICKET At a meeting of the Republican Executive Committee of the coun ty last Saturday, at which rou tine business was transacted, it was decided to call a mass meet ing of the republicans of the coun ty August 24th next for the pur pose of selecting candidates for county offices. Wardlaw Writes About Primary May Ist being our primary for county officers and for president we would be glad to have as many as can possibly do so go to the polls and express their choice for the above officers. And to the Executive commit tee: As has been the ruling of the state chairman, there will have to be two ballots, one for the pre sident and one for the county offi cers, as you will have two sets of tally sheets, list of voters and offi cial returns to be sent in to coun ty site. It will not be necessary to have two sets of managers. W. A. WARDLAW, Chairman. ERADICATION OF TICK STARTS IN SUMMER It will' be of much interest to' the citizens and cattle raisers of Walker county to know that Prof. Brahnsen, state veterinarian, has directed that through the months of .July, August and September preliminary work will be carried on to eradicate the cattle ticks in the county. An interesting arti cle on the tick business will lie read in the Messenger soon that will be talked about for the next two years. It is generally known that Mr. Oartriany has resigned his position as superentendent of the road squad, but it is officially stated that road work will go steadily on all the year with good wages for the men that help do the work. The tine dairy barn of A. Veatch in Cane Creek was burned at an early hour Monday morning. The fire is believed to have been of incendiary origin. The loss is estimated at about $2500, with some insurance. torn up and 1 moved here to educate my children and work. (.'apt. John Y. Wood taught a high school in the acad emy right after the war. I picked up toartls and fixed up the hotel (tliriH-: rooms), and the first court I made SSO. Since that time people have lived In LaFayette in peace and harmony, aud sometimes they have had their ups and downs, but, taken all together, I think LaFayette is the best town tn Nor”! 4 west Gporgla and I hope to lie J rest of my life aud die here. UMZJJMS ptfOJOJ OfJiOOJPsUS VSJJ ‘ * » »*• . J. A. PARK JUDGE MADDOX GIVES INCIDENTS Os Fight at LaFayette—An Encounter With Gate wood By Judge John W. Maddox Having boon requested by the histori cal Committee* of the U. I). C. to relate some of my personal oxporioneos during our late war between tlie states, I have selected one which liappend at La- Faytte. T was a member of the Sixth Georgia Cavalry. In the fall of 1803 it was at tached to tlie command of General Wheeler. As my-recollection serves me, it was about the middle of August, 1804, while we were at Atlanta, General Wheeler was ordered to make that long raid in the rear of General Sherman's, way up'in Tennessee near Nashville, for the purpose of cutting his communica tions, ete. On our return we came out through Middle Tennessee, crossed tie* Tennessee river at Muscle Shoals in Alabama and started on our way buck to Georgia to join General Hood. When we arrived in the neighborhood of Oftve Springs, Ga., we were ordered to strike the W. & A. R. R. between Rosacea and Dalton, and destroy the tracks, trains and bridges. Our regiment was ordered to La Fayette to guard the left Hank of Gen. Wheeler while lie was moving on Dal ton. We had been marching all day when this order was received. We at once started for LaFayette, crossed the Coosa river at Veal’s Kerry, twelve miles south of Rome, and reached the Boiiehil lon place (now known as Sprite) on tin* Central Railroad, where we stopped for some two hours and fed our horses. We then mounted and resumed our march for I.a Fayette, going directly to Sum merville, and then to LaFayette, arriv ing there, as J now remember, about 10 o’clock the next morning. In LaFayette we stopped behind the old court house and dismounted. Rickets were thrown out <m the roads leading east, west and north. Very soon after our arrival the noted Guerilla Gatewood, with five or six of his men, came into LaFayette from the east, where it was reported that they had hung fi man that day or the day before by the. name of Burton. Lieut. Joel Weathers, with two or three men, was sent out on the road north on a scout. The balance of us were soon asleep on the ground. Major John T. Burns was in command and was lying on the porch of the old ('aidwell hotel that stood oil the west of tin* square. Col. Hurt had stopped back at Mr. But ton’s on the south side of the creek to prepare some dispatches. While we were so asleep, being completely worn out, the bugle sounded “mount up.” We sprang to our horses immediately. Major Burns rushed from tin* portico, where In* had been asleep, sprang on his horse, and ordered first and second squadron to form on tin* north side of the court house and the third and fourth to form where they stood. This order was in stantly obeyed, and before we had got ten into line on the north side we heard a number of shots fired in the direction of Chattanooga, at the same time we saw Weathers and the pickets coming toad, about where Mrs. War SM i: ‘"' •' l ' , ‘' ' '■"* ! Ininini them was a com- B. F. THURMAN puny of Nunkcc cavalry charging upon us with drawn sabers, and yelling like mini men. Major Burns ordered us to follow him, and he made a dash for I hem right up the mud towards Chat tanooga. This was wholly unexpected by the Yankees, as they thought no one was in LaFayette except a few scouts, as we afterwards learned. They soon discovered they bad a fight on their hands. They turned to run, and it was I hen a race until they were all killed or captured. It is my recollection now Hint only one of their men escaped. He was mounted on a white horse and lie got awaf by simply out running us. We could not catch him on account of the exhausted condition of our horses, al though some of our men followed him