From Days Gone By July 4, 1912

July 4, 1912.

Part 2

Mosely is about midway between Oak Park and Lyons and has the finest grade of land in that section and manufactures forest products. Toombs County was created by the legislature about seven years ago, by cutting a portion from Tatnall, Montgomery and Emanuel counties with Lyons her county site. Since that time, she has made wonderful progress, improving her roads to compare with much older counties. She has built and paid for a handsome court house and jail, at a cost of many thousands of dollars, besides other valuable improvements.

Lyons, with a population of about 1,200 is situated on the Seaboard Airline Railroad. It is here that the proposed Wrightsville, Adrian & Lyons Railroad will connect and cross, with the Seaboard connecting to Savannah. Lyons has twelve general stores, three hardware stores, three cotton gins, three banks, three sawmills, one turpentine still, a meat market, a hotel and boarding houses, three white churches and three colored and schools for each. Her artesian well water and electric light plant are modern for a town of her size and age.

Farming and naval stores are also its chief industries. Little attention has been given to manufacturing here but that will surely change with the railroad. While Vidalia with a population of 2000 is not on the mainline but can be reached by a distance of six miles and should be connected with her various manufacturing plants.

In briefly mentioning the points inclusive on the Wrightsville, Adrian & Lyons railroad and connecting with Vidalia, this part of the road has been practically graded and these are the stations and half stations. But in addition to these, there will be several siding and loading points along the line for loading lumber and other forest products, and for unloading and receiving fertilizers and other commodities moving in car load lots.

The extension of this line from Wrightsville to Milledgeville, county site of Baldwin County will add approximately forty miles to the line of road making distance of about ninety miles from Milledgeville to Lyons. This extension will also traverse and open up a section of extra fine agricultural and timber lands for almost its entire length, that has never been developed for want of a railroad.

It will also run directly through the beautiful section just now being opened up and mined. By touching Milledgeville with 5,000 people, her various factories, such as corn and flour mills, cotton and oil mills, brickyards, etc. will open up a vast amount of traffic for the road. In addition to this, Milledgeville ships about 20,000 bales of cotton annually, which with Savannah as her port, would find a much quicker and shorter outlet. Then extending on the southeast from Lyons to Glennville, a distance of 25 miles would connect with the G. C. & P Railroad giving a direct line to Brunswick.

The extension to Glennville, when completed would open up the very best farming, lumbering and naval stores section in middle Georgia, connecting with the Seaboard at Lyons, would give a direct and shorter route to Savannah for all points on the entire line from Milledgeville. As ninety percent of all the lumber, ties, naval stores and cotton in this section go to Savannah, and ninety percent of the shippers of these commodities have subscribed to, or agreed to take stock in this road, a connection should be made with Savannah as early as practical.

With the shippers and receivers of freight all along the entire line, owning stock in the road and giving their influence and support to the road, a much larger per cent of all the tonnage to be handled at points along the line, could be counted on than has been figured in the prospectus recently prepared. Will the road be built ?

