This modest Greek Revival Georgian cottage was the home of Ernest Woodruff (1863-1944) and Emily Winship Woodruff (1867-1939). Woodruff was a highly successful banker and entrepreneur, best known for his takeover of the Coca-Cola Company from Asa Griggs Candler in 1919. His son, Robert W. Woodruff (1889-1985), who was born in this house, would lead the soft drink behemoth for over 30 years (1923-1955), transforming it into the world’s most recognized brand. He was commonly referred to as “Mr. Coca-Cola” in the press.
High Uptown Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This Greek Revival cottage was built circa 1838-1840 for Philip Thomas Schley (1798-1862) at the site of the present First Presbyterian Church. Schley came to Columbus at the request of his brother, Georgia Governor William Schley, to command the Muscogee Blues, a militia company active in the Indian Wars. Circa 1855-1858, the house was moved and rebuilt at this location.
The family of Columbus merchant George Henry Peabody (1807-1880) briefly occupied the house during the Civil War. Their son, George Foster Peabody (1852-1938), became a prominent financier and philanthropist. He purchased the Warm Springs property that became famous for its association with Peabody’s friend, future president Franklin Delano Roosevelt and is also the namesake of the Peabody Award.
Later owners were descendants of James H. Warner (c. 1830-1866), who was the commander and superintendent of the Confederate States Naval Iron Works (aka the Columbus Iron Works).
High Uptown Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Alexander-McGehee-Woodall House, photographed by Frances Benjamin Johnston, Carnegie Survey of the Architecture of the South, 1939. Courtesy Library of Congress. Public domain.
This raised Greek Revival cottage was built for Robert B. Alexander (1811?-1850) between 1843-1845 and sold a few years later to the McGehee family. Alexander was a native of Putnam County and a lawyer who served as a Superior Court judge of the Chattahoochee Circuit. The house was originally located a block south of its present location, on the site of the first Muscogee County court house, but was moved to save it from demolition. Col. Allen Clements McGehee (1826-1903) purchased the property from interim owner Laurence Rooney in 1872. After his death, his daughter, Virginia Ethel McGehee Woodall (1879-1949) resided in the home for the rest of her life. It is used as an office today.
High Uptown Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Though it has been extensively modified, the William Scarbrough House is nonetheless a significant example of Greek Revival domestic architecture in Savannah. Built in 1819, it was designed by English architect William Jay, the most accomplished architect of his time in Savannah. Not long after its completion, the Scarbroughs hosted President James Monroe when he visited Savannah.
William Scarbrough (1776-1838) was a wealthy shipping merchant and the first president of the Savannah Steamship Company. He was an investor in the SS Savannah, which, as the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean, in 1819, was internationally famous and a source of great pride to its namesake city. Unfortunately, the Savannah‘s glory was short-lived and an initial lack of interest in this new mode of travel led to financial ruin for its investors, including Scarbrough. After being converted to a sailing vessel, the Savannah sunk off Long Island in 1821. William Scarbrough went into a deep depression around this time and was essentially bankrupt, though a wealthy relative who purchased his home allowed him to remain there. He worked with Upper Darien Steam Rice and Saw Mill in McIntosh County in the late 1820s and early 1830s, returning to Savannah in 1835. He died in New York City while visiting his son-in-law, Godfrey Barnsley, in 1838.
From 1873-1962, the Scarbrough House was owned by the City of Savannah. During this time, the West Broad Street Colored School was housed here.
Matthew’s Chapel was built circa 1864, a few miles southwest of Woodland. The church is of the gable front vernacular Greek Revival style common throughout Talbot County. In A Rockaway in Talbot: Travels in an Old Georgia County, Vol. II, William H. Davidson suggests a probable connection to the family of Charles Henry Matthews (1828-1900), who owned a large plantation in the vicinity. Charles likely gave the land to the congregation, but was a member of Collinsworth Methodist Church.
This exquisite Georgian Cottage, heavily influenced by the Greek Revival, is, architecturally, one of the finest houses in Lee County. According to the History of Lee County, Georgia (1983), it has traditionally been known as the Byne Plantation. It’s still at the center of a large working farm in the historic Oakland community.
Gilbert M. Byne (1825-1910) was the first member of the Byne family to live in Lee County, establishing a large plantation near this site upon his arrival. He married Georgia Virginia McKnight (1854-1924) of Coweta County in 1883 and continued to expand his land holdings throughout his life. He also served as a Lee County commissioner. Gilbert’s grandfather, the Rev. Edmund Byne (1730-1814), migrated from King and Queen County, Virginia, to Burke County, Georgia, in 1781, and founded two churches there.
I first thought the house to be of antebellum construction but after consulting the Lee County history, believe it was built in the early 1880s, soon after Gilbert was married. The history notes that he had a new road cut through the area to accommodate such a place. The Bynes’s only child to live to adulthood, Marilu Byne (1890-1979), married Alvah Wallace Barrett, Sr. (1889-1956), and they continued to maintain the plantation until the waning days of the Great Depression, when they lost the property through a mortgage to the Haley family.
