THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

PUBLISHED BY THE

ATLANTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

No. 5 APRIL, 1931 The Bulletin is the organ of the Atlanta Historical Society and is sent free to its members. All persons interested in the history of Atlanta are invited to join the Society. Correspondence concerning contributions for the Bulletin should be sent to the Editor, Stephens MitcheU, 605 Peters Building, Atlanta. Applications for membership and dues should be sent to the Secre­ tary and Treasurer, Miss Ruth Blair, at the office of the State Historian, Rhodes Memorial Hall, 1516 Peachtree Street. 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. 5 APRIL, 1931

CONTENTS

B. F. BOMAR, ATLANTA'S SECOND MAYOR, by T. D. Kllian 5

JEFFERSON DAVIS AT THE UNVEILING OF THE STATUE OF BENJAMIN H. HILL, by Walter McElreath 9

QUEER PLACE NAMES IN OLD ATLANTA, by Eugene M. Mitchell 22

RESIDENTS OF DEKALB COUNTY IN 1833, by Franklin Garrett 31

WHITEHALL TAVERN, by Wilbur G. Kurtz 42

EDITORIAL NOTES 50 ATLANTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

OFFICERS.

WALTER MCELREATH President EUGENE M. MITCHELL Vice-President MISS RUTH BLAIR Secretary and Treasurer Miss TOMMIE DORA BARKER Librarian

CURATORS.

FORREST ADAIR A. A. MEYER MISS TOMMIE DORA BARKER E. M. MITCHELL MISS RUTH BLAIR MRS. J. K. OTTLEY DR. PHINIZY CALHOUN EDWARD C. PETERS WILLIAM RAWSON COLLIER MRS. R. K. RAMBO JOHN M. GRAHAM MRS. JOHN M. SLATON CLARK HOWELL HOKE SMITH JOHN ASHLEY JONES W. D. THOMSON JAMES L. MAYSON EDGAR WATKINS WALTER MCELREATH WM. FORT WILLIAMS

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.

EUGENE M. MITCHELL MRS. JOHN M. SLATON A. A. MEYER JAMBS 1.. MAVSON JOHN M. GRAHAM

WALTER MCELREATH, EX Officio MISS RUTH BLAIR, EX Officio Miss TOMMIE DORA PARKER, EX Officio STEPHENS MITCHELL, Editor

J)K. 15. F. BOMAR, ATLANTA'S SECOND MAYOR THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

Volume I APRIL, 1931 No. 5

A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF DR. B. F. BOMAR, ATLANTA'S SECOND MAYOR

By his Grandson, T. D. KILLIAN

Dr. Benjamin Franklin Bomar, second mayor of Atlanta, was born in Spartanburg, S. C, August 9, 1816. He came to Atlanta in 1847 and after serving a term as alderman in the city's first council was elected mayor and held that office from January 17, 1849, to January 23, 1850. Dr. Bomar was of Virginia stock. His father, the Reverend Thomas Bomar, was born in Essex County, Virginia, April 13, 1770; married Elizabeth C. High of Halifax County October 26, 1797; and settled in Spartanburg, S. C, in 1804, where he not only served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, but also as tax collector and later ordinary of Spartanburg County. Dr. Bomar, the mayor, was educated in Spartanburg, "read medicine" with a physician there for a time, took a course at the Medical College of the State of South Carolina at Charleston in 1839, and came as a young man to North Georgia to practice his profes­ sion. On October 1,1840, he was married to Sarah Elizabeth Lump­ kin Haynes, a connection of the well-known Haynes (or Hayne) family of South Carolina, at Cumming, Ga. A few years later they moved to Dahlonega, then a prosperous gold-mining town with a mint, where he practiced for several years; but having im­ paired his health making his rounds on horseback in the severe winters of that cold mountain climate, and the importance of the town as a gold-mining center having begun to wane, he decided 6 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

to give up the practice of medicine and try his fortunes in Texas, regarding which state he had received favorable accounts from his brother, Dr. Alexander H. Bomar, a surgeon with the United States forces in the War with Mexico then in progress. Accord­ ingly, in 1847, he left Dahlonega, and on April 30 of that year reached Atlanta with his wife and two children and put up at the Atlanta Hotel, intending to resume his journey after a brief halt; but he was so favorably impressed with the town, which already had three railroads and was full of life and activity, that he abandoned his plan of going to Texas and decided to settle here instead.

Dr. Bomar's first enterprise in Atlanta was a store of general merchandise. It is not known just where his first store was lo­ cated, but the records show that on July 11, 1849, he bought from W. R. Davis a lot on the east side of Whitehall Street, one lot re­ moved from the corner of Mitchell, paying $250.00 for the same. This lot had a frontage of thirty feet and ran back 210 feet. Later, on March 14, 1850, he bought from Allen E. Johnson for the sum of $100.00 a ten-foot strip adjoining this lot on the north and running through from Whitehall to Pryor Street.

A charter having been granted in December, 1847, incorpo­ rating the town of Atlanta (by which name it had already been known for more than a year), an election of officers was held on January 31, 1848, and Moses Formwalt was elected the city's first mayor, Dr. B. F. Bomar was elected alderman, and five councilmen also were chosen. A year later another election was held and Dr. Bomar was elected mayor, his candidacy having been espoused by the church element in an effort at reform. As Dr. Bomar was but thirty-two years old at this time, it is possible that he may have been the youngest mayor the city has had.

During Dr. Bomar's term of office the first bonds were is­ sued—$500.00 due in six months. The tax rate for the year was fixed at thirty cents per $100.00. Salaries of some of the town's officials were fixed as follows: Marshal, $300.00 per annum; Treasurer, two per cent for receiving and paying out; Tax Re- B. F. BOMAR, ATLANTA'S SECOND MAYOR 7 ceiver and Collector, three per cent; Clerk to have fees of office. Three hundred copies of the city ordinances were ordered printed, and the proceedings of council were ordered published in THE INTELLIGENCER. A committee, of which Dr. Bomar was a mem­ ber, was appointed "to select a place for a graveyard," and this committee selected a tract of six acres, which was afterwards bought for $75.00 per acre and became Oakland Cemetery. (The old cemetery was some distance out on Peachtree road and hard to reach.) A section of Whitehall Street was cleared of stumps at this time, the work being done largely by city prisoners who had been tried before the mayor, found guilty of small misde­ meanors, and sentenced by him to dig up a certain number of stumps each as punishment. The Atlanta and West Point Rail­ road was completed while Dr. Bomar was mayor. As stated above, his term expired January 23, 1850. On March 11, 1851, a committee of which Dr. Bomar was a member was appointed to take steps for an agricultural fair. This Committee selected for the fair grounds a lot on East Fair Street now occupied by the Fair Street School and paid fifty dollars an acre for it. The location was criticised by some as being too far out and the price was considered somewhat high. The fair was held that fall and, while only a small one, was regarded as a success. On December 20, 1853, Fulton County was formed by act of the Legislature, and on February 23, 1854, the first election of county officers being held, Dr. Bomar was chosen clerk of court, thus becoming the first Clerk of Fulton Superior Court. Dr. Bomar was an active churchman. On January 1, 1848, he and fifteen others met and organized the First Baptist Church with the Reverend D. G. Daniel as pastor. A lot at the corner of Walton and Forsyth Streets (present postoffice site) was bought for $130.00 and a plain wooden building was erected. Dedication services were held the first Sunday in June, 1848. Dr. Bomar, in addition to being a deacon, was superintendent of the Sunday school. It is said that at one time or another he held every office in the church except that of pastor. In August, 1854, he and his wife and seventeen others withdrew, in a spirit 8 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN of perfect good will, and organized the Second Baptist Church, of which he remained an active member until his death. Dr. Bomar never practiced medicine regularly after coming to Atlanta, but was often called into consultation by other phy­ sicians and occasionally performed an emergency operation. When the first class was graduated from the Atlanta Medical Col­ lege, September 1, 1855, he was given an honorary diploma. He was a member of the city board of health in 1854. In 1849, while mayor, Dr. Bomar, along with Z. A. Rice, Jonathan Norcross, and I. O. McDaniel, started a newspaper called THE INTELLIGENCER. Several newspapers had been started, but all had failed, and it was felt that a successful newspaper was a public need. THE INTELLIGENCER proved a success, became an influential organ, and continued publication until after the War. Meanwhile, however, it had changed hands half a dozen times.

Dr. Bomar was a member of the first Masonic lodge organ­ ized in Atlanta, the Atlanta Lodge, No. 59, which is still actively in existence. This he joined soon after coming to Atlanta. In 1851, he and others organized the Fulton Lodge, No. 216, of which he was an active member at the time of his death.

At the outbreak of the War Between the States, Dr. Bomar, then forty-four years of age, volunteered for service in the Con­ federate army and served throughout the war as Paymaster of the 28th Georgia Infantry with rank of captain. His oldest son, Thomas H. Bomar. then a junior at the old Georgia Military In­ stitute at Marietta, also volunteered, having first gone to Dah- lonega and organized a company known as the Chestatee Artillery. Thomas H. Bomar was later promoted to the rank of colonel. Another son, William A. Bomar, also saw service as a courier with his father in Virginia, although only a boy. During the war Dr. Bomar's family remained in Atlanta, where his wife and daughter (afterwards the wife of Charles H. Killian, Sr.) served as volunteer nurses in the Confederate base hospitals. When General Sherman expelled non-combatants pre­ paratory to destroying the city, they "refugeed" to Columbus. JEFFERSON DAVIS AT UNVEILING OF HILL STATUE 9

After Lee's surrender Dr. Bomar rejoined his family in Atlanta, but his health had broken under the hardships of the service, and after a long illness he died, February 1, 1868, and was buried in the family lot in Oakland Cemetery. Dr. Bomar has been described by those who knew him as a man of medium height, rather slender build, and kindly and courtly bearing. The accompanying likeness has been made from a portrait in oil in the possession of the family, painted by John Maier, Atlanta's pioneer portrait painter.

Books, articles, etc., consulted in preparation of the foregoing: The Life and Writings of the Reverend Thomas Bomar. Edited by Wilson N. Hurt. Spartanburg, S. C. 1837. Clarke, E. Y. Atlanta Illustrated. Atlanta. 1881. Reed, Wallace P. History of Atlanta, Ga. Syracuse, N. Y. 1889. Proceedings of the Semi-Centennial Anniversary of the First Baptist Church, Atlanta, Ga. Atlanta. 1898. Pioneer Citizens' History of Atlanta, 1833-1902. Published by The Pioneer Citizens' Society. Atlanta. 1902. Semi-Centennial History of the Second Baptist Church, Atlanta, Ga. Edited and arranged by M. L. Brittain. Atlanta. 1904. Interview with Mrs. Sarah E. L. Bomar, by Isma Dooly, in The Atlanta Con­ stitution, May 31, 1914. Masonic Grand Lodge records at Macon, Ga. Old letters in the possession of the family.

