THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

PUBLISHED BY THE

ATLANTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

No. 2. JANUARY, 1928. The Bulletin is the organ of the Atlanta Histori­ cal Society and is sent free to its members. All per­ sons interested in the history of Atlanta are invited to join the Society. Correspondence concerning contributions for the Bulletin should be sent to the Acting Editor, Walter McElreath, 303-310 Atl­ anta Trust Company Building. Applications for membership and dues should be sent to the Secre­ tary and Treasurer, Miss Ruth Blair, at the office of the State Historian at the State Capitol. Single numbers of the Bulletin may be obtained from the Secretary. The price is $1.00. THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

PUBLISHED BY THE

ATLANTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

No. 2. JANUARY, 1928. CONTENTS

Frontispiece—Five Points in 1864.

Some Recollections of Atlanta During 1864, by Maj. Charles W. Hubner 5

The Story of the Standing Peachtree, by Eugene M.Mitchell.... 8

A Condensed History of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of Atlanta, by Mrs. Mary Venable Womble 20

Some High Lights of the Old Atlanta Stage, by Miss Meta Barker__ 33

"The Worth of Local History," Editorial from Atlanta Journal 51

Editor's Chair 52 ATLANTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

OFFICERS.

WALTER MCELREATH President JOEL HUNTER Vice-President MISS RUTH BLAIR Secretary and Treasurer Miss TOMMIE DORA BARKER...... Librarian

CURATORS.

FORREST ADAIR JAMES L. MAYSON MISS TOMMIE DORA BARKER WALTER MCELREATH MISS RUTH BLAIR A. A. MEYER DR. PHINIZY CALHOUN E. M. MITCHELL WILLIAM RAWSON COLLIER WILMER L. MOORE •THOMAS W. CONNALLY J. B. NE\IN JOHN M. GRAHAM MRS. J. K. OTTLEY CLARK HOWELL EDWARD C PETERS CHARLES W. HUBNER MRS. R. K. RAMBO JOEL HUNTER MRS. JOHN M. SLATON DR. JOSETH JACOBS HOKE SMITH WILLIAM COLE JONES W. D. THOMSON H. A. MAIER EDGAR WATKINS •Deceased.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.

EUGENE M. MITCHELL MRS. JOHN M. SLATON A. A. MEYER WILMER L. MOORE JOHN M. GRAHAM JAMES L. MAYSON WALTER MCELREATH, EX Officio JOEL HUNTER, EX Officio MISS RUTH BLAIR, EX Officio MISS TOMMIE DORA BARKER, EX Officio WALTER MCELREATH, Acting Editor

0i0ym'M^mX • i l

FROM A SKETCH BY D. R. BROWN {Frontispiece) LITHO. OF E. B. & E. C. KELLOGG, HARTFORD, CT. ATLANTA, GEORGIA, AS IT APPEARED ON THE ENTRANCE OF THE UNION ARMY UNDER GENERAL SHERMAN, SEPTEMBER 2, 1864. View of Decatur and Peach Tree Streets from Marietta Street. THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

Volume I JANUARY, 1928. No. 2

SOME RECOLLECTIONS OF ATLANTA DURING 1864.

By CHARLES W. HUBNEB

By order of Postmaster General Reagan, I was detailed to telegraph service connected with the staff of the Commanding General of the army, taking the place made vacant by Major Butler. I was serving in this capacity, under General Joseph E. Johnston, from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Atlanta. During the siege and evacuation of Atlanta, I superintended the sending and receiving of all telegraph messages to and from the city, often delivering important messages "under fire" when headquarter couriers were absent on service. The dispatch which came from President Davis, ordering Gen­ eral Johnston to hold Atlanta by a decisive battle with Sherman, and Johnston's reply that a decisive battle under his circum­ stances was impossible, passed through my hands, also the dis­ patch from President Davis ordering Johnston to turn over the command of the army to General Hood, which was done, causing general regret among our troops, such regret and disappointment, in fact, that President Davis and some of his cabinet came from Richmond to address our soldiers. President Davis spoke under difficulty, for there were fre­ quent interruptions from the soldiers. They demanded loudly: "Give us back old Joe—we don't want a speech, we want old Joe!" But little satisfaction resulted from President Davis's attempt to pacify the intense feeling against the discharge of General Johnston. Shortly after our entrance into Atlanta, the siege began and lasted about forty-two days, the shelling was continuous, night and day. Sharpshooters, outside the breastworks (Atlanta was 6 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN well fortified), were very active, and there were many casualties. Our headquarters were in the old American Hotel, which stood on the corner of Alabama and Pryor Streets. The Federal gunners got the range of the "old car-shed," which stood near headquarters; consequently both buildings were severely shelled. I have never forgotten the night when a shell entered the front door of the building and went through the basement, where the telegraphers and myself were sleeping upon a row of cots. The shell passed under the cots, severing their supports and tumb­ ling us unceremoniously upon the floor. Hairbreadth escapes and casualties became hourly occurrences, however. It was somewhat disconcerting to me, when a frag­ ment of a shell which had burst in front of the building, came through the window where I sat recording messages, and ripped off the page opposite to the one upon which I was writing, and I was relieved when orders came to move the office out on White­ hall Street, opposite General Hood's headquarters, which were then on the corner of Whitehall and what is now known as Hood Street. While located here, one afternoon about one o'clock, came a dispatch from General Hardee, who, with his army, was near Jonesboro, doing his best to keep Sherman from encircling Atlan­ ta. This message read in substance: "I have lost the battle, am in full retreat." I took this message, personally, to General Hood. From the expression on his face we knew that grave things were in store for us. Telegrams from the outside world had become less frequent as Sherman's advancing troops cut many wires leading into the city. I and the couriers attached to the telegraph office were kept busy taking written orders from headquarters to officers on the lines of battle about the city. After the fall of Jonesboro preparations were going on quietly for the evacuation of Atlanta. The Commissary's warehouse, which stood near the corner of Whitehall and Wall Streets, was thrown open to the inhabitants THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN 7 of the city. The warehouse was filled with foodstuffs of all kinds, and for several hours a large crowd of women, children and men, were kept busy rolling away barrels of syrup, sugar, etc. Upon their shoulders they carried hams, side-meat and sacks of provi­ sions, all of which had been indiscriminately distributed to the eager, hungry populace; the sight was ludicrous as well as pathet­ ic. The army started moving about two o'clock on the afternoon of September the first. I remained in the city until nearly two o'clock the following morning. A detachment of cavalry remained for the purpose of destroying military stores. Much of the baggage of Hood's head­ quarters was burned, the army lacking the necessary wagons for its removal. Words cannot describe the inferno of flame and noise when about midnight the cavalry began to blow up the locomotives in the shops and roundhouse. The foundry was set on fire, and about seventy carloads of ammunition were exploded. There was great excitement and consternation among the residents of the city, as this appalling tumult and wreckage was not expected. Union soldiers were already upon the streets of Atlanta, when my comrade and I joined those following in the wake of Hood's army, which was on the march to Nashville, Tennessee. We left Atlanta by way of the McDonough road, now Capitol Avenue. My orders were to proceed to Selma, Alabama, to take charge of the telegraph office there. When Wilson's army of about 12,000 men captured Selma I happened to be the only person in the office, having remained there to destroy telegrams and records which I thought might be of importance to the enemy. While thus engaged the office door was broken open by several of Wilson's men. The lieutenant in advance demanded all messages on file. "Help yourself," I answered, pointing to the red hot stove. I was promptly made a prisoner and put under guard. 8 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

THE STORY OF "THE STANDING PEACHTREE."

By EUGENE M. MITCHELL

OF ATLANTA, GA.

Hanging on the wall in the Georgia State Library at the Capi­ tol is Early's Map of Georgia made in 1818. On Peachtree Creek near the Chattahoochee River the town of Standing Peach Tree is shown on this map. At that time the lands southeast of the Chattahoochee were occupied by the Creek Nation of Indians and those northwest of that river by the Cherokee Nation. Where Atlanta now stands was a densely wooded wilderness. It is a fact not generally known that this part of Georgia was still Indian country for many years after states farther west were thickly settled by the white people. Atlanta is situated in a strip of territory that was long a de­ batable land between the Creeks and Cherokecs and in which occurred many conflicts between their war bands. Toward the end of the eighteenth century the boundary between these tribes became fixed, largely as the result of several treaties with the United States government. The Cherokees occupied the coun­ try north and west of the Blue Ridge, the Chestatee River and the Chattahoochee River down to a place called Buzzard's Roost not far from Austell. By the treaty of Fort Jackson in 1814 the Creek Indians ceded all their lands northeast of the Hightower Trail, and out of these lands were created Rabun, Habersham, Hall, Walton and Gwinnett Counties. The Hightower Trail is a path or pony road extending from the Etowah (or "Hightower") River in northwestern Georgia southeastwardly to High Shoals on the Appalachee River. This trail may still be described, and parts of it are still used as a road. It is the boundary between DeKalb and Gwinnett Counties. It crosses the Chattahoochee River at the Shallow Ford near Ros- well and runs through the northern part of Fulton County and THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN 9 along or quite near the southwestern edge of Grogan's District. It passes a little to the east of Stone Mountain and down into Newton County whence it bends northeastwardly until it reaches High Shoals. During the Indian times it was one of the principal highways for travel and traffic in this part of Georgia. Connect­ ing with it was the Stone Mountain Trail which ran through what is now Decatur and Atlanta to the Standing Peachtree on the Chattahoochee River and thence across into the Cherokee Coun­ try.

On January 8, 1821, by the treaty at Indian Spring the Creek Indians ceded all their lands between the Chattahoochee and Ocmulgee Rivers up to the Hightower Trail, and out of part of this territory was created the county of Henry, which has been carved up into several counties. In 1822 a part was taken to create DeKalb County. On December 20,1853, Fulton County was created out of part of DeKalb County and now consists of the fourteenth and seventeenth districts of Henry County and parts of the fourteenth district of Fayette and the sixth district of Gwinnett County.

In 1821 the Creek Indians moved from what is now Fulton and DeKalb Counties, but the Cherokees still inhabited the coun­ try on the northwest side of the Chattahoochee River until about 1835 when they were removed to Oklahoma by the United States Government.

