12-22-2023, 02:46 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-01-2024, 12:29 AM by Top Row Dawg.)
Georgia Natural Wonder #168 - Mulberry Creek Falls - Harris County
We did the Natural Wonder of Pine Mountain last week with tangents on the FDR State Park, the Pine Mountain Trail, and the Wild Animal Safari.
This week we tangent on the history of the town of Pine Mountain and Harris County. But first we found another really cool Natural Wonder in Harris County, so we are going to feature that before we go on a full blown history tangent. This will stand as a whole new Wonder with our exploration of Mulberry Creek Falls.
Mulberry Creek Falls - Georgia Natural Wonder #168.
Mulberry Creek is a stream in the U.S. state of Georgia that flows through Harris and Talbot counties in the west central part of the state. It is a tributary to the Chattahoochee River.
Upper Mulberry Creek.
The name of the creek is of Native American origin. "Cataula" is a name derived from the Muskogee language meaning "dead mulberry". Variant names have included "Cataula Creek", "Cataulee Creek", "Cautaulee Creek", "Ketale Creek", and "Ketalee Creek".
It begins in a small lake just inside Talbot County. Narrow curves head to the west, crossing local roads as well as U.S. Route 27 Alternate north of Waverly Hall before curving to the south
Some pretty big drops even before main falls.
From here it continues west, crossing more local roads before turning southwest again and crossing U.S. Route 27 south of Hamilton.
Rock formations Class II and III rapids.
It continues southwest, crossing Mountain Hill Rd near New Mountain Hill Elementary School. Here, it turns to the south, and then to the west, where it crosses Interstate 185 between exits 19 and 25.
If you are just hiking to Falls, you get this overview upon approach.
It begins flowing southwest, crossing Georgia State Route 219 south of Antioch. This stretch is where the whitewater action is.
Hanging out at Falls.
The creek ends in a slow moving often swampy tributary of the Chattahoochee River south of Lake Harding in western Harris County.
It's just a trickle most of the time.
Back near Antioch this is a destination paddle location that offers less than a half mile of whitewater in an awesome fashion.
After a good rain, this is a raging monster.
A very beautiful area that has a minimum influence from man.
A good place to visit, if even just to see the gradient.
Put-in is uneventful below the GA 219 Bridge as is all the way to the falls area (half-mile).
But then you find the biggest drop of any commercial outfitter in Georgia.
At least a dozen YouTube videos on line.
Mulberry Creek Falls. Georgia Natural Wonder #168.
American Whitewater
This is a destination float that offers less than a mile of whitewater in an awesome fashion. Put in is slow for a half mile from the GA 219 bridge.
This is a nice place to see vertical drops without having to go north. All of this stretch has been done at all levels and is runnable. But at least one kid died jumping off the main drop to hit boulders under water in the pool below.
Below the big drop is some solid class III rapids with a slotted path that easily makes log jams. Scouting is always recommended.
Take out is biggest problem on this creek. The creek empties into the backwaters of the Chattahoochee River.
The river left of the falls area is a Girl Scout Camp that really enjoys keeping us off their land. Any detected intrusion will result in a call from the local police. This one fellow made a wonderful YouTube drone video of Mulberry Creek.
These are rapids at beginning of whitewater run.
Rapids above Main Falls.
Half mile of whitewater.
Main Falls.
Chute below Main Falls.
There is evidently the ruins of an old mill alongside Mulberry Creek.
The face of TRD taking picture of computer screen.
Ruins of Mulberry Creek factory and mill.
Well that was our new natural wonder this week. Now we come to the original part two History Post of Pine Mountain (city) and Harris County as a whole.
Pine Mountain
Pine Mountain is a town in Harris and Meriwether counties in the U.S. state of Georgia.
As of the 2010 census it had a population of 1,304, up from 1,141 at the 2000 census.
History
The town began in 1882 when the railroad spread to Pine Mountain from Columbus, and until 1958, the community was known as "Chipley".
The name was changed to "Pine Mountain" due to the existence of Callaway Gardens.
Pine Mountain City Hall.
Geography
Pine Mountain is located in northeastern Harris County, with a small portion extending north into the southwestern corner of Meriwether County.
The Chipley-Pine Mountain Town Hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
The city is located along U.S. Route 27, which runs north to south through the city, leading northwest 17 miles to LaGrange and south 8 miles to Hamilton, the Harris County seat. Georgia State Route 18 and Georgia State Route 354 intersect U.S. Route 27 in the city limits.
Atlanta is 78 miles by road to the northeast. The city is located at the northern base of the Pine Mountain Range.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 3.0 square miles, of which 2.9 square miles are land and 0.1 square miles, or 3.50%, are water.
The Chipley Historical Center
Also in Pine Mountain is Bethany Baptist Church.
Attractions
Located in Pine Mountain are the Callaway Gardens (GNW #50) and Pine Mountain Wild Animal Safari. (GNW #167 - Part 1)
The Pine Mountain Trail, a 23-mile hiking trail, is nearby in F. D. Roosevelt State Park. (GNW #167 - Part 1)
Harris County, Georgia
Harris County is a county located in the west-central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia; its western border with the state of Alabama is formed by the Chattahoochee River. It is the state's seventy-second county. On the twenty-fourth day of December, 1827, the Legislature handed to the people of the section a Christmas present in the form of a new county. It was assented to by John Forsythe, Governor.
It was an act for the division of the late acquired counties of Carroll, Troup, Muscogee and Lee into counties of proper shape and size. Section 3 of the act reads, to wit: beginning at the southeast corner of lot number one hundred and ten, in the second of Troup, thence a straight line to the northeast corn of lot number two hundred and ninety-four, in the twenty-second district, then west on the district line of ten and seventeen and nine and eighteen, along the same to the Chattahoochee, thence up the Chattahoochee River, sixty, the southwest corner of fraction a straight line to the beginning, shall form a county known as Harris. It was named after attorney and former Savannah mayor Charles Harris.
Signature of Harris on E-Bay.
He was the son-in-law of Lachlan McIntosh, a Revolutionary War (1775-83) patriot. (GNW #28 - Part 1)
Charles Harris was a distinguished Savannah lawyer who died about the time the County was laid off. He was the son of William Harris, barrister, first cousin of Lord Malmesbury and of an excellent family in England, Charles Dymock. Charles Harris was born in England in 1772, and after receiving his early education in France, came as a youth of sixteen in 1788 to Savannah, Georgia.
