The Office of Justice of the Peace and Notary Public Focusing on Robert Lee Nelson, JP

The offices of justice of the peace and notary public were perhaps more important in the earlier days of our county that today. Before convenience in travel made it possible to get into the county seat town and seek legal advice, to have legal transaction done or to have a legal paper documented, these public servants played an important role in the life of a community. One has only to examine recorded marriage lists or other legal records to see how frequently these men (and in the olden days it was nearly always men) performed legal services.

It was interesting to note the duties assigned to a justice of the peace. The officer could perform marriage ceremonies. Sometimes, depending on the jurisdiction, a price for the ceremony beyond which the justice was not to go was suggested, but most of the time the one with justice-of-the peace rights would set his own price. He would require a marriage license, and would then have to turn a signed document into the county jurisdiction so the marriage could be entered in public records.

Other duties of a justice of the peace included the right to witness oaths and signatures. He could also issue subpoenas and warrants to those who had infringed upon the law and needed to appear either in a local justice court or a higher court. The justice of the peace could also make arrests when anyone within his jurisdiction infringed upon the law, caused a fight, or otherwise had conduct that was a danger to public safety or the peace of the community. Arrests for misdemeanors also fell under his power. Local land-line disputes and timber rights settlements were sometimes within the justice’s parameters of practice.

The justice of the peace could sit as judge in small claims court. He could hear evidence from both sides, and if necessary call for witnesses to seek to learn more of the claims presented. He could provide mediation services in disagreements and arguments. Furthermore, he had the right to conduct inquests.

In Georgia, a justice of the peace could also serve as a notary public according to the Constitution of 1868. These officers, in addition to the above-listed duties, were also sometimes assigned to superintend the conditions of public roads in their jurisdiction and report to the county authorities in charge of roads any damages to roadways that would pose a danger to safety in travel, any repairs needed on bridges, or if a ferry operated in his jurisdiction to report on its condition. Other duties included reporting “lunatics” who might be a danger to the public or not watched properly. School conditions also sometimes fell under the inspection of justices of the peace until more stable county school officers were appointed to look after this aspect of the public good.

An interesting article was written by student James Reece for Sketches of Union County History III compiled by Teddy Oliver and published in 1987. In it, some facts were given about a Justice of the Peace named Robert Lee Nelson, who served for over forty years in the Brasstown Militia District.

Robert Lee Nelson married Alice Bridges in 1920. They made their home at Track Rock Gap. There he had a farm and operated a country store. He was first elected a justice of the peace the first year he was married. He was then thirty-eight years of age. He must have had a reputation for good character in that district.

James Reece, in writing about Mr. Nelson, stated: “He presided over his court with the dignity of a mountain jurist.” He was called the “Judge Bean” of Union County, who definitely thought the law was his to enforce.

In fact, Justice Robert Lee Nelson was so conscientious about the cases he tried, probably using his grocery store as the courtroom, that it is said the governors of the state of Georgia during Mr. Nelson’s long term of judging locally sometimes had to intervene and remind Mr. Nelson that he was over-stepping his bounds as a local justice of the peace.

With characteristic mountain out-spokenness, Mr. Nelson sent word back to the governor: “You look out for your side of the mountain, and I’ll look after mine.”

And “look after his side of the mountain” Mr. Robert Lee Nelson did, indeed. That he was serious about “holding court” at Track Rock is evidenced by some of Union County’s famous lawyers appearing in his court to represent the accused who had been brought before this “Judge Bean” of Track Rock. Among the lawyers were the honorable Pat Haralson, Thomas Slaughter Candler, and William E. Candler. Maybe they were getting early law practice in the little court at Track Rock held by the inimitable Justice of the Peace Robert Lee Nelson.

Mr. Robert Lee Nelson (April 15, 1882 – March 29, 1973) and his wife, Alice Bridges Nelson (February 1, 1891-April 22, 1970) were both interred in the Track Rock Baptist Church Cemetery not too far from where he operated his country store and held his justice-of-the-peace court.

c 2010 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published July 29, 2010 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

A Visit to Blairsville Around 1934

Believed to be the earliest extant picture of the 1899 Union County Courthouse, the edifice still stands on the square in Blairsville, Georgia. The red bricks were molded in the area. Architects named Golucke and Stewart designed the Romanesque Revival style building and M. B. McCinty received the bid to construct the building for $12,000, which was raised in one year by heavy increases in citizens' taxes.

