Last week I was contacted by Mike Dover, who is working on a coffee table book about the history of the 159 counties of Georgia.
He was working on his 156th county and Brantley was next on the list. He was hoping for anyt hing pre-1900. I told him that would be hard for Brantley because our county was not established until 1920. He said he would get what he could and use it.
Mike lives in Columbus, Ga. He came to meet me Saturday. I had a few places picked for him to check out and the first one was the Knox Hotel.
We had a chance to sit and talk with Ms. Blanche for a while. I think she enjoyed it as much as we did. He got some information for his book and plenty of stories.
Next, we went to what is supposed to be the gathering place for the Indians to meet their maidens at the oak trees in Waynesville. Then we headed to High Bluff Church in Hoboken where a church member happened to be there.
The church member told me to tell Mike about Lydia Stone, being her grave is right in front of the church.
I told him several stories about her and for him to look her up. She was a fascinating woman he may want to include some of that in his book.
Next, we headed to Zirkle and I showed him the dam and told him some of the history of Zirkle. Pierce County was another county he was also working on anyway.
Mike told me he got way more information than he was expecting and really enjoyed coming to Brantley County.
Now, I am excited to see how the book turns out.
• Wayne Morgan is freelance wildlife photographer and author.