Beautiful tribute.
He studied law in the office of Samuel Stirk, a leader of the profession in that year and day, and gained reputation almost from his entry into the profession. Time and time again he refused appointment or election to exalted positions because such would interfere with his domestic life.
The loss of his wife, Catherine on May 25, 1815, and his own ill health caused him to go into close retirement. He died on March 13, 1827, lamented by the entire population of Savannah, accounted by many men as the best lawyer in Georgia. He is buried in the old Colonial Cemetery in Savannah, by his wife, their infant son, McIntosh, their five-year-old daughter, Catherine Virginia, and his father-in law.
Harris County marker in front of county courthouse in Hamilton.
Also in front of courthouse is this marker for the U.S.S. Harris County.
U.S.S. Harris County.
History
Long before Harris County came into existence, the region played an important part in Indian Affairs, and consequently, in the affairs of the English, Spanish and French Colonies. The Indians, whose origin is lost in antiquity, held unmolested sway over the lands.
Just across the river was Coseta, or Coweta Town, the capital of the Creek confederation to which white traders had found their way before the establishment of the colony of Georgia.
Also across the river, farther north lay Oakfuskee, one of the centers of trade that the upper Creek Indians commanded.
My cousin, Robbie Etheridge, reviewed this book.
The trail of Oakfuskee definitely passed through the area now called Harris County. Weaving an interesting pattern of topographical significance, the path also cut its way in and out of the present boundaries of several adjoining counties. Dr. John H. Goff marked the trade route in Harris.
From 1725-1728 the rivalry between the English and Spanish for control of the region had developed to fever pitch. By 1739, reports of Spanish intrigue and Creek discontent had reached such a state that Oglethorpe felt constrained to make his way across the vast wilderness to Coweta, in order to bring about amicable agreement with the assembled Estates of the Creek Nation.
The Indians were overjoyed at his arrival, and straightway made a regular act in council, granting the Sea Islands and the territory between Savannah and the Altamaha Rivers to the Trustees of Georgia. The treaty was an important one for the peaceful development of the colony, and one historian states that “such diplomacy was more than that of Europeans monarchs.”
Oglethorpe meets the Creeks.
Benjamin Hawkins, was a South Carolinian commissioned by President Washington (in 1796) as Principal Temporary Agent for Indian Affairs and by President Jefferson a Permanent Agent. My cousin wrote the biography for the New Encyclopedia of Georgia. He came to the Chattahoochee Valley in 1798. Beloved by Indians and respected by traders, he kept a record called a “Viatory of Journal of Distances and Observations.” Traveling along the west banks of the Chattahoochee from the river towns below the site of Columbus, Georgia, he went northward on the Alabama side until he crossed into Troup County. His Viatory records the first known journey throughout the Valley and located Indian villages along the river He frequently described the land and villages skirting the river. Of lands within view of the river at Moore’s Creek on both sides (thus including Harris County), he said, “They are stiff, gravelly and broken, fit for culture. The growth is a mixture of post and red oak, hickory and pine.” He wrote that slightly northward, near the Harris-Troup line, there were lands bereft of trees by hurricanes (at least five hurricane spots in various direction and some years difference from each other) as poor and gravelly.
Hawkins with the Creek Indians.
Georgians had long been impatient for the United States government to fulfill its pledge of 1802 and remove the Indians from the state. Planters were eager to take up the new lands and turn up the new lands and turn them to cotton production. By the Treaty of Indian Springs - GNW #23 , the lands were ceded to Georgia. The Creeks themselves retired across the Chattahoochee River into Alabama, there to remain for a decade a constant menace, real and imaginary, on the other side. Only the Cherokee Indians remained, and the question of their removal furnished Georgia an exciting problem until 1835.
The 464 square miles that make up Harris County were part of Creek Indian holdings until the Treaty of Indian Springs in 1825. The first European settlers arrived soon after the forced removal of the indigenous Creek people (Muscogee), who were relocated to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. The whites rushed in to take advantage of the state's land lotteries. The first to arrive were east Georgians, followed by settlers from Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the Carolina's.
Vanishing Harris County.
It is part of the Black Belt in the southern United States, an upland area developed for cotton plantations, the premier commodity crop, in the antebellum era before the American Civil War. Muscogee County, to the south, was more heavily developed for cotton. Planters imported numerous slaves as workers from the Upper South through the domestic slave trade.
Walker Plantation
By the late 19th century, there were 100 years of families, black, white and mixed-race, with many interconnections among them; justice and injustice was nearly always meted out to kin. Moonshiners were active in the mountain areas of the county in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; both whites and blacks took part in this and were drinking customers.
Hamilton, the county seat, was incorporated in 1828. The County Courthouse was designed by Edward Columbus Hosford of Georgia and completed in 1906.
It has been extensively rehabilitated and was enhanced with an annex in 1998.
Lynchings
On January 22, 1912, a black woman and three black men were lynched in Hamilton, the county seat, allegedly for the murder of young local white landowner Norman Hadley. He was described by journalist Karen Branan in her 2016 book about these events as a white "near penniless plowboy-playboy" and "notorious predator of black women."
Of this group, Dusky Crutchfield was the first woman lynched in Georgia, and the lynching case attracted attention of national northern newspapers. Also murdered by the lynch mob were Eugene Harrington, Burrell Hardaway, and Johnie Moore.
The four had been taken in for questioning about Hadley's murder by Sheriff Marion Madison "Buddie" Hadley, but never arrested. Lynched as scapegoats by a white mob of 100 men, they were later shown to have been utterly innocent. As an example of the complex relationships in the town and county, Johnie Moore was a mixed-race cousin of the sheriff; Norman Hadley was the sheriff's nephew.
In 1947, prosperous farmer Henry "Peg" Gilbert, a married African-American man who owned and farmed 100 acres in Troup County, was arrested by officials from neighboring Harris County and charged with harboring a fugitive. The 47-year-old father was accused in the case of Gus Davidson, an African-American man accused of fatally shooting a white man in Harris County. Davidson had disappeared. Four days later Gilbert was dead, shot while held in jail by the Harris County Sheriff, who said it was self-defense. No charges were filed against him.