In 1836 a law was passed by the General Assembly of Geor­ gia for the building of the Western and Atlantic Railroad from the Tennessee line near Rossville to the southeastern bank of the Chattahoochee River, and if it had not been amended its terminus would have been near Standing Peachtree; but, by an act passed December 23, 1837, its terminus was fixed at a point in DeKalb County not more than eight miles southeast of the Chattahoochee River, "as shall be most eligible for the running of branch roads thence to Athens, Madison, Milledgeville, For­ syth and Columbus." It is stated in the "History of Atlanta and its Pioneers" by the Pioneer Society that Colonel Stephen H. Long, the chief engineer of the railroad, drove a stake to mark 10 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN the terminus in the year 1837. This was the beginning of what is now Atlanta. This spot is now marked by a stone post in the northeast part of the Union Depot near the corner of Central Avenue and Wall Street. Until this time the country now surrounding Atlanta was very sparsely inhabited. Charner Humphries built the "White­ hall Tavern" at the corner of Park Street and White­ hall Street (now Peters Street) in the early eighteen-thirties. A few families such as the Colliers, Jetts, Pooles, Thurmonds, Littles, Connallys, Montgomerys and others occupied lands in the sur­ rounding country. Hardy Ivy built the first house in what is now Atlanta on land lot 51 in the year 1835. The land whereon is now situated Atlanta and its environs was recognized by the railroads as a strategic point. It was already the place where the wagon roads from Stone Mountain, Decatur and Hog Mountain crossed and debouched for New- nan, Sandtown and Marietta. But the vicinity of Atlanta had also been recognized by our Indian predecessors as the proper place for their principal town in the northern part of their do­ main. Suwannee Old Town was a village near the present town of Suwannee in Gwinnett County. Sandtown and Buzzard's Roost were lower down the Chattahoochee. There were other impor­ tant places farther south. But the town of Standing Peachtree was the most noted Indian settlement, in this part of Georgia. It was a strategic point for travel and for trading with the In­ dians. Only licensed traders were permitted to enter the Indian country or traffic with them. This business assumed large pro­ portions. As early as 1741 there were 46 licensed traders at Au­ gusta trading with the Creeks and 49 others from South Caro­ lina trading through Augusta with the Creeks and Chickasaws. (See White's Historical Collections, page 600.)

There were others trading with the Cherokees. This traffic continued until the Indians were removed from Georgia. Stand­ ing Peachtree was favorably located for trade not only with the Creeks but with the Cherokees across the river. Canoes and boats plied up and down the river to the other villages and there were trails or paths along the river. THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN 11

The village or "town" of Standing Peachtree was situated at or quite near the location of the present "River Pumping Sta­ tion" of Atlanta Waterworks, on lands now belonging to the City of Atlanta and the heirs of Mrs Martha Howell Lyon and the estate of Thomas Moore, on land lots 242, 231, 232, 219, 220 of the seventeenth district of originally Henry now Fulton County. It very likely extended along the southeast bank of the Chattahoochee River for some distance north and south of Peachtree Creek and back eastwardly along Peachtree and Nance's Creeks. Nance's Creek empties into Peachtree Creek about a half mile above the mouth of Peachtree Creek. The old Peach- tree Road (now called the "Moore's Mill Road") crosses Peach- tree Creek on land lot 220 about a mile from Bolton near Moore's Mill, which is situated on Peachtree Creek a short distance above the junction of the two creeks. There was a large Indian mound where the pumping station is now situated.

The old ferry landing of the "Montgomery Ferry" is on the bank of the Chattahoochee River in land lot 242, about a half mile north of the mouth of Peachtree Creek. It is now filled up by a large sand bank. On the river bank on the south side of the landing is an immense sycamore tree and on the north side a small branch runs into the river. At this landing the In­ dians and traders crossed the Chattahoochee before the settle­ ment of the country by the white men.

On December 25, 1837, an act was passed by the General Assembly to authorize James M. C. Montgomery to establish a public ferry "across the Chattahoochee River, upon his own land, in the counties of DeKalb and Cobb, at a place known by the name of the Standing Peachtree." The act of the General Assembly is on pages 112 and 113 of the published laws of 1837.

The land records of DeKalb County were nearly all destroy­ ed by the fire which burned the court house in Decatur in 1842 and the deeds to James M. C. Montgomery can not be found, but it is a notorious fact that he owned the land on both sides of the river and operated this ferry until his death. His will was probated at the November term 1842 of DeKalb County 12 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

Inferior Court and is of record in Book A, page 14. He willed to his son H. B. T. Montgomery and his daughter Rhoda Nar- cissa Brown "all my land on both sides of the Chattahoochee River and Peachtree Creek adjacent to and joining the river" (with the exception of certain lands named in Item 5), including "saw mill, grist mill and ferry."

To the Standing Peachtree led a network of Indian trails before the white man came. It was the terminus of the Peach- tree Trail and the Stone Mountain Trail and one of the objec­ tives of the Sandtown Trail. The Peachtree Trail ran along the top of the Chattahoochee ridge from near Toccoato Buckhead, where it divided; one branch continuing by way of what are now called the Pace's Ferry and Moore's Mill Roads to Stand­ ing Peachtree; but the other branch led southward from Buck- head across Peachtree Creek and struck the Sandtown trail at Five Points in what is now Atlanta. And when the Cherokee country was opened to settlement by the white men the prin­ cipal crossing place in this part of Georgia was at Standing Peach- tree. The canvas-covered wagons swarmed along the Old Peach- tree and Stone Mountain trails to occupy the new lands in North­ west Georgia.

In the State surveys of 1821 the Indian trails arc delineated in the seventeenth district (that is north of Eighth Street) but not in the fourteenth district, south thereof. The trail along the North Decatur and Marietta Roads (afterwards called the Montgomery Ferry Road) is shown and also the Peachtree trail (which divided at Buckhead), but the Sandtown trail through Five Points in Atlanta and out Whitehall and Peters Streets and Cascade Avenue is not indicated. This old Sandtown trail was one of the historic roads of this part of Georgia. It is unfortunate that its name southwest of Atlanta has been changed to Cascade Avenue. That part in Decatur is now called Atlanta Avenue. It runs, generally, along the Georgia Railroad and enters Atlanta under the name of De- Kali) Avenue and runs along Decatur Si reel to Peachtree Street; thence it follows Peachtree and Whitehall Streets (o Mitchell THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN 13

Street; thence diagonally to the corner of Forsyth and Peters Streets and thence out Peters Street to Gordon Street, out Gor­ don Street to Cascade and follows the latter road through Fulton and into Campbell County. On July 9, 1832, the Inferior Court of DeKalb County or­ dered that a road be opened up from Hardy Pace's settlement on Nance's Creek to J. A. D. Childres's [Place] on the Sandtown Road. On September 3, 1838, the Inferior Court ordered that "a route for a road as lately marked out by Hardy Ivy, Benjamin Little, Benjamin Thurman and Hosea Maner be opened out and kept up as one of the public roads of said county, said road commencing at the Sandtown Road near the southern terminus of the Western & Atlantic Railroad and intersecting the Nel­ son's Ferry Road near Reid's Shantee." The writer has never been able to trace this road satisfactorily. The terminus of the railroad was then as now at the present Union Depot at Wall Street and Central Avenue. But the writer has found no one who knows where Reid's shanty was. He has always under­ stood that the Nelson's Ferry Road was coincident with the present Nelson Street and thence extended out Greensferry Ave­ nue and the West Hunter Street Road to the Adamsville Road formerly known as the "Lickskillet" Road and thence to Nel­ son's Ferry, afterwards Green and Howell's Ferry on the Chatta­ hoochee River. He hazards the guess that the new road laid out in 1838 began at Five Points and ran along Marietta Street to Magnolia Street and thence out Magnolia Street and West. Hunter Street Road to the Adamsville Road. This may be a mistake. It is a fact attested by the Pioneer's History that Ter­ minus had six roads: the Decatur, Marietta, Peachtree, White­ hall and McDonough Roads and a road from the Marietta Road along Magnolia and West Hunter Streets to the Green and How- well's Ferry Road. But let us leave the realm of speculation and return to that of proven facts. During the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain the Creek Indians were in alliance with the British. To 14 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN hold them in check and prevent their depredations upon the white settlements a line of forts was built by the authorities of the State of Georgia. One of these was "Fort Peachtree," sit­ uated on a high hill or promontory just north of the mouth of Peachtree Creek in the angle between the creek and Chattahoo­ chee River. The top of the hill was leveled off and it is said that a fort or stockade was erected of logs. At the present time there is no vestige of the stockade, and the top of the hill has grown up in large trees. But the large level spot on the top of the hill is a sufficient indication that it was once occupied. At the for­ ward end nearest the river is an old breastwork or rifle pit. No one seems to know whether it is a relic of old Fort Peachtree or of the War betwen the States. When General Sherman sought to break into Atlanta in 1864 the hills on the southeast side of the Chattahoochee River were fortified. The prow of this hill overhangs the river and gives the impression of a small Gibraltar. Up this steep side steps have been dug and rude pieces of flat stone placed on them. These steps have the appearance of great age. The top of the hill is thus easily accessible.

In the war of 1812 George R. Gilmer, afterwards Governor of Georgia, was placed, as a young lieutenant, in charge of a de­ tachment of soldiers, who occupied Fort Peachtree. In his book "Georgians" he states: "My appointed station was on the banks of the Chattahoochee about thirty or forty miles beyond the frontier, near an Indian town, not far from where the Georgia [meaning the Western & Atlantic] Railroad now crosses the Chattahoochee River. ... A few days after my arrival at the standing peach-tree a ruffian Indian fellow came into the cum]) with some fine catfish for sale." He also speaks of "a meeting of the chiefs of the Standing Peach-tree, and two or three chiefs of the neighboring villages." See pages 253, 254, 255, and 257.