The photograph was shot from the north view looking south. The old Christopher Hotel is shown on the right in the southwest corner of the square, and a store in the southeast corner to the left of the courthouse became Butt's Drug store later. (Courtesy Union County Historical Society)

What we call “the Old Court House,” now the home of the Union County Historical and Genealogical Society and the Union County Museum has occupied its present site in the center of the town square since 1899. Someone reconstructed a hand-made map of how the square looked one hundred and two years after the founding of Union County, the year 1934. Let’s take a visit this week to the town back then. It will help us get our bearings and appreciate the work and foresight of our forebears who really cared about the appearance and dignity of the county seat’s downtown.

Begin with the old courthouse itself. The modified Romanesque Revival style architecture stands out even today in its restored state as dignified and picturesque. The clock tower catches the eye first, pictured against the blue mountain sky, its arched windows on four sides once revealing the old bell that called attention to special meetings.

When that courthouse building was erected in 1899, these citizens served on the County Board of Commissioners: Jesse W. Souther (11-01-1840 – 03-07-1920) was county commissioner. Serving on the board with him were J. A. Butt, W. W. Ervin, and ordinary, John T. Colwell. Evidently then, commissioner and ordinary were two separate offices. These men put their heads together to try to come up with ways to finance the construction of the courthouse. They proposed bonds, but when the referendum was presented to the voters, it failed miserably.

They even considered a new site, rather than in the middle of the town square, on which to build the new building. After all, the older courthouse which had stood in the same spot, burned. It might be reasonable to find another location. They proposed buying lots diagonally to the courthouse square for $800, but that did not meet the public’s approval.

Mr. Stephen Major of Coosa District was generous and offered free land for the courthouse location if the citizens would but accept it. But again the offer of land, though with no cost attached, was defeated. So the commissioners decided to levy taxes to build a courthouse at the cost of $12,000. What a low price that seems to us in this twenty-first century. But then, the tax burden was heavy and many citizens had to sacrifice needed farm animals and other goods in order to keep their land and pay the accelerated taxes. To say the least, it wasn’t easy, building that grand edifice.

But the glorious old courthouse was built and it has stood, with modifications, for all these years since 1899. The center of court was moved to its new location in the new courthouse northwest of the square and the Historical Society undertook major restoration of the old courthouse. It was successfully placed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 18, 1980. Today, persons who want to research family history, examine displays of the county’s past, or enjoy the many cultural and artistic programs offered in the old courtroom have but to visit the old courthouse on the square. Thanks are due the citizens of the seventies and eighties and others since who have worked so unselfishly to maintain and perpetuate this portion of the county’s lofty past. C. R. Collins served as the first president of the Historical Society, and on the board then, during our country’s centennial year, 1976, were Edith Paris, Ronald Davenport, Herbert Dyer, Mary Smith, Ben F. Carr, Jan Devereaux, Bryan Webb, and Harold Nichols.

Now back to the year 1934 and that “in memory” visual trip around the town square and the old courthouse: Entering from the south, on the Gainesville Highway (recall that the Neal Gap Highway (now 129/19) was opened in 1925), a dwelling was on the right, and on the left a garage and another dwelling—this latter one once being the home of Judge Tom S. Candler. Proceeding around the square in 1934, visitors to the town would see a general store and a hotel building, with the jail a short distance behind the hotel. Next would be another dwelling, and on the corner, a general store. Next was a small café or lunchroom, a garage with a service station attached, and on the corner of the road leading to Young Harris, a drug store. Beyond that street, continuing around the square, another general store building, with an office building behind it commanded that space. I must mention that the Methodist Church was located just beyond this office building on the road leading to Young Harris. In later years, the location of the Methodist Church was moved just south of the square, and in the twentieth century, to its current Appalachian Development Highway location west of town.

Then continuing around the square, next came the Blairsville post office, an office building and a printing shop. A “lunch stand” was in the corner, and attached to it was a barber shop (Ben Wilson was proprietor and barber in the 1930’s). Next came a hotel (Akins), and then the street leading out of town and toward Murphy and Blue Ridge at the junction farther beyond town. On the southwest corner was a hotel building (Christopher) with another filling station attached, and a general store next door. Maybe someone in the readership can fill in names of people who owned these businesses and dwellings. The year 1934 was far too long ago, and I was too young to remember how the town square looked on some of my first visits to Blairsville from Choestoe to the south. But one thing I know and remember: A fondness for the place, its people and its history grew with each passing year. Here in 2010 I could wish for a time-machine so that I could return to those quieter days of yore when everyone knew his neighbor and all worked together, even to pay taxes that seemed impossible at the time. With a will the stately courthouse on the town square was erected, a substantial building that would be a monument to good government and a solid citizenry.

c 2010 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published Mar. 25, 2010 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Judge Thomas Slaughter Candler Wields Wide Influence

Judge Thomas Slaughter Candler at the dedication service of the Brasstown Bald Recreation Area, June, 1971, the last public function he attended prior to his death.