Civil Rights Restorative Justice Project
In 2016 the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project of Northeastern University reported on this death in custody. They had found that Gilbert had been beaten severely before his death, and shot five times. They asserted he had been detained and killed because whites resented his success as a farmer.
Henry Gilbert.
In May 1947, Gilbert, a prosperous farmer who owned and farmed a 100-acre tract in Troup County, was alleged to have harbored a fugitive from justice. Four days after his arrest and detention by authorities from neighboring Harris County, Gilbert was killed while in custody. At the time, his wife, Mae, told a journalist that when she kissed her husband in his casket, it was as if she were “kissing a sackful of little pieces of bone.” CRRJ interviewed two of the daughters of Henry and Mae Gilbert and his grandson, Darren Mills. They told CRRJ that those who killed Gilbert resented his success and wanted to get rid of a black leader. Shortly after burying her husband, Mae Henry Gilbert was arrested on grounds of having harbored Davidson. A young white attorney, Daniel Duke, successfully had the charges against her dismissed, despite pressure from the “Black Raiders,” a Georgia and Alabama sect of the Ku Klux Klan.
Mae Gilbert.
Gilbert’s arrest came in the wake of the shooting death of a white farmer by a black man, Gus Davidson, who claimed to have acted in self-defense. The CRRJ investigators uncovered new information about the events surrounding the death of Gilbert and the escape of Davidson, who is said to have fled Georgia hidden in a coffin. Davidson was arrested on a fugitive warrant in New Jersey several years after Gilbert was slain. He was extradited to Georgia, where he was convicted and sentenced to death. A pardon kept him out of the electric chair, and Davidson remained in Georgia until his death in 1966.
Today
As of the 2010 census, the Harris County population was 32,024. The county is now part of the Columbus metropolitan area, which has become industrialized and developed a more varied economy.
By per capita income, the county is the sixth-wealthiest in Georgia, and the wealthiest county in the state outside of Metro Atlanta.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 473 square miles, of which 464 square miles are land and 9.1 square miles are covered by water.
They still honor the War Dead in Harris County.
The county is located in the Piedmont region of the state, with forests, farmland, and rolling hills covering much of the county. The Pine Mountain Range begins in the county, and runs across the northernmost parts of the county, with the highest point on the range found at Dowdell's Knob near the Meriwether County line.
Communities
The largest city in the county is Pine Mountain, a resort town that is the gateway to the world-famous Callaway Gardens Resort and Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park (the largest state park in Georgia). Pine Mountain is also associated with U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt's visits to the area, such as Warm Springs in neighboring Meriwether County. We covered Pine Mountain already. Other incorporated communities in the county are Hamilton, Shiloh, and Waverly Hall.
Hamilton (county seat)
Hamilton was founded in 1827 as seat of the newly formed Harris County. It was incorporated as a town in 1828 and as a city in 1903.
The city was named for U.S. Secretary of the Navy and governor of South Carolina Paul Hamilton (1762-1816).
Paul Hamilton and his house, "The Oaks" - 100 Laurens Street, Beaufort SC
Hamilton is located slightly northeast of the center of Harris County. U.S. Route 27 runs through the city from north to south, leading southwest 25 miles to Columbus and north 8 miles to Pine Mountain. Georgia State Route 116 intersects U.S. Route 27 in the city for a very short concurrency.
Hamilton Baptist Church and Pastorium was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 19, 1982.
A historic marker in the town square commemorates the life and legacy of renowned shape note-singer and songwriter B.F. White.
Benjamin Franklin White and his wife.
He was eulogized Major White was never more at home than when surrounded with a band of sweet singers ... He was spirited and never failed to animate all whom he led. ... All were naturally drawn toward him as he discoursed upon music and its charms.
Midway Baptist Church was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 9, 1999 as part of the Sunnyside School-Midway Baptist Church and Midway Cemetery Historic District.
Sunnyside School-Midway Baptist Church.
Also in Hamilton.
Shiloh
A post office called Shiloh was established in 1874.
They have a police car.
The community was named after the local Shiloh Baptist Church, which in turn took its name from Shiloh, a place mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.
Shiloh Church.
The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Shiloh in 1961.
The William and Ann Copeland Jr. House is located near Shiloh. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.
Waverly Hall
The name "Waverly Hall" was inspired by the estate in Sir Walter Scott's novels.
A post office called Waverly was established in 1829. The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Waverly Hall as a town in 1914.
A shell of it's former self.
Alternate U.S. Route 27 and Georgia State Route 85 run northeast to southeast through the city, leading southwest 24 miles to Columbus and north 10 miles to Shiloh.
Official Web Site image.
The two highways meet Georgia State Route 208 in the northern city limits.
Unincorporated communities
Acton
A post office called Acton was established in 1891, and remained in operation until 1909. The name is a transfer from Acton, London.
No images Acton, Georgia, but this is Acton, London.
Cataula
"Cataula" is derived from the Muscogee word kitali, meaning "withered mulberry."
Cataula is located on Cataula Creek, which flows into nearby Mulberry Creek. See Mulberry Creek above.
Ellerslie
A post office called Ellerslie has been in operation since 1828. The name of the community is believed to have origins from a character in the Waverley Novels written by Sir Walter Scott named Captain Ellerslie.
The Ellerslie Depot was originally built in 1891. The building has been restored. It is currently used as a community center and a town symbol.
The Wire Road marks the route of the first telegraph lines from Washington to New Orleans completed in 1848. The road entered Harris County at Mount Airy, 5 miles from here.The home of Gen. Henry Lowe, near this junction, entertained Ex-President James K. Polk and other prominent visitors as they came from Milledgeville, the capital of Georgia, along the Wire Road.
On this road stood Bethesda Baptist Church, organized in 1828, later moved to Ellerslie.
Revolutionary War Veteran Richard Christmas drew a Harris County Land Lottery Lot near Ellerslie.
Fortson
Fortson is mainly in northern Muscogee County but portions of the community extend into southern Harris County.
Jones Crossroads
A city shared with Troup County. The community was named after Christopher Columbus Jones, the original owner of the town site. Previous variant names are "Palina", "Paulina" and "Union".
The R. M. Jones General Store, a historic country store listed on the National Register of Historic Places, stands at Jones Crossroads.