Sherwood's Gazetteer, published 1829, states on page 103 that the town of Decatur was "95 miles Northwest of Milledgeville, 25 miles Southwest of Lawrenceville, 9 miles Southwest of Rock Mountain and 12 miles East of Standing Peachtree on the Chattahoochee." THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN 15

In a signed newspaper article dated October 11, 1910, Mr. Robert C. Alston of Atlanta quotes these passages from Gilmer and Sherwood as evidence that the name borne by Peachtree Road is historic and not merely fanciful or traditional. Dr. Lucian L. Knight quotes these passages from Gilmer's "Georgians" and "Sherwood's Gazetteer" in his "Georgia's Land­ marks, Memorials and Legends." It will be noted that the name is spelled "peachtree" in both of these citations. The Peachtree Road and Peachtree Creek took their names from "The Standing Peachtree;" either from the village or from the tree for which the village was named. How did the place, the creek and the road acquire this pecu­ liar name? There is a persistent tradition that the name was derived from a tall pine tree near the mouth of the creek, the sides of which had been blazed by the Indians to obtain rosin or pitch; hence the name "pitch tree" which became corrupted into "peach- tree." The writer has heard it said that this "pitch tree" was on the top of the high hill where the fort was located and was such a prominent landmark that it could be seen for a great dis­ tance. Miss Virginia Hardin, whose grandfather was the first clerk of the Superior Court at McDonough in Henry County and served as a soldier at Fort Peachtree, says that he stated that it was his understanding that the name was derived from a pitch tree. Hon. Thomas H. Jeffries, now Ordinary of Fulton County, who was reared in that neighborhood, says that Hiram Casey, one of the earliest settlers and for many years justice of the peace and for whom the district was long called Casey's District, told him that the name was derived from a pitch tree. And that such was the derivation has been occasionally stated in news­ paper articles. The State surveys made in 1821 and now in the office of the Secretary of State call the creek "Peachtree" Creek. 16 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

The oldest reference to "Peachtree" on any of the County records is on page 1 of the minutes of the Inferior Court of DeKalb County of May 20,1823: "That a road leading from the standing peachtree to Gwinnett County(known by the Hog Moun­ tain Road) be a public road and that the same be put and kept in repair." As DeKalb County was organized in 1822, this is proof that this road (which can be none other than the old Peach- tree Trail or Road) existed before the white people acquired the lands from the Indians. On the same page is an order, "Ordered that there be a new road cut out from the Peachtree the nearest and convenientest route to intersect the boundary line at or near Sandtown." On March 26, 1828, the Inferior Court ordered "That the road be opened and cleared out from the three mile post leading from Decatur towards the peachtree to the Peachtree Road at or near James Hooper's on said Peachtree Road." On November 25, 1829, it was "Ordered that a road be opened and cleared out from the standing Peachtree to Leonard Hornsby's and kept up as a public road as has been marked out by Hiram Buckley, Wesley Martin and Lindsey Elsberry." The minutes of November 1, 1841, show that the Peach- tree Road was open at "Williams' Gin" at that time. It will be noted that the name is spelled "peachtree" in all these records. Atlanta's earliest lawyer was Leonard C. Simpson, a gentle­ man of high character and ability. He was the father of Mr. F. M. Simpson who was for many years "City Investigator" in the office of the City Attorney. Mr. Simpson told the writer that his father had been a member of the Geor­ gia Guard who removed the Indians from Georgia, and that his father told him that the Peachtree Creek and Road took their names from a large seedling peach tree of the red Indian variety which stood near the bank of the creek and whose immense size made it an object of mark. Mr. Simpson said that his father took cuttings from the tree and planted them in his garden, and THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN 17 that he (F. M. Simpson) still had some of the descendants of that tree in his garden in Atlanta. This was about thirty years ago. The writer has always regretted that he did not get some cut­ tings from Mr. Simpson. Hon. Franklin P. Rice was one of Atlanta's most distinguish­ ed citizens. He was a boy of seven years when his parents settled in Atlanta in 1849. He had a very versatile and retentive mind, stored with all sorts of information. He told the writer that Burch Jett, who was a hunter and trapper in this county before the Indians left, told him that Peachtree Creek was named for a "clump of peach trees" near the place where the creek was crossed by the Peachtree Road. But there is the evidence of an eye-witness which cannot be criticised as hearsay or tradition. On April 25, 1897, Mr. Rob­ ert Adamson, who was then on the staff of the Atlanta Consti­ tution, published an interview with Mr. George Washington Collier, called "Wash" Collier, who was then Atlanta's "oldest inhabitant." Mr. Collier was born in 1813 and in 1823 moved with his father Meredith Collier to lands which his father bought on Peachtree Road between Atlanta and Peachtree Creek. At the time of his death in 1903 Mr. Collier was one of the largest landowners in Fulton County. He owned the Aragon Hotel, the buildng at Five Points on Peachtree Street between Edge- wood Avenue and Decatur Streets, the lands where Ansley Park is now situated and numerous other lands. From Mr. Adam- son's interview I take the following excerpt: After they began to build a town at Decatur a new era began in Wash Collier's life. He got the contract for carrying the mails between Decatur and Altoona, Georgia. He made the trip twice a week back and forth, carrying the heavy mail bags on his shoul­ der and nearly all the time covering the entire distance on foot. Nothing better illustrates the hardy and determined character of the man than the fact that through rain and wind and snow and sleet he never missed a trip, never lost a letter, never had a complaint made against him. Those trips between Altoona and Decatur! Rough pilgrimages they were, calling forth all the bravery and fortitude of the pioneer's nature. 18 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

"The nearest post office to this place then," said Mr. Collier, "was Standing Peachtree." "Standing Peachtree?" I asked. The old fellow laughed merrily. "Yes; Standing Peachtree," he said. "I thought you'd ask that. There's nobody around here could tell you about that. Jonathan Norcross couldn't, and yet they call Jonathan the oldest citizen." "Maybe you never heard of Standing Peachtree? You don't know where Peachtree Street got its name do you?" "Peachtree Creek I should say." He laughed again. "But where did Peachtree Creek get its name? Maybe you'd like to know that. Jonathan Norcross couldn't tell you that. "This is the way it was: Standing Peachtree post-office was right where Peachtree Creek runs into the Chattahoochee—right where the pumping station is now. It was not Peachtree Creek then—they called it some Indian name. There was a great huge mound of earth heaped up there—big as this house, maybe big­ ger—and right on top of it grew a big peach tree. It bore fruit and was a useful and beautiful tree. But it was strange that it should grow up there on top of that big mound, wasn't it? And so they called the post-office out there Standing Peachtree, and the creek they begun to call Peachtree Creek. I've passed it many and many a time going on with my mails. There's noth­ ing remaining of it now." It would seem that this ought to settle the question. It does settle the fact that the creek and the road and the post-office took their names immediately from the peach tree. From the peculiarity of its location on the top of the mound one might infer that it. was planted there. And it may have been planted there because the place was already known as "Peachtree." And that name may have been a corruption of the words "pitch tree". And there may have been at an earlier period a great pine tree on the top of the hill beyond the creek, blazed by the hatchets of the Indians and visible for miles around, and after its decay and death it may have been superseded by the peach tree on top of the Indian Mound. There is the tradition in favor of it. THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN 19

But, for lack of any further definite information, the writer adopts the view that the peach tree described by Mr. Collier was the origin of the name. Peach trees have been known to reach seventy years of age in the United States and there is an instance in France of a peach tree 95 years old. What was the original Indian name no one appears to know. Perhaps some future antiquarian may discover it. It was "Peachtree" in 1812 and in 1818 and 1823 and 1830 and 1837. The name is more than 115 years old. How much older we do not know. Evidently it was given after the traders began to filter through the Indian country from Augusta and Charleston. And it was probably a place of importance long before the traders named it.

The same geographical reasons that made "Standing Peach- tree," within three miles of the present limits of Atlanta, the principal Creek town in this neighborhood and the chief trading post for the early traders have made Atlanta the great metro­ polis of the Southeast.

The Indian mound at Standing Peachtree has long ago vanish­ ed. If there were any remnants they were destroyed in con­ structing the pumping station and the Seaboard Air Line Rail­ way. There are no descendants of the peach tree in the vicinity.

Perhaps the writer attaches too much importance to the origin of a mere name. But it has become a matter of interest to him because this old Indian peach tree (or pitch tree) gave its name to the Indian town near the site of Atlanta which was the me­ tropolis of the Creeks long before Atlanta was ever thought of and which preceded "Whitehall," "Terminus," "Marthasville" and "Atlanta"; which gave name to the creek on whose banks was fought one of the noted battles in the War Between the States; and for which was named the most famous business and residential highway of Atlanta. 20 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

CONDENSED HISTORY OF THE FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH SOUTH ATLANTA, GEORGIA.

By MRS. MARY VENABLE WOMBLE.

One is tempted to ruminate over the entire history of Geor­ gia Methodism, it is so full of romance and thrilling experiences; her loyal sons were endowed with such strong common sense and invincible pertinacity; they knew no such word as defeat, and dared all the dangers of their really perilous work with fear­ less hearts. It is to the glory of Methodism that they never shrank from the hardships of a new country and that she has always been among the first in the newly opened lands. All of the preachers were missionaries. Methodism strove to cover with her wings the whole land, to provide a ministry to all the people. The second Methodist Society organized in the world was organized in Savannah, Georgia, when John Wesley came over in 1736. Georgia in her infancy had the ministry of John and Charles Wesley, Benjamin Inghram, Delamotte, Whitefield and Winter- men, whose names are familiar to all students of Church history as instruments in the historic Methodist reformation. We can see from the Conference minutes that the salaries of Morgan Bellah for several successive years for the Decatur Circuit, which included DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett and Campbell counties were—very small amounts. I cite this to show that Atlanta (Terminus then) was in the Methodist territory as early as 1836. The station (Atlanta) was first called Terminus, prior to December 23, 1843, when it was incorporated by the name of Marthasville, in honor of the daughter of Governor Lumpkin, Marthasville was in the official Methodist connection and was in the Decatur Circuit. We know (hat there was preaching by THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN 21 the Methodists in the freight house of the Western & Atlantic Railroad as early as 1845 and 1846.

THE FIRST SUNDAY SCHOOL. The time was then ripe for the Methodist population to solicit subscriptions to build a more suitable place to hold services and to provide for the better organization of the Sunday School. Many citizens contributed to the fund and when a small log house was erected in Atlanta, in 1847, near the junction of Houston and Pryor Streets, another mighty force for righteous­ ness was set in motion. Insignificant in its beginnings, as many great movements are, it has extended its influence over the south­ land, the continent, yea, even to the darkest places of earth. This was the first house of worship constructed in Atlanta, the Methodist being the first congregation to hold services in their own building. Here was organized, Atlanta's first Sunday School, on the second Sunday in June 1847. All denominations united in it and it was known as Atlanta's Union Sabbath School. Among the leading spirits of this movement were Edwin Payne, A. F. Luckie, E. A. Johnson, Robt. M. Clarke. Mr. Clarke was appointed its secretary and treasurer.

