This house stands at the busiest intersection in Guyton, nearly hidden today by shrubbery and trees. It was built the same year as The Rabbi, a few blocks away, and both are excellent examples of the Carpenter Italianate style. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were the work of the same local builder. I don’t know much about the house, other than the owners’ names and year built, but did learn that its last residents, Quitman D. “Dale” (1933-2012) & Marjorie Lee Jackson (1942-2016), were dedicated to its preservation.

Marjorie’s obituary is a heartwarming portrait of a Southern lady, albeit one who adopted the South as her home: Marjorie was known to friends and family as “Margie” and earlier as a young girl as “Little Margie”. Margie spent her early years growing up in Los Angeles, CA where she met husband, Quitman D. Jackson (Dale), her husband of 54 years while he was serving in the US Navy. Married in 1959, they both yearned for the tranquility of the South and in 1977, they found their own lifelong dream home, much like the historic houses she loved and researched, in Guyton, GA. She spent her life as a wonderful wife and amazing mother to 3 children, whom she devoted her creative talents to teach them everything she knew. She tended and loved her life in Guyton for nearly 40 years.

An avid believer in historic preservation, she was a member of the Guyton Historic Society in the early years and loved to invite folks in for the Annual Tour of Homes, dressed in her Southern Belle finery. She was an artist that saw the importance of music and visual beauty and a refined decorator in her home for each season. She loved to learn about travel through study and reading and mastered her skills of creating international meals to bring to her family table. She would often come back to her country roots cooking up her world renowned (according to her children) Sunday fried chicken dinners with skillet fried potatoes & okra and corn bread along with the sweetest tea you ever had the pleasure to enjoy.

Margie painted, drew portraits, made her kid’s clothes, sang and played the piano. Her favorite time was Christmas, when she would decorate every room in varying themes of the holiday, including several Christmas trees. She was once featured in Southern Living Magazine and was so proud of the distinguished honor. She was an incredible gardener and grew hundreds of varieties of flowers in her yard in Guyton including Japanese and English gardens, which her husband built for her to tend.

After years as a homemaker, once the children left the nest, she worked for many years at Thompson’s IGA, enjoying the socializing on a daily basis. She was loved by many customers and had many stories to tell from her time there.