Monday, February 18, 2013
Last month I shared this story regarding how Douglas County had a candidate for U.S. President among her citizens at one time. His name was William D. Upshaw.
Last month I shared this story regarding how Douglas County had a candidate for U.S. President among her citizens at one time. His name was William D. Upshaw. This week I’m sharing more about his family. After putting together various bits of research I’ve gathered regarding the Upshaw family it’s very easy to draw a few conclusions. Like any family they had their fair share of trials and tribulations, there was hard work and success as well, but not many families can boast a U.S. Congressman in their line, as well as successful businessmen and a former mayor of Douglasville. The father of the family was Isaac David Upshaw who was born on February 19, 1834 in Walton County, Georgia. By 1850, his parents had died, and the census that year …
Monday, February 11, 2013
The area at that time was a wilderness with few folks in the area. It was a full thirty years before Douglas County would exist and at that time the city of Douglasville wasn’t even a thought.
Anneewakee Creek rises to the south of Douglasville and runs southeastward to join the Chattahoochee River at a point a little downstream and opposite the site of the old town of Campbellton. The name is from the Cherokee language -- possibly from a Cherokee family name. Some researchers think members of this family might have lived along the creek. However, I need to point out Anneewakee Creek actually flows through land that was part of the Creek Nation….not the Cherokee. A Cherokee name in Creek Country is not so strange because around 1815 Cherokees were under the impression they would be able to settle on Creek lands as far south as today’s Heard County. In fact, there was a section of land designated as no-man’s land that ran from …
Monday, December 10, 2012
Few residents have heard of Andrew Bryan but he played a major role in the history of Douglas County.
Editor's note: Lisa Cooper's newest work can be found at douglascountyhistory.blogspot.com. I have been in love with small town courthouses since I was a little girl. I love the similarities and differences in architecture, I love the stories regarding the folks who worked in the building, the records the building holds and the life and death decisions made in them, and I love the attention the building garners just because it’s in the middle of town. Simply put,,.. in my opinion …courthouses make a town. Wilbur W. Caldwell states it best in his book The Courthouse and the Depot: The Architecture of Hope in an Age of Despair when he states, “Courthouses, more than any other building of the era [between 1870 and 1910] symbolize the …
Monday, November 19, 2012
O'Neal Plaza is the perfect space to honor a man who gave his time and devotion to our city.
Editor's note: Lisa Cooper's newest work can be found at douglascountyhistory.blogspot.com. Over the last few weeks as I have been researching this week’s topic I would throw the name W.S. O’Neal out to various Douglasville citizens. Over and over again I was met with the same response. “Oh, what a nice man.” “A great man.” “He was always nice to me when I was a kid.” “He’s well thought of.” The reactions were so positive from long time residents I am very sorry I never got the chance to meet him, however, we remember him even if we didn’t actually know Mr. O’Neal simply because his imprint is all over Douglasville in so many different areas. O’Neal came to Douglasville from Haralson County and Standing Rock, Alabama where he was born…
Monday, October 1, 2012
There was no shortage of physicians during Douglasville’s early days.
Editor's note: Lisa Cooper's newest work can be found at douglascountyhistory.blogspot.com. Dysentery is more than just an upset stomach. During the late 1800s you could die from the intestinal disease. It still causes problems in various parts of the world today, and without proper medical care you and I could succumb to it as well. Folks worried about it so much the local paper here in Douglasville carried an article with the following cure for the malady which could be purchased for 15 cents back in 1885. The recipe called for 3 drachms (one eighth of a fluid ounce) of prepared chalk, 3 drachms white sugar, 1/6 oz. paregoric, and 1 drachma prepared gum Arabic. The directions advised adults should be given 1 Tablespoon every two hours …
Monday, September 24, 2012
You don't have to travel far to take a fantastic journey (back in time).
- LOCAL CONNECTIONS
- Lisa Cooper
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Monday, September 24, 2012
Editor's note: Lisa Cooper's newest work can be found at douglascountyhistory.blogspot.com. Suddenly I found myself turning into the parking lot of the Douglas County Courthouse. Most people only visit their local courthouse when they have some sort of business to conduct–a deed to record, taxes to pay, or jury duty. I’m a little different. Courthouses are a real draw for me for many different reasons. During my college years I spent a few months working as a junior clerk for the Superior Court of Cherokee County recording deeds and other documents. I followed that with an eighteen year career as a paralegal and eventually owned my own legal research business. Let’s just say I’m one of those people who get excited over a record …
Monday, September 17, 2012
It's still standing after all these years.
Editor's note: Lisa Cooper's newest work can be found at douglascountyhistory.blogspot.com. Last week my topic was the lawsuit that birthed the location and name of our fair city and how it took two elections to finally settle the location of our county seat. During my research I stumbled over the fact that the very month and year Douglas County was birthed in October, 1870 our state legislature passed the Common School Act statewide. Prior to 1870, the state allocated monies to academies in various counties. The academies were more like higher education institutions since they taught Latin, Greek, English literature and higher forms of mathematics. The students at the academies tended to be members of the wealthier families since tuition…
Monday, September 3, 2012
How the county’s first legal action birthed Douglasville. Every Now and Then is a column featuring a little piece of Douglas County history.
Editor's note: Lisa Cooper's newest work can be found at douglascountyhistory.blogspot.com. Gather two or more people together in one community and it won’t be long before the disagreements begin. It’s inevitable. We are human. Our great city of Douglasville began under a cloud of disagreement including a major lawsuit that went all the way to the Georgia Supreme Court. Head on over to the Douglas County Courthouse and find the very first court docket book dating back to the 1870s. The first entry will advise the first Defendants in the county happened to be the Douglas County Commissioners, and the lawsuit concerned the location of the county seat. The Georgia General Assembly issued an act on October 17, 1870 creating Douglas County…
Monday, August 27, 2012
A time of rapid growth for Douglasville. Every Now and Then is a column featuring a little piece of Douglas County history.
Editor's note: Lisa Cooper's newest work can be found at douglascountyhistory.blogspot.com. When I was a tween and teen in the 1970s we were in love with the 1950s. My girlfriends and I loved to look at our images from that time and fell in love with the clothing and the music. The long swinging skirts, the bobby-sox and saddle oxfords, the pony tails for girls and the slicked back hair for the boys seemed like great fun for us. I can remember having days set aside at school to dress in the 50s style. The music was fun and reminded us of a time when boys and girls touched hands while they danced and girls were twirled this way and that. Our generation was so in love with the 50s we heartily welcomed movies like American Graffiti and stage…
Monday, August 20, 2012
It's still standing after all these years. Every Now and Then is a column featuring a little piece of Douglas County history.
Editor's note: Lisa Cooper's newest work can be found at douglascountyhistory.blogspot.com. Last week my topic was the lawsuit that birthed the location and name of our fair city and how it took two elections to finally settle the location of our county seat. During my research I stumbled over the fact that the very month and year Douglas County was birthed in October, 1870 our state legislature passed the Common School Act statewide. Prior to 1870, the state allocated monies to academies in various counties. The academies were more like higher education institutions since they taught Latin, Greek, English literature and higher forms of mathematics. The students at the academies tended to be members of the wealthier families since …
Dick Jones
11:54 am on Monday, September 24, 2012
You do good work, Lisa Cooper. Every time that I am at the courthouse, I drive my family nuts because I almost always stop to read off of the history that lines the walls. You are doing something truly important because when history is forgotten, something dies within all of us as a community. more ›