Country Music Artist Don Byers Tapped for Atlanta Counrty Music Hall of Fame

“Autumn leaves were falling
Down in Adams Park
We sat and watched the river
‘Til it was almost dark
And there were children playing
They never noticed you and me
Down in Adams Park
Where time was always free.”
------cDon Byers (used by permission)

Perhaps you’ve heard “Adams Park” played and sung by country music performers. Maybe you did not know that a Union County born-and-bred artist named Don Byers wrote both the words and the music to the song. Not only “Adams Park,” but many others, among which are “It’s Only a Paper World,” “A Few of the Things I Remember,” “Facing the Music,” “Forgotten Tracks,” “For What It’s Worth,” and “The Troubadour,” to name a few.

Recently Union County’s Don Byers received a letter notifying him of a signal honor coming his way on November 27, 2010. The letter read, in part:

“In recognition of your contributions and achievements in the Music Industry, the Awards Committee and the Executive Board of the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame have selected you to be honored at the 29th Annual Awards Celebration to be held at the Holiday Inn Select-Perimeter, 4386 Chamblee-Dunwoody Road, Atlanta, GA 30341 on Saturday, November 27, 2010.”

Established in 1982 by John L. (Johnny) Carson (1933-2010) and Phyllis A. Cole, the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame seeks yearly to recognize outstanding persons in the field of country music composition and performance. It is a distinct honor to be tapped for inclusion into the Hall of Fame. Awards have for twenty-nine years been given to many in Georgia who have contributed to this genre and have helped in perpetuation of our country folk ways and culture.

Our hats are off in salute and congratulations to Don Byers who is being recognized for his artistry, talent and dedication to country music. He hails from a long line of Union County people who have contributed much to the upbuilding of our county from early days to the present, and we’re sure, even into the future. He was born in 1943 in Murphy, North Carolina, son of Ralph C. Byers and Alice Mauney Byers. His parents brought Don up in the Ivy Log Community of Union County. Early on, he showed interest in and propensity for playing the guitar. He says of his legacy:

“One of my grandfathers was a fiddler and the other was a banjo player. My neighbor, Billy Burnette, taught me my first guitar chords about 1952 when I was nine. I began writing songs when I was about ten years of age. My country music heroes back then were Hank Williams and Chet Atkins.”

By the time Don Byers was in high school, he was playing for school events and teaming up with classmates to play and sing. He also wrote songs during his school years, but he says the words to most of them have been lost or otherwise not kept for posterity. When he graduated from Union County High School in 1960, he had been named by his peers, “Most Talented Male Student.”

He recalls that he played solo for school events and back-up for various singing groups. He and Patsy Colwell (Davenport Phillips) did duets—Don on guitar and Patsy on piano. His friend, Wendell Patterson and Don, with whom he still plays, were often paired with their stringed instruments arrangements. He remembers that he and Wendell provided musical accompaniment for a vocal group composed of singers Gwen Brown, Anita Collins and Kathleen Garrett. One of the most famous of the high school groups as they entered that momentous year of 1960 was “The Trio” with singers JoNeal Collins, Jackie Lance and Sandra Richards. In 1959, they won first place in the school-wide talent show. Little did those schoolmates/classmates or Don Byers himself realize that the honor would one day be extended to recognize him as a productive and notable member of the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame.

Straight out of High School, Don joined the Army. He soon found his niche in service as an entertainer.

Don Byers, US Army, 1961 in Zama, Japan

"The Strangers" Music Group - Japan, 1961
(l-r) Ray Lambright; Don Byers (kneeling); Tom Zawlock (drums); Tom Montgomery

In 1961 he became a member of the rock-and-roll instrumental group known as “The Strangers.” Don is quick to emphasize that his Army group was not the same as the later “Strangers” which featured the Merle Haggard band. At the tender age of 17, and in his army time, he was soon conducting interviews, playing in stage shows, providing music for dances, and otherwise taking his artistry in country music to wherever he happened to be stationed. He was in Japan for a stretch of time and noted that American country music was very popular there. He remembers that wherever “The Strangers” were booked, he often had to sign autographs for fans. That popularity was somewhat foreign to a shy, country-bred lad on his first major thrust out into the vast world of entertainment and meeting people of different cultures. His work in service was with the US Army Security Agency. He did classified work with the Navy and Air Force.

He states that the members of “The Strangers” —(Rockin’) Ray Lambright (Army), Tom (Monty) Montgomery (Navy), Thomas (Ski) Zawlocki (Navy) and himself, Don Byers (Army), who played for military and civilian clubs in the Tokyo and Yokohama area of Japan, were reunited about five years ago by internet. Ski from Washington state unfortunately died about two years after their internet reunion. Ray and Monty returned to their native state of Texas and both became ordained ministers of the gospel. Monty attended one of Don’s Old Courthouse on the Square concerts in 2008. These Army/Navy buddies like to say “we will always be friends, and will also always be “Strangers.”

[Next: Stay tuned for more on the life and career of Don Byers, Music Hall of Fame Awardee]

c2010 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published Nov. 18, 2010 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Continuing the Legacy of Benjamin J. Ledford: Son Benjamin Mercer and Grandson Arthur Paul Ledford

The Civil War brought hard times and “make do” situations even to families in remote Union County, Georgia. As we’ve already seen in the account of Silas L. Ledford, third child of fifteen born to the early settler Benjamin J. Ledford (1800-1882), who joined the Georgia Cavalry and the Local Defense Troops, so another son of Benjamin, his eleventh-born, also had a term in Civil War fighting.

Benjamin Mercer Ledford (11/14/1838-03/24/1919) was Benjamin’s eleventh child. His mother was Grace Ownbey Ledford. On May 10, 1862, he enlisted with the 6th Regiment, Georgia Cavalry Volunteers, Company B. He received the rank of captain. He was wounded in the knee at the Battle of Chickamauga . This brought about his subsequent resignation from active duty. He continued to serve in the Local Defense Troops and evidently received the rank of Colonel in that group, for he was often referred to as “Colonel Ledford.”

