Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1897-07-01
A Thrifty Grand Army
Colony In the South.

There is a Grand Army colony
"down south" About two years ago
the town of Fitzgerald, Ga, was col
onized by Grand Army men, mostly
from the west 1t has recently been
reported that the enterprise was a
failure, but an Atlanta correspondent
OF the New York Evening Post finds
it otherwise. He says the veterans
who have settled at Fitzgerald are
dong we'll, and that their progressive
spirit is a revelation to the crackers"
The people who inhabit the pine
bsrrens of Georgia have been, as a
rule, the poorest and most llliterste
class imaginable. Up to the break
ing out of the war the broad stretches
Of pine lands were owned principally
by stock growers, who discouraged
opening the lands for farming pur-
poses because this would destroy the
ranges. Thousands Of head of cat
tie, sheep and hogs, all of the scrub
breeds, roamed at large through
these solitudss, where the houses
were frequently ten and fifteen miles
apart. In those wilds lived the
squirrel-rhootlng, clay eating squat
ter, regardless of God or man, and
when the war came on thousands Of
deserter', or men who did not want
to fight under the Jeff Davis govern
ment, lay concealed there until the
trouble was over.
Only few miles from the site of
Fitzgerald is the spot where Davis
was oYertaken and captured by the
Federal forces.
In locating the colony large tracts
OF pine land were purchased IN q
body and sold to the promoters Of
the scheme, who laid it out, first in
town lots, 40 by 100 feet, inside the
mile and a quarter limit, then into
fve-aore tracts for some distance,
followed by 10, 20, and 40-scre tracts,
as the distance increased from the
town proper. When the colonists
reached the place, they were not
greatly elsted over the prospects.
The face OF the country presented
an interminable forest Of pine trees,
free from underground of any sort
except the short, stiff wirs.grass,
they could catch glimpses of Aocks
of scabby sheep and herds of half
wild cattle, while it seemed the prim-
eval abiding place of the razor back
hog. The soil is of a grsyish sand
and the country is criss crossed by
sluggish streams Of water rendered
winO-red by the seepIngs Of the
bamboo and bay roots that pierce
tho mucky soil of the swamps. In
places there are thick swamps of tyty
bushes, and in others large open
ponds studded with cypress trees
and knotted black gums. It is the
dreariest land imaginable to the trav-
eler who has been accustomed to
broad perSpectlves and bits of view
from swelling hills, or the flash Of
bright waters in streams that flow
through sunny valleys.
such was the uninvting prospect
that greeted the colonists on their
arrival at seen lumber towns spring
up along the course Of the Bruins
wick & Western railroad, some 30
or IS miles south Of Fitzgerald, and
after Furnishing for few years, sud-
denly pass away with the sswmill
that furnished the chief support.
But the westerners appeared to have
come to stay, and the crackers, who
are the most inveterate of petty trad
ers, soon affiliated with them for the
purpose Of trading with them should
they prove to have anything worth
swapping. SAWmills, shinglemills,
and other manufactures OF the sort
were built first, so as to furnish the
lumber for housebuilding. Last fall
the Upton y Northern railroad, run
ming from Triton to Fitzgerald, was
completed. 1t was built and bonded
by Capt. H. H. Tiff, a lumber man,
owning about 100000 acres Of forest
in that section, who came from Con-
necticut originally, but has been in