JEFFERSON DAVIS AT THE UNVEILING OF THE STATUE OF BENJAMIN H. HILL

By WALTER MCELREATH

At the time of the surrender of the armies of the Confeder­ acy, and for a short time thereafter, there was an amazing absence of rancor in the hearts of the people of the South against the people of the North. 10 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

For a year before the end of the war, the soldiers in the trenches and the people at home had realized the hopelessness of their cause and had become reconciled to the inevitable. They were war-weary and desired peace. They were consoled by the consciousness that they had fought a brave fight and had failed, not on account of any lack of courage and effort, but that they had been overwhelmed by a preponderance of numbers and of resources impossible to resist. It would have been a miracle if they had harbored no resentment, but peace was sweet, and the predominant feeling was a deep and pathetic disappointment. What resentment there was, was deeper in Georgia and Atlanta than in other portions of the South, because the people of this State and this city had more to forgive. The ruthless "March Through Georgia"; the expulsion of the people of Atlanta from their homes and the destruction of the city, were hard things to forgive, but even here, there was at first a disposition to look to the future and forget the past. The great mass of the Southern people understood that the actuating motives of the North in prosecuting the war were the preservation of the Union and the abolition of slavery. It was the common understanding that the wager of battle had ratified the Emancipation Proclamation and that slavery was abolished and the negroes were free. The abolition of slavery was not a matter of universal regret in the South. In 1860, there were only 384,000 slave owners out of a total population of 8,000,000. In 1840, ten per cent of the negroes in the South were free, and in 1850, 238,000 free negroes were at work in the South. There were comparatively few negroes in Atlanta. Four families ou1 of five in the South owned no slaves, and many people who owned them were opposed to the institution of slavery hut did not know how to get rid of it. The mere fact of the abolition of shivery was, therefore, a matter which did not cause general regret and it would have been easily forgiven if the people of the slave states had been allowed to work out the problems of the future of the race in their own way and to exercise the right of self-govern­ ment in resuming their position in the Sisterhood of States. The logical theory of the Union movement was that the states were restored to their autonomy when their arms were JEFFERSON DAVIS AT UNVEILING OF HILL STATUE 11 laid down and resistance ended. General Sherman held to this theory and Governor Brown acted upon it. He called the legis­ lature to meet in Milledgeville on the 22nd day of May, 1865, but before that time came, Alexander H. Stephens, Howell Cobb, Benjamin H. Hill and Governor Brown were arrested and carried away into imprisonment, and General Wilson, the military com­ mander at Macon, issued an order forbidding the legislature to meet, stating that "neither the legislature nor any other political body will be permitted to assemble under the call of the rebel state authorities". Later, speaking for Secretary of War Stanton, he said,

The restoration of peace and order cannot be entrusted to rebels and traitors who destroyed the peace and trampled down the order that had existed more than half a century in Georgia."

These were harsh words for a proud and self-respecting people to bear, but even this action and these provocative words did not destroy all of the good will of the people of Georgia. On the 17th day of June, 1865, the President of the United States issued a proclamation appointing a provisional Governor of the State and authorizing him to call an election of delegates to a constitutional convention for the adoption of a new constitution. This procla­ mation provided that only those persons should be qualified to vote who were qualified voters as prescribed by the constitution and laws of Georgia in force immediately before the 19th day of January, 1861, thus devolving the adoption of a new constitution upon the white citizens of the State. The convention met and formed the constitution of 1865; repealed the Ordinance of Se­ cession; adopted the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and repudiated the debts incurred in the prosecution of the war. On the second day of April, 1866, Presi­ dent Andrew Johnson proclaimed peace restored and the great insurrection at an end, but Congress was not satisfied with the terms on which the President had determined that the South­ ern States were restored to the Union, and then began the crusade in Congress led by Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner, which culminated in the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment to the 12 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

Constitution of the United States and its imposition upon the people of the Southern States as a condition of their representa­ tion in Congress. Upon the refusal of several of the Southern States to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment and enfranchise the negroes, the Reconstruction Acts were adopted, reciting that no legal government existed in Georgia and several of the other states and putting the states under military rule. This inaugu­ rated an era of passion and hatred which had not existed at any time during the actual conflict. General John Pope, the military commander of Georgia, caused a registration of voters to be made in which 192,235 persons were registered as voters, 95,973 of them being negroes, registered to vote upon the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment which was to be adopted to make the negroes citizens and to qualify them to vote. The conven­ tion called in pursuance of this election of delegates met in At­ lanta on the 9th day of December, 1867. Its personnel was a pitiful contrast with the membership of the bodies which had framed the former constitutions of the States and a sad demon­ stration of the humiliation of a great state. One-sixth of the members were newly emancipated negroes; all the members were chosen largely by negro votes, three-fourths of those voting at the election for delegates being negroes, the whites refusing to vote; at least one was a criminal who had been in the penitentiary; one white delegate lived with negroes and was assassinated during the sitting of the convention, presumably by his white neighbors. A majority of the delegates were obscure men without experi­ ence in public affairs, and were despised by the real representa­ tive citizenry of Georgia with a refinement of abhorrence so great that the president of the convention said in his opening address that many of the delegates came to the convention from "amongst a people who have spurned and spit upon us." The convention adjourned amid the curses of the people and the campaign which followed upon the question of its adoption was the bitterest that was ever waged in Georgia.. While the campaign was being waged as to whether Georgia should ac­ quiesce in the Reconstruction Acts, the opposition was led by Benjamin H. Hill, who proclaimed with fervid eloquence the burning resentment of the people in his "Davis Hall" speech, JEFFERSON DAVIS AT UNVEILING OF HILL STATUE 13 delivered in Atlanta on the 16th day of July, 1867, which was followed by his celebrated series of "Notes on the Situation", and by his "Bush Arbor" speech of July 23, 1868, also delivered in Atlanta. The vitriolic invective of those speeches grate some­ what on the sensibilities of the present day, but they were proba­ bly not an exaggeration of the feelings of the people of Atlanta of that time. One of the interested auditors at the Bush Arbor meeting was a dark-eyed youth,—radiant with excitement and enthusiasm,—Henry W. Grady.

Although the Constitution adopted by the Reconstruction Convention received a majority of the votes cast at the election called to ratify it, it was not the real will of the people, the vote for its adoption being 89,007, and those cast against it being 71,- 309, with thousands of the best people refusing to vote.

The people of the State set their approval on the position of Mr. Hill by electing him to the lower house of Congress in 1875, and to the United States Senate in 1877.

At the close of the War Between the States, Jefferson Davis was the most unpopular and the most unjustly maligned man in America. His private character was singularly blameless. He was a kind husband and father, a gentleman of honor, a humane master, a devout christian and a profound scholar. His career was rich in public service. His record in the War with Mexico, and his service as Secretary of War in the cabinet of President Franklin Pierce and as a Senator of the United States from the State of Mississippi, marked him as a soldier of courage, a man of integrity and a statesman of preeminent ability. A recent biographer describes him as "a great statesman, perhaps the most disinterested statesman in American history," and as "the best Secretary of War the United States has ever had." At the close of the war, this noble man was execrated as a traitor, indicted for treason, cast into a dungeon, shackled with irons and accused of complicity in the assassination of President Lincoln. In the House of Representatives, on January 10, 1876, James G. Blaine offered an amendment to the General Amnesty 14 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

Bill, to except Jefferson Davis from the operation of the bill, and used the following language:

Mr. Davis was the author—knowingly, willingly, deliberately, guiltily and willfully—of the gigantic murder and crime at Ander- sonville * * * And I, here before God, measuring my words, knowing their full extent and import, declare that neither the deeds of the Duke of Alva in the low countries, nor the massacre of St. Bartholomew, nor the thumbscrews of the Spanish Inquisition, be­ gin to compare in atrocity with the hideous crimes of Andersonville."

On the next day, Mr. Hill replied to Mr. Blaine in a speech of marvelous eloquence and showed by incontestable evidence from public records; by the testimony of prisoners themselves, and by unanswerable logic that the accusations of cruelty were groundless; that the sufferings of Northern prisoners of war were the unavoidable consequences of circumstances beyond the power of the Confederacy to prevent; that notwithstanding the poverty of Southern resources, Northern prisoners in Southern prisons were treated at least as well as Southern prisoners in Northern prisons; that the death rate was lower and that Mr. Davis was powerless to prevent any suffering that had existed. No attempt was ever made to answer this great speech, but Mr. Davis was never granted amnesty, and died a man without a country.

In the South, Mr. Davis was, of course, honored and re­ spected, but he did not enjoy the hero worship which was accorded General Lee and the memory of Stonewall Jackson. There was a disposition to lay at his door all the failures and mistakes of the Confederacy. Some of the criticism which he received was just. As president of the Confederacy, he was not an unquali­ fied success. He was beset by difficulties which probably no amount of executive ability could have overcome, but it is certain his temperament was unsuited to the conduct of a revolution and his very virtues were a handicap. His idealism limited his ca­ pacity for practical policy. His blind loyalty to his friends and his sensitive repugnance to those who were personally unfriendly interfered with his judgment in the selection of officers. The people of Atlanta blamed him for the removal of General Johnston from command and the appointment of the rash and reckless Hood JEFFERSON DAVIS AT UNVEILING OF HILL STATUE 15 to command the armies defending the city, and many attributed to him the fall of Atlanta. A recent biographer says that the retention of General Bragg after the battle of Missionary Ridge was an act of madness and that "Anger, fierce and relentless, swept over the whole South, and from this time on Davis lost utterly the confidence of the South­ ern people," and that upon the fall of Atlanta "the people had lost faith in Davis and all of his works." The attitude of the American people towards Mr. Davis at the close of the war may be described as a burning passion of hatred at the North, and a lukewarm devotion on the part of the people of the South. But time is the invincible advocate of every just cause and the guardian of every worthy character. Upon his release from imprisonment, Mr. Davis retired to his home at Beauvoir, on the Gulf of Mexico, and in patient dignity awaited the verdict of time. With every passing year the pas­ sion of Northern hatred cooled and the devotion of the South grew warmer. After the admission of the State to representation in Con­ gress, and the abrogation of military rule in Georgia, public re­ sentment rapidly abated, but the people of Georgia were made to feel as if they were unnaturalized aliens, so far as the Federal Government was concerned. From 1870 to 1885, the presidency was held by a succession of Federal generals. This feeling of political vassalage was confirmed by the action of the Electoral Commission in denying the presidency to Samuel J. Tilden, who was, in the opinion of the people of the South, entitled to the office and deprived of it because he was a Democrat and the choice of the people of the South. The process of reconciliation was arrested and the old animosity was revived. It was com­ monly prophesied that no man then living would ever see a Democratic president of the United States, or a president of any party supported by the South. The South saw itself as the Ireland of an American empire. To a people in this frame of mind, the election of Grover Cleveland in 1884 came like a proclamation of freedom to a prisoner in exile. When it became evident that the North did not purpose to contest Mr. Cleve- 16 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN land's right to the presidency, the people of the South experi­ enced, for the first time in twenty years, a feeling of political freedom. The people of Atlanta went wild with joy. The fact that the people of the South attempted to take no wrong ad­ vantage of the success of their party surprised the people of the North and misunderstanding and ill feeling were dispelled like fog in warm sunshine. Senator Hill did not live to see this great triumph of his party and the new era of better feeling between the sections. His great career came to an end by his death on the 16th day of August, 1882, at his home on Peachtree Street, in Atlanta. He was the first of the great triumvirate—Stephens, Toombs, and Hill—to pass away. His death cast a pall of sorrow over the State of Georgia and the South, evoking tributes of unqualified praise from representative poets and public men and from the press. Nor was the sorrow confined to the South. Strong trib­ utes appeared in the Boston Post, the Washington Post, the Philadelphia Times, the New York Mail and Express, the Utica Observer, the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Frankfort (Ind.) Banner, the Springfield (Mass.) Republican, the Washington Critic, the Philadelphia Press, the New York Tribune and the Cincinnati Times Star. Among other things, the Philadelphia Press said:

"The war over, the white men of the South having been fused into a common opposition to the new order, Mr. Hill stood with his people against reconstruction, but was in advance of the mass of them in accepting the results of the war. When the Reconstruction Acts had passed, he recognized the commanding voice of Coii),rre^s and gave to their support the weight of his influence and eloquence." Soon after the death of Senator Hill, a movement was started to raise a fund and erect a monument to his memory, and an as­ sociation was formed to raise the fund and procure the monument, of which Dr. R. D. Spalding was president. The money was quickly raised, and Alexander Doyle, an eminent sculptor of New York, was commissioned to execute a statue in Italian marble. The statue was completed in 1885. A site was procured at the intersection of Peachtree and West Peachtree Streets, and the first day of May, 1886, was selected as the date for its unveiling. JEFFERSON DAVIS AT UNVEILING OF HILL STATUE 17

An invitation was sent to Jefferson Davis, to attend the unveil­ ing and to participate in the exercises. He accepted and his ac­ ceptance electrified the South. The journey of Mr. Davis from his home in Mississippi to Atlanta was a continuous ovation. Crowds met his train at every station. Fifteen thousand visitors came to Atlanta on the day before the unveiling and it was esti­ mated that 35,000 came by the trains the next morning. The day was one of those rare clear, balmy days of the early spring, with a sky unusually blue, across which floated a few gauzy clouds. People came from the surrounding country in private convey­ ances and practically the entire population of the city turned out, and there were probably no less than 100,000 people on the streets.

The writer, then a boy of 18 years, and his brother, 14 years of age, walked nine miles to Marietta and took the train and arrived in Atlanta in the early forenoon. The crowds around the Union Depot and the Kimball House and in all of the streets in the center of the city were so dense that it was practically im­ possible to pass through them. On Wall Street "the young vets", 2000 strong, were being assembled in ranks under the command of Chief Marshal G. R. DeSaussure, aided by his as­ sistant marshals, David J. Bailey, Jr., Burton Smith, F. M. O'Bryan, W. T. Turnbull, J. E. Dickey, J. E. McKinley, F. A. Arnold, T. C. Thompson, J. R. Nutting, T. F. Corrigan, W. H. Rhett, S. A. Cox, Hooper Alexander, E. F. Young and Arnold Broyles. At the same hour, the old veterans, 8000 in number, were being formed at the Court House under the command of William A. Wright, assisted by General Stovall of Augusta, General Hen­ derson of Covington, General Phillips of Marietta, General Long- street of Gainesville, Colonel Shepherd of Columbus, Major Slaton of Atlanta, Captain Lester of Cumming, and Captain Carson of Butler. At the head of this column were ten veterans of the Mexican War. The streets were profusely decorated with United States flags, and here and there a Confederate flag was un­ furled; some of the flags being old flags which had waved over the Confederate ranks in battle. 18 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

My brother and I attempted to make our way through the crowd to the statue where the exercises were to be held and our efforts brought us no nearer than Five Points. Finding that it would be impossible to reach the statue by way of Peachtree Street, we made a wide detour to Ivy Street where the crowd was less dense, and finally arrived on Peachtree Street, directly across the street from the platform which had been erected just behind the statue. At that time, there was on the east side of Peachtree Street a residence, set back far from the street, with a wide lawn in front of it surrounded by an iron fence. In this yard benches had been placed for those having tickets. My brother and I did not have tickets, but we decided that a nine- mile walk entitled us to enter the yard, and in the press of those entering we succeeded in getting in and getting places on the front seat, directly opposite the stand. Every available foot in sight of the stand was occupied; people sat on the roofs of houses and were perched in trees. In front of the platform a space had been roped off. Before the exercises began, a great crowd of children, dressed in white, entered this space with baskets of flowers and strewed them upon the ground so that when Mr. Davis arrived he should walk from his carriage on a carpet of flowers to the platform. The great column of veterans marched down the street, and when the head of the column had reached the platform, they opened ranks and left a lane between, for Mr. Davis' carriage. The young veterans took position be­ hind the old veterans; then came the Gate City Guard, the Cadets of the Means High School, and the Governor's Horse Guard, in resplendent uniform, and surrounded by an escort of six of the Horse Guard came Mr. Davis' carriage, driven by Captain T. M. Brady, with Donald M. Bain, chairman of the Committee of Arrangements, sitting beside him. In the carriage were Mr. Davis, Hon. J. C. C. Black, orator of the day, Dr. R. D. Spalding, President of the Ben Hill Monument Association, and Henry W. Grady, master of ceremonies. The next carriage contained Governor Henry D. McDaniel, General Clement A. Evans, who had been a Brigadier General in the Confederacy and was then a Methodist minister, Mayor W. S. Reese of Montgomery, and Mayor George Hilly er of Atlanta. The next carriage contained JEFFERSON DAVIS AT UNVEILING OF HILL STATUE 19

Judge James Jackson, chief justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia; Major Livingston Mims, Captain John Mcintosh Kell of the Alabama, and General A. R. Lawton. The next carriage con­ tained Hon. Patrick W'alsh of Augusta, Colonel D. S. Printup of Rome, Hon. J. W. A. Sanford of Alabama, and Judge Sampson W. Harris, a distinguished judge of the Superior Court of the Coweta Circuit. Mr. Davis, feeble with age, was assisted from his carriage and escorted to his seat on the platform by Dr. R. D. Spalding and Mr. Donald M. Bain. Henry W. Grady, then on the threshold of his fame, was master of ceremonies. He advanced to the center of the speak­ er's stand and said:

We have met here today to honor the memory of a great man, to perpetuate his virtues in our hearts and fix his manly beauty in enduring marble. This vast assembly, inspiring in its numbers and in the ardor of its sympathies, unequaled by any that ever stood on Georgia's soil, honors itself, no less than him, in gathering at the base of this statue. Callous must be the heart that is not en­ nobled by the touch of this hour's inspiration. Sluggish the soul that does not kindle with new aspirations as the morning sun catches the gleam of this marble, and this mute interpretation of a great life is given to the morning air. And if, in the mercy of God, that great soul enthroned beyond the skies is permitted to look upon this thrilling scene, and read the hearts of this loving multitude in the swift revelation of that one glance, in that one chapter of fathomless love it would find recompense for the crosses and trials of an arduous life and the agonies and sufferings of an heroic death." General Clement A. Evans, in a soft and tender voice, opened the exercises with prayer. Dr. R. D. Spalding, President of the Hill Monument Association, tendered the statue to the people of the State of Georgia through Governor Henry D. McDaniel. Dr. Spalding said in tendering the statue: "Whilst it is true that we are again a united people—living under a constitutional form of Government; whilst it is true that Forrest and Sheridan and Stewart no longer ride at the head of their columns; whilst Lee and Grant, the representative soldiers of the blue and the gray, are ashes in honored graves; whilst the war drum has ceased to beat and the battle flag is furled, it is equally true that the senti­ ments and convictions that inspired the contest still linger in the breasts of our countrymen, North and South. Nor may it be 20 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

safely questioned that these sentiments are no less the basis of na­ tional harmony than of national prosperity."

Governor McDaniel accepted the statue on behalf of the State of Georgia, and in accepting it said:

When the flag of the Union floated again over all the states, and the soldiers of opposing armies, with mutual respect and pride in American valor, parted in peace, the victors returning to bonfires and feastings and honors and power—the vanquished to ruined homes and poverty and toil, when partisan hate offered proscription instead of reconciliation and sought by military force to degrade states into provinces, the voice of Hill, never silent in times of peril, soundedthefirst note of warning and resistance that roused Georgians to the sense of danger and inspired them with courage to maintain their rights under the constitution.

No people of any age have been confronted with evils of such magnitude, and none have overcome them with a nobler spirit of patience, forbearance and loyalty to the pledges of their leaders and the principles of their soldiers, impoverished, proscribed and maligned. They bent the energies which in war time had astonished the civilized world to the task of regaining control of the state government. They rebuilt the social fabric, restored material prosperity, extended the blessings of education and secured to every citizen, without distinc­ tion of race, color or previous condition, all the rights and privileges to which he was entitled.

"Mr. Hill lived to share in this grand triumph and to rejoice at the dawn of prosperity. He lived to vindicate, in the Congress of the United States, the conduct of the South during the war, and to silence the slanders that impugned our honor. His eloquence first awakened the American people to the truth of the sentiment em­ bodied in the immortal words that speak from yonder tablet, and connect his name with the brightest page of his country's history. But he was denied, by divine providence, a share in the final victory, by which the American people at the ballot box in the elec­ tion of a President, adopted this sentiment. Could he have lived to celebrate that event, no tongue of orator or pen of genius in the annals of time would have gladdened lovers of liberty with sublimer praises of our system of government." The orator of the day was Hon. J. C. C. Black, of Augusta, a native son of Kentucky, and an adopted son of Georgia, a great lawyer, patriot and orator, who held the audience spell-bound in a speech of surprising eloquence. JEFFERSON DAVIS AT UNVEILING OF HILL STATUE 21

For many years after the war, General James Longstreet and Mr. Davis had been estranged. During Mr. Black's speech Gen­ eral Longstreet came upon the stage; Mr. Davis arose, spread out his arms and General Longstreet rushed to him and they clasped each other in an embrace. At the conclusion of Major Black's address, Mr. Grady arose and in a short speech introduced Mr. Davis, concluding as follows:

My countrymen, (turning to the crowd) let us teach the lesson in this old man's life, that defeat hath its glories no less than victory. Let us declare that this outcast from the privileges of this great government is the uncrowned king of our people, and that no Southern man, high or humble, asks greater glory than to bear with him, heart to heart, the blame and the burden of the cause for which he stands unpardoned. In dignity and honor he met the responsi­ bilities of our common cause. With dauntless courage he faced its charges. In obscurity and poverty he has for twenty years borne the reproach of our enemies and the obloquy of defeat. This moment— these memories that for twenty years have been buried in our hearts, have given us the best Easter we have seen since Christ was risen from the dead. This moment finds its richest reward in the fact that we can light with sunshine the shortening end of a path that has long been dark and dreary. Georgians, countrymen, soldiers and sons of soldiers, and brave women, the light and soul and crown of our civilization, rise and give your hearts to him, as we tell Jefferson Davis that he is at home among his people." When Mr. Davis arose a roar of applause broke forth from a hundred thousand throats. Men wept like children; women shrieked, and some swooned from excitement. During the ap­ plause Mr. Davis stood,—tall, slender, frail, with hair and beard snow white, and having about him a singular appearance of gentility, refinement and an air of majesty. When the applause had ceased he made a short speech, ending with the following words: My friends, ours is the day of peace. The friend whose memory we have met to honor taught us the lesson of peace as well as resistance. He taught us that it was through peaceful methods we were to regain our rights. We have trodden the thorny path and passed over the worst part of the road. Let us still remember fealty to every promise we have given, but still let us love Georgia and her rights, and may her rights of freedom and independence, such as your fathers gave you, be yours and your children's forever." 22 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

This was the most glorious day in the history of Atlanta and an epochal day in the history of America. Perhaps no other such ovation was ever given to the leader of a lost cause. The resounding enthusiasm of that day was the proclamation of the verdict written on the hearts of the people of the South after twenty years of deliberation in favor of the essential majesty of the character of Jefferson Davis. As an incident in American history it was a proclamation of the truth of the statement in Mr. Hill's speech before the Young Men's Democratic Union in New York, in 1868, that "The South surrendered secession as a constitutional remedy at Appomattox, but she did not surrender the Constitution itself, nor the great principles it was intended to secure". The myriad voiced enthusiasm of that throng was more than homage to the memory of the great orator and statesman whose statue was that day unveiled, and more than tribute to the great man whose presence glorified that occasion; it was the shout of a people who had been misunderstood and had suffered wrongs unparalleled without spiritual surrender, and who felt that for the first time they were back in the house of their fathers free to proclaim their loyalty to their principles and traditions, un­ deterred by misunderstanding and suspicion.

QUEER PLACE NAMES IN OLD ATLANTA By EUGENE M. MITCHELL A penchant for queer place names has characterized Ameri­ can pioneer settlements, but they tend to disappear with advanc­ ing culture. In the early history of Atlanta there were a number of peculiar names. Some of the picturesque ones are still with us but most of the ridiculous names have disappeared.

LICK SKILLET Lick Skillet was the name of Adamsville before and during the Civil War. It is so named in the map in General Hood's "Advance and Retreat," and the Lick Skillet Road is frequently referred to in the official reports of General John B. Hood, A. P. Stewart and Stephen D. Lee and of the Federal generals engaged in the Battle of Ezra Church on July 28, 1864. It was the effort QUEER PLACE NAMES IN OLD ATLANTA 23 of General Sherman to seize the Lick Skillet road at what is now Westview Cemetery that brought on that important engagement. This road ran out from Atlanta to the village of Lick Skillet, six miles west of the center of the City. In Phillips' Map of Fulton County (1872) the village is called Adamsville and the road is the "Howell's Ferry Road." It is now called the Gordon Road, being an extension of Gordon Street. Lick Skillet is now (1931) within the limits of Greater Atlanta. Dr. Arch Avary, in his interesting "Recollections", refers to a Lick Skillet out Frazier Street beyond the old jail, which was evidently a tough place. The advance of the city pushed it out of the way and its name was lost.

ROUGH AND READY This was a settlement on the Macon and Western (now the Central) Railroad at the south line of Fulton County just beyond Hapeville. Rough and Ready was the scene of important mili­ tary operations in the Civil War. On September 1st, 1864, the forces of General Sherman attacked the Confederates at Jones­ boro and Rough and Ready. The result was the cutting of Atlanta's only remaining railway and the fall of the city. Hood's army retreated that night by the McDonough wagon road and the retreat was covered by the forces of General Stephen D. Lee, which stood firm at Rough and Ready. The pretty suburb of Hapeville, named after Dr. Samuel Hape and now a borough of Atlanta, overshadowed Rough and Ready many years ago, and the name has been abandoned and largely forgotten. It was likely named after President Zachary Taylor, whose sobriquet was "Old Rough and Ready."

TIGHT SQUEEZE Before 1887 the Peachtree Road was not straight from Peach- tree Place to Eleventh Street, but took a westerly bend at Peach- tree Place and followed what is now Crescent Avenue and came back into Peachtree Road at Eleventh Street. About 1887 the County Commissioners straightened Peachtree Road. They did not abandon the old road. Captain Joseph F. Burke, whose 24 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN mother-in-law, Mrs. Cotting, owned a valuable lot on the western side of the old road, resisted the change but he was unsuccessful and the Supreme Court decided against Mrs. Cotting. This put an end to one of Atlanta's famous suburbs, "Tight Squeeze." From an early period there was a cluster of small houses along the bend in the old road, and just about the Tenth Street crossing were a wagon yard, a blacksmith shop and several small wooden stores. From the eastern side of the bend there was a deep ravine extending to what is now Piedmont Avenue. In the picturesque language of Dr. Arch Avary "the Tight Squeezers lived along the crescent and up and down the gulch." Some of them were a rough lot. City boys who went through the settle­ ment were likely to be rocked by the Tight Squeeze boys. Tight Squeeze became a stopping place for wagoners from North Geor­ gia. Right after the Civil War when the suburbs of Atlanta were infested by criminals it became a "hang out" for robbers. A Mr. Plaster, a farmer who lived in Buckhead district, was killed there by robbers who thought they would make a big haul. Mr. Plaster had sold his cotton in Atlanta that day. He had put his money in a bank and the murderers got only fifteen cents. The road was very narrow and crooked and the houses were mean looking, and it became a common saying that it took "a mighty tight squeeze to get through with one's life." Thus arose the name of Tight Squeeze for a neighborhood which afterwards became an elegant residential section. When the road was straightened the ravine was filled in where Peachtree Street now runs. About half way between Tenth and Eleventh Street the fill is thirty feet deep. The tract of land on which the most of the Tight Squeeze settlement was located was owned by Judge J. F. Walker, the father of our esteemed dealer in art goods Mr. Samuel G. Walker. Sam says that B. F. Thigpen was the surveyor who laid out the subdivision and that he (Sam) carried the chain. Mr. Jasper Newton Smith, a noted citizen who lived further out near Fourteenth Street, tried to christen his neighborhood "Blooming Hill," but the name would not take. On the other QUEER PLACE NAMES IN OLD ATLANTA 25 hand "Tight Squeeze" stuck until after the road was straightened and the Peachtree District election precinct was established at the corner of Tenth Street. Of course there were many good people at Tight Squeeze, but I was afraid of the boys of the Tight Squeeze gang and seldom ventured there. One of the most humiliating experiences of my boyhood was when I was rocked and chased from Poplar wash hole on Clear Creek by a crowd of Tight Squeeze boys. The Plaster's Bridge Road intersected the Peachtree Road near where the bend started. It ran diagonally northeastward through the blocks to the present corner of Piedmont Avenue and Tenth Street and thence followed Piedmont Avenue to Buckhead. Just north of the fork of the roads there was a little mission church of the Methodist Protestant denomination. My uncle, Dr. Wesley D. Mitchell, took a great interest in this mission and was its superintendent, and occasionally my grandfather, Rev. Isaac G. Mitchell, went out there to preach to the congrega­ tion. One of my childhood recollections was of a sermon I heard him preach at this little church. He was an eloquent speaker. His subject was the "Persecution of the Saints." It was the first sermon I had ever heard. Not all the people of Tight Squeeze were poor or common. Some of them became wealthy and their descendants occupy good social stations. It is a far cry from old "Tight Squeeze" to Peachtree Dis­ trict and its wealthy homes, and still farther to the present metro­ politan business district at Tenth Street. In 1859 W. C. Jackson bought ten acres on Peachtree Road at Tight Squeeze for 400 dollars. He had a bond for title and transferred it to Judge Logan E. Bleckley. The deed was made to Judge Bleckley in 1869. It is said that he wrote it. It de­ scribed the land as running "along said Road to what was at the date of said bond a large poplar tree but is now only a stump." Judge Bleckley sold this land to J. W. Culpepper in 1882 for 4,000 dollars. Mr Culpepper subdivided it and sold it for about 70,000 dollars. The late Mr. C. T. Ladson told me that he asked 26 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

Judge Bleckley if he did not think he had sold it too low, but the Judge replied "No. I think Mr. Culpepper sold it too high." Mr. Ladson said that Judge Bleckley told him that he thought he had made enough out of the land; that he had no ambition to make large sums of money; that he had a good home and some other property and a good library and 500 dollars in the bank; "and what more should a man want?" Tenth Street runs along the North side of the Bleckley tract and was formerly called Bleckley Avenue. The ten acres that sold for 400 dollars in 1859 is now worth at least a half million.

BUCKHEAD

Before the lands of Fulton County were acquired from the Indians the Peachtree trail forked at Buckhead. One trail ran south through what is now Atlanta, following the present Peach- tree Road. The other followed the Pace's Ferry and Moore's Mill Roads to Standing Peachtree on the Chattahoochee River at the mouth of Peachtree Creek. In 1838 Henry Irby acquired the lot of land at the fork of these roads and put up an inn or tavern and a wagon yard. The place was sometimes called Irbyville (for which see Phillips' Map of Fulton County, 1872). Irby put up the head and antlers of a large deer in front of his tavern and it became known as the Buckhead Tavern, and the militia district was called Buckhead District. In the eighteen- nineties an effort was made to change the name to Atlanta Heights, but it would not go. The people preferred the picturesque name of Buckhead.

BULL SLUICE

The power company operating the dam and power house at the shoal on Chattahoochee River about six miles below Roswell attempted to change the ancient name from Bull Sluice to Morgan Falls, but the public has refused to sanction the change. Hie old name is said to have been given this place by the Indians. Bull Sluice is in the midst of a rugged and beautiful mountain country only about fifteen miles from the center of Atlanta. QUEER PLACE NAMES IN OLD ATLANTA 27

SANDTOWN This was an ancient Indian village on the Chattahoochee River in Campbell County about fifteen miles from Atlanta. The Sandtown trail from Decatur through the middle of Atlanta led to this place. This trail left Decatur by way of Atlanta Avenue and followed the Decatur Road (College Avenue, DeKalb Ave­ nue, LaFrance Street and Decatur Street) to the present "Five Points," where it turned into Peachtree Street, and thence out Whitehall Street to Mitchell Street, thence diagonally to Forsyth and Peters Street, thence out Peters Street to Gordon Street in West End, thence along Gordon Street to what is now Cascade Avenue, thence along Cascade Avenue and Cascade Road to Sandtown. The name of the Sandtown Road is preserved in the old county maps; but unfortunately the name was changed to the flossier "Cascade Road" a few years ago. In 1823 a road was established from Standing Peachtree to Sandtown, skirting the Chattahoochee River.

