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Dade County’s Only Newspaper.
VOLUME LV
DALLY1N' IN DADE
James A. Jenkins Familiar
Figure on Courthouse Square
The tall, shuffling gait and
genial nature of Mr. Jim Jen¬
kins make him a very familiar
figure around the courthouse
square. A pair of dark, curious
eyes give the white-haired old
gentleman a look cf constantly
giving some matter serious con¬
sideration, and knowing Mr.
Jenkins, it could be anything
from the weather to the current
state of affairs in Congress.
For he takes Interest in every¬
thing, reading the daily papers
Inside out to be surprisingly
well-read on many subjects. He
also takes an interest in his
friends, always dropping by
various offices on the square
after his morning trip to the
post office to pass the time of
day.
Mr. Jenkins wished to write
his cwn life sketch, so the fol¬
lowing is the information we
received:
86 Years Old
“My name is James Anderson
Jenkins. I was born May 14,
1869 which will make me 87 this
ccming May.
My father’s name was George
W. Jenkins, and my mother’s
name was Thursea Allen. My
father’s homestead of 40 acres
of land was in Alabama right
on the Georgia line. I went to
school in Deer Head Cove three
months of the year. At that
time they didn’t have any
grades in school. I didn’t go
but a month and a half because
I had to pick peas and go to
the mill. The school house was
a log house and the benches,
which had no backs on them,
were made with slabs which
came from the saw mill and had
holes bored in them.
The settlement was made up
of Blevins, Adkins and Austin
families. I am the third child
of the 8 children born in our
family and am the only one liv¬
ing now. For several years we
got our mail at Rising Fawn,
Georgia.
After I was grown, I went to
Walker County to help Mr.
Web'b Tatum and W. A. Steele,
working in the tan bark at
Cassander, Ga. When they got
through, I came home and
stayed a while. I went back to
Walker County and worked at
a band mill for some time. My
mother was taken ill and I
came back home. Went to work
fcr J. W. Jenkins peddling.
Stayed with him until mother
passed away.
Lived at Byrd’s Chapel
8 or 9 Years
In 1916 I married Lee Etta
Best Land in Ga. at Cole City Around 1907
The lovely, quiet wood which ,
is the site of Old Cole City
bears little, if any, resemblance
to the once-bustling and pros¬
perous mining village o f the
1800’s. Only the mocking cry of
a bird and the rush of a stream
breaks the stillness.
Trees have sprung up over the
entire area since the camp
closed down around the turn of
the century. Some of the most
valuable timber in the state
stood on the land along about
1850 when a man by the name
of O’Brian, according to legend,
had a small “wagon camp”
there. He sold out to a com¬
pany called the Castle Rock
Ccal Company, which began
cutting timber for living quar¬
ters, so through the years dif¬
ferent companies have gradual¬
ly cleaned off the area.
Tap Notch Grazing Land
Around 1907
At the time the camip closed
down, the land was considered
top-notch for grazing. Cattle
could be turned loose to graze
as far as the Tennessee River.
Some sawmilling of young tim¬
ber that has come up since the
camp was abandoned is now
going on about the camp site.
Walking through the picture¬
sque glade from the New Home
r. ad, it is very easy to imagine
the Village at its peak of activ¬
ity. The crumbling sandstone
Devoted to the Best Interests of Dade County and Georgia.
THE DADE COUNTY TIMES, TRENTON, GEORGIA, THURSDAY AUGUST 18, 1955
v
By Myrna McMahan
Buffington. We have six chil¬
dren, James Virgil, Fannie Mae,
Bonnie, Nellie, Parks and Evil-
lee. I bought a place in Byrd’s
Chapel, stayed there 8 or 9
years and three children were
born there. Dr. D. S. Middleton
was our family doctor for ever
50 years.
I decided to buy a place in
Trenton as I thought they
would never have any convey¬
ance from Byrd’s Chapel to
Trenton. I sold the place in
Byrd’s Chapel on time, Dr.
