Ed Jackson and Charles Pou

Carl Vinson Institute of Government

The University of Georgia

August 14

1821 Future Confederate general Clement Hoffman "Rock" Stevens was born in Norwich, Conn. He would receive mortal wounds in the Battle of Peachtree Creek on July 25, 1864. [See July 25 entry for biographical information on Stevens.]

1851 John H. Holliday was born in Griffin, Ga. His father became a major in the Confederate Army, but continued illness forced him to leave military service. In 1864, Holliday's family moved to Valdosta. After the war, Holliday attended Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery. After graduating in 1872, he moved to Atlanta and began the practice of dentistry. The next year, Holliday was diagnosed as having tuberculosis and was advised to move to the drier climate of the West. He moved to Texas, where he continued practicing dentistry but also became interested in gambling and becoming proficient with a revolver. In 1877, Holliday met Wyatt Earp in Fort Griffin, Texas, which led to a friendship the rest of his life. Holliday moved to Dodge City, Kansas, and then on to New Mexico before rejoining Earp, who was now a deputy U.S. marshal in Tombstone, Arizona. On Oct. 26, 1881, the Georgia-born dentist and gunfighter -- now known as "Doc" Holliday -- joined Wyatt and two Earp brothers in a standoff with Ike Clanton and his gang of gunfighters. They met at O.K. Corral, where the Earps and Holliday gunned down three of the Clanton gang in what was later memorialized in the movie "Gunfight at O.K. Corral." Holliday, however, was not well. His health continued to decline, and he died in a sanatorium in Glenwood Springs, Colo. on Nov. 8, 1887.

1873 Lawyer, politician, and judge Garnett Andrews died in Washington, Georgia. Born in Wilkes County on Oct. 30, 1798, Andrews grew up on a plantation. He attended Washington Academy, afterwards taking up the practice of law in the early 1800s. Andrews served as a judge from 1836 to 1855, unsuccessfully ran for governor in 1855. In 1860, he was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives, where he vainly fought against secession. After the Civil War, he served again as a judge from 1868 until his death. During his later years, he became a writer and is probably best remembered for his humorous 1870 work, Reminiscences of an Old Georgia Lawyer.

1888 Because of a yellow fever epidemic in Jacksonville, Fla., many residents of that area fled by train to Atlanta. Fear that that the epidemic would spread to Atlanta led city officials to require that every incoming passenger train be inspected by a doctor. Fortunately, none of the refugees fleeing to Atlanta ever caught the disease.

1908 Gov. Hoke Smith signed an act regulating the practice of veterinary medicine in Georgia. The law provided for minimum qualifications and a board to oversee examining and licensing of veterinarians.

1909 Gov. Joseph M. Brown signed an act regulating the practice of osteopathy in Georgia. In addition to establishing minimum standards, the legislation created a state board to oversee examining and licensing of doctors of osteopathy.

1912 Gov. Joseph M. Brown signed a proposed constitutional amendment creating Wheeler County (named for Confederate cavalry general Joseph Wheeler) from portions of Montgomery County. Because the maximum number of counties allowed by the state constitution--145--had already been exceeded, creation of any additional counties required a constitutional amendment. On Nov. 5, 1912, voters of the state approved the amendment making Wheeler Georgia's 148th county.

1913 After an angry outburst by Frank's mother the previous day, prosecutor Hugh Dorsey requested that she and Frank's wife be removed from the courtroom for the duration of the trial. Judge L.S. Roan turned down this request, but did warn the women not to interrupt the proceedings again. Many more character witnesses testified, some having traveled from New York. Frank's mother-in-law (with whom the Franks lived) testified Frank acted normally the night after murder, even engaging in a friendly game of cards. This contradicted earlier testimony that Frank had been nervous, drunk, and suicidal the night following the murder. Finally, Rachel Carson, a female employee of the factory, said she had talked to Jim Conley the Monday following the murder. Conley told her he was so drunk on Saturday that he didn't remember anything he did, but that he was sure Leo Frank was innocent. When Carson told Conley someone had reported seeing a black man lurking behind some boxes on the first floor soon after the time of the murder, Conley was so startled he dropped his broom. Click here for a detailed accounting of the case.

1917 Educator, college president, and minister Gustavus Alonzo Nunnally died. [See Mar. 24 entry for biographical information on Nunnally.]

1917 Gov. Hugh Dorsey signed legislation creating the county unit system, a special formula for determining the winner of statewide races in political party primaries. Similar to the concept of the electoral college, primary races for statewide office were not determined by the total vote in the state but rather on a county-by-county basis. The winner of a particular race got all of a county's "unit" votes, which was based on the number of legislators a county had in the state House of Representatives. At the time, Georgia law provided that the eight most populated counties had six representatives. The thirty next largest counties had four representatives. The remaining 121 counties had two representatives. Continuing until 1962, when a federal court declared it unconstitutional, the county system was designed to keep political power from shifting from rural areas to growing urban centers (particularly Atlanta).

1920 Gov. Hugh Dorsey signed proposed constitutional amendments creating Brantley County (named for Benjamin D. Brantley, member of a well-known family in the area) from portions of Charlton, Pierce, and Wayne counties, and Long County (named for Dr. Crawford Long, who pioneered the use of anesthesia in surgery) from portions of Liberty County. Because the maximum number of counties allowed by the state constitution--145--had already been exceeded, creation of any additional counties required a constitutional amendment. On Nov. 2, 1920, voters of the state approved the amendments making Brantley and Long Georgia's 158th and 159th counties.

