Newspaper Page Text
Having Growing Pains
188 9 Eventful Year
In Perry And County
1889 was an eventful
year In Perry. The public
school system was
HHJ One
Os Oldest
Papers
There are only 13 weekly
newspapers in the state
that are older than The
Houston Home Journal and
only 21 older dailies and
weeklies, out of nearly 300
papers in the state.
The oldest papers in the
state (dailies marked with
D) are:
Augusta Chronicle (D)
1785; AAilledgevllle Unior
Recorder 1820, Columbus
Enquirer (D) 1828; The
Macon Telegraph (D)
1826; Athens Banner
Herald (D) 1832; Madison
Madisonian 1835 ;
LaGrange Daily News (D)
18'2; Rome News Tribune
(D) 1843; Warenton
Clipper 1843; Dalton
Citizen 1847; Savannah
Morning News (D) 1850;
Monroe Advertiser,
Forsyth, 1854;
Thomasville Times
Enterprise (D) 1855;
Lawrenceville News
Herald 1858; Swainsboro
Forest Blade 1859; Early
County News, Blakely,
1859; Gainesville Daily
Times (Eagle) 1860; Jesup
Sentinel 1863, Covington
News 1864; Greensboro
Her aid Journal 1864;
Newnan Times Herald
1865, Hawkinsville
Dispatch and News 1866;
and the Houston Home
Journal 1870.
Early Perry
Merchants
As suppliers and
financers of Houston
County's plantations and
tarms, business in Perry
flourished from the start in
the 1830's.
Some of the early
merchants in Perry were
MB. Thompson & Son,
E. Felder, T.J, Cater,
F. Cater, C.F. Cooper,
William Brunson, Arthur
Watson, George W Klllen,
W.A. Hobson, William
Kufferman and Bateman 8,
Felton.
I
Then... # I
You Needed !
Elbow Grease Pi J |
Cleaning may be \
easier now, but \ xjT' I \
it’s still j \
chore u> do. Let U'W' ||
us do it for you. i ( V
We’re eftkiciu. ,
___ i
PERRY CARPET CLEANING j
P.O. Drawer 1199 Phone 987-5937 j
Perry, Georgia
I
organized. The Perry Loan
and Savings Bank received
its charter. A building and
loan asslciation was
organized. A broom fac
tory opened.
Three brick stores and
several new residences
were built in Perry that
year. Street lights, eleven
in number, were installed
for the first time.
There was a bumper
peach crop. The first
cotton bales to be wrapped
in cotton bagging were
shipped from Perry. The
Farmers Alliance was
very active.
The Perry Rifles won
first drill prize of SSOO at
the Piedmont Exposition in
Atlanta and were en
tertained by the town when
they returned home..
Perry entertained the
first Georgia reunion of the
Southern Rights Guard
and Battery. It took 100
lbs. of ice to make iced tea
Dr. Holtzclaw Had First
Gasoline Pump In Perry
Back in 1910, when the
“tin lizzies" were just
coming out and only a few
people were sporty enough
to try one, they used some
peculiar gasoline pumps
that looked like they should
be out behind the house.
There were two or three of
these around Perry,
Ohe pumps housed in a
little wooden shed would
deliver a few gallons at a
time, either through a hose
or into a can, which then
was poured into the Model
T.
Dr. Holtzclaw was
credited with having the
first gasoline pump outside
of his drug store and
doctor's office.
In those days the
problem of getting five
gallons of gas into a car
was pretty serious.
Everybody on the front
seat had to get out. The
seat had to be removed so
♦he gasoline man could get
to the tank. He took off the
tank cap, went into the
pump shed, unreeled the
hose, went back into the
pump house and started
pumping until the clock
like register showed the
desired gallonage.
Then he came out, reeled
in the hose, put the cap on
for the banquet.
A mail route was
established between Perry
and Kathleen.
Os interest to the state
and the entire South were
the deaths of two
WWII Claimed
13 Lives Here
World War II claimed
the lives of 13 Houston
County men, according to
records of the War
Departments.
Those who died in action
of non battle injuries
were:
Cpl. Clinton M. Benson
Cp. Walter Dickerson
Sgt. Willie Felton
Pfc. Raymond L.
the tank, replaced the seat
and pronounced
everything in readiness for
the riders to return to the
front seats.
Back in those days, too,
Tom Anderson delivered
Standard Oil gasoline the
first to come to Perry. His
first delivery method was
SSS Tonic
First Made
In Perry
The widely known patent
medicine, Swift's Southern
Specifics, had its begin
ning in Perry 156 years
ago.