Middleton helped me cut in the
pay days. I quit J. W. Jenkins
and went to selling goods for
myself. Sold groceries and ped¬
dled for several years.
When I moved to Trenton I
went to farming. Rented a farm
from C. G. Phieifer for 18 years.
Raised cotton and corn. Both
my boys went to the army.
I’m net as active as I used to
be, am not cble to work much
in my garden. All of my chil-
ren are alive and most of them
live close around. I own and j
enjoy my home with some good
shade trees on it.”
2-Way Radios Aid In Police Mailers
Dade County’s law officers
have the latest in modern equip
ment — both Sheriff Graham
and Chief Deputy Bill Norton
now have two-way radios in
their automobiles and have had
a speaker installed 'in the sher¬
office.
Designed to give faster and
more efficient service, the ra¬
dios enable the county law of¬
ficers to receive calls from
Rossville and Ft.
while at the same
those stations get all Dade
calls. The sheriff’s ra¬
dio was installed about two
ago, and Norton’s was in¬
only two weeks ago. The
radios were bought at the ex¬
pense o t Sheriff Graham for
$552, plus a $33 fee for installa¬
tion.
He has requested that reports
on police matters be called in
to the Chattanooga dispatcher,
whose number is 6-1442, or to
Trentcn 231, which is the jail’s
number. Either place will relay
the call to him immediately.
His radio his proved invalu¬
able durng the past two years,
and Deputy Norton’s was put
to good use Saturday night
when a call came in frem Sand
Mountain about a hit-run acci¬
chimneys, foundations and the
scattering of slate along the
railroad bed tell a vivid and
eventful story of the boom per¬
iod.
Narrow Railway Wound In
and Out
The area is divided by Cole
City Hollow and is full of small
knolls, making it necessary for
the narrow gauge railway to
wind in and out and “v” back.
On one of the hills to the left
stood the first of the two
schcclhouses that were built
for children of company work¬
ers.
After the original camp closed
down and the new camp at Ta¬
tum’s Gulf opened, a two-story
school building was constructed
there. The upper floor was used
for a meeting hall for the I.O.
O. F. Negro trustys acted as
janitors. the
Perhaps forty pupils at
most learned to read and spell
in a blue back speller in the old
school. Some of the teachers
were Misses Mary and Naomi
Killian, Lucy Porter, “Tot”
Sells, Mrs. Jessie Cole Tatum
and S. J. Hale, and W. P. Cole.
About 1883 the old szb-O* began
to show signs of decay.
According to Dade’s old-
timers who attended school
there as small boys, classes were
held only three to five months
out of the year. When cold
Pair Arrested at Still
Harold Gass, 50, Trenton Rt.
2, and Herbert Horton, 27, Flat
Rock, Rt. 1, were arrested early
Sunday morning on charges of
violating internal revenue law's,
The arrest was made by Joe T.
Burton, federal tax unit agent
from Rome, following a raid
made on a 500-gallon distillery
on Sand Mountain, ten miles
west of Trenton.
Gass and Horton were taken
to Rome for arraignment Mon-
day morning where they were
Rural Get Nod
The first 51 projects to be
constructed by the Rural Reads
Authority were announced last
week by Chariman Roger Law-
son. Contracts for the first pro¬
jects will be let August 19, while
bidding on additional projects,
including Dade County’s, will
begin in September.
Dade was approved for 1,252
miles of base and surface
ing on the Trenton-White Oak
Gap Road. The road is well-
traveled and joins Highway liZ,
coming out on top of Sand
Mountain at Christian’s Store,
This is also the school bus
dent. The sheriff was busy in
his office at the time, so he re¬
layed the message tc Norton,
who was on Lookout Mountain
in the vicinity of the hctel. Nor¬
ton was able to go directly to
the scene of the accident where
his investigations brought the
case to a close to the satisfac¬
tion of those involved.