The Georgian Cottage type, two bays deep divided by a central hallway and therefore symmetrical in layout, is inherently Greek Revival in spirit, and this house certainly exemplifies that. It’s a well-maintained beauty.
This superb Greek Revival cottage was built by James Peter Guerry (1803-1878) between 1836-1840, and is one of the oldest documented houses in Americus. Guerry was born in South Carolina and with two of his brothers came to Americus in the 1830s. They were among the earliest settlers of the city. Guerry served as a state representative and judge. After his sons returned to Americus after their service in the Civil War, Guerry turned the house over to one of them, John C. Guerry, and retired to his plantation near Plains. John C. Guerry sold the house to Beverly C. Mitchell (1818-1889) in 1878 and the Mitchell family remained there until the 1940s.
This building has always intrigued me. Tax records date it to 1900, but its Greek Revival design suggests it’s likely older than that. It’s definitely older than other commercial buildings in Oglethorpe. The floor plan appears from the exterior to be a double-shotgun form, but this may have been a modification. The left side has a window flanked by two doors, and the right side has the more typical configuration of a door flanked by two windows. The building is five bays deep, with narrowly spaced 9 over 9 windows. At the time of this photograph (2009), the commercial spaces were occupied by Tyson’s Wings, and Haddock Sister Designer Hats. I hope to learn the history.
According to an historic marker placed by the Basford family in 2008, this vernacular Greek Revival cottage was built circa 1858 by Randolph Avera. At the time of its construction, it was more a country place, on the edge of the city. J. A. Weirig, a Thomasville carpenter, purchased the home in 1895. His daughter, Bessie Weirig, lived here for the next 75 years. It was saved and protected by Thomasville Landmarks in 1971 and was the first property in their revolving fund, which identifies, acquires, and connects historic homes with preservation-minded owners .
Dawson Street Residential Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Located in the Red Hills southwest of Thomasville, Springhill Methodist is the oldest church in Thomas County. The vernacular Greek Revival structure, built circa 1833, was restored by Charlie Howard Whitney in 2010. The congregation dates to 1822, when a log church was built by pioneers Peter McKinnon, Lockland Morrison, Angus Morrison, and one other man, whose name is lost to the ages.
John Ferrell, who wrote a history of the congregation in 1924, notes that regular services began in 1826. By the 1840s, the congregation numbered nearly 500 members. Over time, it dwindled to point that regular services weren’t feasible, but it still meets on fifth Sundays, a few times a year, and is available for weddings and funerals.
Urn atop Isabella Morrison tomb
The historic cemetery is a fascinating peek into the early history of the area.
Isabella Graham Morrison (1810-9 June 1843)
The tomb of Isabella Graham Morrison is the most notable memorial in the cemetery, not only because Mrs. Morrison was the wife of one of the founders of the congregation, Angus Morrison (1783-1865) but for its unusual appearance. Isabella, a native of North Carolina, and Angus Morrison, Sr., were married on 13 January 1830 in Telfair County and they had seven children. After Isabella’s death, Angus married Mary A. Strange (1818-1919) in 1852 and to that union two more children were born to Angus Morrison. He died at Sopchoppy, Florida, and is buried there. The unsigned but finely executed marble marker on the front reads: This tomb was erected to the memory of Isabella Morrison – consort of Angus Morrison – Who died in the triumphs of a gospel faith June the 9th 1843 aged 30 years – Leaving a husband, children, numerous relatives to mourn the loss of an affectionate companion, a fond dutiful mother, and faithful friend who always made it her motto in life to live the life of the righteous that her latter end might be as his.
Decedent and dates unknown
The most curious grave is a concrete slab featuring an unusual medallion. The identity of the decedent has been obliterated by time, and it appears someone painted the medallion to make it distinguishable. It was obviously made from a mold of some kind; it features a whimsical water bird, wearing glasses and a hat, with a coconut-laden palm in the background. I first though it to be a stork but now I’m not sure. If anyone knows the story of this one, please get in touch.
Jessey Applewhite (1854-1887) – Back side of marker
Zinc headstones (known to taphophiles and cemetery tourists as ‘zinkys’) were very trendy in the late 1800s, and were advertised to last as long as marble and other stone memorials. Many have survived nicely and can be found in cemeteries throughout the country, thanks to the excellent marketing of their primary manufacturer, the Monumental Bronze Company.
Margaret L. McIntosh Ferrell (1829-1891)
Margaret McIntosh was a native of a pioneer family of Brooks County, according to her obituary. She and James Ferrell were married in 1853 and had five children. Two died of tuberculosis, or consumption as it was known at the time. The disease was also noted as the cause of death for Margaret.
James Ferrell (1817-1893)
James Farrell outlived his wife Margaret by about two years. He was the son of Hutchins and Celia Morgan Ferrell.