An interesting incident occurred while he was in service. He was visiting in a friend’s home in Loudon County, Tennessee. While there, Union troops attacked the house. How he had time, before the soldiers came into the house trying to kill any of the Confederate soldiers they found, is not exactly known. But the story has been passed down about how Benjamin Mercer Ledford escaped death. He donned the garb of a woman, and with a bonnet on, was at the dough board kneading bread when the invasion occurred. His life was spared, and for good cause. He married Sarah Blair (09/28/1838-09/13/1889) on July 29, 1863, daughter of his friend in whose house he had escaped death.

Benjamin Mercer and Sarah Ledford made their way back to Union County, Georgia to set up housekeeping. Since her father was a substantial citizen of Loudon County, and owner of slaves, he gave Sarah slaves to help her with housekeeping and Benjamin Mercer with his farm work on Gum Log in Union County where they settled. This couple gave ten acres to Antioch Baptist Church from the land holdings they had acquired.

Benjamin Mercer Ledford became an ordained Baptist minister, announcing his call on October 18, 1873. He received his license to preach by Ebenezer Baptist Church three years later on July 14, 1876. Not only interested in helping the churches in the district where the Ledfords lived, it is believed that he also preached at churches “over in North Carolina” from his home. He was very much interested in education and was successful in securing a grant for a high school for the Gum Log district from Peabody Funds. This school was established about 1880 and was a boon to that section of the county.

Benjamin and Sarah had six known children: Mary L. (1865), Mamie May (1867), Arthur Paul (1869), William J. (1872), Bettie A. (1874) and Benjamin M. (1877, who died as an infant). When Sarah died in 1889, she was laid to rest in the Antioch Baptist Church Cemetery on land her husband had given to the church. Benjamin Mercer married twice more: to Eliza Plott and to Lena Gray (believed to be a Cherokee Indian). He later moved from his beloved Gum Log and lived in Cherokee County, NC. He was interred at the Friendship Baptist Church Cemetery, Suit, NC.

The third child of Benjamin and Sarah, Arthur Paul (01/12/1869-04/07/1931) became a noted merchant and owned and operated his own store in the Gum Log District. Arthur Paul, known lovingly as “Bud” Ledford, started working in the mercantile business by hiring on at the store of Charley Mauney. In 1924, Bud purchased the store for himself. It was a popular trading place in that section of the county. He bought another store on Gum Log Road in 1925, and operated it until his death in 1931.

Arthur Paul Ledford married Alcy Dona Ensley (04/14/1870-04.01/1943) on December 20, 1888 in Union County. Her parents were Robert and Martha Parris Ensley of Gum Log. To “Bud” and Dona were born six children; Mamie Isabell (1890-1981) married John Calvin Hood; Alma Udora (1893-1969) married Jess C. Bradley; Obed Erick (1894-1977) married Nora Brown; Benjamin Robert (1897-1928) married Ada Wilson; Baxter Wayne (1902-?) married Bert(a) Miller and moved to Ohio; and William Blair (1906-1987) married Violet Lance.

Bud Ledford died April 7, 1931 in Franklin, NC after stomach surgery. His body was returned and buried at Antioch Baptist Church Cemetery, Gum Log. Later, when his beloved wife, Dona passed (April 1, 1943), she was interred alongside her husband’s grave.

The Ledford families played an important role in Union County history from the early years until the present. Those who went out to other places likewise were strong contributing citizens. For example, Amy Vianna Ledford (1830-1892), seventh child of Benjamin J. and Grace Ownbey Ledford, who married William Franklin of Union County about 1851, moved with her family to Coryell County, Texas in 1889. We can only imagine the long journey from Union County to Texas by covered wagon, via Arkansas and other stops along the way. They left Union County in 1883 and arrived in Weatherford Texas in 1889—a long and eventful journey with many stops in between.

There is much more to the Ledford story, but I will leave it to others to write. Suffice it to say that the family of Benjamin J. Ledford played an important role in establishing a solid citizenry wherever they went from their roots in North Carolina and North Georgia.

c 2010 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published May 6, 2010 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

A Look at Owltown

Travel Highway 129/19 south from the old courthouse square in Blairsville and you will come to the Owltown District of Union County lying around the vicinity of the Experiment Station. It was the last of the fourteen districts of the county.

This district numbered 1409 was signed into law on April 4, 1887. Court appointed commissioners John M. Rich, Milton G. Hamby, and Quiller F. Reece had been assigned the task of laying out the lines of the proposed new militia district. Daniel Mathis, Thomas Fields and other citizens had petitioned for the new district and signed a request for it with the Court of Ordinary in Union County. Portions of already-existing districts of Arkaqua, Choestoe and Coosa were surveyed and made a part of the new Owltown District. Mr. William Colwell, County Ordinary, signed the completed papers and the new district was summarily formed.

One is reminded of the words of naturalist John Muir, who in 1867, passed through beautiful Union County, Georgia on his walk from Louisville, Kentucky to Cedar Keys, Florida, a journey of over one thousand miles. He wrote of this mountainous region: "Oh, these vast, calm, measureless mountain days...in whose light everything seems equally divine, opening a thousand windows to show us God."

Whether Muir passed through what became Owltown twenty years after his visit, we know not. But he could well have been describing that section of Union County nestled along the Nottely River and its tributaries. County Historian Edward S. Mauney, in his description of Owlton in 1950, said of it: "Being no less mountainous than the county's entire terrain, with its dark recesses called coves, the natural habitat of that wise old bird, the owl, suggests what is believed to be the origin of the name." (p. 72, Sketches of Union County History III, 1987).

Hoot Owl Town and Hoot Owl Hollow were eventually shortened to Owltown. Others have thought that in addition to being "the natural habitat of the owl," Owltown may have received its name from a settlement of Cherokee Indians with Chief Owl as its leader.

Some of the early-settler families that chose Owlton as their place of residence were Hamby, England, Fortenberry, Rich, Davis, Stephens, Reece, Spiva, Akins, Curtis, Majors, Fields, Mathis, Colwell, Bowers, Rider, May, Crump and others. Even today, these family names remain in residents in the coves and hollows of District 1409 and elsewhere in Union.