Mountain Hill
A post office called Mountain Hill was established in 1853, and remained in operation until 1904.
Mountain Hill School.
According to tradition, the community was so named because a first settler liked mountains. A variant name was "Talleytown".
Mulberry Grove
A post office called Mulberry Grove was established in 1831, and remained in operation until 1904.
The community was named for mulberry trees near the original town site.
Ossahatchie
The community is located approximately halfway between Ellerslie and Waverly Hall along U.S. Route 27 Alternate and Georgia State Route 85 at its junction with Ossahatchie Creek Rd.
The Ossahatchie Indian Festival and Pow Wow happens in Hamilton.
Pine Mountain Valley
The community is located at the intersection of Georgia State Routes 116 and 354. GA-116 runs from west to east through the community, leading east 9 miles to Shiloh and southwest 4 miles to Hamilton, the Harris County seat.
GA-354 runs northwest 7 miles to the city of Pine Mountain.
Looks like it is still a project 86 years later.
Piney Grove
Piney Grove is located at the intersection of state routes 219 and 315. Atlanta is 86 miles by road to the northeast and Columbus is 12 miles by road to the south.
Rehoboth
The community was named after Rehoboth, a place mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. A variant name was "Mobley". Rehoboth was once an incorporated municipality; its municipal charter was repealed in 1995.
Ridgeway
Ridgeway was founded ca. 1829, and named for the ridge upon which the town site rests. A variant name was "Mount Airy". A stagecoach inn, stores, houses, and schools there were almost swept away by the cyclone of 1875.
Nothing but forest there now.
A post office called Ridgeway was established in 1888, and remained in operation until 1903.
Whitesville
A post office called Whitesville was established in 1837, and remained in operation until 1905. The community was named after the White family of first settlers. According to the history, the town once had a 32 room hotel, general store, tanneries, wagon and buggy factories, doctors and dentists as well as saloons and male and female academies.
The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Whitesville as a town in 1837. The town's municipal charter was repealed in 1995.
The Whitesville United Methodist Church and Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
The church was founded about the same time as the town, in an earlier church located at the same location.
The present church was completed in 1854 and the size of it reflects the prosperity of Whitesville in the pre-Civil War years.
Other Historical Markers in Harris County.
Politics
Like all of Georgia except Unionist non-plantation Fannin, Towns, Pickens and Gilmer counties, Harris County was ancestrally very Democratic. From the end of Reconstruction to 1980, it only supported a Republican twice, in 1964 (when Barry Goldwater carried the state in a landslide) and 1972 (during Richard Nixon's national landslide).
In 1984, however, the state swung from a 16.8 percent victory for Jimmy Carter to a nearly 20-point victory for Ronald Reagan. Since then, it has been one of the most Republican counties in Georgia. Indeed, 1984 is the last time that a Democrat has crossed the 40 percent mark. This trend largely coincides with Columbus' suburbs spilling into the county.
Points Of Interest
We already covered Callaway Gardens, which covers 14,000 acres of gardens and lakes on reclaimed land; Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park, which offers outdoor sporting activities and picnic areas; Wild Animal Safari, a 500-acre drive-through wild-animal park.
Other points of interest in the county include Butts Mill Farm, a reconstructed 1830s gristmill and farm offering horseback riding to visitors;
Butts Mill Farm is a restored 80-acre farm that welcomes tourists to relive the sights and sounds of a fully operational farm.
General Public/Private parties/corporate events with food, dancing, karoke and music.18 Hole Miniature Golf, 30 ft. Tiger Slide.
Petting zoo, bird santuary, 2 playgrounds. Hayrides, pony rides, train rides, & horseback riding.
Covered Bridge available for weddings.
Big Bear Farm is a fully operational Horse farm,set on 420 rolling acres. Offers something for everyone. Host several equestrian shows per year, shows are free and open to the public. This facility served as a training site for both summer olympics and paralympic games.
Breeding, training, and producing quality Connemara and Connemara Crosses since 1982.
Blanton Creek Park is a Georgia Power lake park. It is located on the shores of beautiful Lake Harding and adjoins Blanton Creek Wildlife Management Area.
Blanton Creek Park offers boat ramp, nature trail, camping, picnicking, fishing and access to all sorts of water sports activities. 80% of the camping sites have visibility of water at Lake Harding.
There are several lakes, including the 5,850-acre Lake Harding, which offers boating, water skiing, and fishing to visitors.
Island of Two Trees.
The Chattahoochee’s capacity to generate hydroelectric power was tapped in the early 20th century by dams such as the one at Morgan Falls, but not until the completion of Buford Dam in 1956 did the risk of flooding in the corridor wane.
It is during this time that Bartlett's Ferry Dam was built by the Columbus Power Company in the 1920s.
Thus forming Lake Harding.
Lake Harding covers the Chattahoochee and forms most of the western border of Harris County.
The hydroelectric dam and Lake Harding reservoir were later bought by Georgia Power in 1930.
Part of the lake's 156 miles of shoreline helps form the western border of the county.
Riverview Dam is a lowhead dam on the Chattahoochee River. The dam was built in 1918 to provide power for Riverview Textile Mill. The dam is currently owned by Georgia Power.
Georgia Power has applied for permission to remove Riverview Dam in 2023.
Langdale Dam is a lowhead dam on the Chattahoochee River just south of Langdale, Alabama.
The dam was built in 1908 to provide electricity for the former Langdale Mills, and is now owned and operated by Georgia Power. It produces an average of 1 megawatt of hydroelectric power. The river here lies entirely on the Georgia side of the state line, but the dam itself does enter into Alabama territory.
Georgia Power has applied for permission to remove Langdale Dam in 2023.
Notable people
Science fiction writer Michael Bishop,
Callaway Gardens founder Cason Jewell Callaway,
Georgia Militia Colonel Reuben J. Crews, father of C.C. Crews.
Charles Constantine Crews
U.S. congressman Hopkins Holsey,
Benjamin Franklin White, clerk of the Inferior Court of Harris County, and mayor of Whitesville, compiler of the shape note songbook known as The Sacred Harp. (See above)
Composer and pianist Thomas "Blind Tom" Wiggins,
Wow, that was an Energizer Bunny post, kept going and going. Today's GNW Gals are all named Harris.
