The Woman Who May Have Helped Start The Civil War

G'Day, Mates and Fellow Georgians!

Today we speak of a lady who had views and thoughts that were not right for the era she lived in, not for a woman at least. She could act, dance, sing and speak for what she believed to be right. You could say, Fanny Kemble was born ahead of her time.
Frances Anne Kemble was born in England in 1809 to a family of actors and performers. In 1832 she moved to America and was admired and adored throughout New England, impartially by a Mr. Pierce Butler. He became infatuated and after a long court ship she agreed to marry him.
Pierce Butler owned a plantation in south Georgia on the Sea Islands with not just ten, not just twenty, but a hundred slaves, making his rice and cotton plantation very wealthy and prosperous. Fanny enjoyed, as any other wife would, the healthy life style they had, until her husband agreed to take her to his fruitful plantation.
By this time in England, slavery has been abolished for about 30 years with Fanny growing up to believe slavery was wrong and that the slaves were people, not property... Unlike her husband.
For the four months that she stayed at the plantation Fanny was sad and in want of helping these people but every request she'd make on the slaves behalf Butler would just shun until he finally asked her to just stop asking.
Fanny wrote to her friend, Elizabeth:
           "My dear Elizabeth,
                   These discussions are terrible. They throw me into perfect agony of distress for the slaves, whose position is utterly hopeless."
Fanny kept a diary throughout her time on the island, writing down the cruelties that were done to the workers, the conditions in which they lived in and the minimal amount of things they were given.
Later, she and Butler divorced, with him gambling away his plantation and her moving back to New England where she published her diary causing a stir about life down in Georgia.
The Civil War had thousands of reasons for beginning, but maybe she had a hand in it too.

Thanks for Reading!

MJ

For More Info:

Fanny Kemble - Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Kemble

Fanny Kemble's Diary - Georgia Stories

http://www.gpb.org/georgiastories/videos/fanny_kembles_diary

Christmas At Chief Vann

Afternoon, Everyone!

As you know, last weeks post was on Chief Vann and a few weeks ago we went to the Chief Vann House at night when they had the whole house lite with candle light and it was so beauitful! To prove it to you here are some lovely pictures just for you!

Enjoy!

Your Girl Scout,

MJ

 

 

Chief Vann House Historical Site
82 Georgia 225
Chatsworth, GA
30705

Open Thrusday - Saturday 9am-5pm

$6.00 - Adults
$5.50 - Seniors (62+)
$4.00 -Youth (6-17)

 

 

A New Year and The Cheif Vann House

HAPPY NEW YEAR, Everyone!

I hope you had a pleasant 2014 and will have an excellent 2015!To start off the new year's blog posts I'm going to start with The Chief Vann house. Last month I visited the Vann house along with some other amazing historical sites but this time I'm not going to describe it to you as I have done before. This time I'm posting a video and I beg you to take the 15 minutes it runs for and watch it. It is a fantastic video and it explains everything wonderfully. I might be getting a little carried away with this but, hey, I like to write, I get pretty flowery with it sometimes. Please sit back and enjoy the tale of the Chief Vann House!

MJ

Chief Vann House Link:

http://gadnr.edvid.org/index.php/component/edv/?task=video.display%20&view=video%20&id=21&vname=0032165A

The answer to The national sports tournament started by Bobby Jones is:

Augusta

The Augusta Nationals were started in 1933.

Next's Weeks Question:

Gateway to Cumberland Island, where JFK Jr. got married!

PS: Stay tuned for some breath taking photos of the candle lite house!

Hello!

Hi, everyone! 

Apologies for not posting last week! Thanksgiving break got the better of me. I wanted to let everyone know that I plan to post next week with a new historical site that will be dressed for the Christmas season! Thank you so much for your support and I'll see you next week!

MJ

This weeks answer to the Fighting Quaker: Greene County. 

Greene County is named for Nathaniel Greene who was one of the many great fighters of the American Revolution. 

This weeks question: 

Home to a national sports tournament started by Bobby Jones!

Let us know in the comments below what city or county you think it is!

Also sense a new year is coming please let us know what improvements you would like to see or any historical sites you want to see posted on this wonderful blog!

Georgia’s Link to the Sinking of the Titanic

Afternoon, Everyone!

 

Today, I didn’t write the post you see before you, instead it was one of my amazing uncles who happens to be a history teacher here in Georgia. I hope you will enjoy his post just as much as I did!

Enjoy!

 

 

Georgia’s Link to the Sinking of the Titanic

 

 

 

 

 

On April 16, 1912, a disaster of unthinkable proportions exploded onto the headlines of the world’s newspapers. One day earlier the “unsinkable” Titanic, the greatest ocean liner on the planet on its maiden voyage, struck an iceberg in the frigid waters of the north Atlantic. With a gash in its hull below the water line, the ship sank in less than 3 hours and took the lives of more than 1500 souls.  Only 705 survived.