If John Muir did, indeed, traverse land in what became the Owltown District twenty years after his sojourn here; he would have seen cleared patches in the bottom lands where the farmer settlers grew corn, potatoes, cabbage, onions, beans, wheat, rye, oats and flax. In garden patches were tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins and peppers and in yard patches, herbs like sage and rosemary for seasoning. Growing out from their mountain cabins were the beginnings of mountain orchards of apples, pears and peaches. Owltown has been noted as a place of production of good-tasting, juicy apples.

On the mountains were chestnut trees, the annual fall crop of which provided food for ranging hogs and cattle, and enough to pick up and haul to market in Gainesville over the Logan Turnpike. This extra crop from the forest helped to provide coffee, tea, sugar, cloth for making clothes and even shoes for members of the mountain families.

Another distinctive early industry of Owlton was the gold mine at Owltown Gap. The yield of this mine is not currently known, but it, along with the Coosa Mines, caused enough excitement to produce a mini-gold rush to Union County in the heyday of gold mining here.

Fort Mountain is within the area of Owltown District. The ancient fort, some of the remains of which can still be seen, is a great mystery. Legend prevails that it was built by a contingent of Spanish conquistadores who came through the region in the sixteenth century under the leadership of one Juan Pardo and built a fortress on the mountain. Lost in mountain mists and lack of records, we may never know the origin of the fort on this mountain.

Out of Owltown have come many distinguished citizens. To name a few, the following come to mind. Rev. Milford G. Hamby was a noted minister in the North Georgia Methodist Conference. Mr. Newton Curtis was termed a "good teacher" and an able debater. Solomon Hill Rich and Nancy Conner Rich had a son named Charles Edward Rich who was a noted Baptist preacher and educator. The Rev. Luther Colwell, another long-time Baptist minister in Union County, was a son of John Theodore and Amy Elizabeth Bowling Colwell. John Theodore Colwell was county ordinary when "the old courthouse" on the square was built in 1899.

"A thousand windows," to quote from John Muir, open throughout Owltown. One has but to drive its roadways to be surprised by beauty and a quality of "divine light" that emanate from a lofty past and point toward an optimistic future.

c 2008 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published November 20, 2008 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

John Butt Sr. and his family

Last week's column introduced John Butt, Jr., who, according to the 1834 census (initial tally for the new Union County) was the first of the Butt settlers here. He and his first wife, Sarah Gordon Butt, were the only two in their household when William Gilliland, census taker, completed the survey (March 24, 1834). John Butt, Jr. and Sarah's first child Thomas was born April 13, 1834, and was that close to being included in the 1834 census.

By 1840, two more Butt families had joined John, Jr. and Sarah Butt to take up residence in Union County. One family was that of John, Jr.'s brother, Alfred Butt, who married Caroline Boyd on October 10, 1839 in Union County, with the Rev. Elisha Hedden, Jr. performing the ceremony. Elisha Hedden was Alfred's brother-in-law, having married John, Jr. and Alfred's sister, Juanita Caroline Butt (1821-1896) on July 19, 1838. The second Butt family listed in the 1840 census was that of John Butt, Sr. and his wife, Sarah Rider Butt. It will be the Senior John Butt family that we will trace in this column.

John Butt II (later designated Sr.) was born in Pendleton District, SC in 1780 to John Butt I. All of these John Butt names can be confusing, indeed. The family researcher needs to look at birth dates, and designations to keep them straight.

John Butt, Sr. (remember his son, John, first Butt to settle in Union, was designated Jr.) and his wife and children had first moved from the Pendleton District of South Carolina to Habersham County. It was during the "Gold Rush" days along Duke's Creek in what later became White County. John Butt II (or Sr.) staked a claim and began searching for gold. This writer has no record of whether he struck it rich with gold mining, but his acquisition of land seems to indicate that his findings were not minor. Sometime before 1840, John Butt, Sr. and his wife and children still at home moved across the mountain from Duke's Creek to a section of Choestoe near where Booger Hollow Road is now located, on the Virge Waldroop place. He farmed there, and later moved northward as gold was found in the Coosa Mines. On the Butt homeplace on the Nottely River, an old mindshaft was later found near the graves of John, Sr. and Sarah Butt, an indication that he had set up a mine on his farm there.

John Butt, Sr. and Sarah Rider Butt were parents of eleven children, five sons and four daughters. They are listed here, not in order of birth; if known, their spouses are listed:

(1) John Butt, Jr. (12/06/1806-01/23/1884) married Sarah Gordon and Rebecca Fleming. (See last week's column for his life story and names of his fourteen children.)
(2) Jacob Butt (1808) married Ruth Collins (1820), a daughter of Thompson and Celia Self Collins. They had a farm in the Butternut Creek section of Union County and reared a family of eight children.
(3) Matilda Butt was born about 1811 and married a Lyons.
(4) Alfred Butt, born in 1813 in Pendleton District, SC, married Caroline Boyd in Union County Oct. 10, 1839 and settled along Butternut Creek to farm.
(5) Elizabeth Butt married John Fain. They lived awhile in Union County then moved to Cherokee County, NC.
(6) James Allen Butt was killed in the Seminole War and buried in Tallahassee, Florida.
(7) Judah Butt (daughter) married Elisha Carroll.
(8) Sarah Butt (b. 1816) married Jacob Loudermilk.
(9) Juanita Caroline Butt (09-21-1821 - 01/21/1896) married the Rev. Elisha Hedden, Jr. on July 19, 1938. They had eleven children and lived in Union and Towns counties. He was a noted early Baptist preacher in the mountain region.
(10) Susannah Butt married a Black; and then George Gaddis (on 10/07/1834).
(11) William G. Butt was born in Habersham County in 1823. He married Sarah Adaline England in Union County on 01/08/1845.

John Butt established the Polk post office in the Choestoe District on February 20, 1844. We can believe the oversight of the post office was given to John Butt II (or Sr.) rather than John Butt, Jr. because of its location in the Choestoe Militia District. He kept the appointment until November 5, 1845, when Francis (Frank) Collins (son of Thompson and Celia Self Collins) became postmaster. John Butt (Sr.) again assumed the postmaster's job at Polk on September 13, 1847, and kept it until Joseph England succeeded him September 25, 1851, when the name of the post office was changed from Polk to Choestoe.

