25 July 1902: What Is Summer Without a Fish Story?

On this day in 1902, a great fish tale was published in the Weekly Banner:

BIG CATCH OF CAT FISH.

Athens Fishermen Get Big Haul in Oglethorpe.

Messers. Wellborn and Marion DuBose have returned from a fishing trip to Oglethorpe, and not only report a big time, but bring evidence of genuine fisherman's luck.

They were fishing with trot lines in Edward's pond in Oglethorpe county and Wednesday made a catch of a blue cat weighing 26 pounds, another weighing 12 and about fifty pounds of smaller fish.

This catch has seldom been equalled in this section of the country and proves that there are "good fish in the seas as ever were caught."

-Weekly Banner, 25 July 1902, p. 2, col. 3.

The brothers did not indicate how long their trotline was to bring home such a haul of fish, and there was no announcement of a large fish fry at their family home on the 26th.




Learn More:

• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• Catch of the Day: A Fish Cookbook by Carol Cutler in the general collection.
• The Ultimate Freshwater Fishing by John Bailey in the general collection.
• The Smart Cook: Fish by Delia Smith in the general collection.
• Peterson First Guide to Fishes of North America by Michael Filisky in the general collection.
• Fish by Shirley King and Chuck Williams in the general collection.
• Fifty Fish to Catch in Your Lifetime by John Bailey via PINES.
• Cook's Guide to Fish and Shellfish by Kate Whiteman in the general collection.
• The Complete Fishing Manual by Henry Gilbey in the general collection.
• Sushi American Style by Tracy Griffith in the general collection.
• Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions by Daniel Wallace in the fiction collection.

 
 

The History & Genealogy Expo Is March 19th!

On this day, we'd like to remind everyone that the Clarke-Oconee Genealogical Society is hosting their annual History & Genealogy Expo this Saturday, March 19th, from 10am to 4pm. This year the Expo will take place at the Fellowship Hall at Campus View Church of Christ at 1360 South Lumpkin Street in Athens, across the street from the UGA track.

The schedule of activities includes: 

• 10:30am-11:30am: General session showing to use "Ask Granny" pedigree charts to collect family information.
• 10:30am-12:30pm: Dr. Robert Nix will be available to help you identify and find information in your old family photographs.
• 11:00am-12:00pm: Donald Summerlin will discuss the Digital Library of Georgia's historic newspapers collections.
• 1:00pm-2:00pm: Jim Morgenthaler will discuss Restoring Old Photographs.
• 1:30pm-3:00pm: How to use the "Ask Granny" pedigree charts with seniors to help them recall family information and stories.
• 3:00pm-4:00pm: Harold Lawrence spaks on Using Church Records for family history research.

There will be lineage and/or historical societies from Clarke, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Morgan, and Elbert counties, as well as several book publishers, including Mary Warren's Heritage Papers and Southern Historical Press from Greenville, SC. Many of the historical societies will also have their books available for purchase.

The Expo is free and open to the public--you don't want to miss it!

10 September 1908: Alleged Thief Nabbed in Bicycle Chase

On this day in 1908, three Athens police officers captured an alleged gun thief, Homer Favors, after an all-day chase that took them from the police station in Athens to Crawford, Georgia. The distance between Athens and Crawford is approximately 15 miles, and at the time, most roads were unpaved.

As reported in the Weekly Banner the next day, after Officers J. P. McCall, Fred Seagraves, and J. F. Short

ran on Favors yesterday morning near the River street bridge over the Oconee river and as soon as they could get to the station house Officers McCall and Short took their bicycles and started after him.

He had a pretty good start of them [sic] but he was afoot and they were on wheels. About five miles out near Winterville they phoned to the chief at city headquarters that they were closing in on (Favors) and hoped to soon catch him.

Chief McKie told them to go ahead until they got him.

The next heard from them was at Crawford yesterday afternoon about five o'clock and the message told of his capture at that place.

Favors himself had made a good run, as well as the policemen, having run afoot from Athens to Crawford in about six hours. He was brought back to the city last night and will be turned over to the state court.

Learn More:

• Athens Weekly Banner, Jan. 1906 - Dec. 1908 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• 1909 Athens City Directory in the Heritage collection.
• Athens: A Pictorial History by James K. Reap in the Heritage and general collections.
• The Story of Oglethorpe County by Lena Smith Wise in the Heritage and general collections.
• The Self-Coached Runner by Allan Lawrence in the general collection.
• Better Cross-Country Running for Boys and Girls by George Sullivan in the children's collection.
• Coping with Confrontations and Encounters with Police by Claudine G. Wirths in the general collection.
• The Police in American Society by Edward F. Dolan in the general collection.
• Choosing a Career in Law Enforcement by Claudine G. Wirths in the general collection.
  
• Once Upon a Telephone: An Illustrated History by Ellen Stock Stern in the general collection.
• Bicycle: The History by David V. Herlihy in the general collection.
• The Noblest Invention: An Illustrated History of the Bicycle by Lance Armstrong in the general collection.