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‘The Best Anniversary Gift’
Relatives Restore First Home For Trion Couple
By D. J. LAAN
Staff Writer
. What's the most romantic
thing you ever heard of that a
husband or wife did for their
partner on an anniversary?
Perhaps, a romantic,
candlelight dinner at the place
they first had dinner together?
& maybe it's ':e husband ;ll:g
ys an exquisite diamond r
for his beloved wife of many
years would be a really sgec
tacular, romantic event. But,
what about a guy who finds the
first house the two ever lived
in, moves it to their present
ranch, refurbishes what time
and wear have destroyed, and
furnishes it exactly as it was
the day he carried his bride
over the threshold? Would you
say that was way up there on
the scale of most romantic
thl%a you have ever heard of?
lenn Thomas and wife,
Nell, Trion, are the storybook
couple this tale of the restored
house is about. It all began
over 50 years ago in Lyerly
e Langston had accepted
n
a date with a L{erly Y,
Dwight Smith, who was a
Berry Collt‘age student. It was
1946 and World War II had
just ended. Economic times
were anything but booming
throughout the United States
and surely not in this Nor
thwest Georgia county called
Chattooga.
According to the now Nell
Thomas, very few Eeople had
automobiles in those days
especially in rural com
munities. Dwight Smith had a
best friend, Glenn Thomas who
had a vehicle and he told Nell
that if she could find Glenn a
date — then all of them could
go out on the town in Thomas'
car. Nell agreed to get one of
her friends to %:) out with
Thomas but as she talked up
the event with the girls she
knew — everyone had com
mitments and no one would
agree to gé) on the blind date
with this Berry College guy.
DISAPPOINTED
The two young men ?icked
up Nell Thomas on the fateful
Saturday. Young Thomas was
very disap[ioint.ed that his best
friend’s girlfriend had not been
able to get him a date. The
three decided to ride to
LaFayette.
The day went by verf' fast
and all three young ie had
a verfi' good time. émit , who
was living in BerrK housing,
had to be back in Rome by. 5
p.m. He asked his friend,
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ORIGINAL HOUSE GLENN BUILT IN 1947
Couple Lives In Two-Room House For Six Years
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REPLICA OF 1940's HOME OF THOMAS COUPLE IN TRION
Relatives, Friends Help Restore First Home Of Couple
HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THE
NEW 4 PAGE SALES TAX FORMS?
For a small service charge we will come to your
place of business and either do it, or assist you.
Cali:
Treadway Accounting Services
857-5644
A one time service, if you wish.
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NELL AND GLENN IN 1947
Photo Taken Before They Married
Thomas, who did not have a
curfew, to drive his girlfriend,
Nell, back to Lyerly. Thomas
agreed.
By the time the threesome
got back to Rome, the front
gate at Berry College was lock
ed. Young Smith, with the help
of Thomas, had to scale the
Berri' fence to get back inside.
“I can see him climbinfi
that fence to this day,” Ne
recalls. On the way back from
Rome, Glenn Thomas told the
16-year-old beauty, that he
thought she should forget
about Smith and start dating
him. After all, he had said, the
two of them made a better cou
ple than Nell and Dwight. “I
told Nell that Dwight didn't
have any way to come and get
her from Rome and I did,”
Thomas, who was then 19 and
recently out of the Navy, told
his prosHective girlfriend.
*‘l fell for him “love at first
sight,” she said.
Nell’s parents liked
Thomas, especially her father,
J. C. Langston. Her mother,
Bessie Langston, was not so
hapJJy abou% the handsome in
truder who was quick:r mov
ing into the fixed ritual of life
on the Lyerly homeplace.
““There were nine children
younger than me still at home
and mother did not want me
leaving home at such a young
age,”’ Mrs. Thomas
remembers.
MARRIED
Two months later, the
young couple were married in
a ceremony in Trion. Glenn,
who had been in the United
States Navy, was 19 years old.
He and his younf bride first
lived in a motel called the
“Trion Inn.” The young couple
lived at the Inn for many
months. Houses were very
scarce in those days according
to Thomas.
Thomas had seen an old
house that was sitting on his
mother’s homeplace and he had
made arr. ments with his
father, Jeff !f‘fiomas. to use the
wood from the house to build
a first home for himself and
bride, Nell. Thomas built the
little house on Ramey Road in
the old Waterville Community.