Several of the Butt families, including John Butt, Sr. were slave owners. In the 1840 census, John Butt, Sr. had two slaves; his son, Alfred, had one slave; and his son John Butt, Jr. had four slaves. By 1850, John Butt, Sr. had passed away, but his widow, Sarah Butt, owned five slaves, Alfred owned 2, and John Butt, Jr. owned eight slaves.

It has been recorded that upon his death, John Butt, Sr. owned over 2,000 acres of land which was passed on to his children.

The Butt Family Cemetery has two graves with headstones so weathered that inscriptions are now illegible. The late Union County historian, Edward S. Mauney, recorded the inscriptions for posterity before their information faded:

Sarah Butt - 1784 - April 29, 1855
John Butt, Sr. - 1780 - May 16, 1843

This cemetery may be visited by driving west from the old courthouse on the square in Blairsville on Highway 76 for one mile. Turn left (south) onto an access road and travel one-fourth mile to the old Butt Homeplace nestled along the Nottely River. On the old homeplace site you may also be able to see remains of an old mine shaft where John Butt, Sr. and his sons once mined for gold in Union County.

c 2008 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published May 29, 2008 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

From the mules and wagon to the Space Shuttle

The title of Charles H. Souther's brand new book, hot off the press, is From the Mules and Wagon to the Space Shuttle. This Union County native has been working on this book diligently and now the book is available for the general public to see almost eight decades of life unfold in his delightfully told narrative.

He progresses from his life growing up on a mountain farm in the Gum Log section of Union County during the Great Depression to his work on the Solid Rocket Booster and other systems for America's Space Program. To read of the progress of one country lad, Charles Souther, through the various stages of his life to engineering and technical feats for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama is like seeing the unbelievable unfold. But he was there, accepting the challenges along each step of his life of service and achievement.

In talking to Charles Souther on May 12 when I received my autographed copy of his book in the mail, I congratulated him for the achievement of putting his memoirs into print. I anticipate that it will be read with pleasure by many of his contemporaries. He said, in our conversation, that at nearly age 80, he hoped, like Moses, to take up a new career. And that I think he has done as a first-time author. His writing is clear and concise. At the same time he reveals the behind-the- scenes work necessary to accomplishing the space mission.

"Although his work helped him to rub shoulders with some of the great names in space age science, he gives credit to his humble beginnings, his parents, extended family, teachers and associates who taught him a solid work ethic and dogged determination to get the job done. This book is about how he lived, worked, and accepted responsibility." (from the blurb, back cover of his book.)

Charles H. Souther author of

From the Mules and Wagon to the Space Shuttle

The first part of the book is about his growing-up years in Union County, Georgia. He was the first-born son of Paul W. Souther and Mabel Mauney Souther of Gum Log. Born February 12, 1929, he was reared during the worst part of the Great Depression years. His twin brothers, Suell and Buell, were born six years after him. His memories of growing up on the farm and how the family "made do" comprise a good account of the 1930s and 1940s. His father had many tales to tell his boys about his own years in the West when his parents went to Colorado between the years of 1912-1918 from their farm in Choestoe to try to make a better living. Some of these stories are included in the narrative, with the author's comment, "I grew up on tales from the west."

Charles Souther's education in Union County consisted of being taught by his mother, a country school teacher, and other teachers, mainly at Ebenezer Elementary School. He graduated from Union County High School with the class of 1947. Following high school came his stint in the US Army from September, 1948 through September, 1951. He recounts experiences in Ranger Creek Camp at Mt. Rainier, Washington and in Alaska, with temperatures at times unbelievably cold.

After his discharge from the Army Rangers, he remained at home in Gum Log for a short period and then sought employment at the Navy Yard in South Carolina. It was there he began studies in the Electronics Apprentice School at the Charleston Naval Shipyard from 1952-1956. He met Mary Christina Hill of Berkeley County, SC, and they were married September 7, 1952. To this union were born two daughters, Nancy Gail and Shirley Jane.

Mr. Souther tells how he read an article written by the noted German scientist Werhner von Braun in which he proposed the development of a space station that would orbit the earth and of sending men to the moon. "The von Braun article along with other meager information I had on space travel at the time captured my imagination." (p. 121)

Souther made application for a job at the Redstone Arsenal at Huntsville, Alabama in 1956. He was hired in the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) in late 1956 where General John B. Medaris was Commander and Wernher von Braun was Director of Technical Operations. In the Electrical Equipment Section of the Guidance and Control Laboratory this "mountain lad" began his space age career. And as the saying goes, "The rest is history…"

Souther tells his story with humility and sometimes with awe. To have been a part of the engineering crew that designed and implemented cable design networks for the Saturn Rockets, the Lunar Modules, Apollo, Skylab and other space projects was a dream come true. In 1965 he was transferred to the Logistics and Support Section, Electrical Division. There his responsibilities included design and testing of even more complicated subsystems. This section of his book, and his part in implementing these systems, is a very important account of space history and accomplishment. He received numerous awards in recognition of his service.

I was honored that author Charles H. Souther entrusted me with the responsibility of reading his manuscript, making suggestions, assisting with format and writing the introduction for his book published by Morris Publishing Company, Kearney, Nebraska in 2008. Watch for book signings as soon as these can be arranged. Charles is also open for talking to civic and other groups about his work in the space program.

The book sells for $17.50, with $3.50 shipping and handling. and may be procured at Souther Book Order, 194 Travis Road, NW, Huntsville, AL 35806-1562. Phone 256-830- 2654.

