Call Number: MS-9

Name:  A finding aid and inventory of the Lowndes County Notes of  Marie Tillman held in the Valdosta State University Archives

Dates:  Total date range: 1861-1940   Bulk Dates: 1861-1865 (American Civil War), 1914-1918 (WWI).                                                      

Size:  1 box; 27 folders, approximately 250 items                                               

History/Biography:  Lowndes County was created in 1825 and was named for William Jones Lowndes, whose father had been a revolutionary leader from South Carolina.  According to the 1840 census, there were 4,394 whites and 1,180 African Americans in the county at that time.  On December 12, 1859 Lowndes established a county seat, which they named Valdosta, after Georgia governor George Troup’s plantation home, which was called Val d’Aosta.  Between 1890 and 1916, Valdosta became the largest inland market for Sea Island cotton in the world.  The second plant to bottle Coca-Cola in the world was located in Lowndes County.  In 1906 South Georgia State Normal College was founded in Valdosta to provide higher education opportunities to women in the area.  The school was renamed Georgia State Women’s College in 1922, and in 1950 the school became coeducational and was renamed Valdosta State College.  In 1993 the college became Valdosta State University.  Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta is home to the 347th Rescue Wing, the Security Forces Wing, and the Training Wing.  There were 92,115 people in Lowndes County in the year 2000, a significant population increase over its 75,981 residents in 1990.        

Scope and Content:  Marie Tillman compiled sufficient notes, documents, and letters for one to grasp what life was like in Lowndes County during the late 19th Century. The material she has compiled provides a real understanding of the social and economical history of Lowndes County.     

The box consists mostly of Marie Tillman’s work on obtaining general information ranging from the construction of churches to agriculture in Lowndes County.  The notes concentrate on the establishment of churches and soldiers from the American Civil War and WW I.  Tillman includes lists of Georgia Infantry regiments, militia, and National Guard soldiers from Lowndes County.  The papers also include miscellaneous notes about local organizations, livestock, and education pertaining to Lowndes County.

The box is not arranged in any chronological or specific order; the box consists mainly of correspondence, notes, and reports.  There are a few major, formal correspondences from Governor Joseph E. Brown and W.C. Wardlaw, chairman, Executive Committee (Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta).  The papers include a report on Valdosta from 1863-1865, where Tillman describes the feelings of people after the Lincoln assassination, and the actions of recently freed African Americans.  The manner in which recently freed “slaves” are discussed would not be considered politically correct today, but Marie Tillman was a woman of the times.  The notes on local organizations, such as the Red Cross, U.D.C., and the D.A.R, provide lists of original members and officers.  A  Report on the establishment of the Christ Episcopal Church and Hahira Baptist Church provide founders of the church and original members.  The notes that list Georgia Regiment Infantry and militia groups include H. Y. Tillman and T. H. Tillman, who were most likely related to Marie.       

Subject Headings:

Carnegie Library of Valdosta

Christ Episcopal Church 

Daughters of the American Rev.

Hahira Baptist Church

Georgia National Guard 122nd

Red Cross of Valdosta

Lowndes Co. World War Chapter

B. F. Mosely, Captain, Co. G

Valdosta 1863-1865

Governor Joseph E. Brown

Hahira Masonic Lodge

Liberty Loan Bonds

Inventory:

Folder 1:  Bees; 2/5/1940, E. J. Williams. Original hand written letters from E. J. to a business associate, concerning bee keeping.  The letters list facts about the honey business in Lowndes Co.  Also, the honey festival in Hahira is mentioned.  

Folder 2:  Bond- by George T. Hanover to Governor Joseph E. Brown; 1/23/1861. Original note by Hanover for a $2,000 bond for muster rolls to Governor Brown.

Folder 3:  Carnegie Library of Valdosta; 1936, Elizabeth Havenkotte, Marie Tillman. Original handwritten letter to Tillman from Havenkotte concerning a newspaper article, and a note from T. S. Mckey about the construction of a new building.    

Folder 4:  Christ Episcopal Church, Valdosta; 11/20/1939. Original handwritten letter from Marie Tillman discusses the beginnings of the church and lists the original members and employees of the church. 

Folder 5:  Co. D, 50th Georgia Regiment, Infantry, “Valdosta Guards”; Lists the 50th Georgia regiment, all the men were from Lowndes County. 

Folder 6:  Company I, 12th Georgia Regiment, Infantry; 5/14/1861. List Lowndes Co. volunteers, gives a list of deceased soldiers from the Civil War. 

