Volume 22, No. 4 • December 2004

Museum on Main

If you have a box, please consider donating it to the Troup County Historical Society for use in the new Museum. If you or a relative worked in Newman's Manufacturing Plant, please call us at 706-884-1828. We would love to know more details about your work experience.

FROM THE DIRECTOR

Local government archives touch people's lives more directly and more often than any other kind of records. The records may be school transcripts needed for a delayed birth certificate or for a job promotion. Or an individual may need a copy of a dismissed court warrant so they can clear their name or apply for professional certifications. Others may be seeking birth or death records for ancestors as they work on their family genealogy charts.

Periodically, a request comes in that reminds the staff at the Troup County Archives of just how much our work can affect people's lives. We had a call one afternoon asking what to do with an infant's tombstone that was found in the basement of a newly purchased house. A tombstone in a basement was a first for us but staff member and Troup County Historian Clark Johnson visited the home and checked on the name inscribed on the stone. The grave had been moved and a new marker placed which matched the parents' grave stones. The new marker did not have the baby's name, just dates. Happily the grave site now has both markers and the infant has been reunited with her name. The project took only an hour or two but it was the right thing to do.

In other cases this fall, separate individuals were trying to join the military and become a licensed realtor. Such applicants often have to obtain copies of student records. Both of these people had to have proof that charges made by the Police and Sheriff's Departments several years ago had been dismissed. One was a simple case while the other had numerous complications. Thanks to hard work by the applicant and by Archives and city and county government staff, these people were soon on their way to new careers. Another ongoing case this fall relates to Ada Copeland King. Ada was born a slave in West Point in 1862, eventually made her way to New York City, and married Clarence King who served as the first head of the National Geographic Society. King was white and the marriage was "hidden," though many of his rich and famous friends knew. A professor at Amherst College in Massachusetts is writing a biography of King and is diligently trying to find more information about Ada and her family. Alas, Ada has not been found in census records of 1870 or 1880. All efforts to determine who the slave-holding family was have proven fruitless. lf you have an Ada Copeland in your family who disappears in the late 1800s or is known to have gone to New York City, please contact me at kaye@trouparchives.org or 884-1828. Working with the researcher and with genealogist Ken Thomas, we feel there is more information to be found but a family contact would surely speed up the process.

Finally, two articles on the editorial page of the LaGrange Daily News on December 24, 2004, reminds us all of just how special LaGrange and Troup County are. In 2004, many individuals have worked hard to raise funds for Museum on Main: A History Museum for West Georgia and to plan the museum and its exhibits. The mission of MoM will be to tell the story of the people who have lived here through the generations - from Indian times to today and into the future. One reason why so many have contributed their time, effort, and money toward making the museum a reality is because we all know that LaGrange and Troup County are very special.

Ann Gaylord Badding now lives in Buffalo, New York, but is a native of LaGrange and wrote of "being home for Christmas, if only in my dreams," to quote the headline. Her parents have died and she has no relatives here but she remembers our town fondly. She writes, "It is during the holidays that I especially think back on my lovely hometown, and I often wonder if those people who choose to stay in LaGrange really know just how blessed they are to have made that choice." News editor Andrea Lovejoy who came to LaGrange in 1974, about the time Mrs. Badding was leaving, wrote more. She says "LaGrange is her hometown. And my hometown. We are both home for Christmas - but I don't have to dream." Here's to another year of working to preserve the story of the people who make this such a special place.

Kaye Minchew

MENABONI COLLECTION NOW OPEN

Menaboni was a native of Livorno, Italy, before moving to the United States. He settled in Atlanta in 1927. During his lifetime, Menaboni painted more than 150 species of birds. Time magazine compared Athos Menaboni to the artist John James Audubon, calling him "Audubon's heir." He also painted many murals in homes and businesses in Georgia and the South. His murals include the circus room murals in the Reynolds Mansion at Sapelo Island in Georgia. The Menaboni addition to the Callaway Gardens Collection is comprised of: correspondence, photographs, scrapbooks, and art.

BRIDGES ON DISPLAY

Troup County Bridges will be on display at the Troup County Archives through March 2005. Admission is free. The Troup County Archives is located at 136 Main Street in LaGrange.

YOUNG RESEARCHERS

RECENT ACCESSIONS AT THE ARCHIVES

Crawford, Bruce, LaGrange. Photographs and certificates of LaGrange attorney Raymond W. Martin and campaign button for Marvin Griffin.