WESLEY CHAPEL Wesley Chapel, so named for John Wesley, the illustrious founder of Methodism, a religious leader and statesman in two nations, has a remarkable history. Like the city in which it came into being, its power and pres­ tige increased with the years, the story of Wesley Chapel and Atlanta being so closely related as to be alike in many repects. Out of the Union Sabbath School came the first committee for the purpose of erecting Wesley Chapel, a more worthy place in which to worship. Mostly through the efforts of Edwin Payne a subscription was raised of $700 to buy a lot and erect the church. The lot was purchased for $150 from Reuben Cone and Ami Williams, and a warranty deed given by them to the following parties, as Trustees of the Church, under date of March 22 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

11, 1848: Thomas L. Thomas, Samuel Walker, Edwin Payne- David Thurman, James A. Collins and Stephen Terry. These men constituted the first Board of Trustees of Wesley Chapel. The church was dedicated in March 1848 by Bishop James 0. Andrews, Mr. Payne bequeathed $500 to the church. For more than twenty years Wesley Chapel stood, growing, dividing, increasing with the onward march of the times, and representing the religious fervor and zeal of Methodism. In the early days of Wesley Chapel negroes, who were then slaves, belonged to the church, having their seats in the rear of the gallery of the church. After the War Between the States, the white members, owing to the changed conditions, deemed it wiser for the negroes to have a separate church building, and, accordingly, a subscription of about $700 was raised by the mem­ bership and with it the negroes bought a lot and erected a church of their own.

ACHIEVEMENTS. A Sabbath School organized in 1853 by Green B. Haygood and Willis Peck, members of Wesley Chapel, proved to be a nu­ cleus of Trinity Church. Green B. Haygood, Chairman, Joseph Winship, Edwin Payne, Dr. George Smith, were appointed Build­ ing Committee. A lot was purchased on Court House Square, opposite the present site of the State Capitol, and old Trinity Church was built there. Bishop Andrews dedicated the church on September 1854, and Rev. J. P. Duncan preached the first sermon. In after years Trinity Church was moved to the corner of Whitehall and Peters Streets (now Trinity Avenue), and still later, a handsome new structure was built by Trinity's congre­ gation at Washington Street and Trinity Avenue. Many of the records of Wesley Chapel were lost or destroy­ ed by fire when Sherman burned Atlanta during the War Be­ tween the States and not much data of that period can be ob­ tained. It is known, of course, that many of the brave sons fell in battle and her heroic women gave themselves to hospital work and caring for the wounded and dying sent here from the front. THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN 23

Wesley Chapel may well be called the Mother Church of Methodism in Atlanta. She contributed with her means and working forces in the organization of the following churches: Trinity, in 1853; Evan's Chapel, now Walker Street Church; Payne's Chapel, in 1853; St. Paul's, 1868; Merritt's Avenue, inh876, now St. Mark's Churcfc at Peachtree and Fifth Streets; Park Street, in 1882; Grace Church, in 1883; Asbury in 1886. We find in 1867, W. P. Harrison was the pastor of Wesley Chapel and the following constituted the Board of Stewards: E. R. Sasseen, Willis Peck, William Ezzard, Er Lawshe, J. C. Davis, J. N. Simmons and S. T. Atkins; the Trustees were Wil­ liam Ezzard, Lewis Lawshe, S. T. Atkins, N. J. Hammond, J. C. Davis, John L. Hopkins, Joseph Winship, and the aggregate membership was 337.

FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH SOUTH. Wesley Chapel having outgrown its building, even after divid­ ing its congregation at various times, toward the upbuilding of other churches and missions, was changed to a new location. The northern part of the lot bounded by Peachtree, Houston and Pryor Streets and part of the Wesley Chapel lot were used and there a handsome brick structure was built. The corner stone was laid September 1, 1870, and the church built the following year. The name of Wesley Chapel was then changed to First Methodist Episcopal Church South. Dr. W. P. Harrison was the pastor at the time of the com­ mencement of the erection of the church and was filling the pulpit when it was completed. The Board of Trustees during much of the formative period was an honorable and strong one, and included such men as Judge William Ezzard, who was for a long time Chairman of the Board, and Er Lawshe, Hon. B. H. Hill, Hon. Alfred H. Colquitt, Judge James Jackson, Hon. N. J. Hammond, C. W. Hunnicutt, G. W. D. Cook and George Winship. This church has had a most distinguished membership. She has had two United States Senators, three Congressmen, a Gov­ ernor, three Chief Justices, two Superior Court Judges, foreign minister, Comptroller General and the immortal Grady. 24 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

In 1878 the General Conference met at First Church. The brightest jewel in the diadem of the Mother Church, was the Woman's Board of Foreign Missions, organized Wednesday, May 23, 1878, when the Conference was in session. For several years before any organization was effected, consecrated women in various parts of the South, recognizing and feeling deeply the urgent needs of heathen women and children, had been pray­ ing and planning for the best way of reaching them effectually, and had come to the conclusion that it could be done only by a specific work conducted by women. Accordingly Mrs. A. B. Davidson, Mrs. Juliana Hayes, Miss Melissa Baker, of Balti­ more, came to Atlanta, where they met Mrs. D. H. McGavock and other representative women from Nashville, Tennessee. With unanimity of purpose they memoralized the General Conference then in session at First Church, for its endorsement of an independent Woman's Missionary Society. The com­ mittee to whom this memorial was referred reported favorably in substance as follows: "That in view of the fact that in most heathen countries women are accessible only to teachers of their own sex, the women of the M. E. Church South are hereby au­ thorized to organize special Missionary Agencies, subject to the Constitution drawn up by this committee." Mrs. Juliana Hayes was chosen President and the Vice-Presi­ dents were: Mrs. Robt. Paine, Mrs. G. F. Pierce, Mrs. H. H. Kavanaugh, Mrs. W. M. Wightman, Mrs. E. M. Marvin, Mrs. D. L. Doggett, Mrs. H. N. McTyeire, Nashville, Tennessee, Mrs. J. C. Keener; Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. D. H. Mc­ Gavock, Nashville, Tennessee; Treasurer, Mrs. James Whit- worth, Nashville, Tennessee. Mrs. Harriet Colquitt was chosen President of the first Mis­ sionary Society of First Church. The pioneer members of the first Missionary Society at First Church were: Mrs. H. C. Leon­ ard, Mrs. E. G. Moore, Mrs. D. G. Wiley, Mrs. H. O. Berry, Mrs. W. B. Cox, Mrs. Er Lawshe, Mrs. M. Harralson, Mrs. J. C. Courtney, Mrs. Willis McConnell, Mrs. Bob Winship, Mrs James Jackson, Mrs. C. B. Sanders, Mrs. Willis Peck, Mrs. Har­ riet Colquitt, Mrs. Fannie Kimball, Mrs. 0. B. Phelps, Mrs. J. G. McLin. Beginning with twelve earnest women this historic society THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN 25 has now a membership of 296,240 women, young people and, children, organized into 10,761 auxiliaries engaged in home and foreign missionary work. Young J. Allen, who was perhaps the leading missionary of all nations in the Chinese Empire, was present at the General Conference of 1878, and made an impassioned appeal to the women of the Southland for the women of China. This church had been carrying a large debt for several years which was extinguished thru the efforts of Rev. C. A. Evans, pastor in 1883, and in that year it was dedicated by him Nov­ ember 25. In the years 1884-85-86 Rev. W. F. Glynn was pastor and in the first of these three years the Marietta St. Mission was organized and wrought an entire revolution for good in that section of the city. Mr. John F. Barclay, Miss Sue Holloway, and other con­ secrated members of the church carried on this work for years. Jefferson Street Church is the mission full grown. The Osgood Sanders Mission on Walton Street has also grown out of this Mission and is the result of the splendid and practical charity so well known as the Sheltering Arms, shared in by all denomina­ tions of the city. First Church had in all four missions besides being Mother Church of churches. From a membership in year 1867 of 337, First Church increased its membership to about 1500 in 1903, when the corner stone for the new church was laid. For nearly thirty years this grand old church stood as a me­ morial to Him who has done so much for his earthly children. But the quiet spot on which it was built became the very center of a noisy, crowded section and for some years a removal was contemplated. Finally the old church property was sold and another lot purchased at the corner of Peachtree Street and Por­ ter Place. The impressive programs on vacating the old First Mtheo- dist Episcopal Church South and the laying of the corner stone of the new church on Peachtree Street took place April 17, 18, 19, 1903. The splendid stone edifice, the new First Methodist Episcopal Church South, was dedicated in the spring of 1904 and stands as the glorious culmination of eighty years of triumphant Methodism. 26 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

The same old wonderful bell hangs in the belfry of the new First M. E. Church South that rang out from Wesley Chapel's campanile, calling the people to worship when Atlanta was but a village; the bell that rang during the war of the sixties when soldiers were called to duty, that sounded on the air when riot calls were made in reconstruction days; the bell that rang and rang when an alarm of fire was given out; the same old bell that was suspended in Old First Church's stately steeple tower; the same old bell that is still ringing and calling busy people away from cares and temptation's snares, to come inside the place of worship and find rest and communion with heavenly things, to lift up hearts and voices in adoration, praise and thanksgiv­ ing; the bell of bells—a church bell that tells the world of Jesus and his love. EDITOR'S NOTE—The Fulton County records show that on March 17, 1847, Samuel Oliver deeded to John N. Bellinger, Edwin Payne, James Collins, Samuel Walker, Jesse Wood and C. M. Connally, as trustees for the Methodist Episcopal Church, the south half of land lot 47, containing 101 1-4 acres. This land is now bounded east by Randolph Street, south by East Avenue, west by Bedford Place (formerly Fort Street) and north by a line running a little south of Pine Street. This land was bought and used for a camp meeting ground. On it was a large bold spring situated about one hundred yards east of Bedford Place in the depression between Angier Avenue and Currier Street. This land was afterwards sold to James Blackman, who lost his deed before recording, and the trustees of the First M. E. Church South made him a quitclaim deed in 1883, to which was attached the affidavit of Blackman setting forth the facts and stating that Edwin Payne told Blackman that 8 1-2 acres had been sold to help build the church and buy the lot for "Wes­ ley Chapel." The quitclaim deed and affidavit are of record in Book LL, page 774. The deed to the trustees was recorded in Book L, page 117 at Decatur, DeKalb County and also in Book E, page 151 of Fulton County. The branch from the spring ran down to Clear Creek (Butler Street Branch) and was known as Camp Ground Spring Branch. The spring was owned a few years ago by a colored man named Albert Ford and was called "Ford's Spring." THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN 27

ROLL OF PASTORS OF WESLEY CHAPEL AND FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH SOUTH.