Thomas Slaughter Candler was born December 15, 1890 in Blairsville, Union County, Georgia, the seventh and last child of William Ezekiel Candler and Elizabeth Mary Haralson Candler. His father was a local lawyer. Did W. E. Candler have dreams that his new son would grow up to follow in his footsteps as a lawyer, and go even farther to become a Georgia Supreme Court Justice?

When Thomas Slaughter Candler was born December 15, 1890, Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd president of the United States was in office. Called “the little president” because of his short stature of five feet six inches in height, he dealt with labor strikes in manufacturing areas, and saw passage of the McKinley Tariff Act that put a high tax on goods shipped to America from abroad. It was also the year the Sherman Antitrust Act passed, intended to deal a blow against monopolies. On the very day of little Thomas Slaughter Candler’s birth in Blairsville, the famed Sitting Bull, Sioux Indian Chief, and eleven other Sioux, were killed at Standing Rock Reservation in South Dakota by U. S. soldiers called Indian Police assigned to keep order there. To say the least, the Candler baby was born in a time of unrest. Who knows? Maybe the situation called for growing up a lawyer and judge who could make a difference in the future.

Our Blairsville Thomas Slaughter Candler was well-connected descendancy-wise to other famous Georgians with the Candler surname. Let’s look at Thomas’s ancestors. Thomas’s great, great grandfather William Candler was born in Ireland in 1738. William was brought as a child to Virginia where he grew up and married Elizabeth Anthony in 1761. Eventually, the Candlers migrated to North Carolina and then southward before the Civil War to Columbia County, Georgia. Daniel Candler, born in 1779 in Columbia County, was Thomas’s great grandfather. In 1779 Daniel married Sarah Slaughter, the forebear whose surname was used as the middle name of several of the Candler descendants. Daniel and Sarah Slaughter Candler had several children, among whom were these named ones: Milton Anthony Candler, 1837; Ezekiel Slaughter Candler, 1838; Noble Daniel Candler, 1840; Florence Julia Candler, 1842; Sarah Justiana Candler, 1845; William Beall Candler, 1847; Elizabeth Frances Candler, 1849; Asa Griggs Candler, Sr., 1851; Samuel Charles Candler, 1855.

Of the above-listed children of Daniel and Sarah Candler, all “turned out well,” as we say in the mountains. Some made a name for themselves in business, politics and religion.

Milton Anthony Candler was a Georgia congressman. Asa Griggs Candler bought out Dr. John Pemberton’s recipe for Coca-Cola for $2300 and made a fortune manufacturing that popular soda. He used his wealth to found Emory University and for many other philanthropic causes, including the Candler Missionary College in Cuba. Samuel Charles Candler held public offices in Cherokee and Carroll counties. Warren Akin Candler became a bishop in the Methodist Church in Georgia and left a legacy of good in institutions of that denomination.

Daniel and Sarah’s son, Ezekiel Slaughter Candler (1838-1869) married Jane Williams. They lived in Milledgeville, Georgia when their youngest child, William Ezekiel Candler was born. The Civil War came when W. E. (as he was known) was only eight. His parents sent him from Central Georgia to live with his older sister who resided in Blairsville, hoping that the child could escape death as Sherman’s army marched through Georgia. While young W. E. was still in Union County, his father Ezekiel died in 1869. He remained on in Union at the home of his sister and got his education in one-teacher schools, later reading law and passing the bar examination. According to Union County marriage records, W. E. Candler married Elizabeth Mary Haralson on June 11, 1879, with then-noted Methodist minister, the Rev. Thomas M. Hughes performing their ceremony. Elizabeth Mary’s parents were Thomas J. and Mary Haralson. This marriage joined two families interested in law as a career.

Thomas Slaughter Candler had six siblings. His sister June, the oldest, married Clabis Lloyd. His sister called “Pick” married Pierce Matthews. These two older girls moved to Gainesville and Smyrna respectively. Nellie (1880-1893) and Ruth (1897-1928) died and were buried in the Blairsville Cemetery. Alwayne married Garnett Butt and remained in Union.

William Ezekiel, Jr. married and lived in Blairsville. The last-born child of W. E. and Elizabeth Candler was Thomas Slaughter Candler. On April 16, 1916, he married Augusta Beulah Cook, daughter of Joe and Sarah Cook.

To Thomas and Beulah were born four children: Sarah (died 1992) married Jason B. Gilliland; William Ezekiel (called “Buck” died of diphtheria in 1921); Nell married Walter McNeil; and Thomas Slaughter Candler, Jr. married Blanche Patton.