Anastasia Harris
Sarah Harris
Danielle Harris
Danneel Harris
We did the Natural Wonder of Pine Mountain last week with tangents on the FDR State Park, the Pine Mountain Trail, and the Wild Animal Safari.
This week we tangent on the history of the town of Pine Mountain and Harris County. But first we found another really cool Natural Wonder in Harris County, so we are going to feature that before we go on a full blown history tangent. This will stand as a whole new Wonder with our exploration of Mulberry Creek Falls.
Mulberry Creek Falls - Georgia Natural Wonder #168.
Mulberry Creek is a stream in the U.S. state of Georgia that flows through Harris and Talbot counties in the west central part of the state. It is a tributary to the Chattahoochee River.
Upper Mulberry Creek.
The name of the creek is of Native American origin. "Cataula" is a name derived from the Muskogee language meaning "dead mulberry". Variant names have included "Cataula Creek", "Cataulee Creek", "Cautaulee Creek", "Ketale Creek", and "Ketalee Creek".
It begins in a small lake just inside Talbot County. Narrow curves head to the west, crossing local roads as well as U.S. Route 27 Alternate north of Waverly Hall before curving to the south
Some pretty big drops even before main falls.
From here it continues west, crossing more local roads before turning southwest again and crossing U.S. Route 27 south of Hamilton.
Rock formations Class II and III rapids.
It continues southwest, crossing Mountain Hill Rd near New Mountain Hill Elementary School. Here, it turns to the south, and then to the west, where it crosses Interstate 185 between exits 19 and 25.
If you are just hiking to Falls, you get this overview upon approach.
It begins flowing southwest, crossing Georgia State Route 219 south of Antioch. This stretch is where the whitewater action is.
Hanging out at Falls.
The creek ends in a slow moving often swampy tributary of the Chattahoochee River south of Lake Harding in western Harris County.
It's just a trickle most of the time.
Back near Antioch this is a destination paddle location that offers less than a half mile of whitewater in an awesome fashion.
After a good rain, this is a raging monster.
A very beautiful area that has a minimum influence from man.
A good place to visit, if even just to see the gradient.
Put-in is uneventful below the GA 219 Bridge as is all the way to the falls area (half-mile).
But then you find the biggest drop of any commercial outfitter in Georgia.
At least a dozen YouTube videos on line.
Mulberry Creek Falls. Georgia Natural Wonder #168.
American Whitewater
This is a destination float that offers less than a mile of whitewater in an awesome fashion. Put in is slow for a half mile from the GA 219 bridge.
This is a nice place to see vertical drops without having to go north. All of this stretch has been done at all levels and is runnable. But at least one kid died jumping off the main drop to hit boulders under water in the pool below.
Below the big drop is some solid class III rapids with a slotted path that easily makes log jams. Scouting is always recommended.
Take out is biggest problem on this creek. The creek empties into the backwaters of the Chattahoochee River.
The river left of the falls area is a Girl Scout Camp that really enjoys keeping us off their land. Any detected intrusion will result in a call from the local police. This one fellow made a wonderful YouTube drone video of Mulberry Creek.
These are rapids at beginning of whitewater run.
Rapids above Main Falls.
Half mile of whitewater.
Main Falls.
Chute below Main Falls.
There is evidently the ruins of an old mill alongside Mulberry Creek.
The face of TRD taking picture of computer screen.
Ruins of Mulberry Creek factory and mill.
Well that was our new natural wonder this week. Now we come to the original part two History Post of Pine Mountain (city) and Harris County as a whole.
Pine Mountain
Pine Mountain is a town in Harris and Meriwether counties in the U.S. state of Georgia.
As of the 2010 census it had a population of 1,304, up from 1,141 at the 2000 census.
History
The town began in 1882 when the railroad spread to Pine Mountain from Columbus, and until 1958, the community was known as "Chipley".
The name was changed to "Pine Mountain" due to the existence of Callaway Gardens.
Pine Mountain City Hall.
Geography
Pine Mountain is located in northeastern Harris County, with a small portion extending north into the southwestern corner of Meriwether County.
The Chipley-Pine Mountain Town Hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
The city is located along U.S. Route 27, which runs north to south through the city, leading northwest 17 miles to LaGrange and south 8 miles to Hamilton, the Harris County seat. Georgia State Route 18 and Georgia State Route 354 intersect U.S. Route 27 in the city limits.
Atlanta is 78 miles by road to the northeast. The city is located at the northern base of the Pine Mountain Range.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 3.0 square miles, of which 2.9 square miles are land and 0.1 square miles, or 3.50%, are water.
The Chipley Historical Center
Also in Pine Mountain is Bethany Baptist Church.
Attractions
Located in Pine Mountain are the Callaway Gardens (GNW #50) and Pine Mountain Wild Animal Safari. (GNW #167 - Part 1)
The Pine Mountain Trail, a 23-mile hiking trail, is nearby in F. D. Roosevelt State Park. (GNW #167 - Part 1)
Harris County, Georgia
Harris County is a county located in the west-central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia; its western border with the state of Alabama is formed by the Chattahoochee River. It is the state's seventy-second county. On the twenty-fourth day of December, 1827, the Legislature handed to the people of the section a Christmas present in the form of a new county. It was assented to by John Forsythe, Governor.
It was an act for the division of the late acquired counties of Carroll, Troup, Muscogee and Lee into counties of proper shape and size. Section 3 of the act reads, to wit: beginning at the southeast corner of lot number one hundred and ten, in the second of Troup, thence a straight line to the northeast corn of lot number two hundred and ninety-four, in the twenty-second district, then west on the district line of ten and seventeen and nine and eighteen, along the same to the Chattahoochee, thence up the Chattahoochee River, sixty, the southwest corner of fraction a straight line to the beginning, shall form a county known as Harris. It was named after attorney and former Savannah mayor Charles Harris.
Signature of Harris on E-Bay.
He was the son-in-law of Lachlan McIntosh, a Revolutionary War (1775-83) patriot. (GNW #28 - Part 1)
Charles Harris was a distinguished Savannah lawyer who died about the time the County was laid off. He was the son of William Harris, barrister, first cousin of Lord Malmesbury and of an excellent family in England, Charles Dymock. Charles Harris was born in England in 1772, and after receiving his early education in France, came as a youth of sixteen in 1788 to Savannah, Georgia.