1847—48 Anderson Ray; E. R. Speer 1848__ J. W. Yarbrough; J. W. Hinton 1849 J. W. Yarbrough; A. M. Wynn 1850 Silas H. Cooper; J. L. Pierce 1851 _...C. W. Thomas 1852—53.._ W. H. Evans 1854.._ J. P. Duncan; J. M. Austin 1855 _S. Anthony; J. Boring 1856.._ C. P. Jewett 1857—58 C. W. Key 1859—60_ J. B. Payne 1861—62_ W. J. Scott 1863.._ ...J. W. Hinton 1864_ L. D. Houston 1865 A. M. Thigpen 1866—67 W. P. Harrison 1868—69 F. A. Kimball 1871 A.Wright 1874 E. W. Speer 1878—79 H. H. Parks 1880—83 C. A. Evans 1884—86 W. F. Glenn 1887—89 H. C. Morrison 1890... H. C. Morrison; I. S. Hopkins 1891 W. D. Anderson 1892—95 J. B. Robins 1896 I. S. Hopkins 1897.._.. I. S. Hopkins; Walker Lewis 1898—1900 Walker Lewis 1900—04 C. W. ByTd 1904—07 ...C. E. Dowman 1907—11 J. S. French 28 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

1911—12.... S. P. Wiggins 1912—15 H. M. DuBose 1915—20 J. E. Dickey 1920—25 C. J. Harrell 1926— S. T. Senter, present pastor.

COMMUNICANTS OF WESLEY CHAPEL IN 1867.

Adams, Benson W. Boutell, Mrs. M. E. Adams, Mrs. L. Boutell, Mrs. Hannah Adamson, Miss Nellis Bridwell, John Atkin, S. T. Bridwell, Mrs. Elizabeth Atkin, Mrs. N. E. Bridwell, Mrs. Harriett Atkin, Miss Emma Bridwell, Miss Ella Atkin, Miss Lizzie Bridwell, Miss M. E. Barnes, Mrs. Amanda Brown, Mrs. Georgia Barnes, Mrs. H. J. Brown, J. W. Barnwell, Mrs. V. T. Burnam, E. B. Barnwell, Mrs. L. A. Burnam, Wareham Barrett, W. J. Burnam, Mrs. Mary Barrett, Mrs. Anna Burnam, A. Bass, Mrs. Margaret Burnam, Miss Emma Beauchamp, Mrs. E. J. Burnam, Miss Martha Belding, James, Busby, W. T. Bell, M. R. Busby, Mrs. Eliza Benton, Miss Mary Butler, Thomas Berry, Miss Carrie Butler, Mrs. Elizabeth Bessent, Peter G. Butler, Miss Emma Bessent, Mrs. V. F. Butler, Miss Ellen Bessent, Miss Anna Crussell, Thomas Bleckley, L. E. Crussell, Mrs. Thomas Bleckley, Mrs. Carrie Calhoun, Mrs. Amelia Boring, Dr. J.M. Carmichael, Mrs. Elizabelh Boring, Mrs. Irene P. Carmichael, Miss C. E. Boyd, Augustine W. Carmichael, Miss Mary A. Boyd, Mrs. Nancy A. Center, Miss Julia Boyd, Miss Mary Champ, Mrs. T. C. THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN 29

Chandler, Mrs. Julia Edmondson, Miss Mary Chandler, Mrs. E. A. Elyea, Mrs. Ann Eliza Cohron, Joseph Ezzard, Wm. Cohron, Mrs. Irene Ezzard, Mrs. Sarah S. Clardy, P. E. J. Ezzard, Mrs. Fannie R. Clardy, Mrs. T. J. Fambrough, W. E. Clarke, Lewis H. Fambrough, Mrs. M. F. Clower, Mrs. Nancy H. Flannegan, Mrs. Matilda Clower, Mrs. Sarah E. Foreacre, Mrs. Delia Cofer, Merritt J. Fowler, Mrs. Flora Collins, Mrs. Cynthia Freeman, W. K. Cook, Geo. W. D. Freeman, Mrs. Julia Cook, Mrs. Mary Gartrell, L. J. Corley, Mrs. Ella Gartrell, Mrs. Anna Corron, Miss Parrie Garwood, Johnson Cox, Wm. B. Garwood, Mrs. Harriett Cox, Mrs. Kate H. Gay, A. O. M. Cozart, Mrs. Ann M. Gay, Mrs. Z. E. Cozart, Miss Lou C. Gilmore, Aimer Cozart, Miss Anna M. Gilmore, Mrs. Eleanor Cozart, Miss Susie Gilmore, Harman Cozart, Miss Salle Gilmore, Mrs. Lucy Cozart, Miss Ella Godfrey, Rev. Jas. E. Crouse, Harry Godfrey, Mrs. Agnes Craven, Mrs. Mary Godfrey, Miss Anna B. Davis, J. C. Godfrey, Miss Rachael A. Davis, Mrs. Mary C. Goode, Hamilton Davis, Webster Goode, Mrs. A. E. Davis, C. C. Gordon, Daniel L. Davis, Mrs. C. C. Gordon, Mrs. Nancy M. Davis, Miss Mary Griffin, J. D. Dean, Miss Georgia Griffin, Mrs. J. C. DeFoor, Mrs. L. M. Grist, B. A. Delpey, Mrs. Emily Grist, Mrs. A. J. Dorsey, Miss Mary Grist, Mrs. Elizabeth Ducker, Wm. N. Grubbs, Mrs. Sarah Ducker, Mrs. Mary Hairston, Mrs. N. A. Dunn, Mrs. M. C. Hammond, N. N. THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

Hammond, A. W. Jenkins, J. J. Hammond, Mrs. Mary A. Jenkins, Mrs. E. A. Hammond, George Jenkins, Miss Amanda J. Hammond, N. J. Jenkins, G. W. Hammond, Mrs. L. F. Joiner, H. Hammond, Miss Lula Joiner, Mrs. Mary Hammond, Miss Ella Johnson, Jacob Hammond, Wm. P. Johnson, Mrs. Mary Hammond, Miss Mary Johnson, Miss Lizzie Haney, Joanna Kelly, David Haralson, Mrs. Mira Kelly, Mrs. Lucy Harrison, Mrs. C. A. Kile, Mrs. Mary Harrison, Mrs. E. J. Kile, Miss Josephine Harrison, John W. King, Rev. H. K. Harrison, Geo. W. King, Mrs. M. C. Hays, I. N. Knox, E. P. Hays, Mrs. Sarah Lackie, Mrs. Eugenia Hearn, Miss Emily Landrum, L. L. Henderson, Mrs. Mary Lane, Mrs. Margaret E. Hendrix, J. C. Lawshe, Rev. Lewis Hendrix, Mrs. M. E. Lawshe, Mrs. Louisa Hinton, Miss Sallie Lawshe, Miss Lou Hill, Miss Melissa Lawshe, Er Holmes, Mathew Lawshe, Mrs. Sallie Holmes, Mrs. M. Lester, Mrs. Sarah Holmes, W. C. Lester, Miss Hattie Holmes, Mrs. W. C. Lester, Miss Eva Hopkins, John L. Lester, Miss Mattie Hopkins, Mrs. Mary E. Lester, Miss Ella Horton, Mrs. Carrie E. Lester, Wm. Howard, R. A. Lovejoy, Mrs. Martha Howard, Mrs. T. C. Lumpkin, Miss Clementine Howard, Mrs. E. V. Maddox, Mrs. Anna Hoyle, Wm E. Maffit, Mrs. Carrie Hoyle, Mrs. M. A. Martin, Ganaway Hunnicutt, C. W. Mayson, Rev. J. R. Hunnicutt, Mrs. Letitia Mayson, Miss Fannie J. Jenkins, Miss Sarah A. E. McAffee, W. W. THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN 31

McAffee, Mrs. A. L. Pegg, Dr. W. H. McConnell, Mrs. Wm. Pegg, Mrs. Martha McConnell, Miss Leona Pegg, Miss Cynthia McFail, Mrs. V. E. Pendley, Mrs. Jane McLendon, Capell Pilgrim, Mrs. N. J. McLendon, Mrs. Ruth Pittman, Mrs. Martha C. McLin, J. G. Pitts, Columbus A. McLin, Mrs. M. Pitts, Mrs. Emeline McLin, Miss Mary, Powell, Mrs. Dr. C. MeU, W. H. Powell, J. Mell, Mrs. Sarah E. Powell, Miss G. S. Mell, Miss M. A. Purtell, Mrs. H. A. Miller, Mrs. Nancy Reynolds, J. C. Miller, Miss Mary Reynolds, Mrs. C. G. Mills, J. M. Rives, Frank Mills, Mrs. Joseph Roberts, Elisha Mills, Mrs. C. Roberts, Mrs. A. Mills, Miss Carrie O. Robinson, Miss Susan E. Monday, C. E. Robson, S. B. Monday, R. A. Robson, Miss Anna Monday, Miss Charlotte Rollins, A. P. Monday, Miss Anna Rollins, Mrs. C. P. Monday, Miss Mary Rust, Mrs. Margaret Moody, Miss Martha J. Sasseen, E. R. Morgan, Mrs. Eva Sasseen, E. R. Jr. Morris, Mrs. Mary Sasseen, George O'Connor, Mrs. P. Seymour, Isaiah Orme, Mrs. Lucy Seymour, Mrs. Olive Payne, Edward Silvey, Mrs. A. Payne, Mrs. J. B. Simmons, Dr. J. N. Payne, Mrs. Carrie Simmons, Mrs. E. C. Payne, Mrs. Elizabeth Smith, B. D. Payne, Mrs. Margaret Smith, Mrs. Lizzie Peck, Willis Smith, Mrs. Cornelia E. Peck, Mrs. Anna E. Smith, Dr. C. H. Peck, Wm. F. Smith, Jno. A. Peck, John B. South, Mrs. J. Peck, Mrs. Martha A. Stegall, Mrs. Nancy 32 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

Stewart, Miss L. Whitaker, Mrs. J. Starnes, Joel. Whitaker, Miss Mattie Starnes, Mrs. Mary Whitehead, Geo. W. M. Starnes, Mrs. Anna Willingham, Miss M. E. Starnes, Miss Fannie Willingham, Miss J. Starnes, Miss Mattie Wilson, Dr. Henry Strong, Mrs. Elizabeth B. Wilson, Mrs. Mary Talley, A. S. Wilson, Mrs. Marian Taylor, Mrs. Susan Wilson, Miss Catharine Taylor, Mrs. L. Winship, Joseph Varner, Mrs. Rebecca Winship, Mrs. Eudosia Venable, Miss Julia Winship, Robert Walker, Henry C. Winship, Mrs. Mary F. Warren, Mrs .Amanda Winship, George Walker, Mrs. Sallie S. Winship, Mrs. Eugenia Watley, Mrs. Anna Winship, Miss Ellen C. Watson, A. R. Witt, H. H. Watson, Mrs. Fannie Witt, Mrs. A. A. Watts, Mrs. M. L. Wood, Winston West, Mrs. Jane E. Wood, Mrs. Mary West, Miss Alberta Yarbrough, Joel West, Miss Laura York, B. W. Westmoreland, Mrs. Dr. H. York, Mrs. C. A. THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN 33

SOME HIGH LIGHTS OF THE OLD ATLANTA STAGE.