MURREL'S Row

In early Atlanta Murrel's Row was located on the north side of Decatur Street between Peachtree and Pryor Streets. It was named for the notorious Tennessee murderer John A Mur- rel. The Pioneers' History (page 174) says: "It was famed for its disreputable characters who gathered there to fight chickens, drink and gamble and also to concoct schemes to bid defiance to the better elements. The row of houses consisted of rambling and extraordinary architectural designs according to the fancy and means of the builder." Murrel's Row passed away long before the Civil War and the place became eminently respectable.

SLABTOWN

In 1844 Mr. Jonathan Norcross put up a sawmill on what is now Decatur Street, opposite Pratt Street, to cut crossties for the railroad. He generously gave away the slabs to poor people 28 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

of the vicinity who built cabins of them. This nondescript cluster of bark-covered cabins was humorously dubbed "Slabtown."

SNAKE NATION

In the eighteen-fifties the neighborhood of Peters Street be­ yond the Central Railroad crossing was called Snake Nation. It was a settlement largely of the criminal and immoral element. Several horrible murders occurred there. (Pioneers' History pages 159-160.) In the course of time Snake Nation passed away. Peters Street was built up with nice houses and became one of the best residence streets in Atlanta; then deteriorated again and finally went to business.

HUMBUG SQUARE

This was the block bounded by Whitehall, Alabama and Pryor Streets and the Western & Atlantic Railroad, in the heart of Atlanta. Until 1865 this block, except the lot at the corner of White­ hall and Alabama Streets where the Atlanta National Bank build­ ing now stands, was owned by the Macon & Western Railroad, whose depot was located on it. Pryor Street did not then run through from Alabama to Wall Street. The City wanted to put the street through and made a trade in which it swapped sixteen acres where the Central Railway's depot and the Terminal Sta­ tion are now located, in exchange for the block described. Then Pryor Street was opened. The City kept the remainder of the block for about fifteen years, when it was subdivided into lots and sold to purchasers. During the years it was owned by the City it was rented out to circuses, medicine shows, fakirs and auctioneers and became known in the public mind as "Humbug Square."

The bush arbor at which the great speeches of Ben Hill, Bob Toombs, Howell Cobb and Raphael J. Moses were made in 1868 was erected on this block. After the City sold the property it was built up with stores and the funny name disappeared. QUEER PLACE NAMES IN OLD ATLANTA 29

BEAVER SLIDE Beaver Slide was a row of shacks on the eastern side of Ivy Street in the block just north of Decatur Street. It had been a respectable community, but with the concentration of negro popu­ lation after the Civil War fell from its former state and became a resort for low-class negroes. There were restaurants, fish stands, refreshment stands and sleeping quarters, and the adja­ cent corners were occupied by whisky saloons. The negroes called it "Beaver Slide" because it became a dive and resort for criminals. Some time in the eighteen-eighties small-pox invaded Beaver Slide. The City health department set fire to the whole row of buildings, destroyed them, and Beaver Slide passed out of the memory of men. After the Civil War several other places grew up with peculiar names. "Brooklyn" was the neighborhood about the junction of Marietta and Walton Streets. "Hobo Hollow" was the district along Elliott and adjacent streets west of the Southern Railway embankment which was constructed about 1881; but the name was conferred somewhat later after the word "hobo" was coined. It was infested with tramps who stole rides into Atlanta on the adjacent railways. Summer Hill was a real estate subdivision for colored people on Martin, Richardson and adjoining streets, first promoted by Mr. William Jennings. It was and still is a respectable colored community centered about the Summer Hill public school. I have been told that the Board of Education has changed its picturesque name and that it is now the Edwin P. Johnson School. Shermantown was a thickly settled colored district on Foster Street (now Edgewood Avenue), Bell and Butler Streets. Darktown was further north. It was and still is a densely populated colored district along Butler Street and Piedmont Avenue from Houston to Baker Street. Peaseville was another negro settlement, near Frazier and Martin Streets in the rear of the State Capitol. 30 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

Multitudinous have been the changes in names of streets. I will mention only a few. Brickbat Alley afterwards became Brick Street and is now Hill's Avenue. Pigtail Alley was in the same neighborhood but I am unable to place its present identity. One day the City Assessors were on their rounds assessing property in the western part of Atlanta and came to a street not named on the maps or tax books. An old white mule was lying down in the street. They named it Mule Street and put it that way on the tax books. But it has graduated into Columbus Avenue.

Running west from Piedmont Avenue between Baker Street and Forrest Avenue is a street on which there was once a small asbestos mine. The street was named Asbestos Street. It was changed to Alabaster Alley; probably an ironical reference to the color of its residents.

The theory of evolution has been freely demonstrated in Atlanta's streets. For instance, North Boulevard began as Burn­ ham Street and has been successively Foundry Street, Rolling Mill Street, Jefferson Street, Pittman Avenue, The Boulevard and North Boulevard. It has been a favorite pastime of some of our city councils to change the old and historic names of streets to honor some recent politician.

I will not close this article without referring to the pictur­ esque early names of the villages which preceded Atlanta, to-wit Standing Peachtree and Whitehall. Standing Peachtree took its name from the large Indian peach tree which grew on the Indian mound at the site of the present water-works pumping station near the Chattahoochee River. Whitehall was so called because it contained the only house painted white in that part of the country in the eighteen-thirties. The house was owned by Charner Hum­ phries, an extensive landowner, great-uncle of our distinguished judge of the Superior Court John D. Humphries. It was a public inn and a noted stopping place for travelers. It was a postoffice and an election precinct. It was located on the tract of land now bounded by Whitehall, Gordon and Lee Streets and Poole Place. The postoffice was moved to Atlanta. The General Assembly changed the name of Marthasville to Atlanta on De- RESIDENTS OF DEKALB COUNTY IN 1833 31 cember 26, 1845, and by the same act moved the election pre­ cinct from Whitehall to Atlanta. Unlike Tight Squeeze and Lick Skillet, the names of Peach- tree and Whitehall remain a source of pride to our citizens.

RESIDENTS OF DEKALB COUNTY, GEORGIA, WHO DREW LANDS IN THE CHEROKEE GOLD LOTTERY OF 1833, TOGETHER WITH THE DIS­ TRICT OF THE COUNTY IN WHICH THEY RESIDED

Compiled by FRANKLIN GARRETT

The Cherokee Gold Lottery of 1833 was ordered by the act of December 24, 1831, dividing the Gold Lands, (a portion of the land acquired from the Cherokee Indians by the treaty of Feb. 27, 1819) into lots of 40 acres, the drawing taking place in July, 1833. Every white male citizen over 18 years of age was entitled to a ticket unless he had drawn land in a previous lottery, and if he was husband and father he was entitled to two tickets. Cer­ tain officers and soldiers received two tickets, and widows and orphans were included in the drawing. While this does not purport to be a complete list of all of the residents of DeKalb County in 1833, it is comprehensive enough to give a good general idea of who lived in this section at that time. It will be remembered that 1833 was the year that Hardy Ivy is reputed to have built his pioneer cabin in the woods on or near the present intersection of Courtland and Ellis Streets. Many of the names will be recognized as the pioneers of families well known in Fulton and DeKalb Counties today. DeKalb County in 1833, according to the Cherokee Gold Lottery Book of that date, was divided into 13 districts, namely: Deans, Footes, Gillis, Givens, Griffins, Harris, Heards, Johnsons, Latimers, Mobleys, Mortons, Rhodes and Says. The compiler was unable to locate any map of DeKalb County of that date 32 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN which would show the boundaries of these districts, but from a knowledge of where many of the pioneers lived, will endeavor to connect them with present day localities.

RESIDENTS OF DEANS DISTRICT Present Buckhead and Oakgrove Districts of Fulton County and part of Cross Keys and Shallowford Districts of DeKalb County.

Adams, H. Johnson, John J. Adams, Salathel. Johnson, Oliver. Arendall, Laughlin. Lansford, Lemuel. Ballinger, Rebecca (widow). Lewis, Wm. W. Bell, James H. Ligon, James. Bramblett, Henry. Lowrey, James. Campbell, Nicholas. Magrada, Ch's. Chambers' orphans. Maloney, Samuel N. Copeland, Colson. Manslee, Nathan W. Copeland, Stephen. McBee, Susannah (widow). Cox, Willis. Miles, Joseph. Dempsey, Levi. Morton, Joel. Evans, John L. Nixon, James. Gardner, Robert. Palmer, Hastings D. Gober, John A. Prewett, Ansel B. Gober, Thomas C. Rainey, John. Godwin, John. Rainey, Wootson. Graydon, John. Shadowick, Noah. Grogan, G. Slay ton, Z. Harris, Thomas D. Smith, Job. Hightower, Stephen. Spruill, Stephen. Holcombe, John K. Trimble, John. Holcombe, Reuben. Walker, John H. Irby, Henry. Walker, Joseph W. Jackson, Wm. N. C. Waller, Lewis G. Jarman, Trussey. Wheeler, John. Jett, James Sr. White, Nancy (widow). Jett, John. Whitlock, John. Johnson, Archibald. Winters, Leonard.

RESIDENTS OF FOOTES DISTRICT Present eastern part of Atlanta, Edgewood, Kirkwood, Oak- hurst, and part of Druid Hills. Part of present Mills District, DeKalb County. RESIDENTS OF DEKALB COUNTY IN 1833 33

Adcock, Thomas. Johnson, Daniel M. Adcock, Wilson. Johnson, Lochlin. Akins, Thomas W. Jones, James. Albright, Nicholas. Jones, John. Albright, William. Kimbrough, Thomas. Avery, Benjamin B. Malone, William. Ball, Edmund. McDaniel, Henry W. Besby, James. McDaniel, John. Black, John L. McDaniel, Philip A. Black, John S. McGinnis, John. Black, Moses. McLeod, Malcom. Bowen, John T. McLeod, Neal. Broughton, Mary (widow). Morris, John. Brown, Fanning. Morris, Sarah (widow). Brown, John G. W. Nash, James E. Bryson, James H. Nelson, Alexander. Calhoun, Elzay A. Parker, J. G. Calhoun, Isaac. Perkerson, John S. Clifton, Aaron. Pounds, Newman. Clifton, George U. Randall, Newton. Cobb, Samuel. Read, D. Collier, John. Robertson, John. Cornelius, William. Rooks, Hardman. Dunlap, Enoch. Simmons, Thomas. Dupree, Lewis J. Smith, Brantley. Espey, Thomas B. Tanner, William H. Fowler, Samuel. Terrell, William. Fowler, Thomas. Terry, Green B. H. Griffin, Leroy. Terry, William. Heard, George. Thurman, James C. Helderbrand, William. Tuggle, Lodwick. Hudgens, Wm. W. Williams, Stephen. Hunt, James. Wilson, George.

RESIDENTS OF GILLIS DISTRICT

Present northern part of the City of Atlanta and Cooks. Collins and Peachtree Districts of Fulton County.