Thomas Slaughter Candler was educated in small schools in the Blairsville area and graduated as valedictorian of his 1913 class from Young Harris College. He went to the University of Georgia where he graduated summa cum laude in 1915 with an LLB degree. He passed the Georgia bar and worked with his father, William Ezekiel Candler, in his law office until his father died in 1927. Thomas served as a local lawyer, on the School Board, and mayor of Blairsville.

In 1939, Governor Ed Rivers appointed him as Georgia Superior Court Judge for the Northeastern District. He became a Justice of the Georgia State Supreme Court in 1945, appointed by Governor Ellis Arnall, and subsequently elected three more times, holding that office through 1966.

His other achievements included assisting in rewriting the Georgia Constitution.

He gave generous portions of his land for Vogel State Park and for the area around the spring at Bald Mountain State Park. He was instrumental in getting electricity to Union County through Tennessee Valley Authority and in gaining grants for highway construction in the area.

A Christian gentleman, lover of the Constitution—both Georgia and US—supporter of people’s rights, honest, fair and intellectually gifted, this man from Union County stood tall wherever he served. He died June 15, 1971 and his beloved wife Beulah died in 1983. They were interred in the Union Memory Gardens. The Candler surname means “one who lights candles or one who makes candles.” Certainly, Judge Tom Candler lived up to his name and was a shining light in the mountains.

c 2009 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published October 15, 2009 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

More from ‘The Pioneer’ Union County School Paper, May 1936

This article is a continuation of the rich store of information I found in the old copy of “The Pioneer” newspaper published by and for the senior class of May 1936 of Union County High School.

Before I proceed with notable items from that premiere issue, let me digress to laud all of the more than 190 who attended the notable 2005 DyerSouther Association Reunion held July 17, 2005 at the North Georgia Technical College Campus. Those who have contacted me say, “It was one of the best, if not the best.”

The service was dedicated to long-time family historian, the late Watson Benjamin Dyer (1901-2005) whose five books of published family history helped many to find their family roots. Several items of his memorabilia were presented to the Union County Historical Museum.

A noteworthy item was on display: a double-yoke for oxen which William Jesse Souther Jr. used on his team as he moved from Old Fort, N.C., to Choestoe prior to 1848. A gift from Jesse’s grandson, John Paul Souther of Gainesville, restored by great, great, great grandson Theodore Thomas of Blairsville, the yoke was presented to the Museum. Those who saw the yoke and touched the wood were in awe that it was still intact after more than 150 years.

A picture of Lt. Col. John Paul Souther, a picture of the ten medals he earned as an outstanding U.S. Army Air Force officer in World War II, and a plaque honoring him were donated to the Museum. Those who participated in the Reunion had feelings of deep pride for roots going back to hardy citizens who helped to form Union County and go out into the world to make a difference.

The person receiving the “eldest person present” award was the inimitable Mrs. Dora Hunter Allison Spiva, teacher extraordinary, whose mother was Martha Souther Hunter. At age 100 Mrs. Spiva still encourages by her presence and wisdom. She was the faculty sponsor for that long-ago “Pioneer” Union County High School paper which is bringing us insights and delights from 1936.

“The Pioneer” business manager was Sarah Kelley, assisted by Mary Belle McGlamery. Advertisements evidently paid the cost of publishing the paper, with multiple pictures. It was a professional-looking newspaper, printed for the Pioneer Staff by Fannin County Times Press of Morganton and Blue Ridge, Ga.

With transportation in 1936 at a premium toward the end of the great depression, the co-business managers went as far away as Murphy, N.C., to sell ads. Probably their sponsor, Mrs. Allison, took them in her automobile to Murphy. They could have walked around the town of Blairsville to sell ads there.

The businesses in Murphy that sold ads to the girls were Dr. Thompson who wrote: “If you have a toothache, see me.” The Mauney Drug Company in the Adams Building “welcomes you where courtesy is a pleasure and service is a habit.” Crisp’s Studio was known for good portraiture and photographs. E.C. Moore was the Dodge and Plymouth distributor in Murphy. The Murphy Hardware “is always ready to serve you.”

The Dayton Brothers advertised, “When in Murphy and you need a taxi, see us.” Candler’s Store and Beauty Shop invited customers to drop in for a visit.

The town was not listed in some advertisements. Perhaps readers know whether these were in Murphy, Blairsville or elsewhere:

“Edward’s Hotel and Café, a good place to eat, rooms and cold drinks, satisfaction guaranteed.” West End Service Station had gas, oil and groceries. The Nation Wide Grocery Service “in the post office building appreciates your business,” with B. J. Wilson, Manager.