By META BARKER

Atlanta's first theatre, opened in February 1855, was in the second story of a new brick warehouse built by the pioneer James E. Williams on the north side of Decatur Street between Peach- tree and Pryor.1 A row of white fluted columns making a Greek- temple effect distinguished the outer front wall of the build­ ing above the sober ground floor, which the owner used for his grain and produce commission business—one of many such es­ tablishments on Decatur and Alabama Streets and at other points near the railroad square.2 Hence evening pleasure-seekers were still aware of that rural aspect which antebellum Atlanta revealed by day, for the pungent odors from the hay and the corn in the storehouses, the clatter of vehicles and iron-shod hoofs in the narrow streets, the vociferous breathing of horses and mules in stables and wagon-yards were magnified in the darkness that was relieved even in the later fifties only by a few oil and gas lamps along the sidewalks. Most amusements that came to Atlanta then were naturally of the barn-storming kind, but Mr. Williams built the Athenaeum upon the entreaties of the actor William H. Crisp, who, with a "family troupe," had been attempting the serious drama in Parr's Hall three flights up at the southwest corner of Whitehall and Alabama.1 Another ambitious actor who played at the Athe­ naeum before the war was Meefie. During the war Blind Tom played there, and local benefit performances innumerable were given there. In the dark days of '65, after this theatre had dis­ appeared under Sherman's torch, Crisp played Shakespeare,

•Pioneer Citizens' History of Atlanta, 1833-1902 (Atlanta, 1902), 45. 2See one of the Brown drawings in the Department of Archives and History, the State Capitol, Atlanta, and frontispiece herein. 'Martin, Thomas H., Atlanta and its Builders, I, 114 34 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN notably "a very wild Macbeth," in a little room called the Bell- Johnson Hall at Broad and Alabama Streets.1 During the chaotic years that followed, the craving for amuse­ ment impelled the building of at least two makeshift playhouses— Davis Hall, a rude structure on Broad Street that would seat 4,000 or more, and the South Pryor Street theatre near the south­ west corner of Pryor and Alabama. Every variety of enter­ tainment was offered, the first Italian opera in September, 1866, creating "quite a fever." Sol Smith Russell appeared in The Swiss Bell Ringers, and one summer John Templeton played every night at the Davis theatre, sometimes acting Hamlet and Toodles the same evening. In 1868 H. I. Kimball began an elaborate opera house on the southwest corner of Marietta and Forsyth, but completed it for the new state capitol.* Then Laurent De Give purchased the unfinished Masonic Temple on the corner diagonally across from the Capitol and converted it into a theatre which remained Atlanta's leading playhouse for over twenty years. On the evening of January 24, 1870, the actor E. Rosse Dal- ton opened this new theatre with a presentation of Richelieu. The next day the editor of the diminutive but heroic Constitution, who nibbled at the heels of the carpet-baggers and scalawags every morning, was impelled to comment upon the line, "Put away the sword, boy, the state can be saved without it." "How true this is of Georgia now!" he wrote. Dalton followed with Ingomar, Romeo And Juliet, and Macbeth, which did not mirror the absorbing political discomforts of the time so clear­ ly as to invoke exclamations from the press, but his engage­ ment marked the end of the provincial epoch of the Atlanta stage. De Give's opera house was put on all the "circuits". An actor of talent with a classic repertoire could count upon a good house—if sometimes ill-behaved—for several performances,

•Atlanta Constitution, September 3, 1888 'Atlanta Journal, November 16, 1924, extracts from the Richards diary; Atlanta Constitution, January 13, 1869, November 5, 1882 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN 35 altho to the rank and file of the theatrical world the overgrown village in the Southeast where the railroads met was known as late as the early eighties as a "one night town."1 During the next thirty years most of the world-famous players of classic tragedy appeared before Atlanta footlights. The first to come of the immortals was Edwin Forrest, who played on five consecutive evenings, beginning Monday, De­ cember 5, 1870, in Vtrginius, Richelieu, Hamlet, King Lear, and Damon And Pythias. This actor, who had been for fifty years the idol of a large part of the American public, whose brut­ ality toward his English rival had almost convulsed the two nations, whose claim to greatness has since been disputed at every point except that he was the first native tragedian that the United States produced, excited an interest in Atlanta that survived for a generation. Reserved seats were placed on sale November 28, and special trains were provided to accommo­ date play-goers in neighboring towns. The following are from the Constitution during the week: Last night a large audience greeted Edwin Forrest, the American tragedian, who has so long held high place on the stage. He showed that he still retains magnificient power, but somewhat changed from the Edwin Forrest of fifteen years ago, when the writer last heard him. Forrest, as Hamlet, was the image of hallowed and mournful beauty . . . Nothing artificial, no pompous strut and studied gesture; he walked, meditated and de­ lineated as Shakespeare intended. DeGives:—For the past week brilliant audiences, composed of all classes up to the elite of our city, and clad in the panoply of beauty and grace, have gathered at the above place of amusement to hear Forrest. His impression of Forrest's Hamlet might lead one to sus­ pect that this Atlanta journalist, whoever he may have been,

•Atlanta Constitution, November 5, 1882. 36 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

habitually held in his mind's eye, like half of the Americans of the time, the superb personation of Edwin Booth. For the vil­ lage blacksmith or a Roman centurion, but not for Denmark's melancholy youth, the too, too solid flesh of Forrest must have been an excellent model. The exquisite balance and restraint likewise suggest no less an artist than the younger Booth. Nearly twenty years later a person who signed the initials "S. C." wrote with some discernment and much eloquence of Forrest's playing in Atlanta: That engagement was the greatest dramatic treat given by the grandest actor of them all to the Gate City. No man ever read the lines of Hamlet more impres­ sively, but his grand form was not suited to the character. It was as if Edwin Booth should essay the role of Virgin- ius. The storm and fury of the curse scene, when Lear hurls anathemas upon Regan and Goneril, can be remembered with a shudder but can never be described. It was an avalanche of passion, and blanched many a cheek in that quivering crowd. Booth is a fair Lear—but Booth's curse to Forrest's curse is the ripple of a rill to the roar of a cata­ ract. Yes, McCullough and Ward and Bangs have all been here, but Atlanta has never seen Virginius but once. The rest is silence. And if all the people who saw Forrest in Lear, Virgin­ ius and Damon in Atlanta twenty years ago were collect­ ed together today, and should be asked: "Which was the greatest?" They would shout in a mighty chorus: "Damon, the last we saw him play!"1 In January, 1874, Lawrence Barrett played Richelieu and Richard III. His Richelieu drew much applause from a house "well filled with a select audience, altho the weather

•Atlanta Constitution, September 3, 1888 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN 37 outside was most unfavorable, and almost made carriages a ne­ cessity."1 For a due appreciation of the elements it should be added that the opera house was unheated. During the next twelve years Barrett appeared many times at De Give's, his audiences liking him particularly in Shy lock, David Garrick, Hamlet, and King Lear, In the eighties he presented Yorick's Love and other plays for which he was both producer and actor, thus having begun a new epoch for the American stage; and At­ lanta play-goers thought him surpassed only by his friend Edwin Booth. The historic engagement of Edwin Booth, from which local play-goers of that day counted theatrical events during all their remaining years, occurred February 21—24, 1876. That winter Booth played south of Baltimore on the Atlantic seaboard for the first time since 1859. A Savannah lady, after she saw him in Hamlet there, wrote the following to a friend in Atlanta: "The lithe, graceful bearing, the sad, thoughtful, and classi­ cally moulded contour, the intellectual gleam of the deep solemn eye—yea, the white shapely hands bespeak the gentleman and scholar—a rare combination of painting and sculpture crowned with the soul of poetry. . . Edwin Booth has lost his identity, completely absorbed by the character he personates, and it is not the other self, but with Hamlet that we drift into the sea of undecided purpose. During the performance I would en­ deavor to think of him as Booth, calling to my aid the bloody history surrounding the name, but with no success. The sad fortunes of Denmark's gloomy prince chained and held me fast. In the awful pause of the 'to be or not to be' I beheld a statue of mournful grandeur, in whose chiseled features the genius of the sculptor had expressed the innermost working of the soul."'

•Atlanta Constitution, January 16, 1874 2Ibid., February 20, 1876 38 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

Beginning February 12th this advertisement appeared for nine days in the Constitution:

DE GIVE'S OPERA HOUSE

EDWIN BOOTH

Under the management of J. T. Ford.

'They are coming to the play: Get you a place.'—Hamlet.

Mr. Ford having effected an engagement with the most eminent and distinguished actor of "The Eng­ lish Speaking Stage," has much pleasure in an­ nouncing his appearance in Atlanta for a limited number of classic personations.

Monday, February 21—PRINCE HAMLET. Tuesday, February 22—CARDINAL RICHELIEU. Wednesday, February 23—IAGO IN OTHELLO. Thursday, February 24—Cardinal Wolsey in "HENRY 8TH," and Petruchio in "TAMING THE SHREW."

