The Savannah morning news., 1902-01-26
IN THE BLUE RIDGE HILLS.
BUSTLING GAINESVILLE, THE CAP
ITAL OF HISTORIC HALL.


BUSTLING GAINESVILLE, THE CAP
ITAL OF HISTORIC HALL.
The Center of one of the Riches
Sections of GeOrgia-The Enter
prisinE People of Hall and Adj
joining Counties GainesviIl,
Destined to BE II Great Manufac
turing City-Capital, Climate, Nat
uraI Location and the Rich Re
sources of the Surrounding COun
try Make Its Future Assured.
BY invitation of personal and politi
cal friends / visited Gainesville during
court week, and spent part of two days
in, meeting the citizens of Gainesville
and of Hall. Walton, White, Rabun
Milton and other counties. To a low
countrynsan like myself it is pleasant
to make a summer trip to the foot hills
of the Blue Ridge and enjoy their
grand scenery, delightful climate, and
health giving waters. A trip in Janu-
airy is not to be anticipated with en-
was that while nature had covered the
fields and the hillsides with snow
Gainesville was a pleasant place to
visit in winter, and it's peoples welcome
in January is as warm as in July. Rev
George White, SO years ago. speaking OF
the people of Hall county. said they
were rather shy of strangers" 1 did
not find them so.
Hall county, of which Gainesville is
the county site. is in that part of Geor-
gia that the Cherokees loved so well
and battled for from the time that De-
Soto's pale face first startled the red
men, until the time when the Indians
were removed beyond the Mississippi
Three adjoining counties are named
after Georgia's signers of the Declara-
ton of Independence: Hall, Gwinnett,
and Walton.
DR.. Lyman Hail. in whose honor Hall
county was named, was a Connecticut
man who settled in the parish of st.
Johns, a part of what is now Liberty
county. This parish was settled by de-
seendants of New England Congrega-
tfonalsts who founded Dorchester, S.
c., which by the way was also the home
of my paternal great-grand
parents though they were Scotch
Irish Presbyterians. In the mi
tial movements which led to
the independence of the colonies, those
patriotic Puritans of st. Johns parish
became so incensed with their fellow
subjects in other parts of the colony of
Georgia, especially those living in Sa-
vannah, because they failed to act at
once in the movement against King
George III, that they refused to do
business with them.
1t was such stern patriots that Sc
lected, DR.. Lyman Hail to represent
them in the Continental Congress, and
which he did until the people of the
colony acted through their delegates,
who met in Tondee's tavern in Savan-
nah, where Branch's grocery store now
stands, and sent Button Gwinnett and
George Walton to keep Dr. Halls COM
pany. How England treated the Amer
leans of those days is well illustrated
in South Africa to-day, and doubtless
had she captured the doctor, he would
have been shot. hung, or at the least,
kept in a death breeding prison ship.
England of the twentieth century, and
England of the eighteenth century are
the same, and Mr. Chamberlain of the
reign of Edward VII is the Lord North
OF George III. However, DR.. Hall lived
to see the colonies independent, and
was elected Governor in 1888. He died
in his 67th year and was buried in
Burke county.
Hall county was laid off in 1918 un-
der the lottery act. It's population, ac-
cording to the census of 1900, is 2O752,
being an increase of nearly Is per cent.
in ten years. 1t would take a page or
two to enumerate what Hall county
has under it's soil, or raises on top of il.
1t has gold mines, and diamonds have
been discovered within it's limits.
Wheat, rye, corn and cotton are pay
ing crops, and fine cattle are raised on
its hills. At one time it was thought it's
altitude would not permit the growing
OF the fieecy staple with success, but
Hall county now comes up with its
share of those ten millions and more of
bales, which make the farmer feel
blue. and keep the buyer, consumer
and Spectator guessing. However.
home cotton mills soon will manufac-
ture into goods all of Hall county's
cotton crop, and probably that of sew
eral adjoining counties. Further on I
shall give some interesting data about
local manufactures.
Gainesville has a commodious public
school building and several small
scnool houses, and mag
innocent college, not public, how
ever. The educational statistics of
Hall county for 1900 are as follows: To-
tai number of pupils enrolled during
the year were 4,655-I include the COL
ored, as they are a very small percent
age-and the total average attendance
was only $3.50, and the whole number
of days that the schools were kent in
operation, 80; the average monthly cost
per pupil is 81, the whole of which If
appears was paid by the state.
The colored brother and sister are
not conspicuous in Hall county--in fact
even in Gainesville they are not much
IN evidence and for this reason there
Is a complaint of a lack of household
help. Three gentlemen who called on
me had troubles of their own in that
way; their cooks had failed to appear
promptly on that day, and if / remem-
per correctly, in one case not at all
and the gentleman had to hustle for
his breakfast. Such a condition of af-
fairs at home is more important for
the time being than the question of
the governorship, and l recognized that
iact by sympathizing with my visitors.
1t is easy to predict that Gainesville
is destined to be a great manufacture
ing city. The location is healthy and
the cost of living below the average
there is large suburban white ropu-
lation from which to obtain intelligent
and industrious workmen and work.
Il would eyfx 1Ra cta