 

Among the thousands reeling in shock and shattered by personal loss were the President of the United States, William Howard Taft, and his arch political rival, former president Theodore Roosevelt.  They were grieving the death of the man who had served both presidents as trusted aide and loyal friend, Georgia-native Major Archibald Butt. 

 

In the mysterious twisting of Georgia history, the fierce Taft-Roosevelt feud had in a strange way put Major Butt on the Titanic and, in an equally strange way, that feud would also put Woodrow Wilson -- another man with strong Georgia connections -- in the White House.

 

Archibald Butt was born in Augusta, Georgia, a few months after the end of the Civil War.  When he was 14, the death of his father left his family in financial straits, and the teenager went to work. A few years later, however, through the aid of the family pastor, Butt was able to attend the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. After graduating, he began a career as a journalist and writer, and within a few years, he had moved to Washington, DC, to cover politics for several southern newspapers, including the Atlanta Constitution, the Augusta Chronicle, and the Savannah Morning News.

 

His Washington connections led to a diplomatic post in the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. When the Spanish-American War erupted in 1898, Butt volunteered for military service; he received an officer’s commission and an assignment with the Quartermaster’s Corps.  Sent to the Philippines where he worked with U.S. Governor-General William Howard Taft, Butt proved to be enterprising and efficient, with remarkable gifts in organization and administration.  It was through his relationship with Taft that Butt was introduced later to President Theodore Roosevelt, who tapped the Georgian to serve as his military aide.

 

Their professional association developed into a strong friendship, with Butt often at Roosevelt’s side during the president’s frequent hikes and hunting trips. In 1908, after Roosevelt declined to run for re-election, Taft won the presidency and asked Butt to continue his duties as aide and scheduler. Butt agreed, and his friendship with Taft – and the new president’s reliance on his aide – grew equally strong.

 

Partisan storm clouds soon developed, however. Although Taft had been Roosevelt’s hand-picked successor, the former president became disillusioned with Taft’s more conservative policies. By 1912 the rift had developed into a full-blown political feud. Roosevelt led the GOP’s progressive wing in a rebellion against Taft’s party leadership and challenged Taft for the Republican presidential nomination.

 

Intensely loyal, Butt found walking the tightrope between his two friends an exhausting ordeal, and his health suffered. At Taft’s insistence, Butt accepted a leave of absence and sailed to Europe for a six-week respite from the political war. And so it was when this continental holiday came to an end that Major Butt found himself on the maiden voyage of the Titanic, heading back into the maelstrom.

 

Despite numerous warnings of icebergs in the vicinity, the ship streaked full speed westward across the waters. Shortly after 11 pm on April 15, the fateful collision rattled the ship’s chandeliers, and the drama of survival began.  In eyewitness accounts, survivors portrayed Major Butt during those tragic two-and-a-half hours as a calm and commanding presence, forcefully intervening to prevent panic and to protect the priority placement of women and children in the lifeboats.

 

Although in the first reports of the disaster there was no official word on Major Butt’s fate, when President Taft saw how great the loss of life was, he knew instinctively his friend was among the dead. It was inconceivable to the President that a man of Butt’s character might have saved himself before first seeing to the safety of everyone else.

 

Taft was devastated. At one eulogy, he described Butt as being like a son and a brother, but in attempting to speak at a second service a few days later, the President broke down and was unable to complete his remarks, turning from the lectern in tears.

 

The loss of this loyal friend and able public servant was felt in Washington, DC, and in Augusta, Georgia. Although Major Butt’s body was never recovered, officials in Washington arranged for two memorials, a cenotaph in Arlington National Cemetery and a fountain near the White House on the Ellipse. And in Augusta on the second anniversary of the Titanic’s sinking and Butt’s death, former president Taft spoke at the dedication of the Butt Memorial Bridge, which spans the Augusta Canal at 15^th Street. It is the only memorial in Georgia which commemorates the Titanic tragedy.

 

The other twisting thread of this story ties the dispute which prompted Major Butt’s journey to Europe -- the Taft-Roosevelt schism – to an even greater historical consequence. In the 1912 presidential election, GOP voters split between the incumbent Taft and Roosevelt and his Progressive “Bull Moose” Party. The rift opened a door for Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson, who won an electoral majority.  Another president with numerous Georgia connections, Wilson had spent his boyhood during the Civil War in Augusta, Georgia. (His childhood home there is now a museum and a National Historic Landmark.) In addition, Wilson’s first wife was a native of Savannah, and he began his professional career as an attorney in Atlanta. Perhaps his ties to the state will make another edition of Georgia History’s Mysteries.