On Saturda,l\: before Easter,
1947, the Thomases would
move into their new two room
house.
Glenn Thomas knew about
building. When he was in the
Navy, he was a ship’s builder.
Also, since Thomas was 15, he
had been “tinkerinfi" with
building projects. *“There was
no electricity and no running
water in the house but there
was a lot of love,” Mr. Thomas
stated. The original house was
an exact replica of the house
that Thomas and family
members have since rebuilt on
the 500 acre Thomas estate in
Trion near the Chattooga-
Walker County line.
buflmn (glenn Thon;‘as bega}lln
ilding the origi ouse, he
did not tell hi:%:i‘:lle what he
was doing. Nell had gotten a
job working in the glove plant
in Trion and she was away
from home during the day
hours. Thomas estimates that
the original house cost him
about $150.00 to build in the
1940’5. The original house had
red siding.
WATER
Nell Thomas recalls carry
ing water up to the house from
her mother-in-law’s well which
was about the length of a foot
ball field from her new little
A collector 1s looking for certain editions of hard
back books. If you have old books in your attic,
basement, closets or on shelves and would like
to turn some into cash | can help. Old and newer
books are wanted. Among the authors are Bret
Harte, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Mark
Twain, John Steinbeck, F. Scott Fitzgerald and
many, many others. Call Gene at 857-2494 or
857-2560 after 5 p.m. or you can bring them box
ed up to The Summerville News office on Rome
Highway.
NPI o and gat far
ing because he thought he
could make a better living rais
ing cattle and food than work
ing for someone else,” Mrs.
Thomas remembers. ‘‘That
house was like a mansion to
us.”
Before Thomas had been
discharfi:d from the U.S.
Navi', had established a
revolving credit account with
Sears and Roebuck Company.
Nell learned of this account and
like many happily married
wives, decided to buy the fur
niture for the Thomas' new
home from Sears. The kitchen
cabinet cost $49.95 as did the
first oomglete bed with metal
springs that is presently in the
restored house. The chifferobe
also came from Sears and was
$49.95. “Everything mafl'or
that Sears was sellmg that
year was $49.95," she
remembers.
There were also two rocking
chairs that young Glenn
bouil:t from a furniture store
for his new house that were
$12.00. Only one of the original
rockers remain in the restored
house. “There was a furniture
store that sat Luet where the
Trion Flea Market now sits. It
was called H & W Furniture
Company but of course it is
now gone,”’ Mrs. Thomas
added.
The kitchen had a table and
four chairs which also cost
$49.95 and came from Sears.
The stove was an oil stove
made of cast iron which was us
ed and cost SIO.OO. It had a
small oven. After the war end
ed, it was next to impossible to
get a refrigerator. So, the
goung couple was able to get a
roken regigerator that they
put in the kitchen to keep dry
ice in until they could buy a
refrigerator that actually
worked.
“We also bought a used
chest of drawers for $6.00, to
put out.clothes in,” Nell
remembers.
In the early 1940’5, Nell
Thomas made 40¢ per hour at
the Trion Glove Company. She
made about $16.00 per week.
“The amount of $49.95 was a
lot of money back in those
days. It took us a long time to
'Yay all those chargesto Sears.
guess things are similar to
day in how peo(;?le charge
things and pay it off over many
months or;edyears,” Mrs.
Thomas stated.
SAW MILLS
Besides doing the farming,
Thomas would spend his
weekends going to saw mills
looking for throw-away wood
to cut ug and sell as firewood.
His bride would accom’pany
him and the young couple us
ed this extra money to help pay
for the extras in their home. “I
would sell a big load of
firewood in my truck for
$5.00,” Thomas recalls.
“I think we had it good
compared to many peopfe in
that day. Everyone was strug
gling to survive and to start
over after the war. It was hard
times for everyone,”” Mrs.
Thonlms salild. 5
‘“‘ln those days, you
couldn’t buy CocaCol'aa 'l‘{ere
wasn't as many frivolous
things to spend money on as
there is today. 1 just save
SIO.OO a week of my money. If
I took all the rest ol' my m
tobtéygroceriesatastore—l
coul bu{ well over a week’s
worth of food for me and
Glenn,” Nell explained.
