Volume 18, no. 2 • July 2000HISTORY DAY WINNERSQUESTION: What does Lucille Ball and “I Love Lucy” have in common with the Civil Rights movement or with integration of schools in Troup County or with an issue which the United States examined just this month - Miranda Rights. ANSWER: These are the topics researched and presented by the NINE National History Day competitors from Troup County. With a theme of Turning Points in History, this year’s local contest produced a wide variety of topics in the categories of research paper, dramatic presentation, media, and projects. The students are all in the middle grades. Representing West Side Magnet School were: Meg Greer, Denver Pittman, Sherika & Terika Smith, Kelsey McClain, Jessica Hopps, Lindsey Wallace, and their teacher Andrea Moncus. Students from LaGrange Academy are: Brooke Oliver and Mark Belcher. Congratulations to all the students. Our students are all winners though none won the national contest! We hope they have gained a greater appreciation for history and we know they will benefit from the experiences of doing primary research and meeting other students at the local, state, and national level. The Troup County Historical Society cosponsors the district History Day contest with LaGrange College. The Society contributes a small donation towards the expenses of attending the contest at the University of Maryland. Of course, there is no time to rest on the laurels of having nine students attend the national contest or of having many, many excellent entries in the local contest. The staff of the Archives is already planning for next year’s contest. The theme is “Frontiers in History: People, Places, and Ideas.” The local contest is open to all middle and high school children. For more information, contact Kaye Minchew or Charles Kelly at the Troup County Archives. FROM THE DIRECTORSummer 2000 is a busy time for the Troup County Historical Society and Archives. Large numbers of researchers alway seems to appear during the summer months while they travel on summer vacations, get ready for family reunions, or just find their way inside our doors. Researchers have included a descendant of the President of LaGrange College between 1872 and 1874 (James Thomas Johnson), members of the Troup Family (descendants of Gov. George Michael Troup’s brother), and several people who have been in e-mail contact with Clark Johnson and other staff members of the Archives. One of these e-mails came from a man in Australia asking about local Methodist church history. Though we have been getting e-mail reference requests for over four years, we are still amazed to e-mail back and forth around the world! Adding to the business of these summers days is the fact that the Archives has new carpeting! We have replaced the carpeting on the first and second floors while maintaining all reference services. A couple of researchers moved carefully amidst the carpet installers as they used our library to do genealogical research. The new carpet looks wonderful and we are happy to have the installation behind us. We also think that perhaps we should celebrate the fact that we have been in the Archives’ building long enough to need new carpeting -- eighteen years of use had made itself apparent on our floors! Finally, genealogical researchers on summer research trips remind us that we need to be careful with our documentation Future generations will thank us for identifying people in photographs and for carefully saving those photos. They will also appreciate our noting birth and death dates, locations of births, marriages, and burials and other such details of life. They may bless your names for videotaping family outings AND identifying the contents of the tape, location, and place. If you want to be an even better family historian, you will write descriptions of individuals that you know or remember and describe significant events. Having the details to flesh out the names and dates brings people and places to life and makes them real for future generations. One e-mail this summer wanted to know the final resting place of a woman who died in 1838. We have a brief obituary which appeared in a Columbus newspaper but we have no idea of where she is buried. We actually have relatively few graves before 1840. Her grave may have never been marked, time and weather may have made the marker unreadable, or the grave may be hidden in the woods somewhere. Our researcher e-mailed asking, “Short of walking through every cemetery in Troup County...”, how do I find her? We pointed out that walking through every cemetery might not help since Dorothy McClendon and her group prepared the Family, Church, and Community Cemeteries of Troup County. Short of finding another relative who knows where the woman is buried or getting lucky and finding it through more research. Unfortunately, we could not offer any other pointers to this researcher, but we can repeat the suggestions made earlier in this column: document your family! And share this documentation with other members of your family and with the Troup County Archives. One final thought, as July 4th nears, we should all remember those brave people who fought and won the American Revolution. They sacrificed much for their ideals of freedom We should all thank them! Kaye L. MinchewJULIUS L. SCHAUB LUNCHEONOn Friday, June 16th, a full room of fifty or so members of the Troup County Historical Society, descendants of J. L. Schaub, and interested members of the public gathered for barbecue and a closer look at one of LaGrange’s preeminent photographers. Despite the fact that Schaub died eighty-nine years ago, his impact is still felt through his photographs and through the memoirs he wrote about his experiences in the Civil War. Lawrence Hunter, a great grandson of Schaub’s from Plano, Texas, told the group about his ancestor and his experiences in many of the battles which occurred between 1861 and 1865. Several other family members attended as well, including LaGrange residents Virginia Jordan and Lois Mahaffey. Nan Ledbetter, the oldest granddaughter in attendance, presented the Troup County Historical Society with a beautiful oil portrait of Schaub made by his daughter and her mother Mattie Schaub about 1910. The portrait, still in its original frame, has survived the ninety years in wonderful condition and will hang in the Troup County Archives. Though the Archives building, as well as most of the buildings in downtown located away from the Square area, were not constructed when Schaub died in 1911, Schaub would be able to find his way around town. Many of the same streets are still in use, though automobile traffic has increased while passenger train traffic has ended. The Square is still the center of town (but with a fountain and not the courthouse), the old jail is still a popular spot - but with art lovers instead of criminals, and Broad Street and Vernon Road still have many beautiful homes. We think Schaub would be happy to know he was coming back home! An exhibit of Schaub’s photos are on display at the Troup County Archives until October. Information from his journals will be added to the exhibit in August.