Adams, Martin. Bruce, Daniel. Baden, Samuel Sr. Cain, John R. Ballenger, J. N. Campbell, James. Barnett, Madison. Cannon, Mary (widow). Billy, Moses. Chandler, A. Bolton, John. Cochran, John's orphans. 34 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

Collier, Edwin G. Merritt, B. B. Compsey, Charles (blind). Merritt, Benjamin (orphan). Davis, William M. Mitchell, John (orphan). Dicken, John. Montgomery, J. F. Dobbins, William. Montgomery, James M. C. Elsberry, Lindsey. Montgomery, Ulysses M. C. Garrett, Joseph. Oliver, Jane (widow). Goldin, 0. Oliver, Thomas. Greer, Gilbert D. Paty, John. Guess, James. Paty, Miles. Guess, Joseph. Pew, Henry's orphans. Guess, William. Plaster, Benjamin. Guess, William R. Plaster, Edwin. Henderson, Athalia (widow). Poor, Aaron. Herren, Christian L. Pope, John. Herrin, Aaron. Reid, Edmund's orphans. Holland, Archibald. Robertson, Samuel. Hooper, Enoch. Rowell, John. Hooper, Hiram. Sanders, James B. M. Hooper, Thomas. Sims, Edward's 2 orphans. Hopkins, Dennis. Sims, Jane (widow). Jones, Samuel. Sloan, John S. Land, Jacob. Strickland, E. Landers, John. Sweat, James. Laney, Z. Todd, Richard C. Lawson, John. Turnell, John. Lokey, William. Walker, Samuel. Luther, Josiah. Walraven, Arch. Maner, Alfred. Walraven, William. Maner, Hosea. Willison, John. Martin, Charles. Wolf, Henry. Martin, Loving. Wolfe, Lewis. Mayfield, Reuben. Wright, David's orphans. McElroy, Billy. Wright, Elizabeth (widow).

RESIDENTS OF GIVENS DISTRICT The present section of DeKalb County lying to the south­ east of Decatur. Anderson, Nelson. Chapman, Benjamin. Anderson, Timothy. Coplin, William B. Barr, Joseph. Cureton, Henry. Bonner, Willis' 5 orphans. Delay, Dennis. Brack, Thomas. Dildey, Arter. Camp, Benjamin J. Durham, David. RESIDENTS OF DEKALB COUNTY IN 1833 35

Ellison, Henry G. McCarter, John K. Ellison, James. McEroy, James. Ellison, William's orphans. Meador, John's orphans. Eskew, Richard H. Mize, James. Garner, John C. Perry, J. George, James. Phillips, Asa. George, James R. Phillips, Joseph. Glower, Abner. Reeves, Jonathan. Goddard, Henry. Reeves, William. Goddard, William. Sanders, H. Hall, George. Saunders, Holloway. Hill, David. Snow, Eli. Hill, Sarah. Sprayberry, Hiram. Latimer, Charles. Terry, John. Legget, Thomas. Watts, George.

RESIDENTS OF GRIFFINS DISTRICT Present Redan, Lithonia and Diamonds Districts of DeKalb County.

Ayres, John B. Hunt, George. Barnett, John W. Jackson, Littleton. Bishop, Reuben. Johnson, William. Cambron, Allen. Jordan, Elisha. Cambron, Milborn. Leverett, John E. Carr, Benjamin. Manning, Richard Sr. Carr, John P. New, Jacob. Channell, John. Pyron, William H. Cochran, William. Reid, Samuel. Cockran, C. J. Richardson, William. Corley, Montraville. Richeson, Jared. Dauherty, Mason. Richeson, Thomas. Davis, Jeremiah S. Roberts, Allen. Diamond, James. Scoggin, Wiley. Drake, Turner. Scott, Alexander. Farrow, George Y. Smith, B. Flowers, Andrew. Smitt, James. Garritt, Thomas. Steward, Absolom. Graham, Josiah. Steward, Elijah. Griffin, James' orphans. Starnes, M. B. Griffin, William W. Strange, Edmund. Hanney, Thomas. Swiney, Henry. Haslett, William. Tanner, Jefferson. Haygood, Polly (widow). Tingle, Sol. Henley, James. Turner, J. C 36 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

Veal, Allen G. Westbrook, Tillman. Veal, Lewis D. Whitley, Stephen. Waddle, Margaret (widow). Whooton, Thomas. Webb, Melford. Young, Augustus. Weaver, Drury A.

RESIDENTS OF HARRIS DISTRICT Comprised the extreme western part of the present Cooks, Collins, Buckhead and Oakgrove Districts of Fulton County, lying along the Chattahoochee River.

Beasley, Wm. M. Mitchell, S. Cochran, Elisha. Nichols, Wiley. Coleman, John. Nixon, Joseph's orphans. Fair, Wm. H. Oton, Ann (orphan). Fielder, William. Pace, Hardy. Foster, Wm. P. Poss, Jacob. Glover, Wm. P. Sentell, Briton. Green, Alva. Smith, Braddy. Harris, R. Smith, Howard. Harris, Thomas Sr. Thomason, Reuben N. Harriss, Samuel W. Tumblin, Abel A. Heard, Eliza (orphan). Varner, Charles. Mayes, Edward. Varner, J. E. McGriff, Edward L. Wilson, William. McLane, S.

RESIDENTS OF HEARDS DISTRICT Comprised the present East Point, Bryants, Pooles and Adamsville Districts of Fulton County.

Baker, Absolom. Channell, Henry. Baker, Green W. Connally, Cornelius M. Baker, Samuel. Connally, David. Barker, William. Derritt, Andrew. Bedington, William's orphans. Fain, Jesse. Betty, Thomas. Fain, William Jr. Blackstock, J. H. Hamilton, Moses. Blackstock, James Sr. Haws, Littleton. Blackstock, James Jr. Heard, E. F. Brewster, James. Hearn, Zabed. Brice, Daniel. Bolbrooks, .John B. Carroll, John's orphans. Hornsby, Henry. Cash, John H. Hornsby, John Sr. RESIDENTS OF DEKALB COUNTY IN 1833 37

Hornsby, Noah. Sewell, John E. Hutchins, Harris. Stone, Joseph Sr. Jordan, Jesse. Suttles, Micajah. Jordan, Nathan. Tankersley, Buckner. Kennedy, Thomas. Thomas, T. L. Loving, Elijah. Turner, Mathias. McDonald, Henry. Turner, S. T. Megee, Marat. Waits, Jonathan. Morrow, Joseph. Wallace, James. Patrick, John. Wallace, Peter. Patterson, Jesse Jr. Wallis, Benjamin. Peacock, Lewis. Walts, David. Petty, Moses. Watson, Jinnett (widow). Roberts, Willis Sr. White, John. Russell, James. Wood, Robert. Russell, John's orphans.

RESIDENTS OF JOHNSONS DISTRICT Comprised the present Brownings, Doraville and part of the Cross Keys and Shallowford Districts of DeKalb County.

Akins, Thomas J. Edwards, Alfred Jr. Baccus, Wesley. Esskew, William. Barnett, John. Fleming, Elijah H. Barnett, William. Fores, Daniel R. Blake, John. Foues, James B. Brogan, Richard. Gorgan, Richard. Browning, Andrew. Hanna, William. Cain, Elijah. Hardman, John. Cain, Isaac. Harris, H. C. Campbell, John W. Harris, James G. Carpenter, John. Hooker, Benjamin. Cash, E. S. Howett, Alexander. Cash, Elbert L. Hubbard, David Sr. Cash, Stephen P. Hursks' orphans. Cash, William. Hurst, James (orphan). Cazey, Robert. Ingram, Bryant. Coplin, Wijliam. Inzer, Robert D. Corney, Wm. Y. Johnson, Thomas D. Crockett, Robert. Leavell, John W. Dabney, A. B. Leavell, Wm. W. Dempsey, Lazarus. Lemon, Robert. Dobbs, John Sr. Magrada, Silas. Dobbs, Samuel. Mann, Henry. Dodgen, Oliman Jr. Manning, Walter. 38 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

Millican, Andrew. Stell, Susannah (widow), Millican, James. Swinney, Ellis. Millican, Thomas. Tally, Wm. C. Nash, Larkin. Tolleson, H. Paramon, Benjamin. Tollison, Daniel. Pierce, Jesse. Wallace, William. Ramsey, Thomas. Williams, John M. Reeves, Leroy. Williams, Johnson. Rich, Jackson. Wilson, Barrister. Shaw, James. Winters, John. Shaw, William. Wood, James. Simpson, John L. Wood, Robert. Spencer, William. Wood, Thomas M.

RESIDENTS OF LATIMERS DISTRICT Present City of Decatur and immediate vicinity.

Adams, Eldridge G. Crowell, William. Anderson, C. S. David, William A. Armistead, Ajah. David, William H. Baker, Hugh. Downs, Barnett. Bass, Richard Sr. Durham, Isaac. Belk, Thomas. Durham, Thomas. Bradberry, Thomas C. Durham, William. Bradford, Eliza (widow). Edwards, W. Brice, Joseph. Everett, Elkanah. Brice, William. Farrar, Abner. Britt, E. Faris, James. Broughton, J. B. Farris, John. Browning, Thomas. Forman, Aaron's orphan. Burdett, Benjamin. Glasgow, Miles. Burditt, William. Glasgow, Roberson. Burns, William. Greenwood, H. B.'s orphans. Carlton, Larkin. Gulledge, Henry. Cash, Bryant. Harbin, William. Cash, Stephen H. Hardman, Neman. Cash, Washington. Harriss, Thomas Jr. Chewning, William F. Hays, Charlotte (widow). Choice, Cyrus. Hays, Thomas' 5 orphans. Cone, Gardner. Head, Alexander A. Cone, Samuel Sr. Heard, George Sr. Connally, Thomas J. Hightower, Aaron. Crawford, Clarissa (widow). Hilburn, Robert F. Crowley, Dorcas (widow). Hooper, Charles J. Crowley, James' orphans. Hooper, John W. RESIDENTS OF DEKALB COUNTY IN 1833 39

Horn, Hugh. Rhodes, William. Hubbard, Peter W. Roebuck, Willis. Jennings, John. Sanders, David. Johnson, Arch's orphans. Sanford, Thomas. Johnson, Isaac N. Shaw, Joseph. Johnson, John. Simmons, S. S. Jones, Robert, Smith, Lewis. Kile, Asa. Smith, Nathaniel N. Kile, John. Smith, Simeon. Kile, William. Starnes, Aaron. King, Wiley. Talley, James B. Kirkpatrick, Thomas M. Thompson, Joseph. Knight, Levi J. Tillman, Berry G. Lane, Jesse. Tipton, Reuben's orphans. Loveless, Allen. Towers, Isaac's orphans. Lyon, William L. Towers, W. Malone, Robert. Towns, John L. Mayes, Stephen. Trapp, John S. Mays, Norbin J. Twilley, Elijah. McCord, Robert. Twilley, John B. McCullough, John. Vickery, Middleton. McGinnis, Daniel. Wadsworth, Walter. McNeill, James. Ward, Elizabeth (widow). Morrison, S. W. Ward, William. Mufphy, Charles. Watson, R. A. Nelson, John B's orphans. West, Elisha W. Owens, Bricy M. Wilkinson, John S. Owens, Whitman H. Willard, Levi. Paden, William D. Williams, Simeon. Parker, John. Woodall, Allen. Pollard, James. Woodson, Benjamin. Reid, Andrew N. Yancey, E. Reynolds, E. B. Yancy, Nancy (widow). Rhodes, N.