Recent Accidents
Accidents during the past two
weeks include a crash Aug 6 oil
the Trenton-LaFayette Highway
atop Lookout near Craig Mcore’s
store, and two cases cf side-
swiping on August 11.
The moun tain crash took
place as Mrs. Morrow of Rcss-
ville was attempting to turn off
the high way. Her ‘54 model au¬
tomobile was struck from be¬
hind by a ‘48 car driven by Al¬
bert Daniel, of Sand Mountain.
The impact knocked Daniel's
car into the path of an auto¬
mobile being driven by Rev.
Paul N. Howell of Chickamauga.
The two cars met head-on,
damaging both severely but in¬
flicting only miner injuries to
Rev. Howell. Daniel was taken
to a hospital fcr treatment of
of a possible broken r i b and
other injuries.
An automobile driven by Clyde
Lamar Crabtree of Hixson,
Tenn. sideewiped a truck that
was pulling out into the Birm¬
ingham highway at the It ker
road. No injuries were reported
and damage to the vehicles was
slight.
The Slygo road in the Dugan
Springs vicinity was the scene
of another instance of side-
swiping on the same day. Al¬
bert Cecil Manning, of Rossville,
was Driving a 53 medel auto
when he met a coal truck on a
curve in the dirt road. The
truck was driven by Ray Lee
Tollett.
★★★**★★★★•**★★ ***** a
Do You Have Extra
Books at Home?
Perhaps you have been won¬
dering where those extra books
in your shelves came frem.. if
you will look insde the covers,
you may find some of them be¬
long to the Cherokee Regional
Iib.^ary.
There is no charge for over¬
due books and the library board
is anxious t o have them re¬
turned to Sally's Beauty Shop.
On another page in this issue
is a list cf missing books.
*★★*★★★****★*★*★★*******1
weather set in, the school moved
to the church which was at the
loot of another hill 400 yards on
past the school. A shaded area
at the side of the church was
used as a meeting ground, with
the carpet of pine needles soft
enough to sit on. In extreme
cold, school closed until the fol¬
lowing spring. .
A small pox epidemic finally
closed the new school forever
when W. P. Cole was the in¬
structor about 1907.
Buildings In Camp Numbered
Many of the houses in the
community were located behind
the school and were numbered
with the other buildings. For
some unknown reason, the beys
and girls didn’t cross the hill on
their daily trips to school, but
followed the base of the hill.
There was plenty of freedom
for youngsters even though
there were two stockades in the
vicinity to house convict labor. I
The prisoners were kept busy
digging coal and were constant¬
ly guarded while marching from
the stockades to the mines, so
parents didn’t worry too much.
Wherever a prisoner broke out,;
he usually headed off the moun
tain, and from ail reports, no
convict was ever caught in the
community.
Boys from the ages of eight
to young manhood did
released on $500 bonds each.
1 A ’52 Fcrd pick-up truck was
also seized in the raid.
Distilling equipment destroyed
by the raiding party included
two radiator condensers, two
50-gallon jugs. 81 gallons of
“moonshine” were peured out,
according to Constable Jim
Broome who assisted in the
raid. Others were Russell Young
and J. D. Scoggins, state. ATU
agents, H.H. Hutchins and G. C.
Tatum, city policemen.
i Construction of all Rural
Roads Auhority projects depend
on the successful outcome of
two situations—the sale of
bonds, presumably in Septem¬
ber, and the outcome of a test
case before the State Supreme
Court. The case is to establish
the constitutionality of the Ru¬
ral Authority Act. No action is
expected during August, the
month when the Supreme
Court justices take their vaca¬
tions.
The work will cost approxim¬
ately $5,500,000 and will provide
372.8 miles cf paving in 46 coun¬
ties and 193.5 miles of grading.
chores around the camp, greas¬
ing the railroad cars, helping
take care of the stock, picking
slate and other jobs suitable for
their size and age. The prison¬
ers often hired them fcr sport
to pick butterflies and other in¬
sects off the cabbages in the
company garden at a cent each.