The other advertisers gave Blairsville as their location. These community-minded businesses at that time willing to help with publication of the high school paper were: Akins Hotel, J. M. Akins, Proprietor; Good Gulf Service Station, Grady Cook, Manager; Texaco Service Station, Robert Butt, Manager; Butt’s Drug Store, “Service with a Smile;” Margie’s Sandwich Shop, “A good place to eat”; T. S. Candler, Attorney-at-Law; Compliments of Allison Brothers, General Merchandise; Roger’s Cash Store, “Appreciates your business;” Blairsville Barber Shop, “two excellent barbers, work reasonable.”

Union County High School, Dr. J. M. Nicholson, Superintendent, had one of the larger advertisements bearing announcements for the school year 1936-1937. He stated that all transportation would be continued in all communities served during 1935-1936. The faculty would remain the same for the new school year. Teachers in the country schools were kindly requested to send names of seventh grade graduates so they could be contacted and encouraged to attend high school. [Note: Before the days of compulsory attendance laws, this announcement was intended as an enticement for students to continue their education into high school.]

Editor Bennie Lee Helton had a word of thanks to all who made “The Pioneer” possible: “To our class members, faculty, and others in the school who have spoken words of confidence; to Crisp’s Studio who made the pictures and to Citizens’ Engraving Company who gave discounts for engravings; to The Fannin County Times Press for their printing, kindnesses and willingness to help us; and to others who may have pushed our cause, we thank you.”

I’m sure the editor and seniors of the Class of 1936 had not the faintest notion that sixty-nine years into the future some history buff (yours truly) would examine with awe the contents of The Pioneer” and be amazed at the information they printed for posterity.

Some of the mottoes chosen by seniors for their profile showed the spirit prevalent in 1936 as seniors looked forward to commencement and life: Several chose “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” “Paddle your own canoe,” was another favorite. “Rowing but not drifting,” showed purpose. “Rolling on” indicated the future was full-speed ahead. “A clear conscience is a good pillow,” stated one. And lest the “Rolling on” gathered too much momentum in life, another warned “Rolling stones gather no moss.”

c2005 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published July 21, 2005 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Walter Mondwell Twiggs, Noted Methodist Minister

Many have gone out from the hills and valleys of Union County and made distinctive contributions in many professions. The Rev. John Wesley Twiggs of Choestoe had two sons who, like himself, became Methodist ministers. Last week we got an insight into the early life of Walter Mondwell as he went with his father at age seven across the Logan Turnpike to the market in Gainesville in 1885. Walter was the younger of the two preacher sons. Lovick Marvin, eight years older than Walter, became an ordained Methodist minister, outstanding in Georgia. Both Choestoeans contributed greatly through long lives of service. This week we will continue with the life and work of the Rev. Walter Mondwell Twiggs. Next week we will look at contributions made by the Rev. Lovick Marvin Twiggs.

When Walter Mondwell Twiggs was born March 27, 1888 in Choestoe, Georgia to the Rev. John Wesley Twiggs and his second wife, Georgia Elizabeth Westmoreland Twiggs, he had six half-siblings to welcome him. Their mother, Sarah Elizabeth Hughes, had died June 2, 1885. Rev. John Wesley Twiggs married Georgia Elizabeth Westmoreland of White County on February 4, 1886. She was a good step-mother to the “first set” of John Wesley Twiggs’ children: Edwin Paxton, Nancy Elmira, Emma California (Callie), Mary Frances, Lovick Marvin and Nellie Margaret.

Georgia Elizabeth and John Wesley Twiggs had three children: Kitty who was born and died in January, 1887; Walter Mondwell (1888) and Erwin Eugene (May 13, 1890). In his memoirs, Rev. Walter Mondwell Twiggs pays great tribute to the closeness between him and his half-sister, Nellie Margaret, whom he says was “like a little mother to me,” and to his brother Lovick Marvin who was an inspiration to him. The distinction of half- brothers and sisters went unnoticed. Mrs. Twiggs loved all the children. Walter, writing of her, noted: “At night mother would sit around the open wood fireplace, never idle, but patching garments, sewing on buttons, darning socks and otherwise providing for the large family.”

Walter Mondwell Twiggs graduated from Young Harris College. While there at the age of 17, he was strongly impressed with a call to the gospel ministry. But he says he resisted the call for several years, teaching school and then studying law. In 1913 at age 24, he was licensed to preach by the Rev. Bascomb Anthony, then presiding elder of the Dublin, Georgia District, where Walter had gone to teach school. He taught at Powelton, Georgia, an early consolidated schools. He was principal of the Stillmore High School in Emanuel County. It was there he met his future bride who was a member of the faculty.

He and Claudia Lenora Thompson were married June 8, 1916 in Lyons, Georgia. They had three children, two daughters and one son. Phronia Webb Twiggs was born September 9, 1917 in Monticello, Ga. Sara Elizabeth Twiggs was born August 7, 1919 in Atlanta, Georgia; and John Wesley Twiggs (named after Walter’s father) was born and died January 7, 1925 in Atlanta, Georgia. The places of the children’s births show some of the locations of churches where the Rev. Walter Twiggs was pastor.