1931 Gov. Richard Russell signed a proposed constitutional amendment removing the requirement for registering to vote that an applicant had paid all required taxes since adoption of the Constitution of 1877.

1945 President Harry S Truman announced the surrender of Japan, thus ending World War II. Across the state, Georgians took to the streets to celebrate V-J Day. In downtown Atlanta, thousands of civilians and servicemen gathered on Peachtree Street to celebrate.

1982 The good news was that after a 11-game losing streak, the Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres by a score of 6-5. The bad news, however, was that after being in first place in their division for 104 days, the Los Angeles Dodgers took over the lead.

1995 A special session of the Georgia General Assembly convened at the call of Gov. Zell Miller to change Georgia's congressional redistricting act, portions of which had been invalidated by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Miller v. Johnson.

Georgia towns and cities first incorporated by acts approved on Aug. 14:

1906 Aldora (Pike County), Holly Springs (Cherokee County), and Offerman (Pierce County)

1908 East Lake (DeKalb County) and Forest Park (Clayton County)

Other acts affecting Georgia cities and towns approved on Aug. 14:

1909 Charters of Millwood (incorporated Aug. 24, 1905 in Ware County) and Yonker (incorporated Aug. 20, 1906 in Dodge County) repealed

In Their Own Words on This Day. . .

1740 The Trustees' secretary in Georgia, William Stephens, had some bad news to report:

"This Morning began with a very surprising Piece of ill News; that the Spanish prisoner, whom the Magistrates committed above a Year since upon strong Presumption of being a Spy, together with an Irishman his companion . . . under Apprehensions of a War likely to break out soon, the General had given Orders to be continued in safe Custody: They both broke out of Prison this last Night, and were fled . . . . Notwithstanding all which Precaution, and they being also locked into a close Cell, they found means to wrench the Staple of that Lock, and got into the outer Prison, where in a most incredible Manner they got free also from their Fetters and Chains, and before Morning found Means to get out at the Top of the Prison Room, by some of the Timber-Work being raised up, which could not be done but by some Help from without; nor could they have effected what they did within, had they not been supplied with proper materials, by some Villains who assisted them; and out of Hatred to the Authority by which this Colony subsists, are wicked enough to turn Parricides, and wish to see Destruction brought upon the Whole. . . ."

Source: William Stephens, A Journal of the Proceeding in Georgia (no city: Readex Microprint Corporation, 1966), Vol. II, pp. 473-474.

1862 From Tazewell, Tenn., Georgia volunteer William Looper wrote to his parents about some of the hardships he and others faced while in Confederate service:

". . . I think we ought to have a furlough or to be allowed to rest awhile. Some of our company have been home two or three times, and some have not been with us a month all put together. It seems we can't get to go home or be permitted to stop [unless] we pretend to be sick, which we will not do. We frequently go on when we are not able rather than ask permission to stop.

"We have been fed very poorly during the last month. Sometimes we have been without food for three days at a time and hardly ever have half enough to eat. Part of the time we have bread and no meat, then meat and no bred, then neither.We must not grumble lest some of those we have left behind might consider themselves called upon to contribute something for the relief of the soldiers and their families! By and by, would not this be a good time for those who said they would 'sink the last dollar' in the cause of the South to untie their purse strings and give the South a little, just a little, of what they worship?

"There is much complaint about extortion at home and not without cause. The way things are sold now, the poor soldier and his family cannot procure the necessaries of life. Those having such articles and holding them at exorbitant prices are doing us more injury than our enemies of the North. . . ."

Source: Mills Lane (ed.), "Dear Mother: Don't grieve about me. If I get killed, I'll only be dead.": Letters from Georgia Soldiers in the Civil War (Savannah: Beehive Press, 1990), p. 179

1864 On this Sunday, Atlanta merchant Samuel Richards recorded in his diary the uncertainties he felt in the fact of Sherman's continuous artillery bombardment of the city:

"Another week of anxiety and suspense has passed and the fate of Atlanta is still undecided. We have had but one severe shelling on our side of town, and that was on Wed. night, and kept us awake from 12 o'clock until daylight. Our humane foes allowed us to get well to sleep before they began their work of destruction. Another shell entered our store, or rather the rooms above, while I was there examining the premises to see if any more had visited them. I was enveloped in the dust made by it. . . ."

Source: Franklin M. Garrett, Atlanta and Environs: A Chronicle of Its People and Events (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1954), p. 630.

1864 John Banks of Columbus, Ga., had a total of seven sons to fight for the Confederacy. Today, he had the painful duty of recording in his diary the death of a third son to fall during Sherman's Atlanta Campaign. [Click here to view grave site of the Banks sons.]

"And again I must record the death of another dear son. On the 11th, we were telegraphed that Watkins Banks was killed in Atlanta. Yesterday Gilmer came with his remains and told us that Watkins was passing near the enemy's lines, arranging to send out some pickets, when a sharpshooter killed him, hitting him in the head. He died instantly and was not known to speak afterwards. He was buried yesterday and today the Rev. Mr. Harrison preaches the funeral of Willis, Eugene and Watkins. Wish we had Eugene here to buy him with Troup, Willis and Watkins. Eugene was buried at Resaca without a coffin [though his body was recovered after the war and reburied in Columbus]. But four sons now in the arm, viz: George, Sims, Gilmer and Elbert."

Source: John Banks, Autobiography of John Banks, 1797 - 1870 (Austell, Ga.: privately printed by Elberta Leonard, 1936), p. 34.

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