I end my introduction to his book with these words: "Charles H. Souther has written a book that in places is hilarious, but mostly it is serious, a time of one man's life and contributions to our great American dream. From a dirt farm to the laboratories of rocket boosters and space shuttle construction, with significant encounters in between, the author was there, observing, working, thinking, revising, reworking. This book is a true account of a person who, despite humble beginnings, set goals and worked to achieve them. In America, this is every person's privilege and prerogative."

c 2008 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published May 15, 2008 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Ivy Log as a bustling settlement

"It is evident and conceded that the center of activity of early Ivy Log was near the mouth of Ivy Log Creek. Here creaked the Casteel Mill. Here rang the iron foundry operated by R. W. Roberts and last by David Thompson prior to the Civil War. Here was Hunt and Cooley's store. Here Lovell made chairs. Here George Patterson fashioned hats from lambs' wool. Here was a school on the east side of the creek. Here is the Casteel Cemetery, numbering twenty-four graves, not far distant from the pioneer cabin site. Here on the west side is unmistakable evidence of a church--a cemetery where forty or more are sleeping that last, long sleep. Today in this vicinity all is quiet and still, save the murmur of waters, the sighing of the wind in the pines and the night bird's croon--a requiem for the slumbering pioneers awaiting the resurrection."

The above is from the pen of Union County Historian, Mr. Edward S. Mauney, written in 1948, and reproduced in the compendium entitled "Sketches of Union County History III" edited by Teddy J. Oliver and published in 1987. Mr. Mauney's history of Ivy Log is on pages 85-87 of the book. If you have a copy available to you, please read his flowing language and listing of people who made up the early census records of that north central district of Union County numbered Militia District 843.

"Here creaked the Casteel Mill," Mr. Mauney wrote. Barney Casteel not only established a mill for the convenience of settlers in Ivy Log District, but he also served as a minister of the gospel and as a "practical doctor." This designation probably indicates that he knew the value of herbs as medicinal plants and could prescribe certain treatments for common diseases. This first Casteel family migrated from East Tennessee. Mr. Mauney writes that they lived in their covered wagon under a large tree "for a season until a cabin could be hewn from the primitive forest."

Barney Casteel was listed as 63 years of age in the 1850 Union County census, and his wife, Mary, was 60 that year. His native state was Tennessee and hers was Virginia. Among their known children were James who married Minta Ellege. Robert married Nancy Simpson. Hastings married Sarah Lance. William married Emily Rabun. John G. Casteel married Rachel Byers. This couple had three children who became doctors- Dr. Lewis Casteel, Dr. William J. Casteel, and Dr. Van D. Casteel. John Casteel became a judge. The other four were Lafayette, Robert, Mary and Adelaide.

In the Ivy Log District are two Casteel Cemeteries. The one known as Casteel Cemetery No. 1 has one marked tomb with the name Ann Casteel, 1833-1861. She may be a daughter of the first settlers, Barney and Mary Casteel. Also buried in the Casteel 1 cemetery, according to Historian Mauney, are George Patterson and his wife, without marked stones, the "hatter" or milliner of Ivy Log District. Mauney states that this family lived at "the Ned Chastain place," and were the forebears of most of the Pattersons in Union County. Casteel 1 cemetery has at least fifteen unmarked graves.

An interesting story is told of the Casteel 2 Cemetery which is located south of Casteel 1 and across Ivy Log Creek from the first burying ground. None of the graves in this cemetery have stones with names. But buried apart from the graves which were of the early Casteel family and their descendants is a known grave, though unmarked. It is that of Gentry Taylor who met his death in 1876. He was killed at a moonshine still because he resisted arrest. The community, due to the circumstances of his business and his death, would not allow him to be buried in the Antioch Church Cemetery. His final resting place was at the Casteel 2 Cemetery, but distant 50 feet east of the other graves in the cemetery.

Mr. Mauney touches on moonshining as a business in his history of Ivy Log: "From many a sheltered nook on the tiny streams rose wisps of smoke that gave evidence of the pioneers brewing their own spirits without fear of God or man, in the days when it was not considered a sin. But they were rigid in their belief of honesty. One patriarch [was] "churched" for taking whiskey from his own "stillhouse" that belonged to someone else" (p. 87).

Space precludes telling of other early settlers, but family names passed to the present generations show that many hardy settlers had children in subsequent generations that made this mountain district and other parts of Union County their permanent home.

For example, there was Robert B. Conley and his wife Susan Kincaid Conley who migrated from Clear Creek in Buncombe County, NC to the Chester District of South Carolina and then to Ivy Log. But tragedy came to them on the move from South Carolina. Their young son, John Lawrence Conley, age two, died at the Tugaloo River at the South Carolina line. They brought the little corpse on into Georgia and buried him at the first cemetery they found on their route within Union County, Old Choestoe. This family lost another son, Elisha, in the Battle of Chickamauga during the Civil War.

Solomon Chapman and his wife, Adeline Odom Chapman were early Ivy Log settlers from Wilkes County, NC. Reece Creek in Ivy Log was named for early settler John Reece. And the list goes on.

Mauney ends his Ivy Log history with these pensive words: "Today the crude wheels and the distaffs are still. The hands that turned them are mouldered to clay. Today there is a new generation - their descendants - living in a bustling world of modernization." He wrote that in 1948. What would he say today? Housing developments extend even to tops of high hills and roads are busy with traffic all hours of the day and night. Small farms have virtually disappeared but some corporate farms are master producers of the products they specialize in. And, dotted here and there throughout the district are spires of churches with modern buildings, begun as log cabin places of worship by the early settlers. The one-room school houses are no more, long since consolidated into the modern graded school complexes at the county seat of Blairsville. Someone aptly wrote: "The only thing certain is change."

c 2007 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published June 28, 2007 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Edward Sylvanus Mauney (1897-1977) – Union County Historian

People in Union County held Edward Sylvanus Mauney in great respect. He was born in the Ivy Log District of Union County on May 12, 1897 in a log cabin. His parents were Charles Stanhope Mauney (1868-1950) and Theodocia Carroll Mauney (1878-1973). Edward Sylvanus was one of eleven children born to his parents. Other children in the Mauney family were Clyde Charters Mauney; Luther Rush Mauney; Charles Pershing Mauney; Mazie Mozelle Mauney; Mary Willard Mauney Jordan; William Roy Mauney; Minnie Mauney Teague; Bess Mauney Conley; and Johnnie Mauney Gladson. Edward Sylvanus Mauney, like most of the youth in Union County who grew up in the early twentieth century, had his share of "making do" with what the family had. His father, Charles Stanhope Mauney, was a farmer, a teacher, Union County School Commissioner (Superintendent) and a rural mail carrier.

Early on, Ed Mauney learned to "carry his weight" in farm work. Noted for his mathematical skills and his bookkeeping abilities, Ed Mauney began to prepare himself to be a teacher. No doubt influenced by his father who had been a teacher in one-room country schools, that the elder Mr.Mauney spent from 1900 through 1912 at the helm of Union County Schools and for many years was chairman of the Union County Board of Education, Ed Mauney began to prepare to be a teacher.

His teaching itinerary took him to at least five country schools. Whether he spent more than one year at each school is not known. In the days when Ed Sylvanus Mauney taught, schools and churches often met in the same building. He is known to have taught at Gobble Hill Baptist Church house at Gum Log; Mount Zion Baptist in Dooly; Providence Methodist in Young Cane; and Ebenezer Baptist, also at Gum Log.

When he was 18 years of age, he left home for the first time to take a job at the bank in Blairsville. He served as a cashier under the bank owner's scrutiny. Mr. Chester Beacham was owner of the bank and the young teller's supervisor.

In 1918, he was inducted into the U. S. Army. He was 21 at the time. After rigorous training at Camp Gordon, he was deployed to England on November 8, 1918. Fortunately for the young soldier, World War I ended on November 11, 1918, so he did not see fighting. He was sent to France for some of the postwar occupation. In May, 1919, Ed Mauney returned to the United States. He was soon discharged honorably from the U. S. Army.

He entered Draughn's Business College in Atlanta and remained in that city until 1921 when he returned to his native Union County and his parents' home in Ivy Log. He walked from the train station in Culberson, NC, nine miles to his home upon his return from college.

In 1927 he took the Civil Service Examination, passed it, and became a rural mail carrier. Then in 1930, even though the Great Depression was in its infancy after the failure of banks and the stock market in October, 1929, the Georgia Legislature appointed Edward Sylvanus Mauney as official historian of Union County, Georgia. The appointment of historians was an effort throughout the state to get valuable historical information recorded before it was lost. Two examples of his historical writings are in the "Sketches of Union County History,” Teddy Oliver, Editor, published in 1987. On pages 85-87 is reprinted the article he wrote about his home district, "Ivy Log," in 1948 and on page 74 his account of "Gum Log." Ivy Log, his own home district, shows the flair this historian had for writing:

"The pioneer of Ivy Log cleared the virgin forest, built the log cabin, and tilled the soil with crude implements made by his own hands. He was tanner, shoemaker and his own wheelwright. He sheared the sheep that browsed on the hillsides covered with blossoming dogwood. The family carded, spun and wove the wool into warm clothing and household necessities. And at the close of the long weary day of labor that extended far into the night, there went up from hallowed hearthstones many fervent prayers from true and noble hearts." (p. 87).

One of Edward Sylvanus Mauney's deep interests was collecting Indian artifacts and making visits to the Cherokee Reservation in North Carolina where he became good friends to Chief Carl Standing Deer. The rumor went about the county that Ed Mauney was also interested in "a beautiful Indian princess" at Cherokee. Was she the daughter of Chief Standing Deer? Whether this was fact or rumor remains to be discovered.

It is known that many of Ed Mauney's trips "up North Carolina way" were to see Blanche Elizabeth Henson (1909-1993) who lived at the Martin’s Creek Community of Cherokee, NC. Perhaps she was the "Indian Princess" he went to see. Her parents were Edgar W. and Bertha Jane Hatchett Henson. Her father, like Ed's, was a rural mail carrier and was postmaster at Culberson, NC, where the post office was a part of his general merchandise store there. The beautiful Blanche Elizabeth could weave, make crafts, and was a noted gardener. She attended the Bachman School and the Lees McRae School in Banner Elk, NC. The couple married October 18, 1941, and he brought her home to Blairsville to live.

With her "green thumb," Blanche Henson Mauney had a yard and garden about their house that was second to none. She grew prize-winning Iris, among other noted flowers. Blanche Mauney operated a crafts store in Blairsville where she sold quilts she had pieced and quilted and linen placemats she had woven. Her store was also a consignment shop for other mountain crafts persons to display their wares and sell them.

Perhaps many of you remember Ed Mauney's pet bear, Bozo, who he got as a little cub from Charlie Turner "below the mountain" at Charlie's Corner (intersection of Highways 19/129). Ed would go on his rounds with his pet bear chained in the back seat of his convertible automobile.

Petting that bear was, for children, like going to the zoo to see a captured animal, except that Bozo was more people-friendly. His fiancée, Blanche Henson, did not share Ed's love for his pet bear. They postponed their marriage until after Bozo's death.

Both Ed and Blanche had an interest in antiques. Ed collected vintage guns, such as the Gillespie rifle. He had a collection of Stradivarius violins, and could, himself, play "a right mean fiddle." In Blanche's craft shop and in their home were excellent examples of antique furniture and glassware.

Highly intelligent, personable, and talented, this twentieth century citizen of Union County left his mark on historical documentation and the lives of people to whom his infections personality left great memories.

c 2007 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published Feb. 1, 2007 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

James Butts – Proud owner of a Gillespie Rifle

James Butts is pictured with his children, Logan and Morgan, holding a long rifle made by John Gillespie for Sydney Harshaw, James' great, great grandfather.

Sidney Harshaw (1815-1875) was born in Burke County, NC. He was living in Union County at the time of the 1850 census. He owned thirteen slaves in 1850.

He met Salinda Plott (1835-1907) of the Plotttown section of Union/Towns counties. She was born in North Carolina. Whether she and Sidney met before they moved to Union County is not known. They were married August 31, 1854, two years before Towns was formed from a portion of Union. Her parents were George and Rebecca Land Plott.

Sidney Harshaw's estate covered the land that is now a part of Meeks Park west of Blairsville. He operated a grist mill. Sidney Harshaw's great, great grandson, James Butts, states that part of the grist mill can still be seen at Meeks Park after a century and a half.