almost to Rock Springs. Our horses "ere already exhausted before this chase began. Alsmt a mile north of La Fay ette, as I now remember, we gathered all of our prisoners together in a field. About that time Col. Hart caught up with us, aud Gatewood, who hail joined with us in tin* chase, came up and de manded that the prisoners be turned over to him. Col. Hurt had evidently never seen Gatewood before, for he at | once demanded to know who In* was. and when informed In* immediately, in that sharp and decisive manner for which fie was noted, informed Gatewood tluH the prisoners had been captured by bis men aud that they would la* turned over to the regularly constituted authorities authorized to receive them by tin* Con federaev. Up to this time the prisoners thought they had been ruptured by tin* guerillas and exjiectod to be shot, but when they were informed that they were in tin* hands of tin* regular soldiers and would be treated as prisoners of war. this information made them tin* happiest men I ever saw. We did not need any guard to keep them, for they stink to us like brothers. We picked up tin* wounded, carried them back to the old Goree house and left them with l)r. Gor don, who lived there then. Col. Hart d<* tailed one or two of the prisoners to stay and wait on them. These pleaded with Col. Hart not to leave them, as they were confident the guerillas would kill them. Col. Hurt sent for Gatewood and told him of tin* leu is of these men. said he was going to leave them in Gatewood's charge, telling Gatewood that if a hair of their heads was hurt In* would hold him personally responsible. What became of them 1 do not know. That night we camped in a pine thicket iust east of Mr. Clemon-s (house, tlire<* miles south of LaFayette. 'Pin* next morning we joined our brigade at Villa now and moved on to Dalton. This in cident about which I have written aw in October. 18(14. Any one interested in this incident aud desiring to get fuller particulars as to it can call on iny old friend and com rode, whom I am glad to say is still alive and lives near LaFayette, Wilt/ Boss, who was in this “scrap” and knows all about it. t CARD FROM CAPT. WOOD To whom it may concern: The report that A. 0. Catron is an infidel is without foundation, for be has been s member of the An tioch Baptist Church for almost twenty years, and while living here attended church regularly and paid liberally to its support. J. Y. WOOD. Cedar Grove, April 24,1912. ONE DOLLAK PRR Yh AR ESCAPING A HAIL OF YANKEE BULLETS (apt. Sanford Wimble tells the fol lowing incident of the battle of Cliicka nniiipi: As captain of Co. A. Bth (Icorgiu ba ttalion. I was in the thickest of the tifdit in the battle of Chickamaupa, and on Sunday iiiorninv, Sept. 20th, 1 fell with a bullet in my left knee. As 1 lay wounded on the ground, I turned my head to the Yankees and tried as best J could to dodge the bullets as tjiev ploughed the ground all around me. The cannons were cutting off limbs and tree tops about, me, while the roaring of the. guns was beard by my family living then at old Cassville, in Cass (now liar tow I county. After lying thus for some time, one of my company snatched me up on his buck and in the midst of a perfect storm of bullets, as fast as his legs could carry two passengers, lie ran with me oil* the battlefield. My friend said afterwardl that if I had not been an expert at dodging bullets we wolud have been killed, hut certainly it was his licet footedness that saved us. SLEPT IN MUD IN TRENCHES OF ATLANTA' ONE Tin* following letter was written by W. A. Weaver, a well known citizen of Hock Spring, to .1. T. Deck in 1804: Mr. I. T. Deck: Dear Sir —I write you a few lines to let you know I am still alive and well. I hope these lines will lind you and fam ily well, f understand that you have had to refugee again. It is hard times on the refugees. I heard from my stepfather tin* other day; he and my oldest brother have had to leave home to keep from being killed by the Tories. From what I ran learn Southern people in the enemy’s lines are seeing hard times. W are still in the trenches around Atlanta, and having a pretty hard time of it. We have to go on picket duty every third night and stay twenty-four hours at a time. We have continual picket fighting along the lines and the enemy continues to shell the city day and night. \\V are having a good deal of rain, and it is very disagreeable, as we are confined to tin* ditches all the time; very often have to lie down in the mud to sleep. Thomas Kvatt and the Jmlancc of the hoys are well. ('apt. Ward has got well and is with the company now. Your friend, W. A. WEAVER. Atlanta, (la., Aug. 22, !Htl4. LINWOCD LOCALS Miss Minnie Kilgore, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David Kilgore, died at her home in Lin wood Mon day night. She has been sick u long time with consumption Funeral services and intermen* took place at the Shaw graveyard Wednesday morning. Mr. and Mrs. J. F. Johnston left Sunday for a few days stay with relatives near Subligna. Several of our young people went to a place Saturday night where an entertainment had been promised, but unfortunately they found the family enjoying the blissful luxury of sleep, so noth ing was left for them hut to re trace their steps homeward. I am requested to annomie.- there will he a singing at th- Linwood church Sunday afl< r noon beginning at 2 o'clock. All are cordially invited to eo.v.e with hearts and voices in tune. |)r. and Mrs. J. •). Johnston will leave Thursday for the mineral spring near Subligna, wher- they mean to,spend the summer It is there that the Doctor always ral lies from his attacks of nervous prostration. Horn to Mr. and Mrs. I). M. Williams Saturday a daughter Mr. Williams has no boys, but takes the bright side and thinks he will have a lot of sons-in-law, for he has eight girls at home and one married. MAGGIE ( RAYS Mrs. H. L. Edwards, of Lyerly, is visiting her mother, Mrs. Wat ford.