From Days Gone By, June 27,1912

June 27, 1912.
For the last year or so you have been reading in this column about the building of a new railroad in 1912, The Wrightsville, Adrian & Lyons Railway. It seems that it was running into some road blocks. The following two part series is from the 1912 Headlight as supporters of the road make their case for the benefits of building the railroad.
Wrightsville, the county site of Johnson County, with a population of 1,600, is situated on the Wrightsville & Tennille Railroad, 17 miles south of Tennille, and 20 miles north of Dublin, being centrally located between these two points, and with a vast territory on the east and west side, and in one of the finest farming and lumbering sections in middle Georgia.
She enjoys an enormous trade for a town of her size, and a large traffic in agricultural and forest products. She has general merchandise stores, two furniture stores, two hardware stores, two meat markets, three drug stores, three cotton warehouses, three gins and three thriving banks. She also boasts of two of the best little hotels in Georgia, besides several boarding houses, which add convience and pleasure to the traveling public. Wrightsville is also noted for her religeous environments. She has three white and two colored churches, and Warthen College.
The water works and electric light plant, recently installed by the city, adds to the comfort. While the town has never made much progress in manufacturing enterprises, still with the present outlook for a new railroad, which is to be built from Milledgeville to Brunswick, via Wrightsville, and which has already been practically graded from here to Lyons, in Toombs County. Georgia has many manufacturing plants, such as guano factories, cotton oil mills, cotton compresses, etc. are planned. With the advantages brought to her people through this railroad, in freight rates and general traffic conviences, many establishments of this kind will soon spring up.
With thousands of acres of yellow pine timber and hardwood, lying around her boarders, with splendid farms already in operation, she has bright prospects for permanat traffic. Five saw mills and two turpentine stills shipping from this point are already in operation with scarce railroad facilities, and extremely high freight rates. Others are being contemplated and will be built immediately after the W. A. & L. Railroad is in operation.
Wrightsville is located in a high and healthy locality, with a mild climate. She has in the city limits, as fine artesian water as can be had anywhere in Georgia. Idylwild is one of the finest picnic grounds in this section, two miles south of town on the Big Ohoopee River, which with its beautifully shaded grounds, pavillions and artesian water, various amusements that attract people from all sections of the state. Two miles west of town, near the new line, on the Big Ohoopee is one of the finest natural mineral springs which will soon open as a health resort.
Places on the new line are Sumner's Station, seven miles southeast of town is in the midst of hundreds of acres of yellow pine, oak, poplar, ash, hickory, sweet gum, cypress, etc. It has one sawmill, turpentine still, cotton gin and general store. Next is Smith's Station, five miles further down the line with big beautiful farmlands and yellow pine. Then Adrian, at the junction of the Brewton & Pinora, and the Wadley Southern railroads, with a population of 800, it has ten general stores, two furniture stores, two hardware stores, three drug stores, two meat markets, a cotton gin, warehouse, two banks, electric light plant and waterworks, a good hotel and a good brick school for whites and one for the colored. Lumbering and farming are its chief industries. Several sawmills, with Adrian as their shipping point, are already located.
Gillis' Springs, less than three years old, is located ten miles northwest of Oak Park and would be on the main line. It has millions of feet of the finest original growth of yellow pine timber and hardwoods anywhere in Georgia. It is also noted for its fine mineral water. A $10,000 hotel has recently opened here. Many thousands of gallons of water are being shipped from here by wagons. Coleman, the next station will be six miles from Gillis' Springs. It will supply lumber, ties, naval stores and farm products. Oak Park will be at the junction of this line and the Georgia, and Florida Railroad. While this is a new place, it has four general stores, one drug store, one cotton gin, one sawmill and one turpentine still.

