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HOME JOURNAL, PERRY, GA., THURSDAY, JULY 19, 1951 j
Ist Judge Sat By Whiskey
Barrel For Sober Session
When Houston and four other
Middle Georgia counties were
first laid out in 1821, each was
larger than many European coun
tries. Houston extended from the
Ocrnulgee River on the east to
the Flint River on the west.
To organize the government of
this territory, the General As
sembly of Georgia named Turner
Everett, Daniel Cornwall, Na-'
thaniel McCall, John Keener,
Thomas Harvey, Washington Rog
ers and Eli Nunn as commission
ers to supervise the election of
five justices of the Inferior Court
to head the county government.
The first justices elected in the
couny were Kitchen Curl, John
Mathis, Davenport Lawson, New
daygate Ousley and David W.
Mann. The Assembly designated
the place to hold Inferior and
Superior court as the home of
Jacob Little, seven or eight
miles from Perry on the planta
tion later owned by Judge J. M.
Davis.
Proud J. P. Little
Hiram Warner, who later be
came chief justice of the Supreme
court of Georgia, attended the
first court session and later wrote
this account of Houston’s first
court:
“Court was held by Judge Eli
S. Shorter of the Ocrnulgee cir
cuit at the house of one Little.
He was a justice of the peace and
his office magnified him. The
holding of court in his house was 1
the grandest event of his life.
“He was most obsequious in
his attendance on Judge Shorter
Glimpses Into Histories
Os Houston Communities
HENDERSON
Henderson was named for Sol
omon David Henderson who came
down to the county as a trader
among the Indians. He built and
outlived three stores in the com
munity. He married Miss Pene
lope Brown, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. William Brown, and lived
to be 90.
Another early settler was Hen
ry Till and his good wife, Beckey,
from Ireland. Each morning saw
Mr. Till, with his baby’s cradle
on one shoulder and his axe on
the other, while his wife carried
the baby and lunch basket to the
woodlands being cleared. Later
he owned a large number of
slaves and his plantation extend
ed for two miles along what is
now U. S. Route 41.
Other early settlers of Hender
son were Mr. Fitzgerald, grand
father of Dr. C. R. ,M ann and
Mrs. Gilbert, of Perry; the Ken
drick family, Dr. E. T. McGehee,
William R. Brown and Robertson
Brown, Hon. Joseph W. Wimber
ly, Dr. J. T. Coleman, Capt. Wm.
M. Davis, Col. Watkins of Ohio
and others.
HAYNEVILLE
The aristocracy of Hayneville,
one of the oldest communities in
Houston, ranked with the highest
in the South prior to and after
the War Between the States. It
was a great plantation and trade
center.
Early settlers included Joseph
Tooke, Skelton Napier, John R.
Wimberly, John H. Rutherford,
Bryant Brown, Maj. E. H. Wim
berly, Gus Wimberly, James
Pope, the Coalsons, Bivins, Law
sons, Halliburtons, Jerre Bunn,
Marcus Bunn, Isaac Moreland,
Terrell Perry, the Spences, Ri
leys, McCormicks, Harrisons,
Gibson Powell, Alexander Ever
ett, Dr. W. H. Roberts, Dr. Patti
shall, Charles Bass and Bryant
Edmondson.
Legal Whiskey
Fox hunting, deer hunting and
fishing were favorite pastimes of
the men, while the ladies en
joyed horse races and social
functions.
The legal sale of whiskey in
Hayneville and the race track
there attracted people from all
over the county.
HEARD COMMUNITY
This section of the county de
veloped rapidly after the found
ing of the county in 1821. Some
of the early -settlers were J. M.
Davis, father of J. H. Davis of
Houston Factory; Jacob W.
Pearce, Josiah Hodges, Blakely
Walker, Phil Lamar, William D.
Tharpe, Thos. Rutherford, Bold-
while not neglectful of members
of the bar, some 18 in number.
The dwelling of Little was a two
room log house connected by a
hall open at both ends. One room
w'as covered by boards, contain
ed but one bed and was occu
pied by the J. P. and his spouse.
The court sat in the other room
which was uncovered except by
blue sky.
Near Whiskey Barrel
“In one corner of this room was
a barrel of whiskey, with faucet
inserted ready for chawing. Judge
Shorter too had his seat in front
of this barrel and leaned his
chair against it, intending there
by to stop the drinking while the
court was sitting.
“The business of the court was
not finished the first day and,
owing to the sparseness of the
population, the judge and bar
were compelled to spend the
night there and share the simple
room with Mr. and Mrs. Little.
Pallets were made for the use of
the judge and lawyers and all
slept in the same room with the
J. P, and his wife.”
Not fct long was Houston to
embrace the whole of its vast
original territory. In 1822 the
Assembly laid out four new coun
ties, of which Bibb and Craw
ford were given large slices off
the northern area of Houston.
Six years later another section of
Houston was added to Pulaski
and in 1837 Macon county took a
large part of Houston territory on
the west. Many years later, in
1925, other Houston area became
Peach county.
ing Morris, Thomas Stripling,
Thomas Sandefur and others.
OAK LAWN
This community was in the
eastern part of the county and
was settled by a “party of Mass
achusetts gentlemen.” Thirty
acres were given the first 10 set
tlers, and more land was bought
at $lO per acre. “Let the New
England colonists come!” wrote
the Home Journal editor in 1884.
WELLBORN’S MILL-FEAGIN
This site was named for Wil
liam Wellborn, prominent citizen
of the county before the Civil
War. It was more commonly
known as Feagin’s Mill and early
residents included William H.
Talton. Garrett Smith, Cornelius
Wellborn, Jacob Sasser, G. T.