Davis, Jane Crayton, LaGrange. Letters and clippings of Ethel Dallis Hill.

Dodson, Lennie L., Warrensville Ht., Ohio. Chips of Family Memories -- Descendants of Isaac David and Anne Ruff/Bell Martin.

Dunaway, Sarah O., Atlanta. Confederate Reminiscences and Letters. 1861-65. Volume XXI. Ferguson, Betty, LaGrange. Account ledger from grocery store operated by D. E. Phillips, 1890-1892.

Funk, David L & Mary K., LaGrange. WW II information of Andrew J. Alien.

Griffin, Jerry R. and Association of County Commissioners of Georgia, Atlanta. Temples of Justice: The Courthouses of Georgia.

Hairston, Mark, Jr., LaGrange. Plank from Glass Bridge.

Hammett, Mr. and Mrs. Paul, Columbus. Photographs of Callaway Mills Inspection Tour 1937, Hammett Furniture Co. and Render Bank employees; information on LaGrange Downtown Historic District.

Harper, Susan, Fort Worth, Texas. Letters from J. J. Haralson to Nina Rogers, 1919. Horvath, Louise C., LaGrange. "Family Puzzlers," October 1995-September 1997.

LaGrange College. Trophies from Callaway Educational Association.

Lee, Lois I., LaGrange. Rosemont School 7th grade class, 1947-48.

Lester, Betty, LaGrange. DAR Chapter Handbook, 2004-05.

Overcash, Raymond, LaGrange. Photograph of City-County Hospital, c.l 936. Patton, Mike, LaGrange. Building plans.

Swanson, Ed, LaGrange. LaGrange Freeze Plant thimble and City of LaGrange Tax Receipts, 1926.

Traylor, Donald E., LaGrange. Advertising souvenirs from LaGrange businesses, c. 1960s and 1970s.

Walters, Pat, LaGrange. Letters written to J. E. Dunson from his son, J. E. Dunson, Jr., a student at University of Georgia.

Wilcox, Bette A., Tucson, AZ. 1935 Helen Jackson Dance Review program.

Wilson, Mike, LaGrange. Dixie United Methodist Church sign.

MAKE YOUR RESOLUTIONS

• Digital memories do not last forever. If you have photographs on zip disks, 3 1/2 inch diskettes, or 5 inch floppies, try to open the files and save them onto a cd-rom or your hard drive - and do it now! Few people have a 5 inch floppy drive any more and 3 1/2 inch drives will soon be a thing of the past. Current archival research shows that cd-roms are more reliable for the long-term than DVDs. To really be on the safe side, make a duplicate copy of your cd-roms and store your backup set at the home of a trustworthy relative. The widespread use of digital cameras is making this a serious issue.
• Family portraits should be identified on the back of the portrait. If the portrait is framed, pencil in the information on the back side of the frame. You may know that Great-grandmother Suzie is in one picture and great-aunt Anne is in the other, but will your children or grandchildren know one picture from the other?
• Family information should be shared. If you have been working on your family tree for years, be sure relatives know where your materials are and consider donating a copy to the Archives!

MEMBERSHIP CAMPAIGN

Your membership monies help support History Day for middle school and high school students and Local History Workshops for Troup County Teachers. Other activities of the Historical Society supported by membership monies include our speakers program (In 2004, we had four excellent speakers address the Society) and supporting the local history library at the Troup County Archives. A major activity of the Historical Society is planning and fund raising for Museum on Main: A History Museum for West Georgia. The Society also supports student field trips to the Archives and to downtown LaGrange, placement of historical markers, and much more.

If you have not acted yet, please renew your membership now!

MUSEUM ON MAIN: UPDATE ON DONATIONS

$2000

1826 Society

$1000

We will list donations of $25 to $499 in a future issue of the newsletter.

Membership in the TROUP COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY is open to all people interested in preserving Troup County's heritage. Membership entitles you to a free subscription to the newsletter and invitations to Society functions. The Historical Society is a nonprofit agency. All memberships are tax-deductible. Mail checks to the Society at P.O. Box 1051, LaGrange, GA 30241. For membership info, click here.

ARTIFACT SPOTLIGHT

This newsletter is a quarterly publication of the Troup County Historical Society and Archives, 136 Main Street, P.O. Box 1051, LaGrange, GA 30241.

Officers:

Staff of the Archives: