They're In the Army Now

Week 11 of the Book of Me, Written by You blog prompt series.

     This article, and others like it, appeared in The Hartwell Sun newspaper, of Hart County, Georgia.  Published on 3 Aug 1945, this article lists 57 men, "the largest group of men to leave Hart County in months," who had just been drafted into the army.  Included in this list is my Grandfather, Thomas Craft.  He served in Germany as a truck driver and, thankfully, return home a year later.

The largest group of men to leave Hart County in months went to Ft. McPherson, Atlanta, Monday, where they are being inducted into the armed services.      Names of the 57 white men are reported by the Local Draft Board as follows: William C. Stowe, Cleo Harris Sanders, Dorsey Partain, Pelzer H. Herring, George Harper, Charlie H. Sanders, Inman E. Reed, Lucius B. Alewine, Thomas S. Craft, James H. Estes, Bernice T. McCurley, Fay H. Cleveland, Charles S. White, George E. Hilley, Charlie T. Pilgrim, Joe G. Hailey, Fred Y. Norton, D. C. Phillips, Jr., Artis D. Ertzberger, Frank H. Thrasher, James M. Wicker, Jack Cordell, James V. Cantrell, Thomas J. Bailey, Jr., Charles M. Cobb, Robert A. Floyd, Billy J. Floyd, Howard W. Earwood, Fletcher Dove, Billy E. Clark, Clifton Floyd, Jr., Herbert W. Maret, Luther Thompson, Jr., J. B. Weaver, Jr., Beverly J. Bailey, Charles L. Whitaker, Jr., Frank D. Pulliam, Asa L. Childs, Dwain E. Gurley, Owen M. Teasley, Dewey H. Beggs, Kyle J. Crook, James M. Brown, Jr., Early B. Sanders, Edward D. Kesler, Edgar W. Kay, C. B. Alewine, C. L. Brown, Jr., Hansel D. Cole, Prue M. Banister, Jr., T. J. Carnes, Leonard M. Seymour, John E. Kelly, Larry E. Senkbeil, Herschel B. Sayer, Harold R. Bailey, Thomas H. Bowers.

Visiting the OEDGS at the Tompkins Library

     I started out at 8:30 am Monday morning, driving 200 miles with my mom to South Carolina. Our first stop was Edgefield, South Carolina and the Old Edgefield District Genealogical Society (OEDGS).  The society is located in the Tompkins Memorial Library, which is next door to the Edgefield County Library.

     I have previously been an OEDGS, but neglected to renew my membership (a bad habit of mine). Regardless, the materials are available to all. I browsed their books and indexes, but what I really found helpful were the surname files. The Quattlebaum, Dorn and Ouzts families are pretty prolific in the area and each family had a good sized file.

     I was probably most excited to find photos of the homes of two of my ancestors. First, I found a newspaper clipping of the home of John Dorn Jr, my 5x Great Grandfather. The house was dated 1819 and the photo was dated c 1902.

     Next, I found a photo of my 6x Great Grandfather Peter Ouzts / Utz's family home. This one was built in 1873 and rebuilt in 1810 and the photo was from 1928.

     After leaving the OEDGS Library we headed to our next destination: Columbia, SC.






_______________  Also in this series:

1. Tweeting My Trip
2. [this post]
3. Visiting the South Carolina Department of Archives and History
4. Visiting Elmwood Cemetery / RestingSpot Review
5. Visiting the Lexington County Museum
6. Visiting the Franklin Memorial Library (Emanuel County, GA)

"State fires head of Office of Vital Records"

Maybe this is why I haven't gotten any of the death certificates I've requested recently...

"[Georgia] State officials have fired the head of the office that handles records on births, deaths, marriages and divorces, saying he displayed gross mismanagement, officials said Tuesday.

“Our internal review revealed gross mismanagement and a lack of professional integrity on the part of the office director, which resulted in his dismissal,” said a statement by Taka Wiley, spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Human Resources."

read more

found: a tornado

In February I posted a Monday Memory post about a tornado that hit my paternal grandparents house in Elbert County, Georgia. The story was from my Aunt June Partain and didn't include a date. I've been searching for more information about this tornado, but haven't had much luck.

Because of certain elements in the story, I was able to narrow the date down to 1943 - 1947. I was unable to find weather records of this period and without a specific date, it was very difficult to search newspapers.

Yesterday though, things fell together. I saw a tweet from geneabloggers about a website called GenDisasters. I searched their database for tornadoes in Georgia and this article caught my eye. The tornado discussed in the article was within the correct time frame and just a short distance away from the area I was looking at.

Now that I had a possible date, I went to newspaperarchive.com, where I have a subscription, and searched for "tornado" in April of 1944 in South Carolina (their GA newspaper collection is pathetic but luckily my ancestors lived on the border). Very quickly I found an article that correlated to the one from GenDisasters. But, was this the tornado I was looking for?

Yes, it was! The article listed the areas hit, which included Elberton, GA (!) and the people who were hospitalized in the aftermath. Included as 17 year old Augustus Seawright, who I assume is the 17 year-old Seawright boy from the story.

Success! Happy Dance ensues.

Here are the newspapers (click for larger image):

the history of a house

My paternal grandparents house sits on a sharp curve. When we were little and went to visit, we looked out for the curve and the large tree that sat on it. For us, this curve was a sign that we'd arrived. Others, however, never seemed to see the curve. This past Thursday, there was a car accident there that killed a driver. This, according to my dad, is the second time someone's been killed on this curve.

1/3/2009 12:01:00 AM The Gwinnett Daily Post

Driver killed in car crash By Josh Green Staff Writer LILBURN - A Ferrari driver from Auburn was killed and another passenger severely injured in a New Year's Day crash in Lilburn. Police said Russell E. Hays, 32, lost control of the yellow, exotic vehicle near a curve on Harmony Grove Road at Nimblewill Way about 9 p.m. The car left the right side of the roadway, struck a culvert and ejected both occupants as it flipped, Gwinnett police spokeswoman Cpl. Illana Spellman said. Hays was partially trapped beneath the car, which caught fire and burned both victims, Spellman said. The passenger, who has not been identified, was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital with severe burns. Hays died on scene, police said. Spellman said alcohol may have contributed to the crash. Results of toxicology tests are pending.