23 May 1907: Injured Odd Fellows Return to Athens

On this day in 1907, Athens residents who had been hospitalized in Macon after surviving  a Central of Georgia Railway train wreck on May 20th, returned to their homes. The announcement ran in the Weekly Banner:

 

According to news reports, other Athenians injured in the wreck were A. C. Bishop (shoulder), F. H. Bowden (cuts on head and left shoulder), A. B. Harper (left hip), H. L. Garabald (general shake-up), R. L. Bramlett (right leg and shoulder), J. W. Baker (bruised on head), and J. W. Fox (sprained left knee).  

The No. 18 train from Athens was 20 minutes from it's next stop in Macon when it derailed at a speed of 30 to 35 miles per hour (reports vary).  On board were approximately 50 passengers, including a special coach with a delegation of Odd Fellows members from Athens and area towns en route to the week-long state convention in Columbus. After being checked by doctors, those passengers not hospitalized continued on to the state convention.

The wreck was described in the Macon Twice-A-Week Telegraph:

As the engine struck the curve two miles south of Hillsboro the rails turned, probably caused by the weight of the engine coming around the curve. The locomotive, however, was over the rail before it had turned sufficient to throw it and so escaped. The three coaches were hurled about ten feet from the track, the first and last being badly smashed and the second, somehow, miraculously escaping damage and being laid intact against the embankment at the side of the track.

It was first thought impossible that the coaches could be so completely wrecked and yet no one have met their death, and all were greatly relieved when it was verified none had been killed. This was all the more miraculous as the train was unusually crowded because of the Odd Fellow's party.

The morning after the wreck, a short Atlanta Georgian and News update noted that "no cause is known for the Hillsboro wreck other than it was a derailment on a sharp curve." In 1907, train accidents were fairly common across the country, and this particular accident had too few injuries to garner much media attention.

The Independent Order of the Odd Fellows began in England, and were established in the United States in 1819 in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1851, they became "the first national fraternity to include women" with the establishment of the Rebekah Degree. They still exist today, with 10,000 lodges in 26 countries, working toward their mission "To visit the sick, relieve the distressed, bury the dead, and educate the orphan."

Learn More:

• Weekly Banner, Jan. 1906 - Dec. 1908 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• Macon Telegraph Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• Atlanta Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• Central of Georgia Railway Album by W. Forrest Beckum, Jr. and Albert M. Langley, Jr. in the Heritage collection.
• Central of Georgia Railway Steam Locomotive and Trains by James H. Goolsby, Jr. and Albert M. Langley, Jr. in the Heritage and general collections.
• 1909 Athens City Directory in the Heritage collection.
• 1904 Athens City Directory in the Heritage collection.
• Inside Secret Societies by Michael Bensen in the general collection.
• Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community by Robert D. Putnam, available through PINES.
• Station to Station by Steven Parissien in the general collection.
• Zephyr: Tracking a Dream across America by Henry Kisor in the general collection.
• Great American Rail Journeys by John Grant in the general collection.
• Making Tracks: An American Rail Odyssey by Terry Pindell in the general collection.
• Tom Mouse by Ursula K. LeGuin in the children's picture book collection.
• From a Railway Carriage by Robert Louis Stevenson in the children's picture book collection.

27 July 1882: Michael Brothers Open for Business

On this day in 1882, Simon and Moses G. Michael went into the dry goods business as Michael Brothers. Simon was 23 and M. G. was 20. Their store was on the corner of Jackson and Broad Streets, taking half a floor of a two-story wooden building that also housed the city jail and police court.

Within three years, their business grew large enough that they needed the whole building, so the police court and jail moved. They added wholesale to their retail business, and hired traveling salesmen to visit stores in smaller towns in the region. Five years later they built a larger, three-story brick building on the site, staying open during construction by renting sales space in the Athens Hardware building.

In 1893, they moved to the corner of Jackson and Clayton Streets. They had razed the two-story wooden laundry building on the lot to erect a five-story stone building that took up one-third of the block along Clayton Street. The first two floors were dedicated to department-store style retail, and the rest of the building used for wholesale goods. They shared the block between Jackson and Wall Streets with the Athens post office. The new building featured gas lighting and an hydraulic elevator.

When the post office moved in 1905, the Michael Brothers bought the lot and built another two-story building, taking up another third of the block facing Clayton Street. They moved their retail business to the smaller building so they could devote all five stories of the 1893 building to their wholesale business. Their slogan was "Michael Brothers: Since 1882, the Store Good Goods Made Popular."