Shortly after his licensing to the Methodist ministry, he entered Vanderbilt University in Tennessee where he studied theology during 1913 and 1914. He was able to pay his way by a scholarship and through working as a janitor and operating the dormitory telephones. While there, he gained experience as assistant pastor at a Methodist church in Nashville’s west end.

In 1915 he enrolled in the Candler School of Theology of Emory University. While there, he was assistant pastor of the Asbury Methodist Church, 1914-1915. After graduation from Candler, he was assigned to the Monticello Methodist Circuit in 1915 and served there until 1920. He was ordained an elder by Bishop Warren A. Candler. His subsequent charges read like a roll-call of Georgia towns. Some of the places he served and the dates were: Lithonia, 1920-24; Patillo Memorial, Decatur, 1924-29; Hapeville, 1929-1933; Trinity-on-the-Hill, Augusta, 1933-35; Presiding Elder, Griffin District, 1935-39; West Point, 1940-43; District Superintendent, Lagrange District, 1943-49; Cartersville, Sam Jones Memorial, 1949-1953; Bethany, Atlanta, 1953-56. He retired in 1956, lived in LaGrange, Georgia and worked for a time with the Manget Foundation.

It was always a joy to the people of Choestoe District and Salem Methodist when their native son, Rev. Walter Twiggs, returned to speak at homecoming or hold a revival.

Rev. and Mrs. Walter Twiggs became the first residents of the Wesley Woods Towers in Atlanta, a senior citizen retirement home which the Rev. Twiggs had worked diligently to establish. They lived there from April, 1965 through September, 1972 when they went to their daughter Phronia Smith’s home in Griffin. There Mrs. Twiggs died July 27, 1973. Rev. Twiggs spent his last years in Griffin writing his memoirs and speaking or teaching occasionally at churches.

Rev. Walter M. Twiggs was a gifted speaker, an evangelist and a fundraiser, with an unusual talent for raising money for benevolent and church causes. He served on committees in the North Georgia Conference which brought about innovations in ministerial pensions, establishment of Wesley Woods Towers, and erection of church structures. He was a trustee both of the Georgia Conference of the Methodist Church and of LaGrange College.

He died quietly in the Brightmoor Nursing Home, Griffin, Georgia, on October 13, 1984 at age 96. He was laid to rest beside his beloved wife at the Forest Lawn Cemetery, Newnan, Georgia.

The tall man from Choestoe, measuring well over six feet in height, cast a long shadow and touched many lives through his work and ministry. In one of his last “Memoirs” letters written to his niece Barbara Allison Crawford (his sister Nellie’s child) he noted a quotation that had helped him at an early age to shape his philosophy of life:

“To each is given a bag of tools –
A shapeless mass, a book of rules.
And each must make ‘ere life is flown
A stumbling block or a stepping stone.

Rev. Walter Mondwell Twiggs who went out from Union County made of his “bag of tools” many stepping stones to help others along the way of life.

c2004 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published October 14, 2004 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

To Consolidate Schools or Not? That was the Big Question in 1916 and Later ( A History of Education in Union County, Part 3)

I began my teaching career in the same school I entered as a first grader when the new two-teacher Choestoe school building opened. Back in 1936, we were so proud of our new white weather-boarded school building, a great improvement over the previous old building that stood on the same spot near Choestoe Baptist Church.

When the school had first opened there in the 1830’s, classes were held in the log church building. Then the two-room building specifically for school was built, with an upstairs where the Lodge met in “secret” quarters. I do not have statistics for many of the years of Choestoe School, but in 1933, three years before I began as a first grader there, 69 students had been enrolled and C. J. Dyer and B. H. Rich were the teachers.

I did not attend school in the old building but was a proud first grader in 1936 when the new building opened with its shiny white paint outside, its tall windows, the “lower” grades room for students in 1st through 3rd grades, and the “upper” grades room for students in grades 4th through 7th grades.

Each classroom had its own “cloak” and supply room where we hung our coats on pegs and put our lunch pails on shelves. Extra textbooks and a few school supplies were also stored in the cloak rooms. The classrooms were heated by a wood heater and patrons (including my father, J. Marion Dyer) supplied the wood for the stoves. We brought our water supply in a bucket from a spring on church property until, about my third year there, a well was dug in the schoolyard and a hand pump (which always had to be primed) was installed. We each took our own cups with our lunch pails in order to have one for water when we were thirsty.

