This photograph also dates to 2010. The building is gone now, and I just call it “Chicken Dinner” because that’s what the sign says. It probably had another name. There’s a Carter’s Fried Chicken on this site now. I mostly liked the Mid-Century architectural vibe of this little restaurant, and the globe lamps inside. I don’t know if you could eat inside or if it was simply a walk-up-and-order kind of place. I do recall the place being open in the late 2000s. It was located across the street from the Piget, another local landmark that is also gone.
When I first photographed this location in January 2010, it looked like a busy place. That may have been due to the fact that there was an automotive detailing shop next door that only charged $8 for cars and $12 for trucks. The restaurant was once known as the Corner Kitchen and I’m not sure if it was even still open when I photographed it. I imagine it was a good soul food restaurant, a meat-and-three kind of place, and considering the lack of restaurants in Cuthbert, was probably quite popular. The building looks to have originally been a neighborhood grocery store.
I’ve been fascinated by this old church since first running across it back in 2008 and have photographed it several times. It’s in a low area near Pachitla Creek and I’ve seen the surrounding lots flooded on more than one occasion. I’m guessing it was a Primitive Baptist church, considering the inclusion of a door on the side.
There’s an old precinct house located adjacent, but I now believe the church and precinct house were moved here from the nearby Martins Crossroads community for preservation purposes. First, I imagine the cinderblock piers aren’t original to a structure of this age, and second, an historic survey of Randolph County I found on Rootsweb stated that Hopewell Church was located in Martins Crossroads, and gave a different GPS location. That being said, this whole area may be considered the Martins Crossroads community and I may be incorrect. Caitlin Jones wrote, a few years ago, that the property is now owned by her grandfather, Robert Odom, and someone else noted that there was once a grist mill across the road from this location. I look forward to learning more.
I made this photograph on 17 June 2009 and the image got lost in my archives, until now. I don’t recall where in Randolph County this structure was located, but it was one of my early favorites. I believe it was somewhere between Benevolence and the now demolished Hour of Prayer Church, if that helps anyone in pinpointing its whereabouts. The single-pen style, while equally distributed among white and black laborers, is sometimes referred to as “Cracker”. It’s one of Georgia’s most widespread [and endangered] rural housing types of the late 19th and early 20th century and is often associated with tenancy, which in Georgia usually meant farming or turpentining. It was also popular in textile mill villages. As seen on this example, most single-pen cottages featured a shed room at the rear.
Lena Baker Mugshot, Georgia State Prison, Reidsville, 2-23-1945. Public Domain. No Known Restrictions. Via Wikipedia.
The mugshot above is a haunting reminder of the failures and atrocities of the Jim Crow government that dominated Georgia well into the 1960s. Made at the Georgia State Prison in Reidsville just ten days before Lena Baker became the only woman to be executed in Georgia’s electric chair, it instills a sense of fear and sadness. This was, ultimately, a legal lynching.
Lena Baker was born near Cuthbert in 1900 to a family of sharecroppers and followed the typical employment pattern of black women of her time, working as a maid for little pay for middle class white families in order to support her three children. She was later forced into a sexual relationship with an elderly white employer, Ernest B. Knight. It was well-known and frowned upon throughout the county. When Knight realized that Ms. Baker was determined to end the relationship he locked her in his gristmill, as he had done many times before. When she tried to escape, they “tussled” over his pistol which fired and killed him. She immediately turned herself in and claimed the shooting was in self-defense. She also admitted that she drank alcohol with him, but also, not by choice. Not surprisingly, the all-male, all-white jury in the ensuing sham trial found Ms. Baker guilty of capital murder and sentenced her to death. This is likely due to the fact that the family of Ernest Knight was embarrassed by the breach of social order the case represented, even though Knight’s proclivities were already well known. It was a neat way, on the part of a white family, to put this sorry episode to rest at the expense of a woman’s life. She was executed at Reidsville on 5 March 1945 and buried at Mt. Vernon Baptist Church near Cuthbert. Her last words were: “What I done, I did in self-defense or I would have been killed myself. Where I was, I could not overcome it…I am ready to meet my God.”
Kuanita Evette Murphy states in her book, The History of the Piney Grove Missionary Baptist Church: From the Brush Arbor to the Sanctuary, that the congregation dates all the way back to 1834 and began as a brush arbor church. From the era of enslavement to the present day, Piney Grove has been a spiritual resource for its members and is among the oldest black congregations in present-day Randolph County.
There’s a large historic cemetery beside the church. The following memorials are presented randomly, for their vernacular importance.
Nellie Fillingame (Birthdate unknown-17 January 1938)
The roots of this tree look like they’re going to topple this nice old vernacular headstone.