In 1921, a fire began in the Max Joseph building at the corner of Clayton and Wall Streets. Also present in that building was automobile retailer Denny Motor Company, which had drums of petroleum stored on the first floor. Within 45 minutes, the fire had consumed the Joseph building and both Michael Brothers establishments, even melting coins held in the safe. The brothers noted after the fire that "The commercial monument which we have striven through thirty-nine years to erect was licked up in almost thirty-nine minutes by the cruel tongue of fire and flame."

Total losses to downtown businesses was estimated at $2 million, with at least half borne by Simon and M.G Michael. They announced immediately that they would rebuild, and that they needed more space anyway. Never ones to let construction interfere with the business, they set up temporary offices at the Georgian Hotel within a week of the fire, announcing their location in newspaper ads that noted, "We have lost our store buildings and our stock of merchandise--we are deeply thankful that we have not lost a single friend." They also promised that "The Michael method of merchandising will be maintained in every respect."

The new building opened in summer of 1922. It was Athens' first building with overhead sprinklers. It also featured a classic design with giant, electrically illuminated display windows and walnut paneling on the walls, showcases, counters, and back storage units. Men's furnishings were to the immediate left of the front door, with stationery and books in the section behind; women's cosmetics, jewelry, and accessories were to the immediate right of the door. The building also featured large ceiling and wall fans to keep the air circulating and cool.

Each brother focused on a different area of the business. Simon ran the wholesale side, managing sales to other stores of ready-to-wear clothing, sewing items, accessories, and home furnishings. M. G. ran the public department store with sales of clothing, furs, millinery, costume jewelry, sewing supplies and notions, books, stationery, linens, glassware, lamps, rugs, drapes, toys, and small appliances. Their tailoring department employed in-house seamstresses who could alter or create clothing for customers, and do customized upholstery and other items for the home. Certain departments, such as women's shoes, leased space to outside companies. By the 1930s, the Mezzanine level added a hairdressing department. Every July, they had a store-wide anniversary sale.

Many employees of the Michael Brothers stayed with the organization for their entire careers. They found Simon and M.G. to be "fair, honest, and concerned about employees individually, as people with their own lives to lead." They treated all their customers with respect and kindness, allowing them to add to their unpaid account balances during the lean years of the boll weevil and the Depression, even as Georgia's economic decline brought the end to their wholesale business.

Both brothers were involved in Athens' civic life and were strong advocates for the city. Simon was a member of the City Bond Commission, and M.G. spent many years on the Board of Education, served as president of the Athens Chamber of Commerce, and helped organize Athens Lodge 790 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks. Both families were active members of the Congregation Children of Israel and the Red Cross. They also had other business interests in Athens, purchasing and running the Colonial Theatre, owning other commercial real estate in town, and Simon served as Director of the National Bank of Athens.

During WWII, the third floor of the department store was converted for housing cadets from the U. S. Navy pre-flight base and soldiers brought to town for the signal training corp by installing bathrooms with showers. Michael Brothers Department Store also acted as a blood bank, hosted meetings and collection drives, and promoted War Bonds.

Sons of the original owners took over the business in 1942, but the third generation of Michaels were not interested in retail. The business was sold to Davison's in April, 1953. The 1921 building now houses private offices, Doc Chey's Noodle House, Mellow Mushroom pizza, the UGA Graduate School, and a mezzanine level event space.

Learn More:

• A Postcard History of Athens, Georgia by Gary L. Doster in the Heritage and general collections.
• Oconee Hill Cemetery, Athens, Georgia, Volume I by Charlotte Thomas Marshall in the Heritage and general collections.
• A Store's Story: Michael Brothers Inc. of Athens, Georgia by Leroy Michael, Jr., soon to be in the Heritage collection.
• Athens: A Pictorial History by James K. Reap in the Heritage and general collections.
• A Portrait of Athens and Clarke County by Frances Taliaferro Thomas in the Heritage and general collections.
• July issues of the Southern Banner, Clarke County Courier, Athens Daily Herald, Athens Banner-Watchman, Athens Daily Banner, Athens Weekly Banner, or Athens Banner-Herald between 1883 and 1953 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• A History of the Department Store by John William Ferry in the general collection.
• Start and Run a Profitable Retail Business: A Step-by-Step Business Plan by Michael M. Coltman in the general collection.
• Entrepreneur Magazine's How to Start a Wholesale Distribution Business: A Step-by-Step Guide to Success by Bridget McCrea in the Business Reference collection.
• Michael Brothers building website.
• Fire Destroys Downtown Businesses blog post.