Beautiful tribute.
He studied law in the office of Samuel Stirk, a leader of the profession in that year and day, and gained reputation almost from his entry into the profession. Time and time again he refused appointment or election to exalted positions because such would interfere with his domestic life.
The loss of his wife, Catherine on May 25, 1815, and his own ill health caused him to go into close retirement. He died on March 13, 1827, lamented by the entire population of Savannah, accounted by many men as the best lawyer in Georgia. He is buried in the old Colonial Cemetery in Savannah, by his wife, their infant son, McIntosh, their five-year-old daughter, Catherine Virginia, and his father-in law.
Harris County marker in front of county courthouse in Hamilton.
Also in front of courthouse is this marker for the U.S.S. Harris County.
U.S.S. Harris County.
History
Long before Harris County came into existence, the region played an important part in Indian Affairs, and consequently, in the affairs of the English, Spanish and French Colonies. The Indians, whose origin is lost in antiquity, held unmolested sway over the lands.
Just across the river was Coseta, or Coweta Town, the capital of the Creek confederation to which white traders had found their way before the establishment of the colony of Georgia.
Also across the river, farther north lay Oakfuskee, one of the centers of trade that the upper Creek Indians commanded.
My cousin, Robbie Etheridge, reviewed this book.
The trail of Oakfuskee definitely passed through the area now called Harris County. Weaving an interesting pattern of topographical significance, the path also cut its way in and out of the present boundaries of several adjoining counties. Dr. John H. Goff marked the trade route in Harris.
From 1725-1728 the rivalry between the English and Spanish for control of the region had developed to fever pitch. By 1739, reports of Spanish intrigue and Creek discontent had reached such a state that Oglethorpe felt constrained to make his way across the vast wilderness to Coweta, in order to bring about amicable agreement with the assembled Estates of the Creek Nation.
The Indians were overjoyed at his arrival, and straightway made a regular act in council, granting the Sea Islands and the territory between Savannah and the Altamaha Rivers to the Trustees of Georgia. The treaty was an important one for the peaceful development of the colony, and one historian states that “such diplomacy was more than that of Europeans monarchs.”
Oglethorpe meets the Creeks.
Benjamin Hawkins, was a South Carolinian commissioned by President Washington (in 1796) as Principal Temporary Agent for Indian Affairs and by President Jefferson a Permanent Agent. My cousin wrote the biography for the New Encyclopedia of Georgia. He came to the Chattahoochee Valley in 1798. Beloved by Indians and respected by traders, he kept a record called a “Viatory of Journal of Distances and Observations.” Traveling along the west banks of the Chattahoochee from the river towns below the site of Columbus, Georgia, he went northward on the Alabama side until he crossed into Troup County. His Viatory records the first known journey throughout the Valley and located Indian villages along the river He frequently described the land and villages skirting the river. Of lands within view of the river at Moore’s Creek on both sides (thus including Harris County), he said, “They are stiff, gravelly and broken, fit for culture. The growth is a mixture of post and red oak, hickory and pine.” He wrote that slightly northward, near the Harris-Troup line, there were lands bereft of trees by hurricanes (at least five hurricane spots in various direction and some years difference from each other) as poor and gravelly.
Hawkins with the Creek Indians.
Georgians had long been impatient for the United States government to fulfill its pledge of 1802 and remove the Indians from the state. Planters were eager to take up the new lands and turn up the new lands and turn them to cotton production. By the Treaty of Indian Springs - GNW #23 , the lands were ceded to Georgia. The Creeks themselves retired across the Chattahoochee River into Alabama, there to remain for a decade a constant menace, real and imaginary, on the other side. Only the Cherokee Indians remained, and the question of their removal furnished Georgia an exciting problem until 1835.
The 464 square miles that make up Harris County were part of Creek Indian holdings until the Treaty of Indian Springs in 1825. The first European settlers arrived soon after the forced removal of the indigenous Creek people (Muscogee), who were relocated to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. The whites rushed in to take advantage of the state's land lotteries. The first to arrive were east Georgians, followed by settlers from Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the Carolina's.
Vanishing Harris County.
It is part of the Black Belt in the southern United States, an upland area developed for cotton plantations, the premier commodity crop, in the antebellum era before the American Civil War. Muscogee County, to the south, was more heavily developed for cotton. Planters imported numerous slaves as workers from the Upper South through the domestic slave trade.
Walker Plantation
By the late 19th century, there were 100 years of families, black, white and mixed-race, with many interconnections among them; justice and injustice was nearly always meted out to kin. Moonshiners were active in the mountain areas of the county in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; both whites and blacks took part in this and were drinking customers.
Hamilton, the county seat, was incorporated in 1828. The County Courthouse was designed by Edward Columbus Hosford of Georgia and completed in 1906.
It has been extensively rehabilitated and was enhanced with an annex in 1998.
Lynchings
On January 22, 1912, a black woman and three black men were lynched in Hamilton, the county seat, allegedly for the murder of young local white landowner Norman Hadley. He was described by journalist Karen Branan in her 2016 book about these events as a white "near penniless plowboy-playboy" and "notorious predator of black women."
Of this group, Dusky Crutchfield was the first woman lynched in Georgia, and the lynching case attracted attention of national northern newspapers. Also murdered by the lynch mob were Eugene Harrington, Burrell Hardaway, and Johnie Moore.
The four had been taken in for questioning about Hadley's murder by Sheriff Marion Madison "Buddie" Hadley, but never arrested. Lynched as scapegoats by a white mob of 100 men, they were later shown to have been utterly innocent. As an example of the complex relationships in the town and county, Johnie Moore was a mixed-race cousin of the sheriff; Norman Hadley was the sheriff's nephew.
In 1947, prosperous farmer Henry "Peg" Gilbert, a married African-American man who owned and farmed 100 acres in Troup County, was arrested by officials from neighboring Harris County and charged with harboring a fugitive. The 47-year-old father was accused in the case of Gus Davidson, an African-American man accused of fatally shooting a white man in Harris County. Davidson had disappeared. Four days later Gilbert was dead, shot while held in jail by the Harris County Sheriff, who said it was self-defense. No charges were filed against him.