RESIDENTS OF MOBLEYS DISTRICT Present south side of Atlanta and Blackball, South Bend and Hapeville Districts of Fulton County.

Anderson, Nancy (widow). Boswell, Joseph. Bankston, John. Brown, Meredith. Bearding, R. P. Carter, Moon. Biles, Enoch. Childress, J. A. D. Bitta, John W. Connally, Abner. Blaylock, Joseph. Connally, Marbill. 40 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

Crow, Abner. Lovejoy, Samuel. Curloe, James. Mabry, J. S. Daniel, Lemuel W. Mangum, James. Embry, Hiram H. Martin, Micajah. Embry, Joseph W. Melton, Daniel. Fuller, John. Morris, B's orphans. Gammond, Joshua. Morris, Matthew. Gammond, Lem. Orr, Robert. Gazaway, John. Perkerson, Isaac W. Gresham, Josiah. Scales, Joel. Hendon, Isham. Sims, Thornton. Hendon, Wm. F. Sims, William. Herring, Joel. Smith, Absolom. Hornsby, Sol. Suttles, William. Howard, H. Thurman, William. Huey. James. Tomlinson, Leonard H. Hutchins, David. Walker, Henry T. Hutchens, Levi. Wamble, Aaron. Jesster, Dudley. Watts, Edward. Jeter, Barnett. White, Isaiah. Kilpatrick, Brittain. White, Jacob. Knight, Aaron. White, James V. Little, Benjamin. White, Nathaniel.

RESIDENTS OF MORTONS DISTRICT Present southeastern part of DeKalb County around Panola and?Flat Shoals.

Anderson, William. Estes, John. Bailey, Zachariah. Foster, C. Barber, George. Goodman, Gillam. Boyd, Andrew. Gray, Joel. Bradley, John L. Gray, Peter. Buchannon, B. Grimes, William. Buess, James. Hambrick, Burwell H. Buys, James. Hambrick, Joseph. Chandler, Stephen. Harris, Hiram C. Colins, Sidna (widow). Hendon, Thomas. Corbit, Jesse. Hitchens, Isham. Delany, Elcany. Honisworth, A. Dodson, Daniel. Houseworth, Philip. Dotson, Asop. Howard, Edward. Elam, George. Hulsey, Eli J. Elam, William. Hulsey, Jennings. Ellis, William N. Kitchins, Zach. RESIDENTS OF DEKALB COUNTY IN 1833 41

Masters, Samuel C. Sprayberry, John. McEver, Joseph P. Stephenson, Mary (widow). Miller, James. Stowers, James. Miller, Sarah (widow). Stowers, Lewis. Moore, Jacob. Swinney, Jesse. Morriss, James. Swinney, Joel. Morriss, James B. Swinney, William. Morton, W. Thomas, George. Nicholas, William. White, James M. (orphan). Potts, Samuel. Wiggins, William. Powell, Seymore. Yancey, James D. Rounsevall, Robert L.

RESIDENTS OF RHODES DISTRICT

Present Grogans and part of Oakgrove Districts of Fulton County and part of Shallowford and Cross Keys District of De­ Kalb County.

Ayres, Moses. Harris, Joseph's orphans. Bagwell, William. Higgins, Newton. Bailey, Washington. Hughes, Christian. Ball, James. Hutcherson, Turner S. Ball, Peter. Jett, Theophilus R. Bostick, Chesley. Johnson, Thomas. Bowling, S. H. Knight, Joshua. Burditt, James W. Litrall, William. Burgess, Susannah (orphan). Martin, Larkin. Carpenter, George. Martin, Stephen. Cogswell, William. Mooney, Daniel. Conn, Samuel. Morgan, James. Copeland, Elijah. Morris, Drewry. Crosby, Gardner. Murphey, John. Cupp, M. Nixon, Uriah. Cupp, Wamer. Palmer, William. Daniel, John. Paxton, Martin. Donaldson, Thomas. Power, James C. Dukes, Crenshaw. Reed, Nathaniel. Featherston, William. Rhodes, Isaac. Folkner, Willis. Sisson, D. Gault, Joseph. Sisson, William. Gober, B. A. Tait, William H. Gober, Daniel. Tilley, Ebenezer. Hall, Renny B. Vann, Nancy (widow). Hammett, J. S. Wilson, James. 42 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

Wilson, John L. Worthy, Sam. Wilson, Thomas D. Worthy, William Jr. Womack, Matthew.

RESIDENTS OF SAYS DISTRICT The present section of DeKalb County around Stone Moun­ tain and Redan.

Akins, James. McAlpin, Madison. Anderson, David D. McAlpin, William. Atwood, John C. McClain, James W. Austin, William A. McGaffey, James. Bankston, Elijah. Murphey, Roger. Bankston, Henry M, O'Dougherty, George S. (orphan). Beauchamp, S. Pickens, John. Binion, Job. Rannals, John. Brockman, John B. Ray, Thomas. Chism, Cynthia (widow). Roe, I. T. Ellison, Jarret B. Smith, F. B. Evans, James J. Smith, Rebecca (widow). Evans, John. Towers, Amos. Farmer, William. Towers, Isaac. Goss, James. Vaughn, Alexander. Goss, Matthew. Veal, Francis. Haiston, James B. Veal, John. Hambrick, John. Veal, William Jr. Hariston, William. Warren, Jesse. Harriss, Benjamin. White, James. Jones, John. Williams, Jesse. Jordan, Jesse. Williams, Ludwell.

WHITEHALL TAVERN The celebrated hostelry that bore an intimate relation to the early growth of Atlanta; also some account of Charner Hum­ phries, the proprietor, and of Dr. Joshua Gilbert, us related by Jeremiah Gilbert to

WILBUR G. KURTZ On Saturday afternoon, January 24th, 1931, Franklin Gar­ ret and the writer called on Jeremiah Silas Gilbert at his home WHITEHALL TAVERN 43 on Perkerson Road—Land Lot No. 102, 14th District, Fulton County, Georgia. The following notes are transcribed from memoranda taken down at the time. Mr. Gilbert's house is of stone, plastered over, and it was built between 1875 and 1880. We found him seated in his bed­ room near the stove—a window to his left giving ample light for his reading. He was apparently in excellent health, for all his 91 years, and his mind was remarkably clear as to many events of days long gone. He answered our questions in a most direct manner, and when he had no positive recollections of certain things he said so. The writer has interviewed many persons of all ages and sexes and declares that Jeremiah Gilbert measured up in his recollections far better than many younger in years. Mr. Gilbert's father was Dr. William Gilbert, an older brother of Dr. Joshua Gilbert, and Westmoreland (known as "Land") Gilbert. Dr. William Gilbert was buried in Henry County. Dr. Joshua Gilbert was buried at Utoy Cemetery, and "Land" Gil­ bert, the youngest of the three, was buried in Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta. Dr. William Gilbert married Harriet Humphries, daughter of Charner Humphries. Dr. Joshua Gilbert married Elizabeth Humphries—also a daughter of Charner. Dr. "Josh" was born September 17th, 1815, and died April 18th, 1889. Eliza­ beth Humphries was born April 14, 1823, and died August 7, 1847. She is buried in Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta. Dr. Joshua's second wife was Martha Butler, who was buried at Utoy Church. (Dates in preceding paragraph supplied by Franklin Garrett.) Charner Humphries had other children besides the two mentioned above—Harriet and Elizabeth. The others were: Dr. George Washington Humphries Charner Humphries, Jr. John Humphries Asa Humphries. Jeremiah Silas Gilbert is, therefore, a grandson of the cele­ brated Charner Humphries of Whitehall Tavern. Jeremiah was born December 25, 1839 at the home of his parents on the old 44 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

Sandtown Road, now Cascade Road, on the property where the well known Cascade Springs are located. Jeremiah remarked that he drank the waters of these springs for years, but never suspected they had any commercial value. Cascade Springs water is bottled and sold in Atlanta at the present time. As a young man, Jeremiah remembers very well the old Whitehall Tavern, and its keeper, Grandfather Charner Hum­ phries. Jeremiah's recollection of Charner's personal appearaiu e is brief but interesting. Charner was a heavy set man of medium height, smooth face, and of a type that Mr. Gilbert likened to that of the popular conception of a "Dutchman," though Charner was not of Teutonic but of English descent. Charner Humphries, before dwelling at and operating the tavern, lived on what is now the Perkerson Road, just south of a branch of South River, (the latter the first stream South of Jere­ miah Gilbert's present residence) and on the first knoll to the East of the road. Probably no trace of the house remains. This was Charner's plantation, where he maintained 25 or 30 negro slaves. From this place he moved up to "Whitehall", the tavern which he operated in connection with a sort of general store. Jeremiah did not know the date of this removal, nor did he know the date when the tavern was built. The site of Whitehall Tavern is in the block bounded by the present-day streets—Gordon, Lee, Poole Place and West White­ hall Street. Gordon Street was then the Sandtown Road and Lee Street was the Newman Road. The latter joined the Sand­ town Road in front of the tavern. The highway to Decatur branched from Gordon Street (or Sandtown Road), and followed the present course of Whitehall Street from Gordon to Park Street and thence along Peters Street to what is now the junction of Whitehall and Mitchell Streets and thence along the present Whitehall Street to Five Points. This street was known as the road to Whitehall, and later designated as Whitehall Street, one of the principal streets of Atlanta. About 1849 the present Whitehall Street was extended from Mitchell Street to the Cen­ tral Railroad crossing at Park Street and became the main high­ way. The name of the old road from Whitehall Street to Park WHITEHALL TAVERN 45