From Days Gone by June 20, 1912

June 20, 1912.
The few days of sunshine which nature has so generously given us has made a wonderful change in the growing of crops. The first cotton blossom of the season was brought to town last monday morning. It was plucked from the field of Mr. J. W. Frost, living on Route 5. Mr. Frost is a successful, aggresive farmer and has a fine propect of both corn and cotton. Notwithstanding the set-backs and difficulties with which the farmers have had to encounter in getting their crops in the ground, W. C. Brantley, a farmer in Moye's district, is growing an extra fine piece of cotton of 12 acres. Tax Receiver George A. Smith brought a sample of this cotton to town. It was 34 inches high and full of squares. Mr. Smith says the sample was a fair average of the entire 12 acres, grown on sandy soil known as the old Williamson place.
Within the next few days the old Empire Store will be ready for occupancy. It has been divided into two parts, and will be occupied by Wilson's Barber Shop and the Greek Fruit Stand. The brick store on the northwest corner of the square, just completed by Gainer Burns is now for rent. The "Busy Bee" cafe has been established here just a few short weeks and has already become a household name. The service is up to the queen's taste. Their intention is "to give to the people of Wrightsville good service, polite attention, and the very best the markets and elsewhere afford." Everything is clean and up-to-date, so don't cook at home on Sunday, but eat at the Busy Bee.
Situated in Wrightsville is a masonic hall that does credit to a town much larger than this, and was built and superintended entirely by the colored people. Jim May was foreman of the building, and Rabe Harris was general superintendent. It is a modern concrete two-story building, with a soft drink department on the 1st floor, and the lodge rooms on the second floor. Our colored people contributed all the money, which was more than $1500, and all the labor. They deserve a great deal of praise for their pluck and taste.
Last monday night between 11 and 12, the cotton ginnery of J. T. Fulrord, located 4 miles east of town was destroyed by fire including all machinery. It was a clear finnacial loss to Fulford as he carried no insurance on the property. The unusual hour it occured and circumstances surrounding it point to incendiarism. At some hour on the same night an attempt was made to fire a house belonging to Fulford, which is near the jail in the city, but the blaze never materialized.
Rev. J. C. G. Brooks and family are now in the house vacated by Prof. Ware. On his recomendation the Board of Trustees of Warthen College elected the following teachers: C. S. Ward, Misses Angie Boyd, Jennie Loyall, Clara Hunter, Clemmie Boyd, Ruth Calhoun, Lucile Norman, Mary Lee Marshall, Ruth Parish.
Mr. T. N. Snell has located to Ft. Meade, Fla. where he is keeping books for T. H. Hayes & Co. Dr. T. L. Harris received a telegram from his daughter, Mrs. Emmie Hook Strickland of Atlanta who has appendecitis. Mrs. Nannie Thomas is out walking on crutches now after breaking a limb.
Hon. H. R. Williams of Spann was in the city this week. He is a candidate for the legislature from Johnson County. The Baptist and Christian Sunday Schools united with a picnic at Idylwild. Dr. J. W. Brinson, Sr. and Messers. J. W. and W. C. Brinson, and R. B. Bryan, with their families enjoyed an outing at Mason's Bridge. Mr. E. A. Lovett has returned from the Hot Springs, Arkansas in the interest of his health.
In a marriage of much surprise was that of Miss Sara Lovett and Dr. Robert Erle Brinson which took place wednesday at the residence of Mr. & Mrs. F. A. Sinquefield, Rev. J. B. Griner officiating. Sara is a daughter of Mrs. Elizabeth Lovett, the groom a son of Dr. & Mrs. J. W. Brinson. They were "two souls with but a single thought, two hearts that beat as one." They were childhood sweethearts.
In Kite news, S. C. Knox of Tennille was here for the Planters Co. Dr. J. R. Watson of Wadley was here doing dental work. Mr. Carl Claxton was called to Wrightsville on account of his sick aunt, Mrs. Sammons. Mrs. J. W. Claxton is ill and hope is for her speedy recovery. J. S. Stephenson entertained his Sunday School class at its organization. Present were: Misses Ola and Mattie Peacock, Zell and Vidilla Claxton, Marie Harrison, Lizzie Davis; Messrs. H. J. Claxton, Jr., C. W. Harrison, Quincy Powell, Vestus Schwalls, Carl Claxton, W. D. Holloway, Bunnie Kight and Charlton Davis.
Rev. M. B. Watkins died at his home in Tom on June 9th after a 5 week illness. He was buried at Coleman's Chapel. He was a Confederate soldier and served throughout the war. He was 69 years old and survived by his wife and 5 children. He was a humble christian, a member of the South Georgia Conference and a local preacher.

From Days Gone By June 13, 1912

June 13, 1912.
Misses Annie Laurie Bray and Dollie McAfee were hostesses at quite and enjoyable re-union of the class of '09 last saturday evening at the home of Mr. & Mrs. C. T. Bray. On arrival the guests were served punch by Misses Cleo and Geneva Bray and Cora McAfee. Misses Lovett and Bertha Bray furnished music. The members of the class present were Misses A. L. Bray, Dollie McAfee, Sara Lovett, Sara Hines, Lillian Page, Mrs. Frank Sinquefield, and Mr. Gainer Fulford.
The Rev. J. C. G. Brooks of Millen was chosen as Warthen College's new president. He received his academic training at the Stephens Institute at Forsyth and one year at Mercer University. He entered Emory College in 1898 and graduated in 1902. He served as president of the Broxton Institute. After joining the South Georgia Conference he served as pastor at Ashburn and most recently at Millen where in the last six months thirty-one persons have united with the church.
Miss Clyde Lanier who has been teaching primary at Warthen College the past seven years will not be returning. She has accepted a primary teacher position in the high school at Tifton. The Scott Banking Company released their statement of condition, $62,342.52.
A big company known as The South Georgia Cotton Company was organized in Dublin on the 10th with a capital stock of $50,000. The membership embraces Dublin, Tennille, Sandersville, Wadley, Soperton, Louisville, Vidalia, Wrightsville, Davisboro, Dexter and Metter. The Wrightsville membership is Mr. C. R. Williams who is secretary and treasurer of the company; J. P. Mixon, E. E. Sanders and J. M. Mason.
Johnson County's first game warden, Mr. J. M. Walker has resigned. Mr. C. C. Wheeler has been appointed to replace him. All parties forbidding trespassing on their lands need to notify him soon. Moores Chapel reports having heaps of rain recently, and General Green is about to take possession.
In Kite news, Mr. J. M. Outlaw of Wadley, and Mr. Gentry of Macon were here adjusting insurance matters on the recent downtown fires. W. A. Meeks little daughter, Lois, won the prize offered by Prof. Hawkins, for good behavior, perfect attendance and the best general average mark made during this school term.
Another Southern Beauty has arrived in Kite at the home of Mr. and Mrs. J. O. Hatcher, and weighed nine pounds. Dr. M. Z. Claxton is attending the Pharmeceutical Association in Savannah. Professor J. M. Spivey will begin a singing school here. B. J. Wiggins has purchased for himself a car, one of the latest model Cadilac. Mr. Hines Peacock has got his pretty little Maxwell in running order again. Look out girls!