Civil Rights Restorative Justice Project
In 2016 the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project of Northeastern University reported on this death in custody. They had found that Gilbert had been beaten severely before his death, and shot five times. They asserted he had been detained and killed because whites resented his success as a farmer.
Henry Gilbert.
In May 1947, Gilbert, a prosperous farmer who owned and farmed a 100-acre tract in Troup County, was alleged to have harbored a fugitive from justice. Four days after his arrest and detention by authorities from neighboring Harris County, Gilbert was killed while in custody. At the time, his wife, Mae, told a journalist that when she kissed her husband in his casket, it was as if she were “kissing a sackful of little pieces of bone.” CRRJ interviewed two of the daughters of Henry and Mae Gilbert and his grandson, Darren Mills. They told CRRJ that those who killed Gilbert resented his success and wanted to get rid of a black leader. Shortly after burying her husband, Mae Henry Gilbert was arrested on grounds of having harbored Davidson. A young white attorney, Daniel Duke, successfully had the charges against her dismissed, despite pressure from the “Black Raiders,” a Georgia and Alabama sect of the Ku Klux Klan.
Mae Gilbert.
Gilbert’s arrest came in the wake of the shooting death of a white farmer by a black man, Gus Davidson, who claimed to have acted in self-defense. The CRRJ investigators uncovered new information about the events surrounding the death of Gilbert and the escape of Davidson, who is said to have fled Georgia hidden in a coffin. Davidson was arrested on a fugitive warrant in New Jersey several years after Gilbert was slain. He was extradited to Georgia, where he was convicted and sentenced to death. A pardon kept him out of the electric chair, and Davidson remained in Georgia until his death in 1966.
Today
As of the 2010 census, the Harris County population was 32,024. The county is now part of the Columbus metropolitan area, which has become industrialized and developed a more varied economy.
By per capita income, the county is the sixth-wealthiest in Georgia, and the wealthiest county in the state outside of Metro Atlanta.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 473 square miles, of which 464 square miles are land and 9.1 square miles are covered by water.
They still honor the War Dead in Harris County.
The county is located in the Piedmont region of the state, with forests, farmland, and rolling hills covering much of the county. The Pine Mountain Range begins in the county, and runs across the northernmost parts of the county, with the highest point on the range found at Dowdell's Knob near the Meriwether County line.
Communities
The largest city in the county is Pine Mountain, a resort town that is the gateway to the world-famous Callaway Gardens Resort and Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park (the largest state park in Georgia). Pine Mountain is also associated with U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt's visits to the area, such as Warm Springs in neighboring Meriwether County. We covered Pine Mountain already. Other incorporated communities in the county are Hamilton, Shiloh, and Waverly Hall.
Hamilton (county seat)
Hamilton was founded in 1827 as seat of the newly formed Harris County. It was incorporated as a town in 1828 and as a city in 1903.
The city was named for U.S. Secretary of the Navy and governor of South Carolina Paul Hamilton (1762-1816).
Paul Hamilton and his house, "The Oaks" - 100 Laurens Street, Beaufort SC
Hamilton is located slightly northeast of the center of Harris County. U.S. Route 27 runs through the city from north to south, leading southwest 25 miles to Columbus and north 8 miles to Pine Mountain. Georgia State Route 116 intersects U.S. Route 27 in the city for a very short concurrency.
Hamilton Baptist Church and Pastorium was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 19, 1982.
A historic marker in the town square commemorates the life and legacy of renowned shape note-singer and songwriter B.F. White.
Benjamin Franklin White and his wife.
He was eulogized Major White was never more at home than when surrounded with a band of sweet singers ... He was spirited and never failed to animate all whom he led. ... All were naturally drawn toward him as he discoursed upon music and its charms.
Midway Baptist Church was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 9, 1999 as part of the Sunnyside School-Midway Baptist Church and Midway Cemetery Historic District.
Sunnyside School-Midway Baptist Church.
Also in Hamilton.
Shiloh
A post office called Shiloh was established in 1874.
They have a police car.
The community was named after the local Shiloh Baptist Church, which in turn took its name from Shiloh, a place mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.
Shiloh Church.
The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Shiloh in 1961.
The William and Ann Copeland Jr. House is located near Shiloh. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.
Waverly Hall
The name "Waverly Hall" was inspired by the estate in Sir Walter Scott's novels.
A post office called Waverly was established in 1829. The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Waverly Hall as a town in 1914.
A shell of it's former self.
Alternate U.S. Route 27 and Georgia State Route 85 run northeast to southeast through the city, leading southwest 24 miles to Columbus and north 10 miles to Shiloh.
Official Web Site image.
The two highways meet Georgia State Route 208 in the northern city limits.
Unincorporated communities
Acton
A post office called Acton was established in 1891, and remained in operation until 1909. The name is a transfer from Acton, London.
No images Acton, Georgia, but this is Acton, London.
Cataula
"Cataula" is derived from the Muscogee word kitali, meaning "withered mulberry."
Cataula is located on Cataula Creek, which flows into nearby Mulberry Creek. See Mulberry Creek above.
Ellerslie
A post office called Ellerslie has been in operation since 1828. The name of the community is believed to have origins from a character in the Waverley Novels written by Sir Walter Scott named Captain Ellerslie.
The Ellerslie Depot was originally built in 1891. The building has been restored. It is currently used as a community center and a town symbol.
The Wire Road marks the route of the first telegraph lines from Washington to New Orleans completed in 1848. The road entered Harris County at Mount Airy, 5 miles from here.The home of Gen. Henry Lowe, near this junction, entertained Ex-President James K. Polk and other prominent visitors as they came from Milledgeville, the capital of Georgia, along the Wire Road.
On this road stood Bethesda Baptist Church, organized in 1828, later moved to Ellerslie.
Revolutionary War Veteran Richard Christmas drew a Harris County Land Lottery Lot near Ellerslie.
Fortson
Fortson is mainly in northern Muscogee County but portions of the community extend into southern Harris County.
Jones Crossroads
A city shared with Troup County. The community was named after Christopher Columbus Jones, the original owner of the town site. Previous variant names are "Palina", "Paulina" and "Union".
The R. M. Jones General Store, a historic country store listed on the National Register of Historic Places, stands at Jones Crossroads.
Mountain Hill
A post office called Mountain Hill was established in 1853, and remained in operation until 1904.