The formula was
secured from the Creek
Indians in this territory by
Captain Irwin Dennard, of
Perry, who is said to have
brewed it and given it to
his slaves a tonic. The
large three story Dennard
home on Houston Lake
illustrious leaders: Jef
ferson Davis, president of
the Confederate States,
1861-65, and Honorable
Henry W. Grady, editor of
the Atlanta Constitution.
1889 was indeed an
eventful year!
Gentry
Pfc. Marvin T.
Holloway
Pvt. Jack G. Kaigler
Sgt. Otis H. Linton
T 5 Cleo Pennyman
S Sgt. Malvin F.
Rackley
Pfc. James E. Reed
Pvt. Julius D. Stem
bridge
Pvt. Clarence Tucker
Pfc. Walter B. Whitten
a mule driven tank that
carried 140 gallons. He
later switched to a motor
driven tank truck.
W.F. Bennett was the
first gasoline man in Perry
and he used the mule
driven tank method, too.
HOME JOURNAL FILES.
road burned 30 years ago.
The home of Walter Gray,
Jr. now stands on this site.
Charles T. Swift, Atlanta
business man, obtained the
formula from Capt.
Dennard and formed a
partnership with Col. H.L.
Lamar of Macon to bottle
and sell it as S.S.S. Tonic
The business was moved to
Atlanta in 1873 because of
better railroad service
there. Descendants of the
Swift and Lamar families
still control the
manufacture ot the tonic.
Swiss Street in Perry was
named for this family who
once owned and occupied
the house on this street.
The Tolleson family
owned and lived in this
house 40 years.
Lewis Meeks bought the
house in 1975 and lives
there with his wife, June,
and three daughters.
The
American
Creed
"I believe in the United
States of America as a
government of the people,
by the people, for the
people; whose just powers
are derived from the
consent of the governed; a
democracy in a republic; a
sovereign nation of many
sovereign states; a perfect
union, one and in
separable; established
upon those principles of
freedom, equality, justice
and humanity for which
American patriots
sacrificed their lives and
fortunes.
"I therefore believe it is
my duty to my country to
love it; to support its
constitution; to obey its
laws; to respect its flag;
and to defend it against all
enemies".
|
Events And Steps
Leading To Revolution j
And Independence
I
By Ruby C. Hodges
The events and steps
leading to Revolution and
Independence of the
thirteen original colonies
of North America covered
a period of more fhan a
century and a half and
were numerous. Just as
political institutions result
from an evolutionary
growth, the establishment
of a union of states, or a
nation, on the continent of
North America came
about because the colonists
were weary of tyranny and
wanted to be free to
operate their own
government under their
own laws.
American history goes
much further back than
1776. Several European
countries attempted to
explore and settle colonies
in the new world in the 15th
and 16th centuries.
The first permanent
English colony was settled
in 1607 at Jamestown,
Virginia. The second
colony was Plymouth,
Massachusetts i n 1620
settled by a band of
Pilgrims sailing on the
Mayflower and seeking a
place where they could
have religious freedom.
Before the end of the
seventeenth (17th) cen
tury, there were twelve
colonies - New Hampshire,
Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, Connecticut, New
York, New Jersey, Penn
sylvania, Delaware,
Maryland, Virginia, North
Carolina and South
Carolina. The thirteenth
(13th) colony, Georgia,
was not established until
the 18th century (1733) at
Savannah.
In the beginning, the
government of these
thirteen colonies varied.
Commercial or cor
poration charters were
granted to the Virginia
company of London in 1606
and the Plymouth Com
pany to issue stock to
underwrite colonization.
Further commercial
charters were granted to
Massachusetts Bay
Company (1628 and the
Hudson's Bay Company
(1670). Besides land and
economic privileges, the
charter gave the sponsors
broad governing powers,
including the authority to
appoint the colony's
governor and to make its
laws.
However, as early as
1618, Virginia Colonists
obtained a charter
granting them the right to
call an assembly of
representatives. Even
tually all the charter
colonies had legislative
bodies.
Proprietary colonies,
such as Maryland and
Pennsylvania, became the
chief form of charter
colony after 1632. This type
was granted to an in
dividual or group instead
of a company. Lord
Baltimore was the
proprietor of Maryland,
and William Penn of
Pennsylvania. A third type
of charter, the in
corporated, was granted to
Rhode Island (1643) and
Connecticut (1662) by the
King after the colonies had
already been settled.
Charter colonies owed
allegiance to the Crown but
were not under its direct
jurisdiction. Their char
ters served as con
Bicentennial History
stitutions.
