Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-08-31
THE OLDEST GEORGIA PRINTER.
He is Located in the Government Print
ing Office at Washington-An Inter
IlecE,ra ~ Ccaa

copied by the Post OF this city on Sunday
last, has awakened many pleasant as
well as sad reflections in the mind of one,
who, though a veritable Nestor in the
business, and still daily pursuing the
avOcation of his youth, seems to have
faded entirely from the recollection of
such of his early associates and old-time
confreres now living as he has al
ways been happy to esteem as friends.
That is, perhaps, the saddest thought
suggested by the perusal of your article.
In order that you may learn some points
in the checkered career of one who claims
to be the oldest living Georgia printer,
and judge of the business of his claim, he
will give, very briefly, some of the lead
ing incidents of his life. If thought
worthy, they are at your disposal for pub
LEGATION; otherwise, you are at liberty to
cOnsign the record to the waste-basket as
you would any other rejected cOmmuni-
cation. With this understanding, then,
it may be proper to state Ia la Congress
SiORdL Record that he was born in the
city of Savannah in June, 1915; had the
advantages, so far as he chose to avail
them, of the ordinary schools of the city
until 1927, when he was apprenticed by
solemn indentures for seven years to Col.
VIM. Robertson, editor and proprietor of
teach him ''all the arts, science and mys-
teries of printer" In 1882 or 1888, Col.
Robertson sold out his paper and business
to DR.. Richard d. Arnold and Col. Vim.
H. Bulloch, to whom was also transferred
the indentures aforesaid, as was common
in those days of all ''chattel'' titles.
HAVING SERVED OUT HIS FULL TIME
as stated, he left Savannah in 1884 for Au-
gusta, Ga, where he was employed by PC,
to coTc -, fs,,or
of the first numbers of the Georgia Con-
StitutiOndIiSt. In 1885, while ON visit to
Aiken, he became acquainted with a
party of gentlemen, headed by Andrew
Alfred Dexter, Esq, and was induced to
accompany them on an expedition of eX-
plOratiOn and survey for q line of rail-
road commencing at point on the Tus-
cumbia and Decatur Railroad then ope-
rated by hOrse-pewer) and extending to
jackson, opposite Mobile. He left the
party at Montgomery and accepted the
fOremanship of the Montgomery AdUer-
tiSer, then conducted by Hon. James E.
Belcher. A year later he went to Macon,
and joined another engineering party,
under Col. L. o. Reynolds, at work on the
upper end of the line of the Central Rail-
road. Returning to Macon, he COM
menced, in conjunction with p. G. Pendle-
ton, the publication of the Southern Post.
which, at the close of the first volume,
was discontinued and in its stead was
commenced the Southern LddPS Book
the first purely literary venture ever I'M
dertaken in Georgia-With Rev, George
F. Pierce (nOw the venerable and be-
loved Bishop, President of Wesleyan
Female College, as editor. In 1884, he
went to Forsyth, and there published for
an association of gentlemen, headed by
Alfred Brooks, Esq, the Southern BOtar-
tco- Hedtc0 Journal, ana, for the author,
! lV0rthy'S Botanic PrGGjjce. The ass cia-
ton having Collapsed at the death OF Ii.
] BrGSUKs and the failure of the old Momte
| Railroad Bank, he removed his materials
! to Madison, and in 1912, commenced the
publication there of the Southern Mis-
| celIdRy, which, in 1917, was transferred
to Atlanta, where its publication was
continued until about the year 1858, when
| he sold out to an association of gentle
men, who commenced the issue of the
| Atlanta IpteLtiqencer, with Rev. Joseph
| Baker as editor. He was associate, cni1-
tinuOusly, more or less c1nspIcuOuslg
with Atlanta journalism from that time
until the Dreanmg out of the war between
the states in 1861, when he recruited and
| Uniformed largely at his own expense a
/ light artillery company of volunteers
which served the ''Lost Cause" faithfully,
if not conspicuously, until Gen. John
ston's surrender to Gen. Sherman.
During the greater portion of the war
he was stationed at Beaulieu, IA miles
below Savannah, on the Vernon river.
and commanded both the post and heavy
battery at that important point and also
his light battery. On the evacuation of
Savannah he was ordered to James Is
land, opposite Charleston, and placed in
command of Battery Ryan, right, but
was transferred to Charleston a few DAYS
later, where he served as Provost Mar
shall, with headquarters in the citadel.
until the evacuation Of that city.
RETURNING TO GEORGIA AFTER THE
CLOSE OF THE WAR,
he was employed as private secretary by
Col. William M. Wadley, President of the
Central Railroad and Banking Company,
and also President of the old Union So
| ciety-the pet institution for MANY wears
of all the citizens of Savannah. The
financial condition of the society being
very much crippled by the war; its wards
| (abOut 20 then at Bethlehem, where thew
were removed at the beginning of hostiIi-
ties suffering for the necessities of life.
and the dear old homestead, Bethesda,
! besides much other valuable property be-
| longing to the society, in imminent ieOD-
ardy for the lack of funds to meet
pressing demands, the books and accounts
of the society were placed in the private
secretary's hands with instructions to
make the most money out of them in the
shortest possible time. An examination
OF the books showed that while only
very small percentage of the sums due
were solvent, owing to the then unsettled
condition of affairs and the scarcity of
| money, it would be futile to attempt to
force collections. The situation was des-
perate. In this extremity, he sought and
obtained Col. Wadley's consent to an ap-
peal for help to our kind-hearted friends
| at the North. The appeal was carefully
/ rod onh ohn1If fO0 OIL oil n Il,
addresses as could be obtained by con-
| sulting with friends, and in about 10
days after the first batch were sent out
responses began to pour in and in such
| liberal, whOle-sOuled sums that the society
was soon able to reclothe and return its
boys to the old homestead, which, in the
| meantime, had been renovated and much
improved, under the auspices of Col.
Wadley and his secretary, the latter being
| appointed Superintendent of the Bethesda
Orphanage and plantation. The dona-
tions received mainly from friends at the
| North, in response to the appeal referred
to, were such-between IS, 900 and SO, 600
as to free the society from debt and place
it in better financial condition than for
| many years previous.
Returning to Atlanta in 1869, an effort
was made by him to revive his old Ma
ttOnGI american, but for the lack of funds
| and a dread of assuming obligations
| WHICH ne saw no certain prospect OF
meeting, the project failed; but for a sea-
/ son he was associated with Col. B. G.
| Yancey and Rev. C. w. Howard in the
! conduct and publication of The Pldnta-
| ton. In the winter of 1877 he came to
| this city at the invitation of the then
| Public Printer, Hon. John d. Defrees,
| and occupied a position as assistant proof
/ reader in the Government Printing Office
| for about two years without disturbance.
/ Soon, however, the political cauldron be-
/ gan to bubble, and it was found necessary
! to Gust all ''interlopers'' and ''rebels''
/ (and strange to say, every Southern man
| who is not blatant Republican is still
| a rebel in the estimation of many intelIi-
gent and otherwise fair-minded men even
at this day) in order to make place for
the hungry horde of "truly loyaP' who
are continually bObbing up here. Since
that time, although attending strictly to
the duty assigned him, he has had a hard
row to hoe. During the last twelve or
sixteen months he has held cases in what
is Familiarity called "Botany Bay" "a
piece department in the Government
| Printing Office in which none are en-
ployed except those without political in
| fiuence. and where every man is paid
according to the measure of his string).
Even here, he has so far managed, by hard
work, to make enough to pay the personal