Sidney and Salinda Plott Harshaw had seven daughters: Barbara Ann Harshaw (1855-1932) married Jacob Luther (Uncle "Boney") Colwell; Harriet Elizabeth Harshaw (1857-1917) married Hiram Theodore ("Red") Colwell; Sarah Cleopatra ("Clee") Harshaw (1859-1923) married Archibald Blucher Butt; Ellen Harshaw (1862-?) married Cicero Y. Rogers; Mary Harshaw (1863-?); Emma Lou Harshaw (1865-1943); and Julia Harshaw (1870-1939).

James B. Butts who now owns his great, great grandfather Harshaw's Gillespie rifle is the fifth generation of Harshaws. His descendancy comes through Sarah Cleopatra ("Clee") Harshaw Butt and Archibald Blucher Butt along this line: Their fifth child, Robert Bryan Butt (1897-1948) and Zora Gibson Butt (1907-1980) had a son, James Robert Butt (b. 1932), who married Betty Ann Davidson. James B. Butts and Jeff Butts (the fifth generation from Sidney Harshaw) were their sons. And now the sixth generation, Logan and Morgan Butts (Shelly Burks Butts is Logan's mother and Lisa Lovell Butts is Morgan's mother), can proudly display the Gillespie rifle of their great, great, great grandfather, Sidney Harshaw.

But the signed John Gillespie-made rifle did not always have a safe place with Sidney Harshaw's descendants. This is the story James Butts tells of how he came to receive the treasured firearm.

Emma Lou Harshaw died in 1943. Sidney Harshaw’s youngest daughter, Julia Harshaw, died in 1939. An estate sale was held following the deaths of these daughters. James Robert Butt, James Butt's father, remembers going to the estate sale with his father, Robert Bryan Butt. The Gillespie rifle was an item up for bids. Local blacksmith, Marion Jackson received the rifle at the highest bid of fifty cents! He took it to his blacksmith shop just off highway 129 north out of Blairsville, and put it on display.

Union County Historian Ed Mauney saw the gun and immediately recognized it for what it was--a treasured, signed John Gillespie-made long rifle. He offered Mr. Jackson $5.00 for it, and the blacksmith accepted his offer. Mr. Mauney did much research on the Gillespie rifles made at East Fork in North Carolina.

The gun changed owners again. Claude LaFayette Butt (1879-1960), a grandson of Sidney Harshaw (son of Archibald Blucher and Sarah Cleopatra Harshaw Butt), bought the gun from Ed Mauney for $15.00. Many will remember Mr. Claude Butt as the long-time Union County Clerk of Court. A state patrolman offered to pay Claude Butt $35.00 for the gun, but he refused, knowing that it was a family heirloom. The rifle passed from Claude Butt to James Robert Butt, great grandson of Sidney Harshaw and James B. Butts's father.

Ed Mauney (1897-1977) in his research found that the particular gun owned by the Butts family was indeed made in Union County after John Gillespie moved here. Its stock is of lovely curly maple and the gun, well crafted and lovingly preserved, bears the proud initials of its maker, "J. G." When Ed Mauney bought the gun, he also received a framed portrait of the gun's maker. That picture was used in Dennis Gillespie's book, The Gillespie Gun Makers of East Fork, NC.

[Note: Many thanks to James B. Butts of Blairsville for much of the information in this column, and to him and Jerry Taylor, Towns County Historian, for the descendancy chart of Sidney Harshaw's family. For questions or to contact me, I may be reached at e-mail edj0513@alltel. net, telephone 478-453- 8751, or mail: Ethelene Dyer Jones, 1708 Cedarwood Road, Milledgeville, GA 31061-2411. Best wishes to all, and may we ever be aware of our rich mountain area history!]

c 2006 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published Oct. 19, 2006 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

A Post Office in Gum Log called Napoleon and its founder, Napoleon Bonaparte Hill

In the Gum Log District of Union County, a post office by the name of Napoleon was opened June 20, 1881. This northwestern district of the county borders North Carolina, Towns County to the east, Ivy Log District on the west, and a portion of Lower Young Cane and Blairsville Districts to the south.

Why the unusual name Napoleon for this post office? It was given the first name of its first postmaster, Napoleon Bonaparte Hill. When he made application for a post office, he requested the name Reece’s Creek, as the location was on this creek. Evidently the U. S. postmaster general thought Napoleon would be an unusual name, as indeed it was. About two hundred people lived within the vicinity of the post office and would be served by it, according to the statistics given on the application.

Those who served the Napoleon post office were: Napoleon B. Hill (twice), June 20, 1881-March 12, 1883 and October 2, 1884-March 19, 1891. Miss Mary Ursula Hill, his daughter, served from March 12, 1883 until her father took the position again in 1884. The other three postmasters were Miss Callie Lance (3-19-1891), Charles N. Hill (4-22-1897), and Theodosia E. Mauney (5-17-1902) until the post office was discontinued March 30, 1907.

Napoleon Bonaparte Hill led an interesting life. Born to Felix Walker and Elizabeth Cooper Hill in Rutherford County, North Carolina on November 14, 1832, he seemed destined to become a soldier, with a name honoring that of the famous Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France and military leader during the Napoleonic Wars and the French Revolution. The name itself shows that the family was familiar with personages in world history.

Napoleon Bonaparte Hill married Mary Arabella Evans in 1860 in Cherokee County, North Carolina. Their first child, Mary Ursula (born September 14, 1861) came after he signed up for service in the Civil War, along with his brothers, Abel and Noah, on June 17, 1861. They served in Company A of the 29th Regiment of the North Carolina Infantry, State Troops, Confederate States of America. Napoleon was promoted to Second Lieutenant on November 4, 1861.

Napoleon saw action in many battles in Tennessee and, Kentucky, Mississippi and back to Tennessee. He was wounded and in a hospital in Atlanta when the infamous siege by Sherman’s Army occurred in August, 1864. Hill was sent back to Cherokee County, North Carolina in October, 1864, with orders to recruit absent, paroled and recently released soldiers of Company A, as well as any others eligible for enlistment. The forty-five men joined as Company H to Major Ben M. Ledford’s Calvary Regiment of North Georgia Troops. They patrolled North Georgia and Western North Carolina for renegades and bushwhackers, the most notorious of whom were the Ray (Rae) Brothers. Napoleon Bonaparte Hill received the rank of major prior to his company’s surrender and release at Kingston, Georgia on May 12, 1865.