Feagin, Henry Feagin, Barnett
Hollemon, Dr. Joseph Palmer,
Melvin King, Joel T. Walker, J. T.
Newman, Neal Brown and others.
KATHLEEN
What is now known as Kath- ;
leen originated from a number of
large plantations bordering the
Ocmulgee River which was then
navigated and bore important
traffic from Darien.
At one time activity in this
area centered around Wilna, a
village located one mile south of
Kathleen —it being a station on
the stage coach line between
Knoxville and Crawford county
and Old Marion in Twiggs.
Oldest citizen of Wilna of
whom there is a record is James
Averette Bryan, born in 1801,
some of whose descendents are
the Wardlow, Story, Bryan, Davis
and Beall families.
The community of Wilna fad
ed away into a few old ruins.
CENTERVILLE
The site occupied by Center
ville in the northern part of the
1 county was settled in 1887, and
was so named because it was
half-way between ,Macon and
Perry and between Byron and
Wellston, now Warner Robins.
The land was owned by Mitch
ell F. Etheridge, father of J. P.
Etheridge and ;Mrs, Gertrude
Brantley of Perry. Wanting a
post office there but with another
Georgia city named Centerville,
Mr. Etheridge re-named it for his
eldest daughter, Hattie, now
Mrs Kemper who resides with
her daughter, Mrs. Bernard Hun
i nicutt in Fort Valley.
Mr. Etheridge long operated a
; store and other enterprises there.
The Garvins, Akins, Stembridg
■ es, C. W. Mathews, Dr. S. D.
Smith and others are prominent
. in Centerville history.
>-£<Siv<r«<;« /.f Ft*a«s* &U<«zk Kmg,. <>( O.D.C G», Otv,, Oft,
1908 PHOTOGRAPH shows home of Mrs. Francis Marion King,
organizer of the UDC chapter, Georgia Division, at Perry. This
home was purchased by Penn-Dixie Cement Corp. and is now
the home of M. L. Silcox, plant superintendent.
PERRY FIRST HOME OF
PATENT MEDICINE, SSS
The widely known patent med
icine, SSS, had its beginning in
Perry 130 years ago, Marvin Day,
manager of the present plant in
Atlanta, told Hugh Park, Atlanta
Journal columnist recently.
Captain Irwin Dennard of Per
ry secured the formula from the
Creek Indians in this territory
and is stid to have brewed it and
given it to his slaves as a tonic.
The Dennard home on Houston
Lake Road burned about two
NATIONALLY KNOWN
HOSPITALITY
OLD PERRY HOTEL, TORN DOWN IN 1923 NEW PERRY HOTEL. BUILT IN 1924, REMODELED IN 1948
LOCALLY FAVORED for LUNCHEON & DINNER MEETINGS
of Many Middle Georgia Civic, Social and Trade Groups
NEW PERRY HOTEL
PHONE 1000 PERRY, GA.
MR. and MRS. YATES GREEN
Owners and Managers
years ago.
Charles T. Swift, Atlanta bus
iness man, obtained the formula
from Capt. Dennard and formed
a partnership with Col. H. L. La
mar of Macon to bottle and sell
it. They moved the business to
Atlanta in 1873 because of better
railroad service there.
Descendants of the Swift and
Lamar families still control the
manufacture of the “tonic,” appe 1 -
tizer and stomachic.” Their names
and that of the Day family are
pioneer ones in this area.
Colorful Houstonian Hit
At Official Dishonesty
One of the most colorful men
ever to live in Houston county,
to judge from excerpts in sev
eral historical sketches, was
James Averette Bryan who liv
ed in the early 1800 s in the
Sand Ridge section and was an
early member of the Sand
Ridge Baptist church which
later joined with the Smyrna
church in founding Houston
Factory Baptist.
James A. Bryan had a slave
named Bob who was also an
active member of the Sand
ridge church.
Blasted Dishonesty
Pioneer Bryan hated dishon
esty and corruption in any
form.
Bribery in the 1840 session of
the Georgia Legislature meet
ing at Milledgeville so roused
Rep. Bryan of Houston county
that he declared on the floor of
the house:
“I would rather be at home
living on corn bread than in the
Georgia Legislature living on
Cake.”
“Practices current in the
Georgia Legislature make those
involved in them unworthy of
the name of American citizens.”
He was not the only Bryan
to make colorful history.
An aunt, Methuny Bryan, is
said to have been struck by
lightning which ran down over
her silk dress, melted her gold
watch and split open a trench
in the ground into which she
fell.
However, she is said to have
survived the experience and
lived for many years in good
health.
2 LARGEST
HAD HUNDREDS OF SLAVES
Here is the slave population
and land holdings of two of the
largest plantations in Houston
county in the early 1800 s, as re
corded by several historians:
James A. Everett in 1839 is
said to have had 156 slaves and
11,000 acres of land, while by
1864 just before the slaves were
freed, he had about 300 slaves
and 14,000 acres of land.
Joseph Tooke and his brother,
Allen Tooke, in 1834 owned 74
slaves and 4,000 acres of land; in
1853 they had 172 slaves and
5,510 acres of land.
ROBINS PREDICTION
Residents of Warner Robins
predict a population of 15,000 for
the former village of Wellston by
the end of 1951.
X *Pp|||P
iSk Ml in
ramp.
WILLIAM WEST is Solicitor
General of the Macon Circuit,
Superior Court, which includes
Houston county. He succeeded
the late Charles Garrett who
was killed this Spring when
struck by an automobile near
his home in Macon.
“PERFECT TREE”
Perry Garden Club has provid
ed a table and benches for the
convenience of travelers who stop
and eat their lunches under the
“perfect” tree on Route 41 North,
j the Perry-Macon highway.