From Days Gone By June 6, 1912

June 6, 1912.

Last friday night there was a most destructive fire that Kite has ever had. The following property was totally destroyed: Messers. J. D. and G. T. Wheeler's store and residence, Mrs. W. A. Lamb's Millinery store, Dr. L. Wheeler and Dr. D. C. Harrison's drug stores, and the livery stables owned by Mr. Neal of Helena. Then on saturday night the barn on the Duggar place near Wrightsville, owned by J. T. Fulford was destroyed by fire. The barn held 250 bushels corn, a quantity of fodder and a mowing machine. It is believed it was caused by lightning. Mr. Eli Badingfield, living east of Wrightsville lost his barn in a similar way. He had a mule killed by lightning and a cow badly injured. None of them had insurance.
The new store on the corner of Marcus and Court streets, erected by Mr. W. C. Burns, is nearing completion. Dr. Gordon Brantley has located in Wrightsville and has his office with consultation room in the Vivola building. He and Mrs. Brantley are presently occupying rooms with Mrs. George Rhiner on Elm street.
Councilman Jordan , chairman of the street and lane committee is doing some fine work on the streets with the new machine the city recently purchased. It is the most up-to-date machines for such work. Mr. R. B. Bryan has purchased the Hooks residence on West Elm street. Dr. J. W. Flanders and family have returned to the city and back in their residence on Elm street. Mr. Anderson, former bookkeeper at H. C. Tompkins Department Store, is now at Minter, in Laurens County keeping books at the large supply store of J. O. Kennedy. Dr. Ford Ware has gone to Cordele to practice medicine. Mr. Nathan Braddy is attending the photographers convention in Atlanta.
R. J. Sumner the newly elected superintendent of public schools of Johnson County is now been installed in his office. Outgoing superintendent A. J. M. Robinson is leaving a clean record. The Board of Trustees of Warthen College granted to Dr. T. D. Ellis, Secretary of the Board of Education of the South Georgia Conference, and Dr. Bascom Anthony, presiding Elder of the Dublin District to select a new president for Warthen College. The Rev. J. C. G. Brooks, the pastor of the methodist church at Millen was selected and recomended to the Board. The Board approved the hire and gave him the priviledge of selecting his own corps of teachers, subject to election by the Trustees.
Hon. C. R. Williams of Wrightsville made a business trip to Dublin recently. He is president of three banking intitutions as follows: Citizens Bank of Adrian, Bank of Montrose, Rockledge Banking Co. and is organizing a fourth bank at Norristown in Emanuel County. Four of the banks in Johnson County released their statement of condition. The Bank of Wrightsville, $150,283.38; Exchange Bank of Wrightsville, $99,624.05; The Bank of Adrian, $46,038.49; The Citizens Bank of Kite, $74,453.06.
Scott Baptist Church met in service on May 29th and ordained J. J. Harrison, B. A. Walker, G. W. Granger as deacons. The presbtry consisted of W. E. Harvell, W. C. Floyd, Rev. Barrett and J. R. Kelley, pastor. Mrs. Lizzie Trawick left for Baltimore where she will be a patient at Johns-Hopkins sanitarium. Dr. S. M. Johnson's hand is improving from being broken while cranking his car a few weeks ago.
Uncle Jimmie Carter of Scott is the champion fisherman about here, he went a few days ago with a crowd of six and caught more than all the rest. He said he would have caught more but an alligator bit his hook and line off at the pole and he decided it was time to quit.