Street was changed to Peters Street. The part of the old road running diagonally through the block from Roark's (now Brother- ton's) corner at Whitehall and Mitchell Streets to Peters and Forsyth Streets was abolished and Peters Streets was turned into the new Whitehall Street along Trinity Avenue. Peters Street was the original Whitehall Road. The tavern was not a log structure. It was of frame con­ struction—two stories in height and covered by weatherboard- ing. It was white in color, and is said to have been the first painted house in the county. There were eight rooms; four down stairs and four up stairs. On each floor a generous width of hallway divided front and rear rooms from corresponding front and rear rooms, and the usual stairway and stairwell partly occupied the hall space. This made the front of the structure of greater dimensions than its depth. The front was at least sixty feet long. The roof was of the ordinary gable variety. A porch of two levels extended along the front, with columns and railings, and all front rooms—above and below—opened by door­ ways on the porch. At the rear of the two story portion was a room with a shed roof—probably the dining room.. Two large chimneys graced the main structure—not at the ends, but so arranged as to permit placement of fireplaces in front and rear rooms. The kitchen, as was usual, was a separate and one-story structure in the rear yard, a short distance from the dining room. Here the dusky cooks created or prepared their wonderful concoctions before a huge fireplace, with a battery of "spiders", pots, pans and portable ovens. Mr. Gilbert remarked that while there had been vast improvements in cooking con­ veniences, he doubted if there was any better cooking being done. "They got up a powerful sight of good eating in those days", he added. A fence of horizontal plank enclosed the tavern yard. This was to prevent the immediate precincts from becoming a com­ munity hog wallow and cow pasture, for nobody fenced in their stock at that period. To obviate the nuisance of an unclosed entrance gate, this feature was non-existent; one entered the yard by way of a stile 46 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

the steps crudely but effectively formed by sawed sections of large tree trunks, in ascending and descending sequence of height. A few large trees were in the yard. The well was next to and inside the front fence—the curb covered by the traditional roof. A watering trough was just outside the fence, so that water was easily transferred from the well bucket, which operated by the usual windlass. A horse- rack extended along the road-side. West of the house, 150 yards, was the stable, adjacent to and facing the Sandtown Road. The stable yard, or horse-lot, was enclosed by a rail fence which joined the plank fence on the road frontage. When one went from the stable to the house, he left by the stile and the roadway—not across the horse lot. The stable was a large affair, capable of housing many horses. Whether it was of frame or log construction Gilbert was unable to say. It was probably a combination of both, with considerable vertical planking and hand-riven shingles. Across the road from the house was Charner's store, a nondescript shed or shack in which he kept for sale the usual and general run of merchandise in demand in a pioneer community. Muster day was the big event at the tavern. This was an annual affair, where the yokelry of all the county districts were called together by the major commanding the militia. The functionary who held the county muster at Whitehall was Major Alexander Ratteree. The summons having been issued, the able bodied male citizens came trooping in, with their flint lock fowling pieces, and usually primed for a frolic. Many horses decorated the rack in front of the big white tavern. Actual drill in the manual of arms lasted about two hours, but this was only a beginning. Trials of marksmanship were then held, with a prize of a yearling cow to the winner. The cow—whoever won it— was then offered up as a sacrifice to the collective appetites of the assemblage, for it was straightway slaughtered, cooked and served, together with the accompanying comestibles, all washed down by copious potations, not so poetic but more potent than "brown October ale". Indeed the whisky barrel was a common institution at such places. Charner kept one on tap in the rear WHITEHALL TAVERN 47 of the store, where cash customers were entitled to drinks "on the house", but it was considered good etiquette for strangers or occasional visitors, to leave a nickle or dime on the barrel head after imbibing. Drilling, marksmanship and feasting were followed by more diverting entertainment. Most districts had a bully, or one gifted with alleged fistic prowess, and the day was counted lost if somebody didn't get well pounded and bruised up in the ring— which was literally a ring of cheering and betting spectators, and not a squared circle of rope. Most everybody had a dog, and when all the pugilistic entries were either victors or van­ quished, the canine belligerents were cheered on by the owners or partisans. That these dog battles were often extemporaneous detracted not a whit from the enjoyment of the crowd. The militia officers did not at all times retain the respect of the rural soldiery; Mr. Gilbert recalled that at one of the musterings the assembled militiamen, having taken umbrage at something said or done by Major Ratteree, ran him off the place. On ordinary days the chief event was the arrival of the mail coach from Lawrenceville or Newnan. The tavern was a famous stop on this route. The four-horse team would dash up to the tavern; the driver would heave overboard the mail bags, and de­ scend from his high seat, and impart the latest news to the fore­ gathered denizens of the locality. Fresh horses were brought up from the stable to replace the tired animals that knew where the watering trough was located.

DR. JOSHUA GILBERT This gentleman is said to have been the first practicing phy­ sician. He dwelt on the Sandtown Road, near old Utoy village and not far from the present residence of Manson Wilson, beyond Cascade Springs. Dr. Joshua's means of conveyance was a buggy, in which he made his trips to and from Atlanta. Being the soul of generosity, he could pass no pedestrians without offering a lift; this caused much overloading of the vehicle, made more work for the horse, 48 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN and resulted in delay, so the doctor disposed of his buggy and got himself a gig—a one-seated cart or "sulky" having no top, it could not properly be dignified by the name of "chaise." It seems that the doctor had no office—Jeremiah did not say this; I got elsewhere the impression that such was the case. The physician picked up his practice on the village streets, where his haunts were well known. On leaving town the doctor would halt his gig at street corners and toot a whistle, much in the manner of the peregrinating knife grinders of today. This notified all within hearing, who had aches and pains that the doctor was tak­ ing his homeward way, and if attention or pills were wanted, now was the accepted time. On one occasion several of the village cut-ups arranged, by clever bribes and an appeal to cupidity, with the town "boob" or half-wit, to trail the good doctor and toot a whistle on adjacant street corners, the fell purpose of which was to plague Uncle Josh and confuse his patrons. This set not at all well with the irate Josh; he descended precipitately from the gig and gave chase to the nit-wit with such purposeful eclat and sundry bootings that the frightened jokester, now entirely witless, not only was glad to flee the community, but did. I asked Jeremiah Gilbert if he had ever heard the story of how Uncle Josh, who, while attending the dying Tom Terry, murderously assaulted by the two Wilsons, felled with a mighty blow on the jaw a third W'ilson who sought to interfere with the doctor's ministrations. Gilbert said he never heard that story, but he could be positive Uncle Josh struck the blow with his left hand, for the doctor was left-handed. Charner Humphries was born November 11, 1795, and died April 4th—not April 14th, 1855. Mary Humphries, his wife, was born August 9, 1801, and died June 26, 1851. They were married January 29, 1818. (Dates supplied by Judge John D. Humphries and Franklin Garrett.) Charner and Mary Humphries were buried in a plot of ground north of the tavern, in the block bounded at present by Poole WHITEHALL TAVERN 49

Place, Lee, Oak and Whitehall Streets. A part of this burial plot is in the backyard of the old parsonage of the Park Street M. E. Church, both buildings facing Lee Street. Shortly after the opening of West View Cemetery, in 1884, the bodies of the Humphries family were removed thither, where a single monument marks their present burial place. (This data from Judge Hum­ phries and Franklin Garrett.) The stones at the original burial place were in some instances left on the premises, but not in an upright position. The Reverend Wallace Rogers of Atlanta, who at one time resided in the parsonage mentioned, stated some years ago that several of the gravestones or slabs were visible, lying flat on the ground. Jeremiah knew of Judge John D. Humphries' statement that the house at 830 Oak Street, S. W., contained timbers from the original Whitehall Tavern, but that's all he knew about it— though mention was made of a recent newspaper article in the Atlanta Georgian. Jeremiah stated that the tavern survived the Civil War, and was occupied after Charner's death by a man named Griffith, and later a James R. D. Ozburn (the records show that this was James R. D. Ozburn), but he thought neither one operated it as a tavern. The building was torn down—did not burn—and it might very well be that timbers of the old structure are incor­ porated in the house at No. 830 Oak Street, S. W. Jeremiah saw but little service in the Civil War. He en­ listed in the 3rd Ga. State Troops, and was sent to Brunswick for six months. Captain Henderson, of Carroll County, com­ manded his company. Frank Rice was in the same regiment. Returning to Atlanta, Gilbert joined Leyden's artillery, of which John Heard, John Thomason and Franklin Burdett were mem­ bers. The examining physicians rejected Gilbert as unfit for service—and there he sat, that Saturday afternoon, telling about plowing his bottom land along South River this Spring, for he had lately been assured that the alluvial deposits of past years should raise him some fine corn. 50 THE ATLANTA HISTORICAL BULLETIN

EDITORIAL NOTES In this issue we present articles by two well known Atlanta historians who make their first appearance in the Bulletin. They are Messrs. W7ilbur G. Kurtz and Franklin Garrett. Mr. Kurtz is known for his extensive studies of the Atlanta Campaign. Mr. Garrett is compiling a necrology of Fulton County and has a great deal of the work already done. The article on "Queer Place Names" by Mr. Eugene M. Mitchell will recall to old residents many of the original names of Atlanta localities, which now are being obscured under a cloud of fancy names given to localities, not by the persons resi­ dent in the vicinity, but by some publicity man for a real estate firm. In this edition we present a brief biography of Atlanta's second Mayor, the Honorable B. F. Bomar. We hope to carry articles about other prominent pioneer citizens in future editions. In order to carry Mr. Garrett's article as to the residents of this county in 1833 we have set over to the next Bulletin the list of the State's grantees who were granted land in the 17th District of originally Henry County. This will appear in the next Bulletin, and these lists of early inhabitants will continue to be printed until we have accumulated a list of all persons known to have been resident in the county from 1821 to 1854. Once more we urge the readers to send in articles on the his­ tory of the city. It will be an interesting avocation to pursue, and will, if taken up by enough persons, give to this city the pride in its history which it should have and which the Historical Society was formed to foster. Suggestions as to articles to be worked out in the future: (1) History of Standing Peachtree as an Indian Trading Post where the trails from Charleston, St. Augustine and Pensa- cola crossed. (2) For whom or what were the creeks of this county named? Proctors Creek, Shoal Creek, Utoy Creek, Long Island Creek. Nance's Creek, Sugar Creek, Entrenchment Creek. EDITORIAL NOTES 51

(3) Histories of the First Presbyterian and First Baptist Churches with lists of early communicants. (4) Biographical sketches of the pioneers, 1821-1860.

DONATIONS The Society has recently received the following donations: (1) A Cooper's Map of Atlanta (1868) donated by the County Commissioners. This map hung in the record room of the Court House for many years and is much worn from constant use. It is now undergoing restoration. (2) An unexploded shrapnel shell dug up during the con­ struction of the Massell building at 161 Spring Street, N. W. Pre­ sented to the Society by Mr. Samuel A. Massell. (3) A collection of early Atlantana. Donated by Mr. Harvey Smith. Among these is a very interesting copy of "Bible questions for children" printed by J. J. Toon in 1864. This was the last book printed before the fall of the city in 1864. Mr. Toon was an early printer of the city. He established the Franklin Printing Company after the war and lived in Atlanta for many years. He owned property purchased by him in 1863 situated on Courtland Street near Auburn Avenue, and lived in 1878 at the corner of Courtland and Gilmer Streets. The print­ ing establishment in 1867 was on the north side of Alabama Street between Whitehall and Pryor Streets. Where it was dur­ ing the war is unknown to the editor. (4) 1872 Map of Fulton County. Donated by Gordon F. Mitchell. (5) The original deed from Samuel Mitchell to Richard Peters conveying the State Capitol property, dated 5th February, 1847 witnessed by Terence Doonan and E. G. Collier, J. P., and the deed from Richard Peters to mayor and council of the City of Atlanta, dated 20th June 1853. Donated by the City of At­ lanta thru the efforts of Mr. Lawrence S. James.