Ellis Chapel Baptist Church was established by freedmen in 1883. It is variously identified as being in both Ethridge and Haddock, so I’ll just say it’s in Jones County for simplicity’s sake. I don’t have a date for the present brick-clad structure, but would guess 1930s-1950s for the building and a bit later for the commercial brick siding.
Front
Of particular interest and concern is the collapsing structure across the road. It has been identified in resource surveys as a lodge and former schoolhouse, and was still in good condition as recently as 1988.
Side
The cornerstone of the church notes a Prince Hall affiliation. While most Prince Hall lodges I’ve documented have been in towns and cities, it’s not unusual to find them in rural locales, as well. It’s also possible that the Prince Hall affiliation is more recent and the lodge was a church benevolent society lodge.
White Chapel AME is an historic congregation near Round Oak. The present building dates to 1957. Though I haven’t been able to locate much history, the church was likely organized by freedmen of the White Plantation in the years following the Civil War. The plantation was established between 1800-1810 by Virginia-born Thomas White, Jr. (1781-1830), and the area, near the Jasper County line, was historically known as White’s District. White’s son, Joseph Clark White (1810-1887) inherited the estate and owned over 3000 acres and 120 enslaved people.
One of those slaves was Caroline “Aunt Ca’line” White (c.1848-1948). My purpose of visiting White Chapel was to document her burial place, but I was unable to locate it. She was well-known by all the people of the Round Oak community and a local newspaper reported at her death: “She was a slave girl on the plantation of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Clark White at the “old White place,” north of Round Oak before the War Between the States. Her husband, Tillman White, died several years ago. She leaves children, Jackson, 83; Mary, 81; Tom, 80; John, 78; Henry, 72; and also seventy grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Her oldest grandchild is 68.
The day before her death Aunt Ca’line threaded her needle, without the aid of glasses, and quilted; she also helped whitewash the fireplace. She always claimed to be part Indian and certainly had many of the characteristics of the Indian, and so do her children. Henry is known as “Red Man,” and although he is 72, is as agile as most men of 58. Aunt Ca’line was thrifty, and always had a garden, chickens and many quilts pieced up.
She became rather deaf in the last few years and her grandchildren persuaded her to stay off the highway, but before that she came to town every day and was as chipper as could be, liked by all, white and colored.“
Her obituary also noted that “…she was as much a “rebel” as any southerner could ever be. She always spoke of the “good old days” and says that they were well treated, had everything they needed, and they were all happy, before the Yankees came…” Such statements must be viewed with suspicion today, considering their sources in white-owned newspapers which worked overtime to promote the “happy slaves” narrative, to which few Blacks in the Jim Crow era would have ever disputed to any White person at the time.
Vernacular Headstones of White Chapel AME
Though I couldn’t locate Mrs. White’s gravestone, I did document a few vernacular memorials, all of relatively recent vintage.
Annie Hutchings (1908-1986)
A family member or someone in the community made this headstone, with a deeply incised cross.
This is one of several headstones with decorative motifs incised on the back side.
These designs may have been made with metal or plastic strips or even fencing. If I recall correctly they date mostly to the 1980s.
Most of the slabs and headstones feature stenciled names, as seen below.
Lue Ella Odom – Better known as Mrs. Doll
No birth or death dates were given on Mrs. Doll’s memorial.
I have been unable to locate any history related to Saint Paul AME Church but it dates to at least the 1920s, when Lou Ellen Seabrooks (1841-1921) and Henry Seabrooks (1885-1928) were buried in the small adjacent cemetery. Records indicate that at the time of the Seabrooks’s burials, the cemetery was known as the Morton or Martin graveyard. Since there were once many plantations in this area, between Clinton and Wayside, perhaps that was a reference to an early landowner and, possibly, an earlier slave cemetery.
Ruby Ware Graham (1906-1966) was a prominent member of Saint Paul. She served as a teacher at Macon’s Green Street Elementary School for over 40 years and was very active in professional associations throughout this time. She was also a member of the local Phyllis Wheatley Literary Society.
The Cabaniss-Hanberry House, located in the vicinity of Bradley, is one of the most iconic works of domestic architecture in Georgia. The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, who stabilized and restored the exterior in 1999, describes it as “…a vernacular example of Jeffersonian Classicism…and possibly the only remaining house of its form in Georgia...”
The builder of the house, George Cabaniss, Sr., (1744-1815), was the Virginia-born son of Mathieu Etienne Cabanis (1710-1789). His grandfather, Henri Hubert Cabanis (1655-1720), was a French Huguenot who fled to Virginia in the late 1600s.
After service in the Revolutionary War, George married Palatea Harrison (1758-1822), in 1781. In the 1790s, he was one of several Cabaniss siblings who “…began a succession of migrations with parts of their families, first to North Carolina and then to Georgia. Some of the family eventually moved on to Alabama.” He first came to Greene County before eventually settling in Jones County.
He built this house circa 1805, undoubtedly with the labor of enslaved men, and sold it to his son Harrison Cabaniss (1782-1819) in 1811, after building another home near present-day Round Oak. After Harrison’s death, his widow, Sarah “Sally” Kirk Cabaniss (1798-1848) remained on the property until her death. She left 1215 acres and 29 slaves to her grandchildren. The house was occupied by descendants of its builder until the late 1950s or early 1960s.
Some notable descendants of George Cabaniss, Sr., include Dr. Palacia “Pallie” Wilson Stewart (1805-1866), one of the first licensed women physicians in Georgia, and Henry Harrison Cabaniss (1848-1934), an early owner of the Atlanta Journal and vice-president of the Cotton States and International Exposition.
A 1988 survey of historic resources in Jones County documented this structure as part of the Lamar Farm, which at the time included a farmhouse and three outbuildings. The survey also noted the Bateman Company had owned the property since circa 1953 and been involved in the peach business.
Though no determination was made in 1988 as to the function of this structure, its location along the rail line, the shed doors, and the loading platform suggest a freight warehouse. This may have been a modification for the Bateman peach business or may have been an original use. The lack of windows in the structure also indicates a warehouse usage.
It’s not a stretch to call houses of this type landmarks today. Utilitarian dwellings were common throughout rural Georgia from its founding well into the middle of the 20th century. Many began life as tenant housing and were later rental properties. This evolution often led to expansions and modifications, as a matter of practicality.
This example is to me a good illustration of the difficulty I often face in identifying specific types, without benefit of a floor plan. This appears to have started as a single-pen cottage. At some point a shed room was added to the back and a wing was added to the left side. However, if it was originally two rooms deep, it could be called a Georgian cottage. That doesn’t seem likely, but since these structures were ultimately an expression of their builder’s skill and preferences, one cannot be sure without further investigation. They are all worthy of documentation.
The History of Twiggs County, Georgia by J. Lanette O’Neal Faulk and Billy Walker Jones (Major General John Twiggs Chapter, D.A.R., Jeffersonville, 1960) notes: “This house was built by Dr. Beniah Carswell at Jeffersonville, Georgia about 1850. The original structure had five rooms and a hall downstairs with two rooms and a hall upstairs. The house was later owned by Nelson Carswell, a grandson of Dr. Carswell. In 1948 Mr. and Mrs. James Edward Beck bought the house from Nelson Carswell which they later remodeled, the timbers used in the renovation having come from Todd Hall”, later known as the Wall Place in Wilkinson County.”
A 2006 historic resources survey conducted by the state of Georgia adds that the house was remodeled circa 1948. Renovations included the replacement of the south end chimney, addition of new piers and asbestos siding, and the addition of a one-story wing on the north side of the house.
Dr. Beniah S. Carswell (1830-1895) was a native of Telfair County, the son of Alexander Carswell and Elizabeth W. Ashley Carswell. He served in Co. A, 22nd Batallion State Guard Cavalry during the Civil War. His first wife and the mother of his children was Caroline Julia Matilda “Carrie” Sears. He later married Mattie R. Harrell (1851-1914).
Note: This replaces and expands a post originally published on 31 March 2018.
This marble-front bank is one of the finest commercial buildings in Jeffersonville. While many are aware of the failure of banks during the Great Depression, there was also a wave of bank failures during the 1900s and 1910s. I’m unsure of the original name of this one, but it’s best known locally as the “Corner Bank”. I believe it now houses an antiques store.
These storefronts were already in ruins when I photographed them in 2013. One of the last businesses located here was Robinson’s Fried Chicken, as the sign indicated. W. F. Maxwell recently wrote that at this location: “…was once a Sinclair gas station, a bus stop for Greyhound, a small restaurant and purveyor of ice cream, candies, etc. It was owned by my maternal Grandaddy, J. L. Griffin whose wife, Mattie, was the restaurateur...” He went on to say that they were torn down some time after 2016.
Note: This replaces and updates a post originally published on 16 August 2013.
The timber boom that led to the settlement of Eastman was facilitated in large part by the opening of the Macon & Brunswick Railroad through the area in 1869. The East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia Railroad followed, before its absorption by the Southern Railway in 1894. This Victorian depot was built by the Southern Railway circa 1906* and remains one of Eastman’s most important public landmarks.
The depot, while not fully restored, is in good condition.
*- Sources vary as to date of construction. Some state it was built in 1906 and others say 1908.
