Experience the Trail of Tears

Ron Cooper, a member of the Comanche Nation of Oklahoma walked and hiked the northern route of the Cherokee Trail of Tears. His book entitled "It's My Trail Too- A Comanche Indian's Journey on the Cherokee Trail of Tears" records Ron's experience, as well as, celebrates the resiliency of Native Americans.

Mr Cooper will be the speaker at the Chattanooga Downtown Library on Monday evening, July 29, 2013 at 6 pm. The event is sponsored by the Chattanooga Area Historical Association. The event is free of charge and open to the public. We invite you to attend and bring a guest.

We look forward to seeing you there.

James County Historical Society August 2013 Meeting

The James County Historical Society will meet Sunday, August 4, at 2:30pm in the Ooltewah Methodist Church in the Sunday School addition.

The program will be presented by Joe Bryan and Darlene Goins who are president and Treasurer of the Calhoun-Charleston Historical Society.

Their presentation will review some highlights of the rich history of that area and also the exciting development of their three-year old historical society.

 If you use email, please send your email address to me at dcopeland@copelandsinc.net. and receive future meeting notices via email.

Spring Place Festival in Murray County Georgia

This just in from Whitfield-Murray Historical Society.....

Spring Place Festival Set for August 17

The 15th annual Spring Place Community Festival will be held Saturday, August 17 at the Old Spring Place Methodist Church just off Georgia Highway 225 South.  Sponsored by the Spring Place Ruritan Club and the Whitfield-Murray Historical Society, the Festival commemorates Spring Place’s heritage and raises funds for the continued preservation of the Old Spring Place Methodist Church. 

The theme this year is “Spring Place:  A Legacy in Education” and will feature a special display of pictures, paintings, and memorbelia relating to the various schools that were eventually consolidated into Spring Place Elementary—as well as a sort of reunion for those who attended those schools. (See related article.)  A raffle of a framed artist print of the famous “Lucy Hill Institute” by the late Erik Gallman will conclude the Festival’s activities.

The festival will open at 8 am and will have something for everyone. Members of the Ruritan Club will have their usual bake sale with homemade cakes of all kinds. Breakfast biscuits and lunchtime hotdog plates are among other items being sold to raise funds to maintain the old church. A large assortment of “new” and used books, historical society publications, collectibles, and flea market items including Christmas decorations, linens, glassware, toys, office and household items attract buyers as well. The flea market will also include clothes again this year, too.

The largest fundraising event is an auction set to begin at 10:00 a.m. Things to be auctioned include several artist prints; gift certificates to area businesses including Little Rome, Big V, The Biscuit Box, Zaxby’s, The Crème Hut, Pork n Beans, Los Amigos, Paul’s Dive-In, and John’s Bar B Que; sets of local history books; furniture; coin sets; and rugs donated by Value and Beckler Carpets.

The MCHS Alumni Association will have rock building post cards, notecards, and prints for sale while a variety of vendors will sell jewelry, crafts, and specialty items. Friends of Linda Lunsford will have a booth to raise money to help this beloved Murray County educator receive a kidney transplant, too.  First National Bank, The Spring Place Ruritan Club, the Chatsworth-Murray County Library, Go Murray County Arts, The Humane Society, the Murray County Gideons Camp, and Keep Murray Beautiful Commission will have information tables while the Boy Scouts will be on hand to help with parking and other activities.  An assortment of historical items will also be on display including original doors from the old courthouse at Spring Place.  That building later served as a school longer than is was used as a courthouse!  It was the home of Lucy Hill High School.

Parking will be available on Elm Street as well as across the road from the church.  To find out more about the festival, call Elizabeth Robinson at 706-695- 6021Carlton McDaniel at 706-695-2110, Jyana and Chuck Smith  at 706-695-8297, or Tim Howard at 706-695-2740.

How the Civil War Affected NW Georgia Families

Join Chattanooga Delta Genealogy Society for our monthly meeting on Tuesday, July 9, 2013 at 7 p.m. at the Rossville Public Library.

Using various record groups, Dennis Rhea will provide a glimpse of what life was like in northwest Georgia in the 1860s, and share stories of how the Civil War affected some families in the area.

We hope to see you there!