The sale of places will take place at Phillips & Crew's music store, commencing Wednesday, Feb­ ruary 16th, at. 9 a. m. No orders prior to that date and hour will be received. THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN 39

As "admission" tickets were listed, demands for "standing room" were doubtless expected from the beginning. The "se­ cured seats in second circle" were to be had not until Saturday, the 19th, probably in consideration of the himdreds who came from a distance and in a vain effort to prevent speculation.1 Booth arrived at four o'clock Sunday afternoon, and several hundred people were crowded into the space at the east end of the Union Station in the hope of seeing him when he crossed to the Markham House, Atlanta's new "parlor hotel" which stood facing the station at the corner of Central Avenue and Wall street. As fate had it, he alighted from the train near Pryor Street, cross­ ed "straight," and reached the hotel by the opposite sidewalk, and was safely inside almost before the populace discovered their hero. A reporter who called that evening was met by Mr. Ford, who informed him that Mr. Booth was tired, andAmore- over seldom undertook to see anyone.2 The next day the city council, which then held its regular sessions in the evening, met at three in the afternoon so that the city fathers might see Hamlet. Atlanta never saw a more crowded house; seats were placed in the aisles, the city not hav­ ing yet acquired the dignity of iron-clad firemasters' regula­ tions. It was the outpouring tribute of our people in honor of a great and almost peerless artist, . . . and Hamlet walked the stage, while the actor was forgotten. Booth was repeatedly called before the curtain, and at the close received a perfect ovation of applause and cheers. The support was very good, and while overshadow­ ed by the brightness of the master spirit, presented no jarring contrasts, and for this Manager Ford is to be thanked, for Southern audiences are too often imposed upon in this respect."3

•Atlanta Constitution, February 20 and 22, 1876 2Ibid., February 22, 1876 3Ibid., February 22, 1876 40 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

In the Constitution of the 22nd a special advertisement ap­ peared of the performance for that evening, featuring the an­ niversary of the Father of our Country, who, fortunately for all times in general and for that occasion in particular, was first in peace as in war. The quotation from Hamlet was displaced by the seven now threadbare lines beginning, "Beneath the rule of men entirely great The pen is mightier than the sword." Booth's de Mauprat was Frederick B. Warde. Of Booth's Iago on Wednesday there was no question that it was the greatest personation of the part anyone ever saw, a memory that might have lingered as one moment of pure sub­ limity if the announcement had not been forthcoming that "a costly and appropriate souvenir" would be given to every lady present on Thursday evening.1 For this last performance, for which "standing room was difficult to obtain," Booth played Wolsey as far as the third act where he bade a long farewell to all his greatness, and then two acts from The Taming Of The Shrew, and every lady present received "a photo lithograph of the Actor, large enough to frame."2 Lest anyone, for conscience' sake, forbear every performance of the great actor, the Constitution that morning had an editorial entitled, "Booth as a Teacher of Morals," quoting from the New York Sun a criticism of Dr. William Taylor's advice to his divinity students at Yale that they read Shakes­ peare to gain insight into the human heart. Why not admonish young clergymen to see the tragedies of the bard of Avon acted? said the Sun. Only to read them was like reading one of Dr. Taylor's sermons instead of hearing it. Next day came the announcement that in the matter of re­ ceipts Atlanta was "the second best city" that Booth had yet visited on his Southern trip—a feature of the public's interest

•Atlanta Constitution, February 23, 1S76, September 3, 1&38 2Ibid., February 24, 1876. THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN 41 that continued to follow him. At the end of the season his "best remuneration" was said to have been in Nashville, Baltimore and Atlanta.1 Finally the loquacious "S. C." revealed that the receipts from Hamlet in Atlanta exceeded $2,400, and Iago, the "best liked," $2,250, these remaining his most opu­ lent single performances "except one night in Memphis."2 When Booth returned to De Give's February 8, 1882, to play Hamlet again, his excellent Ophelia, Bella Pateman, seem­ ed to eclipse him somewhat in the mind of his audience, but his final appearance in Atlanta, January 20-21, 1888, was, like his first, a festive and glamorous occasion. The "Booth—Barrett combination," supported by a carefully selected company, lux­ uriously housed in "the beautiful palace car, the Junius Brutus Booth," made a long southern tour, playing in Charleston, Savan­ nah, Macon and Atlanta the same week, presenting Othello at De Give's on Friday evening, Hamlet for a matinee, and Julius Caesar Saturday evening.3

The conditions that the company met everywhere threw into sharp relief the contrast between the New South of the eigh­ ties and the South that Booth visited twelve years before. Tho the seating capacity of the Atlanta Opera House was nearly double that of the seventies and the sale of standing room was still the custom, to prevent speculation it was proposed to offer the best seats at auction. But this was so distasteful to the pub­ lic that the prices were fixed at three dollars, two dollars, and one dollar, and an advanced sale announced for the 17th, no one to be allowed to purchase more than ten tickets for each performance. Meanwhile, auctions were held at Savannah and Macon. In Savannah one hundred and ninety-four seats brought nearly a thousand dollars.4

At midnight of the 16Lh as many as thirty-five men and boys were huddled on the steps of the opera house waiting in a chill

•Atlanta Constitution, March 12, 1876 2Ibid., Septembe 3, 1888 3Ibid., January 11, 15, 1SS8 4Ibid., January 12, 13, 14, 1888 42 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

wind and drizzling rain for the opening of the ticket office at eight in the morn'ng. By three o'clock there were fifty, and by dawn a misty line of over a hundred stretched nearly to the cus­ tom house. There were soon two hundred, more than half of them prospective speculators, some boasting that they had al­ ready sold seats for five dollars each. Purchasers were admitted to the ticket office by twos thru a window, and reached the street again by a side door. Some negroes, when they nearly reached the window, were observed to release their places for a consideration, retire to the end of the line, advance again, and repeat the lucrative arrangement. Various "prominent citizens," arriving upon the scene from their breakfast tables, were observed to receive either tickets or covet­ ed positions in the line from certain of the watchers of the night, particularly the blacks, tho in several instances both the watcher and the wherewithal were found to have stolen away with the darkness.1

The speculators openly advertised their wares in the daily press, and to the great indignation of many citizens some seats were sold as high as ten dollars. It was then possible for Mr. De Give to emphasize the advantages of an auction, and some sought comfort in prophesying a loss to the speculators, but the average price of tickets proved to be four dollars.

It was evident that Othello would be played to a capa­ city house, and Friday's Constitution published direc­ tions in great detail to the various fire exits. A description of the audience by Maude Annulet Andrews, of the Constitution, was quite as colorful as if she had been writing about a first evening of the opera of the present day. Booth in his "wondrous creation" of Iago eclipsed his triumph of '76. His delineation in the first act at least must have been perfect, for some ladies afterward confessed that he had been on the stage fully fifteen minutes before they discovered him. The Othello of Barrett, too, was a revelation.

•Atlanta Constitution, January 18, 1888 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN 43

Besides the usual story in the usual column in the next morn­ ing's Constitution, the following was the leading editorial:

THE PLAY LAST NIGHT. The sublime tragedy of Othello was never better presented since it came from the hands of Shakes­ peare than last night at De Give's by Messrs. Booth and Barrett and their admirable company. We re­ joice that this perfect interpretation of this com­ plex and subtle tragedy was given by American ac­ tors, supported by an American company. It is to be hoped that England will be permitted to see it. Another full house greeted Hamlet, but Julius Caesar was played amid the unrestrained enthusiasm of the largest audi­ ence of the engagement, the utter serenity of Booth's Brutus making a perfect foil for the impetuous Cassius of Barrett.1 As at the time of Booth's first visit, the Constitution again made a gentle onslaught upon our puritanical inheritance from pioneer America. An editorial entitled "A terrible pros­ pect for theatre-goers" reported a Georgia evangelist who was then preaching in a Methodist revival in Kansas City, as having just said that "God would not put you in hell for going to the thea­ tre, but would if you went after you joined the church," since this would be equivalent to perjury. With the opposing view of Dr. Lyman Abbott and others the editor contrasted this opin­ ion, but disclaimed any inclination to agree with the former. "After all," he concluded, "it is a big question, and every in­ telligent man must figure it out for himself."2 But those to whom conscience denied a professional appre­ ciation of Booth could indulge in the keenest personal interest, for there was a wide belief at the time that John Wilkes Booth was not only alive but masquerading daily in Atlanta in the person of Dr. J. G. Armstrong, rector of St. Philip's. To add

•Atlanta Constitution, January 22, 1888 'Ibid., January 20, 1888 44 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

to the remarkable natural resemblance between the two, the rector even walked with the limp that the hapless young man would doubtless have borne thru life. It was arranged that Dr. Armstrong should have an interview with the illustrious actor, but as no third person was present and as neither one ever re­ vealed what took place, their meeting served only to deepen the mystery.1 February 5th and 6th, 1877, came Mary Anderson, whose passion for the stage became irrepressible after she saw Booth in Richelieu four years before. The first night she played Juliet to "a fine audience which expected a great deal from her", but she left them quite cold till the fourth act, when she received two curtain calls and "a storm of applause." Then, many ex­ pressed great regret that one Miss Annis Montague, whom they expected to hear as the singing witch in Macbeth, was absent because, so the story went, there was not rcom in the same heaven for two stars of the first magnitude. For this reason, perhaps, it was announced that Miss Anderson would return a week later "with a good company" and play A Lady Of Lyons.2 That performance was a vast success for the entire company except the star herself. The Constitution reporter wrote: Were we disposed to be at all critical, a role which, at the hour we write, we have neither the time nor inclina- nation to assume, we should say that the character of Pauline is not one suited to Miss Anderson's talent— genius if you will.3 With no such gracious phrases did Henry Grady, in one of his weekly letters to the Constitution, offer his disapproval upon seeing the young actress in New York a year or two later. Tho her beauty might set him romancing, her mannerisms were intolerable, and he predicted her failure unless she would under­ take the severest study and training. Likewise, "S. C," from

'Recollections of an Atlantan 'Atlanta Constitution, February 7, 1877 •Ibid., February 13, 1877 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN 45 the safe vantage point of eleven years after, described her as Atlanta saw her in 1877: "raw, awkward, and eighteen with the face of an angel and the head of a queen," whose Juliet was "a bundle of absurdities," but whose Lady Macbeth "gave pro­ mise of another Charlotte Cashman." In February, 1878, Miss Anderson, whose financial success seems to have been by that time sufficient to excite a certain public interest, appeared at De Give's three times, receiving a great ovation as Evadne. In this role Atlanta folk were to see her again in 1881, when she was once more praised rather for her promise than for her attainment.1 Two years later this divinely favored young person passed forever from the gratuitous tutelage that sectional pride im­ pelled Southerners everywhere to offer her. In 1883 Mr. Abbey presented her in London, where she played to crowded houses for eight consecutive weeks. Whatever immaturity her sub­ sequent playing before her exacting countrymen revealed, she had received the acclamation of the world. The seasons of 1879 and 1880 brought the three remaining eminent American actors of the classic school—F. C. Bangs, Thomas W. Keene and John McCullough. On three successive evenings in January, 1879, John T. Ford presented Julius Caesar, starring Bangs as Antony—a role which that actor had recently redeemed from its traditional sentimentality, playing it a hundred times in one season at Booth's theatre. Keene was a good Cassius, and a young Atlantan, Paul Bleckley, appeared in the fifth act as Octavius.2 A year later John McCullough received the adulation of Atl­ anta play-goers as "the only living Virginius."3 Of the European "queens of tragedy" who yielded to the lure of America in the gilded age, Janauschek was the first to play before Atlanta footlights, making two visits or more in the

