The Savannah morning news., 1901-11-24
scREvEN A TOP NoTcHER.
FEW If ANY COUNTIES IN GEORGIA
AHEAD OF 1T.


ness Center of one of the Bes
Some of the People Who Maxi
screven County Prosperous.
There are few better counties II
Georgia than screven, If there are any
better" said Col. j. H. Estill on his re-
turn from Sylvania, the other day. u
arrived at Sylvania on very disagree'
able day; it was cold and rainy. but
the hearty welcome I received at all
hands made me forget the weather.
met a great many old friends, and
made, I hope, many new ones. Inc
Screven Superior Court was in session,
and every district from the Savannah
river to the Ogeechee was represented
by farmers, merchants and professional
men"
"Sylvania, like every other town
in South Georgia, has prosperous
appearance. 1t has a handsome brick
Court House. and street full Of SUB
stantial-l looking business blocks.
Among the latter is that OF the l.. ID.
Hilton Company, and it is no reflection
on other substantial edifices to say that
1t is the handsomest building in the
town. The Sylvanians point TO 1t with
pride and also to the elegant mansion
1ust being completed by Mr.. Hilton
He is the sitting member OF the Legs
lature for Screven, and was good
enough citizen to come down from At
lanta to be foreman of the grand jury.
] mention Mr.. Hilton because every
body in Sylvania had something to say
about him. He is a self-made man ana
6 highly esteemed citizen.
"Of course" said Col. Estill, there
are many other prominent men, the
- PaEkeES- who apparently own hed OF
the farms along the line of SylTama
Railroad from Rocky Ford to the eoun-
~ site, and to be ScreVen county
Parker is a good Endorsement, socially
and financially. l met few of them,
dozen or so. They are the banner far
mers of Screven. Then there are the
Mocks and the Basenores; they can
also be counted by the dozen. l was
told If / met a light or red haired man
ne was a Mock, and if he was black
haired he was likely to be a Basemore.
of course, that would not leave many
varieties of hair for the remainder OF
the population, and only tell the tale
as it was told to me-"
Col. Estill paid a compliment to the
Telephone and the Peoples Press,
which supplies scTeven county county,,
and Bussey are editors of the Tele-
phone. The first named is also re-
ceiver of the Sylvania Railroad.
Doubtless. if the court will let him
manage the railroad for a while" said
Col Estill, "he will make it good
road. / saw indications of proposed
improvements in the way OF new cross
h1 nAv
where Mr.. r. K. Bryan Is the editor
of Peoples Press. With two good news
papers, Screven county should be well
advertised. / also had the pleasure
of meeting my old friends, Hon. Tom
Oliver, Judge H. T. Mathews and 9TH
ers, and made the acquaintance of
Abraham Burke, Esq, the county
ty-fifth Georgia, and Mr.. Hol-
lingworth of the same regiment.
They are great admirers OF
CONGRESSMAN Lester who was adJu-
tant general of the brigade CWilson's)
in which they served their country.
The last named gentleman has son
named Rufus Estill. He intended to
knowing what "E' in the congress-
mans name stands for, (nor neither do
II he put Estill in and risked it. Now
there are several hundred people whom
j should like TO say something about
but they must take the will for the
seed. There would be a column Of
Taylors, Nunnellys, Reddicks, Kittles,
Kemps. Stewards, Howards. SCOTS,
Waters, Braggs, Morels, Larescys,
J,ovetts, Powells, Laffittes, Hughes,
Crosbys, LETTERS, Shelly, Grimes, etc.
Screven is one of the Oldest coun-
ties of the state. 1t was laid out in
the last decade Of the eighteenth CEN
fury from Burke. bingham and Bull
Ioch. It was named in honor of Gen.
James Screven, who fell mortally
wounded near Midway Church, LIB
erty county. while accommodating the
enemy's position, Nov. "a. l77S. The
remains of this early martyr to Amer
lean liberty lie in the old Midway
churchyard. The second greatest bat
tie on Georgia soil during the Revolu-
ton, was fought near Briar Creek,
Screven county, and like that later
battle in the same year at Savannah,
resulted disastrously to the Americans.
"Screven." said Col. Estill, sis one
of the best agricultural counties in the
state. and almost anything can be
the good grade of its cotton, which is
the principal product. 1t is one
of the growing counties, showing an
increase of over SO per cent. in popu-
lation in the past ten years. It's popu-
lation by the census of 1900 is 1929.
The total enrolment of school children
is 3,942 1,704 being white and 2,23S COL
ored. The Chance House is the hosiery
of the town. The name is not Califor-
MAN, an abbreviation of Last Chance
or something of that kind, but is that
of the proprietor. Mr.. Chance. II is a
well-kept comfortable house."
1--WE had quite a car full Of people
going 70 Sylvania-" Col Estill
said, mostly attorneys and trav-
cling men. and a few farmers,
among the latter Col. John Tom Par
ker, one of the largest and most sue
cessful planters in the county. 1 was
met at Rocky Ford by Mr.. ]. w. A.
Parker, who took me to his house, gave
me a bed. a good fire and an alarm
clock, the latter to wake me up in time
for the train, all of which were useful
and acceptable At Rocky Ford / met
Mr. w. ]. Chapman, the proprietor of
the Rocky Ford Brick Works, which
makes very handsome brick. the clay
in the vicinity being par icularly well
adapted for making bricks. In the
morning ! waited alone at the station
during that darkest hour which is just
before the dawn for the coming of
the Central train which would watt
me homeward. 1t came in due time
and was very welcome. Ny trip was In
the rain from start to finish but
enjoyed II, nevertheless. excepting
waiting for the train, and that was not
the railroads fault, but my bad luck.
Schedules can't be made to suit every
one haua avaf.y reason 10 think that