It is assumed this activity was
lor sport since the convicts
worked the huge garden. For
entertainment, the boys played
games that have been played
by boys in every age—baseball,
kickball, marbles, etc.—and en¬
joyed pranking just as much as
modern youngsters do. Some of
them were allowed the use of
an old plug horse or mule to
ride to school or to the com¬
pany commissary.
Girls stayed at heme when
they were not in school, learn-
the art of keeping a home.
Large families pred minated
then, so the oldes girls always
had a job tending the babies or
cooking and cleaning house for
their mothers.
Many Youths Found Work
at Mines
The teen-'agers had the plea-
sure 0 f going on picnics, some-
times at Blowing Springs at the
head c ,f Tatum Gulf, parties
and square dances. Practically
all the young men in the village
worked in some capacity for the
Published Weekly — Since 1901
14 Women On Lists
Revision cf the Dade County
Jury Boxes was completed this
week. The Jury Commission,
composed of D T. Brown, K. D.
Teet, J. C. Pace W. H. Kenimer,
C. M. Bodenhamer and W. H.
Pullen met for four nights re-
viewing the names on the
Digest and assembling the
names of these to be put into
the Traverse and Grand Jury
boxes.
For the first time in history,
women’s names were entered.
Out of the over one hundred
women in the county who are
eligible to serve on the jury,
about 25 had written in they
did net wish to serve. From the
over 70 women left, the names
cf 14 were put into the Tra¬
verse Jury Box and they will be
called for jury service. No wo¬
men's names were put into the
Grand Jury Box.
Lookout Valley Baptists to Meet
PLEASANT GROVE BAPTIST
CHURCH
August 23-24, 1955
PROGRAM
Evening Session August 23
7:15 P. M.—Call to order by
Moderator.
7:15-7:30—Song, Scriptuz’e and
Prayer, W. E. Kelly.
7:30-7:45—Adoption of Order
of Business; Recognition of
Messengers; Appointment of
Committees.
7:45-8:00 P. M.—Sunday School
Report, Rev. J. Beasley, Speak
er from Sunday School Dept.
8:00-8:15—B. T. U. Reports,
Mr. Henry Elliott, Speaker
from B. T. U. Dept.
8:15-8:25—B a p 11 s t Student
Work, Rev. Bill Cusack.
8:25-8:40—Baptist Brotherhood
W:rk, T. W. McGill.
8:40-8:45—Song and Offering.
8:45-915— Inspirational Mess-
sage, Rev. W. L. MacMillan.
Adjourn, until 9 A. M. Wed¬
nesday morning if the Lord is
willing.
Morning Session, Aug. 24
9:00 A. M.—Call to Order by
Moderator.
9:00-9-15—Song, Scripture and
Prayer, Rev. W. E. Hampton.
9.15-9:25—Relief and Annuity
Reports.
9:25-9:40—Christian Education,
by Representative.
9:40-9:55—.Report on Evangel¬
ism, Dr. R. T. Russell.
9:55-10:15— Co-Operative Pro¬
gram, Dr. R. T. Russell,
10:15-10:30 — Temperance Re¬
port, by Representative.
10:30-10:40—Election of Offi¬
cers.
10:40-10:50—Christian Index.
By Representative.
10:50-11:00—Children’s Home
i J °hn R. Nunnally.
company, as
poorly paid guards or at the
ccal washer. ,
It was taken for granted that
one went to Sunday School and
church come Sunday morning,
with n o foolishness about it.
Most families were very relig¬
ious and believed in starting
Bible training with the littlest
tots.