 

The eventful life and heroic death of Major Archibald Butt highlight the intriguing historical connections between one of the world’s greatest maritime tragedies, one of America’s classic presidential power struggles, and one of Georgia’s most remarkable citizens.

 

~ Steve M. – History Teacher

 

Links:

 

http://www.scholastic.com/isurvived/images/slideshow/slide_10.jpg

 

 

http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/metro/2012-04-14/augustan-became-part-history-titanic-sinking

 

 

http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/archibald-butt-1865-1912

 

 

http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-victim/archibald-butt.html

 

 

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/awbutt.htm

 

 

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/awbutt-whtaft-loc-photo-01.jpg

 

 

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/awbutt-photo-loc-via-bill-gonyo-february-2010-002.jpg

 

 

Thank you, Uncle Steve, for this wonderful and informative post! I have been looking for Georgia connections with Titanic forever!

And thank you, readers, once again for reading my blog and helping to encourage Georgia’s History and the Girl Scouts! If there are any Georgia sites or people you would like to know more about please let me know in the comments below!

 

Thanks again to everyone!

 

MJ

 

Did you get the birthplace of the first professional African American Baseball player?

 

Answer: Cairo.

 

Jackie Robinson born January 31, 1919 in Cairo, GA, was the first African American to play professional baseball and is the only player in history to wear the number 42.

 

Next Weeks Georgia History’s Mysteries!

 

Named for the "Fighting Quaker" who was a major general in the Continental Army!

PS

I hope had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I know I did and I am thankful for all of you!

Georgia Videos!

Here are five brilliant videos you can watch to get your mind rolling on more GA history!

Day in the life on a Colonist:

http://www.gpb.org/georgiastories/stories/daily_life_in_georgia

The First Gold Rush:

http://www.gpb.org/georgiastories/story/americas_first_gold_rush

Anna Colquitt Hunter:

http://www.gpb.org/georgiastories/stories/anna_hunter_colquitt

Margaret Mitchell:

http://www.gpb.org/georgiastories/stories/margaret-mitchell

Pirates!:

http://www.gpb.org/georgiastories/story/pirates

Enjoy!

MJ

Georgia Facts!

Hello, everyone!

I am so sorry for not posting recently! My mind has left the building and I can't function without it! I wish it had left another year and not senior year! OHH! Makes me mad sometimes.

Anywho! I had a cool idea of what I'd do but I haven't done it yet so it will be up next week but for today I will give you some awesome GA facts from this book my mentor lent me that has some pretty cool stuff even I didn't know about! And that's rare sometimes.

So here we go!

Number 1: Did you know the Hitchiti Indians were living in Georgia when the first white men arrived in about 1540? Evidence shows that at that time they had been residents of Georgia for hundreds of years! Hate to see that home bill!

Number 2: How about the fact that someone tried to kill James Oglethorpe! Three men asked for a conference with him but they planned to lead him to his death! They all apparently were really bad shots and were later executed. Their plan: To give Georgia to the Spanish. No, Gracias!

Number de 3: The women of Savannah actually saved the city from Spanish troops! Wife of Noble Jones, who owned Wormsloe Plantation in Savannah, gathered all the women and manned the fort until the Spanish retreated into the swamps! You go, girl!

Number 4: The last battle of the War of 1812 was fought in Georgia in a little town called St. Mary’s. The British lost, of course.

Number 5: The first divorce in Georgia was granted in 1801 when Rebecca Echols brought charges against her husband for abuse.

Number la 6: George Gist, or Sequoyah as he is better known as, was the inventor of the Cherokee language which took him twelve years to come up with. His wife though thought it against their beliefs and burned all the notes to it. He rewrote it inside a year.

Number 7: The Texan Lone Star flag was made and designed by Joanna Troutman, a young Georgian romantic who was inspired by Texas' fight for freedom against Mexico.

Number 8: The first governor of Alabama was from Georgia and a Georgian gave California to the United States! We're just all over the place!

Number 9: Georgia was the first state to establish a Department of Agriculture!

Number 10: Piedmont Park is believe to be the site of the first movie theater in Atlanta playing 'Annabelle the Dancer' and 'Mischievous Johnny' and people only had to pay if they liked the movie! I wish we could do the today!

And there are our Georgia facts of the week! I hope you enjoyed today's post and I will be posting some video links later on to make up for what I missed last week!

Thanks again for reading and I'll be here next week!

MJ

Two weeks ago Land of the Trembling Earth Answer: The Okefenokee Swamp or Waycross!
Congrats if you got it right!

This Week's GA Question:

Birthplace of the first African American baseball player!

PS
For More info:

Know Your Georgia - by C.J. Holleran