 Gathered round the portrait of Julius L. Schaub are four of his granddaughters and a great-great-grandson. They are, left to right, Virginia Jordan, Jo Clayton, Lawrence Hunter, Nan Ledbetter, and Lois Mahaffey. The portrait now hangs at the Troup County Archives. STAFF DEVELOPMENTS AT THE ARCHIVESThe summer of 2000 has seen a couple of new faces at the Troup County Archives. Paul Wetherington, II, is our new processing archivist. Paul recently graduated summa cum laude from LaGrange College and was the Phi Alpa Theta history student of the year. His primary duty at the Archives is processing manuscript collections -- both large collections like adding and updating the LaGrange College inventory or the Callaway Gardens materials and describing smaller collections. The goal in processing collections is for staff to have in-depth knowledge of the kind of materials we have at the Archives AND for researchers to be able to determine what collections will benefit their research. For more information of collections, see page 7. Paul also assists with reference. Paul is the son of Paul and Susan Wetherington and a graduate of Troup High School. He and Kim Harris will be married this August. He is a full-time staff member. Two Troup High tenth graders are working at the Archives part-time. Jeremy Mack is working on a special documentary project. Forrest Johnson, IV, is helping with indexing of 1999 and 2000 LaGrange Daily News. He is also microfilming records this summer. Jeremy also volunteers at West Georgia Medical Center while Forrest has been busy with Troup High football practice. Finally, Michelle Horton has joined us for the summer as a research assistant. Michelle is a graduate of Troup High School (we suddenly have a large contingent of Troup High folks) and is a rising junior at Georgia State University. She is majoring in public relations and minoring in political science. We asked her to share a few of her thoughts about working at the Troup County Archives -- we gave her no guidelines other than “write something!” Her comments follow: SUMMER JOBby Michelle D. Horton
My first day at the Archives I was somewhat tested of my knowledge of the local history. Needless to say I flunked when I asked the amazing question, “Who is Horace King?” The room suddenly became silent and all eyes were fixed on me. Someone asked, “You don’t know who Horace King is?” I said “NO.” In high school no one mentioned Horace King in World History class or Social Studies. From that moment on I pledged that I would learn about my local history, which would benefit me while I am working here this summer. Now, if anyone asks me who is Horace King and what did he accomplish, I am quick to answer. So, if you come into the Archives this summer and you see me at my usual spot, the microfilm reader or using large bound newspaper volumes, do not hesitate to come and ask me a question. I am sure that I will know the answer - especially, if the question pertains to local history. BITS AND PIECES FROM ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEWS
MS. AULT: What an intensive study.... DR. ROSS: But China was a very interesting country to serve in the military, we were probably the very beginning of what they call the Green Beret. We were not active in the fighting part of it. The Japanese were still occupying a large part of China, but the Chinese Army depended on us for guidance, for instruction in tactics, and training in American weapons. And at this time we were supplying them with American weapons. So they needed somebody to teach them how to take the weapons apart and put them together and fix them and so forth and that was what we did. After serving in China for two years, as you well know, VJ came along, the Japanese were defeated and then VE day came along in the European theater, the Americans and allies were successful. So I was returned to the United States and while I was in the army and stationed there in China, I got to know the dentist at that station and we became good friends. And he told me a lot about dentistry. He took me into his office and showed me all the things that they do and I had always been fairly good with my hands and I loved to cartoon and draw and paint. So I felt like maybe I should go into dentistry instead of medicine and he assured me I would not be making a mistake. And I sat down and wrote a letter to Emory University applying - while I was in the army, I had been stationed at Fort Benning and got to know ... Georgia quite well and I liked Georgia, much about it reminded me of my country in India [where he grew up]... So I went to Emory School of Dentistry for four years and thoroughly enjoyed it. And after graduating came to LaGrange where I had come to - I had come to LaGrange several times while I was at Fort Benning and I liked the town and I started practicing in LaGrange and I hate to tell you how long ago that was, but that was fifty years ago. MS. AULT: What was LaGrange like fifty years ago? DR. ROSS: Well, it was a much smaller town and very friendly and the people were all seemingly hard working and pleasant and my appreciation of LaGrange increased day by day. [Special thanks to Dr. Ross for doing this interview, Ethyl Ault for conducting it, and Jay Funk, a volunteer at the Archives who does our transcriptions!] RECENT ACCESSIONS AT THE TROUP COUNTY ARCHIVESArcheological Survey & Site Testing on Proposed US 27 & I-85 Connector; donated by GA DOT. Beane & McTyre Families for vertical file, donated by Charles S Compton Callaway Educational Association Photos, donated by Janice Stogner, LaGrange. DAR - Chapter Minutes, 1919-1960 & 1994-98, Scrapbooks, 1997-2000, placed on deposit by club. Estes Family, (Lyddall Estes descendants) for vertical file, donated by Cecil York, Greenville. First Methodist Church of LaGrange, yearbooks & history donated by Thelma White, LaGrange. Greene, Katherine Hyde, Collection of slides, photos & clippings, donated by Ruth Perdue & Newman family, LaGrange. Harris, Joseph Henry, Diary, 1860-1865, donated by Jim Harris, Lincoln, NE, transcript & photos. From Troup & Chambers Counties. Hobbs Family in Georgia Census, donated by Carol J. Barrow, Atlanta, GA Index to 1860 Georgia Federal Census, second copy donated by Martha Anderson, LaGrange. Jarrell Family Bibles, copies of family information, donated by Betty Banks J. Oetgen, Madison, AL. LaGrange College - 1900 Catalog, donated by Jack Tarver Library, Macon College, Macon, GA. Making of a Southerner by Katherine duPre Lumpkin, 1991, donated by Martha Thom, LaGrange. Surname Index, Orange County, CA, Genealogical Society donated by Nancy Hathaway, Yorba Linda, CA Wallace, John - The State of GA vs., 1940s-1950s, donated by Memorial Library, LaGrange, transcript & info on case. RECENTLY PROCESSED COLLECTIONSPaul Wetherington, II, recently joined the staff of the Troup County Archives and has been busy processing collections. To process a collection, he may organize the materials, put papers in acid-free folders and boxes, remove rusty paper clips and staples, and describe the papers and photographs. An inventory is produced which contains the description and gives a researcher an idea of what will be found in the collection. Written inventories for these and other collections are on file at the Archives and can be found on our website at http://www.trouparchives.org Collections include: He is currently working on updating the LaGrange College inventory and is processing other collections. Charles Kelly, our photo archivist, has recently prepared an inventory to the photographs and slides of MS 2000-02, the Katherine Hyde Greene Collection. Mrs. Greene died in February of this year and left behind a rich collection of slides and photographs made in this area and the South. She took many photographs of covered bridges, historic homes, special events in the mid-twentieth century, and gardens in Georgia, Alabama and elsewhere. All of these collections are open to the public and can be used at the Troup County Archives at 136 Main Street in LaGrange. Photocopies can be made to assist researchers who live in distant places. If you know of collections which should be in the Troup County Archives, please call the Director, Kaye L. Minchew, 706-884-1828. SPOTLIGHT:Dr. Leland M. Park, of North Carolina, donated this plantation desk of Benjamin Tarpley Harris’s to the Troup County Historical Society this March. The desk may have been made in Meriwether County and was certainly used there beginning in the 1840s. Dr. Park gave this desk in memory of his great-great grandfather, Col. Harris. Dr. Park donated a square piano and a sofa to the Archives earlier this year. The desk is on display at the Troup County Archives reading room.
136 Main Street, P.O. Box 1051, LaGrange, GA 30241.
Officers: President - Karen Scarborough Board of Trustee Representative - Charles D. Hudson Staff of the Archives: Director - Kaye Lanning Minchew
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Working at the Troup County Archives for the summer has become an educational experience more than a working experience. In high school I took all the required history courses; yet, I knew nothing about the history of my own community. Sure, I knew a little about the local history, but I soon learned that I did not know enough.
Dr. Richard Ross: I was born in Hydrabad, India, in 1918. And my father was a Methodist missionary who went to India in 1910 and he took his wife with him. They were school teachers in western Kansas and he decided to go into the ministry so he went to seminary for a couple of years and then they put into the mission board to be sent someplace as missionaries and there was an opening in India so they were sent to India.... I learned to speak Hindustani, and as the custom was in India, the missionaries hired what they called an Ia, an Indian woman, to help look after the children and she was a Telegal woman so I learned to speak Telegal from her...I went to the Indian schools.... I returned to the United States and went back to Kansas and went to college in Kansas and after graduating, I went up to Hiawatha, Kansas and was an assistant coach and I taught physics and biology. I had taken what they call a pre-med degree. I wanted to go on into medicine. I taught there for two years and thoroughly enjoyed the teaching,...Then the Japanese became rambunctious and bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, December 7th as you remember and I knew that I would have to go into the army. So in due time, August 4th, I did answer the army and I was in the army about four years. Two of those years in spent in China. I was stationed in China. I didn’t speak Chinese but the army saw fit to send me to Yale and there were ten of us and we studied Chinese from 8:00 o’clock in the morning until 5:00 o’clock in the evening for six months and then they sent us to China.