Mountain Hill School.
According to tradition, the community was so named because a first settler liked mountains. A variant name was "Talleytown".
Mulberry Grove
A post office called Mulberry Grove was established in 1831, and remained in operation until 1904.
The community was named for mulberry trees near the original town site.
Ossahatchie
The community is located approximately halfway between Ellerslie and Waverly Hall along U.S. Route 27 Alternate and Georgia State Route 85 at its junction with Ossahatchie Creek Rd.
The Ossahatchie Indian Festival and Pow Wow happens in Hamilton.
Pine Mountain Valley
The community is located at the intersection of Georgia State Routes 116 and 354. GA-116 runs from west to east through the community, leading east 9 miles to Shiloh and southwest 4 miles to Hamilton, the Harris County seat.
GA-354 runs northwest 7 miles to the city of Pine Mountain.
Looks like it is still a project 86 years later.
Piney Grove
Piney Grove is located at the intersection of state routes 219 and 315. Atlanta is 86 miles by road to the northeast and Columbus is 12 miles by road to the south.
Rehoboth
The community was named after Rehoboth, a place mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. A variant name was "Mobley". Rehoboth was once an incorporated municipality; its municipal charter was repealed in 1995.
Ridgeway
Ridgeway was founded ca. 1829, and named for the ridge upon which the town site rests. A variant name was "Mount Airy". A stagecoach inn, stores, houses, and schools there were almost swept away by the cyclone of 1875.
Nothing but forest there now.
A post office called Ridgeway was established in 1888, and remained in operation until 1903.
Whitesville
A post office called Whitesville was established in 1837, and remained in operation until 1905. The community was named after the White family of first settlers. According to the history, the town once had a 32 room hotel, general store, tanneries, wagon and buggy factories, doctors and dentists as well as saloons and male and female academies.
The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Whitesville as a town in 1837. The town's municipal charter was repealed in 1995.
The Whitesville United Methodist Church and Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
The church was founded about the same time as the town, in an earlier church located at the same location.
The present church was completed in 1854 and the size of it reflects the prosperity of Whitesville in the pre-Civil War years.
Other Historical Markers in Harris County.
Politics
Like all of Georgia except Unionist non-plantation Fannin, Towns, Pickens and Gilmer counties, Harris County was ancestrally very Democratic. From the end of Reconstruction to 1980, it only supported a Republican twice, in 1964 (when Barry Goldwater carried the state in a landslide) and 1972 (during Richard Nixon's national landslide).
In 1984, however, the state swung from a 16.8 percent victory for Jimmy Carter to a nearly 20-point victory for Ronald Reagan. Since then, it has been one of the most Republican counties in Georgia. Indeed, 1984 is the last time that a Democrat has crossed the 40 percent mark. This trend largely coincides with Columbus' suburbs spilling into the county.
Points Of Interest
We already covered Callaway Gardens, which covers 14,000 acres of gardens and lakes on reclaimed land; Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park, which offers outdoor sporting activities and picnic areas; Wild Animal Safari, a 500-acre drive-through wild-animal park.
Other points of interest in the county include Butts Mill Farm, a reconstructed 1830s gristmill and farm offering horseback riding to visitors;
Butts Mill Farm is a restored 80-acre farm that welcomes tourists to relive the sights and sounds of a fully operational farm.
General Public/Private parties/corporate events with food, dancing, karoke and music.18 Hole Miniature Golf, 30 ft. Tiger Slide.
Petting zoo, bird santuary, 2 playgrounds. Hayrides, pony rides, train rides, & horseback riding.
Covered Bridge available for weddings.
Big Bear Farm is a fully operational Horse farm,set on 420 rolling acres. Offers something for everyone. Host several equestrian shows per year, shows are free and open to the public. This facility served as a training site for both summer olympics and paralympic games.
Breeding, training, and producing quality Connemara and Connemara Crosses since 1982.
Blanton Creek Park is a Georgia Power lake park. It is located on the shores of beautiful Lake Harding and adjoins Blanton Creek Wildlife Management Area.
Blanton Creek Park offers boat ramp, nature trail, camping, picnicking, fishing and access to all sorts of water sports activities. 80% of the camping sites have visibility of water at Lake Harding.
There are several lakes, including the 5,850-acre Lake Harding, which offers boating, water skiing, and fishing to visitors.
Island of Two Trees.
The Chattahoochee’s capacity to generate hydroelectric power was tapped in the early 20th century by dams such as the one at Morgan Falls, but not until the completion of Buford Dam in 1956 did the risk of flooding in the corridor wane.
It is during this time that Bartlett's Ferry Dam was built by the Columbus Power Company in the 1920s.
Thus forming Lake Harding.
Lake Harding covers the Chattahoochee and forms most of the western border of Harris County.
The hydroelectric dam and Lake Harding reservoir were later bought by Georgia Power in 1930.
Part of the lake's 156 miles of shoreline helps form the western border of the county.
Riverview Dam is a lowhead dam on the Chattahoochee River. The dam was built in 1918 to provide power for Riverview Textile Mill. The dam is currently owned by Georgia Power.
Georgia Power has applied for permission to remove Riverview Dam in 2023.
Langdale Dam is a lowhead dam on the Chattahoochee River just south of Langdale, Alabama.
The dam was built in 1908 to provide electricity for the former Langdale Mills, and is now owned and operated by Georgia Power. It produces an average of 1 megawatt of hydroelectric power. The river here lies entirely on the Georgia side of the state line, but the dam itself does enter into Alabama territory.
Georgia Power has applied for permission to remove Langdale Dam in 2023.
Notable people
Science fiction writer Michael Bishop,
Callaway Gardens founder Cason Jewell Callaway,
Georgia Militia Colonel Reuben J. Crews, father of C.C. Crews.
Charles Constantine Crews
U.S. congressman Hopkins Holsey,
Benjamin Franklin White, clerk of the Inferior Court of Harris County, and mayor of Whitesville, compiler of the shape note songbook known as The Sacred Harp. (See above)
Composer and pianist Thomas "Blind Tom" Wiggins,
Wow, that was an Energizer Bunny post, kept going and going. Today's GNW Gals are all named Harris.
Anastasia Harris
Sarah Harris
Danielle Harris
Danneel Harris
.