Mrs. Jane Alllscn Blevins’
parents, the R. B. Allisons, were
among those who taught their
children that going to church
was a regular part c f living
She remembers attending Sun¬
day school at a very early age
and having Mrs. K. H. D>avis,
wife cf Dr. Kirksie Davis as
a teacher. Mrs. Davis always
brought her maid, a woman
convict along with her to help
her with her wraps and ga¬
loshes.
Church Non-Denominational
The church was built at pris¬ ttye
company’s expense by the
oners. It was non - denomina¬
tional, with ministers of all
faiths alternating their visits to
the mountain to preach. Some
of them were: Bros: Campbell,
Quarles and McCracken.
The prisoners had their own
services on Sunday and had reg¬
ular baptizings in Cole City
Creek. They tended a convict
graveyard for the dead who
NUMBER 31
All women in Georgia, who
are on their county’s tax digest,
by an act of a previous state
cn their county’s and also the
legislature, are eligible to serve
Federal Jury. However the act
reads that it they do not wish
to serve, they can so notify the
Clerk of Court before the Jury
box is revised. This is done
every two years in each county.
Dade’s new Traverse jury box
new holds the names of over
570 white men, 14 white women
and two colored men. The
Grand Jury Bex has the names
of approximately 228 white
men. This seems like a compar¬
atively small number of free¬
holders’ names in the jury.
The September term of Supe¬
rior Court is only a little over
four weeks away and these will
be the names to be drawn fcr
that court.
11:00-11:20—Report of Executive
Committee, Mrs. Elliott; Mis¬
cellaneous Business.
11:20-11-25—Hymn.
31:25-12:20—Doctrinal Message,
Rev. J. E. Mitchell; Adjourn
for noon meal.
Afternoon Session
1:15 P. M.—Call to Order by
Moderator.
1.15-1:30—Song, Scripture and
Prayer.
1:30-1:40—State Mission Re¬
ports.
1:40-1:55—Heme Mission Re¬
ports .
1:55-2:05—Foreign Mission Re¬
ports .
2:05-2-15—W. M. U. Reports.
2:15-2:25—Report of Commit¬
tees; Time and Place for next
Session; Memorials; Resolu¬
tions.
2:25-2:30—Installation cf Of¬
ficers ..
2:30-2:35—Song.
2:35-3:00 P. M. — Missionary
Message, Rev. H. H. Williams.
Let every Baptist in this as¬
sociation dedicate ourselves to
make the next year the best In
the history of our association
for the Glory of God and for
the sake of lost souls.
“WIN GEORGIA FOR CHRIST”
ALL DAY SINGING
AT NEW SALEM
Members of the New Salem
community enjoyed their an¬
nual All Pajr Singing last Sun¬
day at the New Salem Meth¬
odist Church. This is a com¬
munity affair held the second
Sunday in August each year.
Many relatives and friends come
from far and near to greet and
visit with old friends and enjoy
the reunion with song and plea¬
sant companionship.
were y
and it is said that the grave¬
yard was 1 o c a t ed across the
present New Home road from
the Slcpe Camp.
One of the commissaries was
built not far from the church
and housed the c o m p a n y’s
business offices at one end of
the long building. It was here
that the guards received their
monthly pay of ten to fifteen
dollars which had to be taken
most of the time in trade. Some
of them took their pay in Ar-
buckle’s coffee, which was a po¬
pular brand everywhere at the
time, and brought moat of it to
Trenton to Mr. Lee Case’s store
to trade for other goods.
Some of the commissary man¬
agers were I. H. Thurmond,
Dempsey Farmer, Henry Ren-
froe and George Jacoway.
W. L. Slaughter remembers
that at one time, the only items
in the commissary were knitt¬
ing needles and axle grease.
This must have been during the
“hard times” some of the old-
timers speak of, when coal
mining was at a minimum, be¬
cause Mr. Slaughter recalls that
the company sold off most of
the vegeta bles the convicts
grew, feeding them vegetables
that didn’t sell.
Myrna R. McMahan
(To be continued)
