Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections Digital Commons @Vtext Wiregrass History Collection MS/28-er01-001 1984 THE HISTORY OF ALMA & BACON COUNTY, GEORGIA Bacon County Historical Society For this and additional works see: https://vtext.valdosta.edu/xmlui/handle/10428/1218 UUID: 51932a70-de2c-4dba-abb1-ead1c3d2103c Citation: Taylor, Bonnie Baker. The History of Alma & Bacon County, Georgia. vol.1. Bacon County Historical Society, 1984. http://hdl.handle.net/10428/1870 This item is free and open source. It is part of the Wiregrass History Collection at Odum Library Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections. If you have any questions or concerns contact [email protected] Bacon County Courthouse Built in 1919. Originally the new county was to be called Harde­ man, changed to Bacon in 1914. (See news items on page 13.) The Courthouse is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Tli is County, created by Act of the Legislature July 27. 1914, i* named for Augustus a Bacot* four times U.S. Senator, who died In office Feb. 13. 1914. An expert on Mexican affairs, his death was a great loss coming at a time of critical relations with that nation. Bom in 1839. Senator Bacon served as Adjutant of the 9th Georgia Regiment during the War of 61-65. Among the first County Officers were: Ordinary T. B. Taylor. Clerk of Superior Court Victor Deen. Sheriff «H W. Collector JIN. Johnson. Tax ft Treasurer «J. G. Barber. Surveyor and Coroner W. H. Lewis. Bacon County's only Historical Marker stands on the front lawn of the County Courthouse. i Plaque Honoring 1974 Historical Society Charter Members To research and gather enough documented material for ulti­ mately publishing the history of an area there should be, in the opinion of the compiler, a starting point and a sound foundation for indexing and storing the resulting material, hence the genesis of The Historical Society of Alma and Bacon County Georgia. Membership in the society was open to the public, and more than 300 people joined the first year. The pictured plaque honors these members for their interest in supporting the compiler’s effort to document and publish the history of an area on a scale as large as this presentation. ii DEDICATED TO: The small group of ladies who gathered at my home in Alma in March of 1974, to shore up my courage and allay my uneasiness in undertaking a project of such proportions, but who I now believe had the confidence in me to do the job and bring it to the goal that this publication now represents: i.e. to embark upon the gathering of the information on the history of Alma and Bacon County, and: To those who joined the Historical Society in 1974, and To those who were called upon to lend a hand, and did so, and To the older men and women, and to my contemporaries, who when called upon to give their nostalgic best, did so, and, To those who visited the Society on Dixon Street to discuss an item of antiquity and together evaluate its worth to posterity, and, To those who surrendered valuable documents for public display, or to be copied to support the Compiler’s claims to events of historical significance, and, To my co-founder, who did as he promised and obtained financial support from both the city and the county in order that I could employ a typist for about sixteen hours a week, and, To the employees who made each of those sixteen hours of work one of dedication to a project of which they knew little, and, To those who brought out family treasures and items of antiquity to help make Alma’s contribution to the Bicentennial an eventful occasion, and, To the Alma Club members who provided the settings of the country home so tastefully and appealing that those who entered wanted to stay, and, To those young ladies in the Bacon County High School typing class who assisted in typing church histories and making copies sufficient to satisfy a current need, and, To their teacher, who did not hesitate to offer his and their services as time permitted to a cause where all participants were freely giving their time without compensation, and, To the teachers in Bacon County High who used the historical and genealogical collection as a class project, and in doing so learned of their heritage and their pride in being descendants of Bacon County pioneers, and, To my late sister W ilma, whose life was dedicated to a cause which I have tried to honor, and, To my parents, who encouraged me and trained me to live an orderly life, wherein I would have the knowhow to pursue a course once set upon, and, To those several hundred family members