British Control
Throughout the Colonial
period, Britain attempted
to reclaim authority over
the settlements in
America, changing the
status of most to Royal
Colonies, in which the King
was represented by a royal
governor and had the
power of veto over colonial
legislation. By 1776 there
were only four charter
colonies left; Connecticut,
Maryland, Pennsylvania
and Rhode Island.
Royal governors con
trolled dealings with the
Indians, conferred title to
lands, enforced import and
currency regulations,
appointed judicial,
military and other high
officials and guarded the
royal interests. The
Assemblies of Colonies
controlled finances.
Navigation Acts
England's Civil War
from 1643-49 caused a
relaxation of control over
the American colonies.
After the beheading of
Charles I by Oliver
Cromwell in 1649,
Parliament assumed
stronger control over the
colonies by enacting the
f irst of the Navigation Acts
in an effort to regulate
colonial commerce in the
interests of British ship
ping and manufacturers.
With the restoration of
the monarchy in 1660, the
King and Parliament
began the definite direc
tion of colonial trade. The
second Navigation Act was
passed and Lords of Trade
were appointed to take
over the duties of the royal
councils that had overseen
colonial affairs.
In 1696, the final Trade
and Navigation Act was
passed by Parliament and
the King appointed the
Board of Trade and
Plantations with orders to
give close attention to the
acts of colonial
Legislafures.
Britain's restriction of
the Colonies' commerce
and the Colonies' trade
deficit with England were
factors in bringing on the
Revolution.
Efforts on the part of
Britain to tax the colonies
for revenue to support the
British Army and officials
in North America brought
on a conflict which ran
through a cycle of protest,
boycott and riot until it
became an open rebellion
in 1775 and a war in 1776.
Continental
Congress
In 1774 all of the colonies
except Georgia sent
representatives to the
First Continental Congress
which made protests to
England about "taxation
without representation"
and other grievances.
In 1775, representatives
from all the colonies
assembled in Philadelphia
for the Second Continental
Congress, which became a
de facto government
without legal basis and the
first national government
of the United States.
Events had pushed the
colonists into statehood.
By the Declaration of
Independence ratified by
Congress on July 4, 1776,
the thirteen colonies were
proclaimed independent of
English control. Congress
proceeded to raise an
army, appoint a com
mander in chief, borrow
HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL THURS., JULY 1, 1*74,
money and negotiate
treaties ■ things only a
government can do.
The articles of Con
federation established the
first de jure national
government and became
the first written con
stitution of the United
States. They were adopted
by Congress on Nov. 15,
1777, but were not ratified
by all the states until
March 1, 1781. These
atricles served until the
present constitution was
ratified and became ef
fective in 1789.
Article I of the 1781
document stated that this
Confederacy shall be "The
United States of America".
Although they had certain
defects, the articles kept
the country united and
effective. The peace treaty
with England was
negotiated and signed. The
Northwest Ordinance of
1787, the basis of territorial
regulation to the present
day, was adopted.
Constitution
Instead of revising the
Articles of Confederation,
a convention, which met in
Philadelphia May 25, 1787,
wrote a Constitution which
was signed Sept. 17, 1787,
by 39 delegates
representing twelve states.
(Rhode Island did not send
delegates.) Eleven states
had ratified the con
stitution by April 30, 1789,
when George Washington
was inaugurated as the
first president.
A Federal government
was created by the Con
stitution. This type of
government consists of a
distribution of powers
between the national and
state governments. In the
case of a conflict of
powers, the Supreme Court
is the final arbiter. The
Constitution of the United
States is the supreme law
of the land and should be
upheld by all the three
branches of the govern
ment.
Among the cardinal
principles of the__Con
stitution is the sovereignty
of the people and limited
government. Another is
the separation of powers
among the three branches
of government. Another
principle is the system of
checks and balances.
A Bill of Rights, con
sisting of the first ten
amendments, was added to
the Constitution on Nov. 3,
1791. In addition to these
ten, sixteen other amend
ments have been added,
making 26 in all. The last
one adopted in 1971 lowers
the voting age from 21 to 18
years of age.
In 180 years of Colonial
history, the settlers in the
new world found that free
men could govern them
selves and that com
munities could cooperate
in a wider government
conducted by elected
representatives under a
constitution.
Familiar with the past
record of official per
secution, our forefathers
knew that the price of
liberty was high but they
were wi 11 ing to pay the cost
and incur the risks of
freedom. The present
generation is indebted to
them for the wonderful
freedome documents they
left as a legacy to inspire
and prompt us to greater
achievements.