•Atlanta Constitution, February 13, 14, 1878; March 15, 1881 'Ibid., February 24, 1879 8Ibid., January 23, 1880 46 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN seventies. In January, 1878, "the grim Hungarian" drew "the most brilliant audiences of the season" in Catherine Oj Russia and Macbeth. The former was "her greatest tri­ umph", her support was "the best that has been in our city since the war" (as if it could have been surpassed previous to that epoch!), James H. Taylor proving a superb Chevalier Mont- burn.1 In the eighties came Janauschek's aged Italian rival, Ristori, and her countrymen, Rossi and Tomaso Salvini; and the Ger­ mans, Bandmann and Fechter, the latter the only Hamlet "who ever looked the part."' Salvini, acclaimed "the greatest of living actors," appeared at De Give's on the evening of April 6, 1881, as Niger, the Thra- cian slave, in The Gladiator, he speaking in Italian and his company in English. The audience found the play an agree­ able substitute for the ever pleasing Virginius, In the fourth act the house burst into uproarous applause, and the morning paper commented: The lightning flashes of his eyes, the thunder of his mighty voice, his wonderful mastery of his art, electri­ fied the audience. "S. C." expended upon the occasion one of his most elo­ quent effusions: Salvini whose Gladiator snatched a grace beyond the reach of art, and shook criticism from him as the lion shakes dcwdrops from his mane. . . The dazzling Polish tragedienne Modjeska came south during her third season on the American stage. Atlanta, informed a month before that she would be at De Give's on January 31st and February 1st, 1879, was meantime the unhappy victim of an absurd mistake. The report reached the city that the amount of three dollars had been asked in Savannah for single tickets

•Atlanta Constitution, January 23, 25, 1878 'Ibid., December 28, 1881; April 13, 1886; September 3, 1888 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN 47 to her performances. Public protest was emphatic and pro­ longed: no more than one-dollar-and-eighty, thought the Con­ stitution, would the plain, practical, thrifty, hard-working folk of Atlanta stand, altho they were most anxious to see the renowned actress, and particularly to have the new capital of the state give her a fitting welcome.1 In time the announce­ ment that reserved seats could be had for the usual price brought balm to their spirits and "capacity" audiences to greet Mod- jeska in Camille on Friday evening, Frou Frou at the matinee, and Adrienne on Saturday evening. If the lengthy narratives in the press, of which the follow­ ing are brief extracts, bear faithful witness, Forrest and Booth were the only other players who had ever been received with so much enthusiasm in the town: Atlanta turned out its style and elegance last night to see Modjeska in Camille. For the first time since Booth was here ladies were compelled to sit in the gallery. . . From her very first appearance on the stage she evidenced one quality in which perhaps she is unrivalled among living actresses, viz., the wonderful delicacy of her acting. She has copied those finer lines of nature which escape all ob­ servation save that of the true artist, but which are so essential to a faithful picture of life.. .Her dresses were superb, and were doubtless the envy of many a female critic. In the fourth act she wears a cross and tiara of diamonds worth $40,000.' There was never seen in Atlanta before such a mati­ nee as that which greeted Modjeska yesterday. From pit to gallery was a brilliant array of the beauty, fash­ ion and grace of Atlanta society.3 If there was a suggestion of the bizarre in the lady's ward­ robe and other impedimenta, not to mention the French plays •Atlanta Constitution, January 4, 1879 'Ibid., February 1, 1879 8Ibid., February 2, 1879 48 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN in her repertoire, nothing was lost in the telling of it to the Vic­ torian public of that period. She travelled in a special "palace car" that bore her monogram in each corner, and it was announc­ ed that her manager would open it from eleven to one o'clock on Saturday for the reception of Atlanta citizens. She occupied the "bridal suite" at the Kimball, and when a reporter called he found her lavishing attentions upon a "frightfully ugly" pug that had been presented to her by some ladies in Louisville, and named "Kentuck" by "that opportune genius," Colonel Henry Watterson.1 Three years later some one dispelled more of the magic with a further familiarity in the public print, recalling that during the "grand reception" in the car, Modjeska's noble husband of ancient Polish lineage "picked his teeth with his knife while the plain democrats outside looked on. "' Modjeska came again in January, 1884, in Frou Frou, As You Like It, and Cymbeline, with a "very accepable company," including Maurice Barrymore and Georgie Drew. Her art was pronounced exquisite, but her "one hundred and twenty-five costumes" and the intricate luxuries of her special car "sixty feet long" offered such tempting copy that no good journalist could be expected to reserve much space for histrionic criticism.3 Three days afterward the nineteen-year-old Minnie Maddern made her first Atlanta appearance in Frou Frou, playing it twice, and in spite of inevitable comparisons, won the approval of her audiences.4 It remains to tell of Atlanta's supreme theatrical sensation in those last halcyon days of the spoken drama that are as far removed from the third decade of the twentieth century as the horse-drawn carriages, the gas street lamps, the street-car mules, the Brussels carpets, and the bustled figures of the stylish ladies

'Atlanta Constitution, February 4, 1879 'Ibid., November 5, 1882 3Ibid., January 24, 26, 27, 1884 'Ibid., January 30, 1884 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN 49 of that era. In 1880 Sarah Bernhardt landed at New York in the pursuit of the trade of a celebrity, appearing in Atlanta in Camille February 16, 1881. Beginning January 30th the advent of the divine Sarah was given daily publicity until the seat sale opened February 4th. Under the heading, "Sallie's Sortie," the Constitution of the 5th related how seventeen men remained at the opera house all night to purchase the first tickets, besides twenty-five who were "numbered" at one o'clock in the morning and sent home. When the ticket office opened ninety-seven men were already in line. No one was allowed to purchase more than twenty tickets, and among the earliest heavy purchasers was a pioneer Atlantan who was never known to attend the theatre. The sale of tickets that day reached nearly $3,000, re­ ported to be the largest first day's receipts for any one-night performance Bernhardt had ever had—which could have been more gratifying only to her managers and to her creditors across the sea than to all good Atlanta citizens, who were happy to note that their city thus outran Springfield, New Haven, Hartford and others. The publicity continued. There came a wave of bitter cold, and a local paragrapher advised "Miss Sally Bernhardt to freeze to red flannel."1 The Columbus Enquire/—Sun pub­ lished an itemized account showing the necessity for a minimum expenditure of $56.55 if one wished to see Bernhardt's Atlanta performance.2 The Constitution, on the day of the great event, devoted three columns to the personal history of the fam­ ous actress and a description of her apparel and her jewels. Traveling from Mobile in her private car, Bernhardt was to arrive at two o'clock in the afternoon. A curious crowd who gathered at the old union depot waited a long time for the be­ lated train, and various saucy little boys would chase each other about now and then and cry, "There she is!" In the end all the waiting was in vain, for, during the few hours before going to the

•Atlanta Constitution, February 8, 1881 'Ibid., February 11, 1881 50 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN opera house, she remained in her car and received no one except a reporter, who inveigled her into conversation with inquiries concerning her widely published interest in sculpture and paint­ ing.1 The next day a full column described the events of the even­ ing. Tho "suffering acutely," Bernhardt, wearing a gown of white satin brocade, enthralled her audience in the first act. The scene with Armand's father was "grand in the extreme." The last act was "cut considerably," but the curtain went down "amid a storm of applause." Then every step back to her carriage was a groan.' Another day's news added that the unfortunate star had to be borne from her carriage to the theatre, that a physician lurked constantly behind the curtain, and that she fell twice on her way out of the building.' Seven years later "S. C." wrote briefly that she played to the largest and most fashionable audience Atlanta ever saw, but that she mistook Camille for a drunken fishwife, staggered thru about half the play, and took the 10:30 train for Macon. The many famous artists not mentioned here—musicians, opera stars, and players of roles other than classic tragedy—• who entertained the Atlanta of forty and fifty years ago at the original De Give's opera house on Marietta Street, would make another story. In the early nineties they all deserted this theatre for the new Grand Opera House on Peachtree at the head of Pryor. There, too, came the survivors and the belated follow­ ers of the classic school, among them Ellen Terry and Sir Henry Irving. Then, after the turn of the century, the aged Bernhardt, from the stage of another little theatre on Marietta Street, gave Atlanta play-goers a reminiscence, as it were, of the glory of the spoken drama in modern times.

•Atlanta Constitution, February 17, 1881 'Ibid., February 18, 1881 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN 51

THE WORTH OF LOCAL HISTORY.

That rare historian, John Richard Green, had his first glimpse into the great art and science to which his genius was given, while he sauntered about his native Oxford, a lad not yet eleven, peer­ ing into its old doorways, piecing out worn inscriptions, or lis­ tening to a village grandam who had seen the king of a vanished age go riding by in coach-and-six, with glittering retinue. The vividness of his "England" owes much, no doubt, to those boy­ hood contacts with the scenes and shrines of local history. To him the past was as one who "being dead, yet speaketh;" and it spoke the more tellingly because its first syllables were heard in his own dialect, along the ways of his mothertown. Even so young a land as north Georgia and a city so young as Atlanta can profit much from a study of their yesterdays. The Indian background, how rich in adventure! And the com­ ing of the pioneers on horseback and in wagon trains! The fell­ ing of primeval forests that farm and hamlet might spring forth! The far-heard horn of the stage coach, and the waiting tavern, its windows red through a chill dusk! The first steam railroad— ah, what an epoch then! And the triumph of the electric street­ car, when fortune bade the little jingling mules to rest forever from their task! There is history in all this, history in every mossy old mill wheel and dusty courthouse record, as well as in the flaming epic of the eighteen-sixties. Nor is there a surer, a more inviting way to the great drama of mankind than along these storied paths near our own doorsteps. Editorial in Atlanta Journal, November 22, 1927. 52 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

EDITOR'S CHAIR

The Society has, since its last meeting, suffered a great loss in the death of two of its most valued members, Mr. Thomas W. Connally and Mr. A. L. Colvin. Mr. Connally was a member of one of the oldest and most distinguished families of Atlanta. Bright in intellect, genial in disposition and generous in the contribution of his time and efforts to every public cause, his untimely death is an irreparable loss to the community. He was one of the organizers of the Atl­ anta Historical Society, and was elected to the Board of Curators. Mr. Colvin was a modest and unassuming man, marked for his deep love for his city and his keen interest in her history. The writers of the articles included in this issue of the Bulletin need no editorial commendation—their work speaks for itself. We are particularly proud to be able to publish the short article from that grand old man, Major Charles W. Hubner, patriot, scholar, and poet, who, in the late eventide of a life grandly spent, still sings at the age of ninety-three years. In the next issue of the Bulletin the Librarian's report will give due acknowledgment of all contributions to the archives of the Society. The editor solicits the early contribution of additional arti­ cles covering any phase of Atlanta history.