8 November 1913: Veteran "Plainly and Harmlessly Drunk" Not Charged

On this day in 1913, the Athens Banner relayed this story about a police officer who took pity on one of their arrested men:

 

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The "iron badge of honor" likely refers to the Southern Cross of Honor bestowed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, starting in 1900. Few Confederate medals were awarded during the Civil War due to metal shortages, and at veterans reunion in Atlanta in 1898, Mary Ann Lamar Cobb Erwin proposed the UDC bestow honor medals to veterans. Sarah E. Gabbett of Atlanta designed the medal, which was approved the following year by the UDC. 

The first medal was awarded to Mrs. Erwin's husband, Judge Alexander S. Erwin of Athens, who had fought at Gettysburg during the war. The Cobb-Deloney Confederate Veterans passed a resolution that the Judge receive "the No. 1 medal," "this gift of honor to southern heroism and true Confederate gallantry."  

The UDC awarded crosses to 78,761 men between 1900 and 1913. It was against the law in some states (and still in Virginia) to wear a Southern Cross of Honor not bestowed to you, so the "unknown man" was probably a veteran of the Civil War, one who, like many, fell on hard times in the following years. 

Typically, a 360 violation cost the offender a $5.00 fine plus $1.25 in court costs, equivalent to $146.00 today. Many violators would pay such a fine over a period of weeks, $1 or $2 at a time. Those who did not have a steady income would be forced to work off the fine at 50 cents per day on public works projects in town, such as paving roads or installing the city's sewer system.


Learn More:

• Athens Banner, Oct. 1913 - Dec. 1913 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• History of Athens and Clarke County by H. J. Rowe in the Heritage and general collections.
• Oconee Hill Cemetery, Athens, Georgia, Volume I, by Charlotte Thomas Marshall in the Heritage and general collections.
• Roster of Confederate Graves, Georgia Division by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in the Heritage collection.
• Gettysburg: Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill by Harry W. Pfanz in the general collection.
• The Civil War: The First Year by Those Who Lived It by Brooks D. Simpson in the general collection.
• Mothers of Invention by Drew Gilpin Faust in the general collection.
• Southern Cross of Honor history page.

18 February 1890: Not Every "Romantic Marriage" Has a Storybook Ending

On this day in 1890, the Weekly Banner told this story of a local wedding ceremony held in town the previous week:

A ROMANTIC MARRIAGE.

Mr. Albert Henley Weds Miss Lula Crawford.

       Wednesday witnessed one of the happiest, as well as one of the most romantic weddings that Athens has seen for some time.

       Sudden in its ceremony and romantic in its nature, it caused no little interest to be aroused all over the city.
       Mr. Albert P. Henley, a prominent attorney of this city wedded Miss Lula Crawford, one of the pretiest [sic] and most estimable young ladies in Classic Athens.
       The wedding took place at 12 o'clock at the house of Mr. C. D. McKie, on Hancock avenue, Rev. W. D. Anderson performing the ceremonies. It was conducted in haste, as it is said that the Wedding had not met with general favor from relatives of the happy couple. Immediately after the marriage the couople were driven to the C. & M. train and left on a trip to Florida and the tropic lands, by orange trees shaded.
       Both parties are too well known to enter into narrations of their lives. They were popular and much beloved by those who knew them intimately. The congratulations and good wishes of hosts of friends attend through life.   

--Weekly Banner, 18 February 1890, p. 7, col. 3.

The day the announcement appeared in the newspaper, the couple's marriage license was recorded in the Clarke County Ordinary Court:

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Sadly, when looking in the 1900 U.S. Census to see how the couple was faring a decade after they wed, Mrs. Henley was listed as a widow, living with her two daughters, 9-year-old Frances and 4-year-old Hiram (who was named for her uncle).  


By checking the Heritage Room's Guide to Microfilmed Records and the Digital Library of Georgia's Athens Historic Newspaper Archive, the fate of Albert Henley was revealed to be suicide by pistol on or about 3 February 1896. The account in the Weekly Banner paints a sad story of a promising life cut short:

       Then came the tempter to the young man in the shape of the wine cup and he yielded to its blandishments. The thirst for strong drink got the advantage of him and he went from bad to worse, despite his own efforts and those of friends to save him. His wife and two little girls were compelled to separate from him on account of his habits.

--Weekly Banner, 7 February 1896, p. 1, col. 7.

In a note he left for his law partner, former Athens Mayor and Clarke County Representative Henry C. Tuck, Albert Henley asked that his clothes be given to his servant, his pocket watch to his brother in Greene County, and that he be buried in Oconee Hill Cemetery. He also "wrote in the tenderest manner of his wife, and ended up by writing, 'God bless my children.'"


Mary Lou, or "Lula" Henley took over her brother's part in the wholesale grocery business Webb & Crawford after his death, and lived on Cobb Street until a fire destroyed her home there in August, 1902. She remarried in December, 1902, to William D. Beecham, and in 1903, after selling her part in the grocery business, joined the Athens Women's Club. 