In 1952, the younf couple
would buy the piece of proper
’t[{_lthey now live on outside of
ion. Thomas sold the little
two-room house to Johnny
Parker for $50.00. Right before
Mr. Parker was going to move
the little house, he became sick
and died. For two years the
house would sit vacant until
Phil Lesperance, from Maine
moved to Chattooga County,
and married a woman who liv
ed up the road from the house.
Mr. Lesperance wanted the
house.
Lesgerance bought the old
house from the Thomases and
used it for feed storage for his
animals. For years the two
couples were friends and many
times Mr. Lesperance told the
Thomases that he was going to
throw them a 50th anniversary
arty in their ox;iginal house.
glowever, he died before he
could make good his promise to
his friends.
RESTORING
Stan and Kim Reynolds
%I{im is a Thomas dauggxt.er)
irst had the idea of restoring
the house for their mother,
Nell. “Everytime we would
come up to visit the folks, Mom
would start telli.ni(x)ne that she
had had dreams about being in
the old house. She s%oke of
things that happened back in
those early days quite often
and Stan and I got the idea
that mlafi'be that oldhouse
might still be around. We went
to Dad and he told us where
the old house was. Stan went
over to the current owner and
made a deal to buy the house
for $100.00,” Kim Reynolds
explained. :
The Reynolds went to the
Thomas home after making the
deal on the house. Stan
Reynolds walked into the
Thomas living room and said
to Mrs. Thomas, ‘You are now
the proud owner of your old
house.”
Nell Thomas' eyes started
to glisten, accordingb‘t;o Mrs.
Reynolds and tears began to
fall' from her eyes. Glenn
Thomas and Stan Reynolds
were responsible for tearing
A s R R RG T R R NSRWS G R R B RiR
REASONS TO CONTINUE THE 1% SPLOST
RAR R Y DGO R RR e R OGN W B R R
1. This is NOT a new tax — only a continuation of the current tax.
2. This sales tax allows all residents to share in the costs of
government.
3. If we pass the referendum to continue the SPLOST, Com
missioner Shackelford of the Georgia Department of Transpor
tation has pledged to match approximately 75% of the amount
raised for roads and bridges, which is approximately $6,000,000
over the five year period.
4. These funds will allow the county to pave virtually every dirt
road in the county road system.
5. Passage of this referendum will continue to allow monies to
be re-directed to Fire and Recreation Departments in the county.
6. With passage of this referendum, the county can keep its
millage rate at a minimum as a result of having sales tax funds
to accomplish road and bridge work. =~
: PAID POL. ADV. — PAID FOR BY CHATTOOGA COUNTY FARM BUREAU
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Staff Photo By D. J. Laan
GLENN THOMAS REMEMBERS THE $49.95 FURNITURE
Couple Bought At Sears To Begin Lives Together
down the remaining house and
taln’?g' it by flatbed trailer to
the Thomas’ farm in Trion. The
reconstruction of the house
took about six months and the
actual completion came within
the week of the Thomas' an
niversary celebration, July 19.
Invitations were sent out to
friends and family all over
Georgia and the South.
Reg'nolds is famous county
wide for his delicious barbecue
and the couple decided to have
an all-day party at their home
for their many friends. They
opened up the restored house
for tours.
Several relatives of Glenn
and Nell Thomas worked on
the house, includirig Stan and
Kim Reynolds, Don Cave,
Carol Baker, Keith Thomas,
Wayne Thomas, Vanessa
Thomas, and max‘x’y of their
family members. “We couldn’t
have done this without the helg
of all my sons-inlaws an
daughters-in-law and many of
their children. I just thank
them all so much,” Glenn
Thomas stated.
‘‘Having this house
restored is the dream of a
lifetime for me,” Mrs. Thomas
stated. ““When I look at this
house, I think of the early mor
nmg risings — going out to the
fields to grow crops and feed
the animals. I think about all
the joy we had and the children
born within these walls. I think
about some of the happiest
days of my life. I am so
grateful. This is the best an
niversary gift anyone could
have ever given me,” Mrs.
Thomas stated::
The Summerville News, Thursday, September 11, 1997
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Staff Photo By D.J. Laan
§ iy Pzid SIO.OO For In First Home
15-A