Mrs. Mert Shuler Collins was my first grade teacher and encouraged me to read, read, read. I already knew how to read when I entered school, having learned at my mother’s and my older siblings’ knees, probably pestering them so much that they felt to teach me to read for myself would be better than to spend so much of their valuable time reading to me. My aim in first grade was to read every book in the cabinet in the corner of the classroom where extra books were housed just for the students’ pleasure. I didn’t reach my goal that year, but remember the chart with many stars that represented each book completed.

Several teachers held the wonderful Choestoe School together in my first through seventh grade journey. My beloved teachers were Mrs. Mert Collins, my sister, Louise Dyer, Mrs. Opal Sullivan, Mrs. Bonnie Snow and her husband (as a substitute), Mr. Lon Snow, and Mrs. Florence Hunter. These opened for me the remarkable world of learning.

When I entered Union County High School in 1943 as an 8th grader and freshman, I had not suffered one whit from receiving my elementary education in a two-teacher country school.

By the school year 1949-50 when I began as an eager first-year teacher at Choestoe School, enrollment was down so that it was a one-teacher school. I had pupils in every grade first through seventh, a total of twenty-five students in all, with the largest enrollment being 5th grade with five pupils. The school did not have kindergarten, but those just starting out were in “Primer,” where they learned in the first few months the rudiments of reading so that they could progress through Primer and First Grade in their first year at Choestoe. In retrospect, I wonder how I, a brand new teacher, managed seven grades and taught the students even the minimum of what they needed to learn at their specific grade levels. Looking back on my thirty-plus years as an educator, I still remember the wonder and challenge of that first year in what had been reduced to a one-teacher school. I had begun in that building as a first grader; my fist year of teaching was in the Choestoe School; and it was ripe for closure and inevitable consolidation which came at the end of that year.

Returning to the 1916 report, Mr. M. L. Duggan, Rural School Agent for Georgia, gave recommendations following his three-month survey of education in the county. He listed schools and gave reasons for and against consolidation of the 43 schools he found operating at that time.

The Blairsville Collegiate Institute was going well in 1916 with 150 pupils enrolled in eleven grades. H. E. Nelson was principal, and taught mathematics and English. His wife, Mrs. H. E. Nelson, taught history, science and Latin. Miss Addie Kate Reid taught the intermediate grades. Miss June Candler taught primary grades. Music teacher was Mrs. Maud Haralson and Miss Etta Colclough taught Home Economics and also served as a sort of county home economist, visiting in homes and assisting women in proper methods of canning and preserving foods from their gardens and farms. The private institute had eight full months of uninterrupted instructional time and was doing well, indeed. From 1916 through its closure at the end of the 1929-1930 school year, it was to have fourteen more successful years of operation before it became the Blairsville—and subsequently---the Union County High School.

In the district around Suches in 1916, Mr. Duggan found three schools: Zion had Mr. G. W. Garrard as teacher, classes were in a church building, he had no equipment and only seven students. Mt. Lebanon School had Mrs. Ray Pruitt as teacher, met in a ceiled, unpainted building, had oiled floors, homemade desks, blackboards, a sandbox, and maps, charts and pictures. The pupils in five grades numbered 55. The Mt. Airy School met in the church building with 27 pupils and C. T. Lunsford as teacher. Mr. Duggan highly recommended that these three schools be consolidated, that an increase in taxes make Mt. Lebanon a “standard school,” and that students all attend Mt. Lebanon, which would be only about three and one-half miles for those farthest away.

A look at the 1933 county school statistics reveals that his recommendation was not accomplished to that date. Mrs. F. F. Pruitt was listed as teacher that year at Mt. Lebanon with 33 students and Mr. J. H. Lunsford, also there, with 30 pupils. Mt. Airy was still operating in 1933 with 20 pupils, and Zion with 23 pupils had Ms. Eula Berry as teacher. The schools at Suches were finally consolidated when Woody Gap School opened in the fall of 1940 near the homesite of Georgia’s Civil War governor, Joseph Emerson Brown. Today Woody Gap is considered an “isolated” school because of the mountains separating the district from Blairsville and the distance in travel prohibitive for pupils who would be transported.

[Next week: Continuing the look at 1916 and later school developments.]

c2004 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published August 19, 2004 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Blairsville Collegiate Institute

The Blairsville Collegiate Institute held a good record for providing education for youth of the mountain region from 1905 through 1930. Its twenty-five years of operation touched many lives for good and provided the impetus for many to pursue education beyond what the boarding school offered.

During the school year 1928 and 1929, my uncle, Dr. Norman Vester Dyer, served as president of Blairsville Collegiate Institute. In publicity and the collegiate catalog he released that year, he had a history of the school. From his historical sketch, I have compiled this account of the school.

