Signs of the Times (1910-1912)

The Jones Creek Baptist Church was 100 years old in 1910. Members of the church celebrated the occasion with speeches, sermons, singing, and “dinner-on-the-ground.” A note about the centennial celebration on Saturday and Sunday, April 23-24, 1910, said: “The presence of several automobiles was noted in contrast to the modes of travel used a century before by the early worshippers who came on foot, by a horse, and in carts.”

Beulah Hines Fraser was appointed postmistress of the U.S. post office in Hinesville by President William Howard Taft in 1911. She served in the position for the next 23 years.

An attempt was made in 1912 to reactivate the now­ defunct Liberty Guards as a part of the Georgia National Guard. A rally was held in the Ludowici High School audi­torium , and 76 persons signed a petition which was sent to the governor. An oyster roast was held on the school grounds after the rally. All of the efforts were in vain. The Liberty Guards remained on the shelf of historical memories.

During the early years of the twentieth century, E.H. Hart and J.W. Chapman were employed by the Georgia Coast and Piedmont Railroad which passed through Liberty County. R.L. Horne was postmaster of the U.S. post office at Ludowici, and A.G. Pinkston was the rural mail carrier for the Jones Creek community. All of the gentlemen were mem­bers of the Jones Creek Baptist Church.

Children were seen and heard in Liberty County churches during these years. Many church activities were staged by adults, but intended mainly for children.

The Flemington Presbyterian Church, the Hinesville Methodist Church, and the Taylors Creek Methodist Church, staged what was called “Jubilee” annually at a permanent site adjacent to the National Guard Armory at Hinesville. On such occasions, the children took part in plays, recited poems, and participated in May Pole dances. Prizes were awarded in competitions.

Some of the county churches were formed into Sunday school associations which met annually for a business meet­ing and performances by the children. It was a time of new dresses for the young girls, and new clothes, if not a new suit, for the young boys who took part in the performances. There was usually a “dinner-on-the-ground” and sometimes a barrel of iced lemonade.

Some of the churches in later years supplemented these special occasions with annual trips to the beach at Tybee Island for an outing for young and old alike. The Atlantic Coastline Railroad reduced its fares for these summer “ex­cursions” and crowds of people gathered at depots from Johnstons Station (Ludowici) to Fleming to board the train for the special day.