who willingly shared their ancestry with others for whatever their goals may have been, and, To the librarians at the High School and the Public Library in Alma who, whenever needed, found time to spare, and, To the Bacon County Chairman and Commissioners, the Mayor, City Manager, and Councilmen, who made it possible for the society to continue after its first year in 1974, and, To those who volunteered for the offices of President, Secretary Treasurer, and Directors in the year of its first incorporation, and, Last but not least, to you who are reading this dedication and feel that you may not fit any of the above, you do, for the reading alone is also a vote of confidence. The History Of Alma & Bacon County, Georgia Volume 1 Creation Of Bacon County 4 News - Banner Articles, 1913 - 1914 13 Indian Lands to Today’s Lands 18 Georgia General Assembly Acts 29 Villages & Post Offices, 1887 - 1984 32 Wars 38 Industries & Cultural 43 Active Churches 52 Bits & Pieces 61 County Government Roster 71 City Government Roster 75 Bacon County Cemeteries 83 People Write About Alma 119 Incorporation Of Alma 132 Alma Land & Improvement Co. 134 Who Was Alma Named For? 138 Railroads 141 Schools 143 Alma, The Model City 147 Alma Makes History 149 Mayors & Councilmen 152 Physicians & Pharmacists 158 Newspapers 160 Out Of Alma’s Past 162 Businesses In Alma 168 Miscellany 170 Alma Cemeteries 173 Bonnie Taylor Baker 6 1984, Bonnie Taylor Baker County Historian iv Bacon County 1982 CAVB1 SPRING • J S F ™ BACON / \NEWNANyj r r p i • L^GRANG^---------- vi DUBLIN \ BRUI 1 WAYCRQSS v Al d o s t ^ - 1 Introduction In the early part of 1984,1 realized that the a sort where I felt safe in the pursuit of the time had come for me to put aside a never 1974 goal. ending project as Bacon County’s Historian, As I began the 1974 project, which will one in which I had been immersed for the never end, segments of records were made past ten years and shift my priorities, at least available to me from County and City files, for the year, in another direction. The project newspapers or from whatever source my need of preserving Bacon County’s past had by required, most courteously. Over 300 Charter then reached maturity, having spent the past members supported and assisted my fact ten years in research, and it was time to pub­ searching effort in 1974, by joining The His­ lish a hard cover bound book which I have torical Society of Alma-Bacon County Geor­ titled “The History of Alma and Bacon gia, a State of Georgia Incorporated Society. I County Georgia,” Volume I. have acknowledged their contribution with a More than enough material had been plaque of names on display in The Braswell accumulated, documentary and legendary, to Deen, Sr., Humanities Building on Pierce fill many books, most of which is stored and Street in Alma. preserved for research in the Historical Col­ In summary, this publication is the story of lection at The Public Library on Mercer a few God fearing, hard working and brave Street in Alma. From this vast collecton of men from respectable families living as first documentary material, newspaper accounts settlers in the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland and photographs, I began to assemble the and other states who dared to come to this manuscript which has formed the basis for unnamed and uncharted wilderness, remem­ this publication. bered in history as “The Wiregrass Country,” As a historiographer, I have chosen to pres­ to claim land, clear it, and start a new life. ent my history by subject matter, rather “ Drones and Dudes” they were not. The trek than, as may be expected, chronologically. In to Georgia began as early as the late 1700’s, doing so, I have tried in my fashion, to pres­ most of whom lived among the Indians. As ent first an overview of the subject, docu­ the territory was opened up for settlement, mented sufficiently for the reader to know the others came to claim land and for the most reliability of the contents of this publication. part, only for the cost of recording the deed. I suggest now, that whenever the documenta­ The movement south continued well into the tion appears not to satisfy the reader, more of late 1800’s and early 1900’s for many reasons the same can be found at the Library on and it is to them our lives are indebted, for we Mercer Street. It is therefore not a narrative, are their descendants. per se, though it is filled with tales, legends, As the reader progresses through the pages and stories from the past designed to make of this account, it may appear that there is a one’s eyes water from nostalgia.