About 1904 a preacher named Rev. Theodore Swanson traveled through Union County and stopped in Choestoe at the residence of Bluford Elisha (“Bud”) Dyer to spend the night. Their conversation soon turned to education. Rev. Swanson was a “college man,” and much interested in lifting the level of the schools that then operated as one-teacher entities for a few months of the year in many of the communities Rev. Swanson visited. New Liberty School within the shadow of Enotah Bald was one of these schools. Mr. Dyer and Rev. Swanson talked of what it would take to expand New Liberty and make it into a high school.

Rev. Swanson took charge of New Liberty School and he and Mr. Dyer conferred almost daily about their dreams for the school. Dyer said he could furnish the lumber for any buildings necessary to expand the school.

A meeting was held at Choestoe Baptist Church. One of the men present, Mitch Swain, offered twenty acres of land on which to build the consolidated school. Rev. Swanson made arrangements with another friend to move a sawmill onto the Dyer farm. Volunteers eagerly went into the woods and cut timber to be sawed into lumber. It seemed that the school would soon be a reality.

Then in 1905 the Notla River Baptist Association met. The question arose of denominational sponsorship of the proposed high school. After much deliberation, and after hearing the report of a committee that had studied the proposal, the motion that Blairsville, a more central location to the whole county than Choestoe, be selected as the site.

Twenty acres of land were donated in Blairsville for the school campus. Colonel W. E. Candler and Colonel M. L. Ledford were strong proponents of the school and gave of their time, means and energy to bring the school to fruition. A building containing classrooms and administrative office was the first to be erected “situated on an elevated plain overlooking the little town of Blairsville.” Some of the lumber sawed at the B. E. Dyer farm was transported to Blairsville and used in the first building.

Mr. J. T. Walker served as the first principal. It was called Notla River Baptist High School until Professor J. R. Lunsford was elected principal in 1910 and served through 1913. The class of 1912 was the first to graduate, with Florence Bowling, Sallie Rogers and Ethel Walker as first graduates. It was during Mr. J. R. Lunsford’s tenure that the Home Mission Board began to lend support and the name was changed to Blairsville Collegiate Institute.

With help from the Board and from Notla River Baptist Association, a three-story dormitory building was erected in 1911. Instead of having to find places to board in town, the dormitory made it possible for several of the students to live in that facility.

In 1911, A. E. Brown, superintendent of the Board, reported that Blairsville Collegiate Institute had two buildings, five teachers and 233 students. Subsequent annual reports from the Home Mission Board showed student enrollment of from 150 to over 200.

A 1916 report listed faculty as H. E. Nelson, Mrs. H. E. Nelson, Miss Addie Kate Reid, Miss June Candler, Miss Etta Colclough and Mrs. Maud Haralson. It was then the only high school in Union County and had an academic building, a dormitory with forty bedrooms, a parlor, offices and a library with 250 volumes. In addition, wells, barns, stables and outhouses comprised the campus complex. The school term was for eight months and 150 were enrolled. Water was dispensed from covered coolers with individual cups. “Patent desks” (not homemade) made up the classroom furnishings.

Also included in the 1916 report on education in Union County, credit is given to Miss Etta Colclough who seems to have taught home economics at Blairsville Collegiate Institute and also worked under the “State College of Agriculture” and the U. S. Department of Agriculture. “Under her direction and influence,” so the report states, “nearly 25,000 cans of tomatoes and other vegetables have been put up by the Girls’ Clubs and in their homes this year. This work has also served to quicken the interest in public education throughout the county and to influence it in a proper direction.” (From report of M. L. Duggan, Rural School Agent for Georgia, October 15, 1916).

Continuing in his Collegiate catalog of 1929, Dr. N. V. Dyer, president, wrote: “The curriculum is such as will prepare the boy and girl to enter the best colleges and universities of the south. The faculty consists of well-trained and experienced teachers who devote their full time and talents to their work.

“The buildings and equipment consist of a large main building and a dormitory. The dormitory is the most completely equipped and architecturally arranged of any of its kind in the state. Any boy or girl wishing to obtain an education at the least possible expense will make no mistake in attending Blairsville Institute.”

Many students enrolled over the twenty-five years of the school. They studied, they went out to other institutions and did well. Among those who graduated and made a name in education were Miss Addie Kate Reid and Miss Dora Hunter (Mrs. Dora Hunter Allison Spiva) each of whom taught at the Institute; Mr. Charles Roscoe Collins, teacher, administrator, historian; Dr. James M. Nicholson, who led in the transition from Blairsville Collegiate Institute to Union County High School when the facilities of the Institute were bought by the Union County Board of Education for $1,000 and the county high school began in the 1930 academic year.

Mountain schools, among which the Blairsville Collegiate Institute was a major one, had their distinctive place in the educational history of the area.

c2004 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published Jan. 29, 2004 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.