In 1865, Napoleon, his wife, Arabella, their daughter Mary Ursula, Napoleon’s parents, Felix Walker and Elizabeth Cooper Hill, and other of the family moved to Reece Creek, Union County, Georgia. The Hills became the third owners of a land grant issued first in 1832.

Napoleon built an imposing two-story house north of Reece Creek on the Blairsville to Murphy, NC road (now Hwy. 129). He farmed the land and opened a general store. It was probably in the store where the Napoleon post office opened in June, 1881. There, as people came to the store and for their mail, they no doubt heard of Napoleon Bonaparte Hill’s experiences in the Civil War.

Napoleon “Poly” Hill served as sheriff of Union County in 1876 and Clerk of Superior Court in the late 1880’s. His brother Charles Hill, had served as sheriff and was killed in the line of duty in 1867.

Besides their firstborn, Mary Ursula, Napoleon and Mary Arabella Hill had these children: America Victoria, Benjamin Harrison, Julia Elizabeth, and Charles Napoleon.

Napoleon Bonaparte Hill died at age 78 on January 17, 1910. His wife died June 22, 1917. Both were interred in the Antioch Baptist Church Cemetery, as were others of the Hill family. Today, many descendants of this hardy family live and work in Union County and have made and continue to make contributions as worthy citizens.

One of the famous quotations attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte of France is: “He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat.” This could well be a motto to the life and service of the Emperor’s namesake, Napoleon Bonaparte Hill.

c2005 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published May 26, 2005 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Education in Union County

The yellow school buses are running and students gather in classrooms at Blairsville’s primary, elementary, middle and high schools and at Woody Gap School in Suches. Two locations now mark the public education arenas of Union County schools. Administrators, teachers, students and parents are anticipating good results from the 2004-2005 school year now beginning, with “no child left behind” as the major motto for operation. Learning will be promoted with the latest innovations to entice and motivate students to achieve.

A brief review of education in Union County can only elicit the old evaluation of “We’ve come a long way” since the early days of public education.

Union County was formed in 1832. In 1833, a year later, the Georgia Legislature permitted Union County to take a census in order to determine the potential school population and the portion of the tax funds that should be devoted to education. That census report was released in 1834 as the first census of the county. The legislature approved a school for the county to be known as the Blairsville Academy. A sum of $335 was set aside in 1835 designated for the academy. It was incorporated in 1836. Records show that the first trustees of the Blairsville Academy were John Sanders, Richard Holden, John Butt, Jr., Moss Anderson and Thomas Collins. Even though established in part by the $335.00 in tax monies, the school was also sponsored by churches of the Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian denominations in the county. The academy went along rather well for a time, but eventually dispersed because of differences in how to operate it.

Also in those early years of the 1830’s, one-room schools were provided in certain areas of the county, as the Blairsville Academy was not accessible for students who lived in the outlying districts unless they could go to Blairsville and board in homes to attend the school. Some of the one-room schools were held in log church buildings with someone in the community who could pass the teacher’s certification test (mainly with an ability to “cipher”—do arithmetic--- and who had adequate facility in penmanship, reading and spelling) to head the school. If no church buildings were available for the one-teacher community schools, they might have been held in the home of a concerned citizen of the community, with neighboring children going to that home, paying a small fee, and being instructed. At most, instruction periods were only for a maximum of four months per year, much of that arranged around periods of farm work.

In 1880 and 1881, two schools were operated in Union County that were supplemented by funds from the George Peabody Foundation. In 1882 a boarding school at Blairsville began operations. This may have been a resumption of the earlier academy incorporated in 1836.

Records are incomplete on School Commissioners (as the chief administrative officer was called before about 1875) and School Superintendents. However, the following names and their approximate terms of service have been preserved: Before 1888, Thomas Butt served as Superintendent of Union County Schools. Others following him and their approximate terms of service were Frank Duncan, 1888; A. V. Clement, 1896; C. S. Mauney, 1900; T. L. Patterson, 1912.

John B. Black who served as Ordinary of Union County showed in his February 19, 1865 report that 1,000 children between the ages of 6 and 18 were enrolled in Union County Schools. Eight schools were operating, with five male teachers and three female teachers in employment. The academy was in session in 1865, but no specific enrollment for that school was given. This report, coming near the end of the Civil War, is somewhat amazing in its scope and shows that, despite the hardships of the war years, Union County citizens still managed to provide educational opportunities in eight schools for 1,000 children.

In 1916, an extensive visit to Union County and a survey of its scattered schools was made by M. L. Duggan, Rural School Agent for Georgia. He signed his report on October 15, 1916. In future articles, I will pinpoint some of the highlights of his 1916 report. Within his report was an appeal for free textbooks for the children. It was item # 6 in his recommendations:

“Much of the funds paid for maintenance of the public schools is being wasted because so many of the children are unsupplied or poorly supplied with necessary text books. We would, therefore, recommend (if the local school tax is adopted) that necessary text books for the first four grades be supplied (loaned) to all children. This can now be done under the recent Yeoman’s Bill.”Mr. Duggan ended his report with this appeal: “We submit the bulletin to those interested in the better education of ALL of the children of the county with the earnest hope that each will be willing to make serious efforts and considerable sacrifices to that end. The future of the county depends directly upon the character of its public schools. Better public schools and better public roads are the prime needs of the county, and the attainment of either will powerfully accelerate the accomplishment of the other. With general interest in the welfare of the children. -M. L. Duggan.”

From 1916 to 2004, eighty-eight years have passed—over eight decades of progress on working at the weaknesses Mr. Duggan cited in his 1916 report. Since Union County was formed in 1832, there have been 172 years of upward struggle. Today the county has a school system of which citizens can be justifiably proud. Progress has not been easy, nor has it come without “serious efforts and considerable sacrifices.”

May 2004-2005 begin with high hopes and noble purposes for present-day Union County schools.

c2004 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published August 5, 2004 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.