The et cetera chronicles – vol. 126

OLD AUNT SUKEY  –  Sukey Coates, reputed to be very old, worked as a midwife and nurse up to the day of her death. The old and beloved woman had just returned from treating a patient. When she returned, she laid down and died. Sukie was said to be 110 years of age. Pittsburgh Dispatch, March 4, 1892. 

All MY SIBLINGS – A negro farm hand who worked turpentine on the farm of J.M. Williams in the Grimsley community near Rentz, proclaimed that he was one of his mother’s 40 children. Twenty-seven of the children of his mother were boys and 13 were girls. His mother was married four times and lived in North Carolina. The Times, Shreveport, Louisiana. June 27, 1897.

GET OUT JAIL NOW! – It was in the winter of 1899 that the chief of police was ordered to leave the Dublin City jail.  There had been some consternation between the city council and the police department. The council had grown tired of the chief’s ability or reluctance to collect the outstanding fines. The council also gave “the boot” to the entire force, which was composed of the chief and three subordinates.   North Adams Transcript, Mass. Feb. 22, 1899.

THE BOLD BIGAMIST – J.E. Barber had a passion for women. He married at least 30 of them.  In the summer of 1895, he reached a total of approximately 22 wives. Barber carried written proof of at least a score of brides. Barber did not see anything wrong in his taking the plunge over and over again. Most of his marriages took place in Florida.   Barber loved and left his brides with no apathy for their lives after he went away. Barber and bride No. 30 left Lothair, Georgia, in Montgomery County and were off to see the world, at least until No. 23 came along.  Anaconda Standard, Montana. Sept. 9, 1895.

THE COURTHOUSE HOTEL – Before the construction of a new Laurens County courthouse in 1895, the old one had to be transported across the street. Dublin hotelier T.B. Hicks moved the structure, which had been in place since the 1840s, from its site in the middle of the Courthouse Square across the terminus of South Franklin Street to the southeast corner of the square. Hicks renamed the building the “Artesian House.” Until it was razed, the two-story building was used as a hospital, a hotel, a doctor’s house and a house of ill repute. Atlanta Constitution, Nov. 29, 1996. 

SIX SCORE AND MORE –  Rachel Darly was known by many as the oldest woman in the South. Born in 1776, Darly, a resident of southern Laurens County, accompanied her 78-year old and oldest daughter into Dublin on her 120th birthday to see how it looked.  Darly was astonished at the progress in the county seat. The Atlanta Constitution, April 23, 1996.

HOLDING HIS PEACE – Andrew Barber wouldn’t hold his peace.  He didn’t want to. Barber was so in love with Miss Rebecca Henry of southern Laurens County. He courted Miss Henry on several occasions. 

Every time, Rebecca spurned his advances. Desperate and even more in love with Rebecca, Barber began to hold church meetings and revivals to prove that he was the right man for his beloved. After learning of Rebecca’s wedding to another man, one Josh Branch, Barber lost his reason, whatever he ever had, and set out to reach the scene of the marriage post haste. Upon his arrival, Barber began to berate and curse the occupants of the C.G. home. The groom attempted to calm the maniacal wanna-be groom. Barber, Branch and Young Beacham left the house to go outside and settle the matter once and for all. The men dropped the weapons on the ground and commenced to have a knock-down, drag out melee. Branch came out on top.  The wedding was postponed to a later date.  Apparently, Josh and Rebecca never tied the knot, at least in Laurens County. The Philadelphia Times, March 23, 1896. 

THRIFTY COOK –  O.S. Ware, a Lothair, Georgia resident, kept an old dish in his cupboard. It had served many a meal in the Ware family. Nearly everyday a member family ate off the attractive heirloom. Ware was always careful with the dish. For you see, the dish was much older when Ware obtained it at a sale. Ware believed that his favorite plate was actually 134 years old and was made in 1752. Atlanta Constitution, July 30, 1896.