With her new husband, Mary Lou had two sons, William D. Beecham, Jr. in 1904 and Jack G. Beecham in 1906. Her daughter Frances had a lively time as a student at Lucy Cobb Institute, often appearing on the Athens newspapers' society pages until her marriage to Harry Woodruff of Columbus, Georgia, in 1913. 


To trace the family over time, it was important to look for Mary Lou in the 1900 Census when Albert could not be found. In later years, tracing with the children's names became useful, when William was listed simply as "W.D." and "Beecham" often spelled as "Beacham." 


The 1910 U.S. Census gives the Henley daughters' last name as "Beacham," even though they are listed as step-daughters to William, but a quick scan of the Athens newspapers from that time indicates this was a mistake by the census taker, not that William had adopted the girls. In 1920 and 1930 Censuses, Hiram is properly listed as "Hiram Henley," still living with her mother and step-brothers. Hiram would never marry. 




Learn More:

• Weekly Banner, Jan. 1890 - Dec. 1890 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Ordinary Court. Clarke County, Georgia. Marriage Book H, 1881 - 1890 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 U.S. Censuses in Ancestry Library Edition via GALILEO.
• Oconee Hill Cemetery, Athens, Georgia, Volume I, by Charlotte Thomas Marshall in the Heritage and general collections.
• For Our Mutual Benefit: The Athens Women's Club and Social Reform, 1899-1920 in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• Clarke County, Georgia Marriage Records, 1803-1909, compiled by Faye Stone Poss and Ted O. Brooke in the Heritage and general collections.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• Returns and Mixed Records, Book GG, 1881 -1956, on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Records of Clarke County, Georgia, 1801-1892 in the Georgia Department of Archives and History, compiled by Robert Scott Davis in the Heritage collection.
• Red Book: American State, County, & Town Sources by Alice Eichholz in the Heritage collection.
• Courthouse Research for Family Historians by Christine Rose in the general collection.
• Unpuzzling Your Past by Emily Anne Croom in the Heritage collection.

6 October 1891: Dispensary Rules Published

On this day in 1891, the Weekly Banner-Watchman published the rules for the new Athens Dispensary, which had opened earlier in the week. It also reprinted their daily paper story about the opening with the title "Presto, Change!"

The Athens Dispensary was the city's solution to the alcohol problem in Clarke County. Athens had tried prohibition, only to find that crime and unruly behavior were as much a problem as ever, and corrupted black market liquor was causing health issues and deaths. The Dispensary would both guarantee that only high quality liquor was sold within the county and bring in much needed revenue.  

The law establishing the Athens Dispensary was passed by the Georgia legislature the previous August. By mid-September, Dispensary commissioners were doing "quality testing" for products to be sold by the city, with tests run by UGA Chemistry Department head,  Dr. H. C. White. The Dispensary doors opened on September 29. 1891, at 7 o'clock in the morning. In the first few days, the Dispensary averaged between $200-300 in sales per day, but the level of intake was not expected to keep at the pace of newly available alcohol.

Once Athens was in the alcohol business, fines for selling unauthorized alcohol increased dramatically. Disorderly conduct, including keeping a lewd house, may bring a fine of $5-50 in the Mayor's Court, but those arrested as blind tigers faced fines in the hundreds of dollars, or no fine option at all, just labor at 50 cents per day installing the city's new paved streets, and sewer and water systems, with materials purchased with funds from the Dispensary. 

The Athens Dispensary went out of business on New Year's Eve, 1907, the day before state-wide prohibition went into effect. They had record sales that day, and several frequent disorderly conduct prisoners were given prison sentences that lasted until the Dispensary's 7pm closing time. Georgia would not repeal prohibition until 1935, and even now, some counties within the state remain "dry."

Learn More:

• Weekly Banner, Jan. 1891 - Jun. 1892 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• Athens, Georgia: A Pictorial History by James K. Reap in the Heritage and general collections.
• Chemistry at the University of Georgia by W. H. Waggoner in the general collection.
• Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent in the general collection.
• Prohibition by Ken Burns on Georgia Public Broadcasting.
• Alcohol: The World's Favorite Drug by Griffith Edwards in the general collection.
• Irish Toasts, Curses and Blessings by Padraic O'Farrell in the general collection.
• Battling Demon Rum: The Struggle for a Dry America, 1800-1933 by Thomas R. Pegram in the general collection.
• Cheers! 1,024 Toasts and Sentiments for Every Occasion by Kevin P. McDonald in the general collection.
• Farewell, John Barleycorn: Prohibition in the United States by Martin Hintz in the general collection.
• Alcohol: Customs and Rituals by Thomas Babor in the general collection.
• A History of the World in Six Glasses by Tom Standage in the general collection.
• Wettest County in the World: A Novel Based on a True Story by Matt Bondurant in the fiction collection.