The next two two memorials, by renowned sculptor Eldren Bailey, were purchased through the Haugabrooks Funeral Home in Atlanta.
Elijah Stergis (Birthday unknown-16 September 1916)
Elijah Sturgis (spelled Stergis on the memorial) was lynched simply for being related to a fugitive and being in the path of a rabid mob. I believe these stories must be told.
On 18 September 1916, Sturgis’s cousin Peter Hudson shot and killed Randolph County Sheriff William Samuel Taylor, who was serving a warrant for Hudson’s arrest. Hudson escaped the scene and went into hiding in the nearby woods and swamps. A lynch mob formed and while tracking Hudson, encountered Elijah Sturgis, apparently killing him for no reason. Hudson was located on 20 September 1916 and shot on the spot. His lifeless body was dragged around the town square in Cuthbert before being hoisted onto an improvised gallows. It was later taken down and burned on the outskirts of town.
Roy Stergis (Birthdate unknown-died 1945)
It’s in a beautifully secluded location, far back in the woods down hilly roads of orange-red clay. This area of northwestern Randolph County is known locally as the Upper Corner. This historic congregation is still very active.
Virgil Chapel is one of the earliest African-American congregations in Randolph County. It was founded in a brush arbor in 1868. Rev. Green McCarthy of Benevolence Baptist Church appointed Rev. J. Simpson as the first full-time pastor. Deacons were: Jake Gilbert, Green Johnson, John Thomas and William Jones. The congregation met for many years in the brush arbor. It was circa 1880 before the first permanent church was built. As the years went on the membership continued to grow. The present church was constructed during the pastorate of Rev. C. C. Scott in 1934 to accommodate this expansion.
In a community as small as Vilulah, the church and general store were the center of life. This was originally built circa 1894 as a schoolhouse associated with Vilulah Baptist Church and was rolled across the road and established as the Ben Butler Morgan General Merchandise store in 1933.
The Vilulah Cemetery has a nice selection of Victorian monuments. I’m sharing a few random examples.
James N. Bigbie (17 October 1826-25 June 1905)
James Bigbie was one of the founders of Vilulah, and served on the committee which chose the community’s unusual name. He lost an arm during service in the Mexican-American War.
J. E. Bigbie (4 February 1852-31 January 1891)
J. E. was the son of James N. and Louisa Jane Grant Bigbie. This stone was broken at one point and repaired with different material. The open hymnal is a variation on the more commonly seen open or closed Bible.
Ara Adna J. McClendon Bigbie (5 August 1860-27 November 1889)
The weeping willow is a well-loved Victorian cemetery icon, usually signifying sorrow and sadness.
Lilla Bigbie (9 December 1886-9 December 1886)
A lamb symbolizes the purity and innocence of youth and is pervasive in Victorian cemeteries, as infant and childhood deaths were quite common.
Elsie Lee Dawson (2 April 1891-15 April 1891)
The dove is among the most enduring Victorian cemetery symbols, and is said to be carrying the soul of the departed to Heaven when flying. In this case, it marks the passing of the infant daughter of J. J. and M. L. Dawson.
Frances S. Fuller (6 May 1807-19 March 1901)
I’ve not been able to identify this symbol. Dan Fogelson suggests…it might be peacock feathers…used to symbolize the resurrection and eternal life (male peacock grows new and more beautiful feathers year after year).
Mrs. E. R. S. Gilmer (7 August 1816-21 July 1916)
Mrs. Gilmer died just a few weeks before her 100th birthday. I’ve been unable to locate a first name for her but she was undoubtedly a beloved member of the Vilulah community.
Robert Edward Lee Ingram (birth and death dates unknown)
I believe this grave marking to be a memorial for the infant son of Robert Edward Lee Ingram (19 October 1865-22 September 1891), whose more formal headstone is located adjacent to this plot. The field stones were likely gathered nearby. The elder Ingram himself died at the age of 25, so I would guess this child was born and died sometime between 1885-1890.
Vilulah Baptist Church was organized in a brush arbor in 1867, with seventeen original members. The name Vilulia, from a hymn in the old Sacred Harp Song Book, was chosen for the congregation. It was changed to Vilulah later. The first permanent church, a log structure, was built on land given by “Uncle Bobby” Knowles. It was later replaced by a wooden frame structure. I believe this may actually be the third church home of Vilulah.
Early members of the congregation included James N. Bigbie, who lost an arm while serving with the U.S. Army in the Mexican-American War, and William Forsythe Davis, a Confederate Army captain. Other founding members were: Albert Bailey, Jarrett Ragan, Abner Belcher, Judge Irvine Saunders, Baal Smith, Dr. Thomas Bigbie, A.S.A. McLendon, Alexander Morgan, Andrew Blackburn, and Benjamin Joiner.