Folder 7:  Daughters of the American Revolution, General James Jackson Chapter; 1917. Tells of the community service that the chapter and Marie Tillman were doing in Lowndes Co.

Folder 8:  Georgia National Guard Co. G, 1924, 122nd Infantry; 1912-1924. Handwritten letter which discusses officers from South Georgia, including Albany, Brunswick, Waycross, and Lowndes.

Folder 9:  Hahira Baptist Church; 5/26/1890. Discusses the land that was purchased and the total cost of construction, also lists the original members of the church.

Folder 10:  Hahira Branch of the Red Cross of Valdosta; June 1917. Handwritten note which lists all of the officers of the Red Cross in Lowndes Co.

Folder 11:  Hahira Masonic Lodge; 1891. Handwritten note which lists original chapter members of the lodge, and tells of a few early accomplishments of the lodge.

Folder 12:  Hahira Methodist Church; 1891. Typed note that lists the original members of the church and the founders of the church.

Folder 13: History of the First Christian Church, Valdosta; Formal document written by Wisenbaker about why and how the church originated.   

Folder 14:  Liberty Loan Bonds; 8/29/1938. Letter form W.C. Wardlaw, chairman, Executive Committee (Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta) thanking Mrs. T.A. Baker for assisting the sale of liberty bonds in Valdosta. 

Folder 15:  Live Stock of South Georgia-cattle, poultry, swine; 7/10/1923. Typed report on milk and the importance of milk in the human body, and a typed letter from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture on the production of clean milk in Valdosta, and a report on livestock in Lowndes Co. after the First World War. Folder mentions H.Y. Tillman as president of the Valdosta Poultry Association in 1932.

Folder 16:  Lowndes County’s World War Chapter; Mrs. T.A. Baker, 1914-1921. Typed report on the situation in Europe and the feelings in Valdosta about the war, also lists the original members of the chapter.

Folder 17:  Mayor of Hahira; Handwritten letter from the mayor concerning the construction of the Hahira Methodist Church.

Folder 18:  Militia Co. District #658, #661, #662, #663; R.A. Peeples (enrolling officer) 3/4/1862. Lists all the militia soldiers from the South Georgia district. J. H. Tillman was enrolled in the #668 militia at age 48.   

Folder 19:  Miscellaneous; Mrs. Marie Tillman lived at 1701 N. Patterson St. (Jan 15, 1940), postcard from Mrs. Richard Parrish, Envelope from Mrs. Jack Homell (416 Lee St.)

Folder 20:  Miscellaneous Notes (Military, education, County Formation); 1/23/1861.  Tells of few early settlers in Lowndes Co., and lists the schools that were in the county at the time.

Folder 21:  B.F. Moseley, Captain, Co. G, 5/15/1936. Handwritten letter to Marie Tillman form A. L. Henson (Veterans Service Office), Marie was asking for information on Moseley but the office could not find any, also note on Jan 1st 1862 granting T. H. Tillman leave of absence by B. F. Moseley.

Folder 22:  Parent Teacher Association, Valdosta Public Schools, Mrs. J. L. Newbern. Typed letter concerning Mrs. Newbern’s teaching career at the high school.

Folder 23:  Dewitt H. Roberts, The Times, 2/18/1939. Typed letter to Tillman from Roberts, Tillman was inquiring about Roberts’s service with The Times, Roberts gives a brief summary of his career.

Folder 24:  Roster of 6th Military District, companies 1, 2 and 3. Lists the soldiers of the 6th military District that were from Lowndes County.

Folder 25:  Valdosta 1863-1865. Some typed letters and notes.  Discusses the jail known as the dungeon on Ashley St., also Mr. Benjamin Force, ladies fashion, Lincoln’s assassination, and lists confederate soldiers who walked home from Virginia. Notes say the Freedmen’s Bureau was headquarters for carpetbaggers.  There was a lunar eclipse in 1865 and the people thought it was judgment day.     
Folder 26:  Videttes, 4th Georgia Regiment, Voluntary Militia.  Typed report on the soldiers and describes the uniforms they purchased. 

Folder 27:  World War Work, 1917-1918. Mrs. Earl Mckey lists the members and officers of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the Red Cross, and the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Processing Date: 3 March 2005

Author of Finding Aid:  Louis E. Harper III, created in partial fulfillment of the requirements of History 3000, Spring 2005