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serpentfoot
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| Joined: | Sat May 10th, 2008 |
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Posted: Sat May 10th, 2008 07:59 pm |
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 April 19, 2008 I was overjoyed when I discovered the cornerstones of Floyd County's first Courthouse at Livingston, Ga. about 6 feet south of the present [brick] Livingston United Methodist Church on Hwy. 100 South [some people call it Foster's Mill Rd.]. The two back [western] cornerstones are in some brush at the edge of the woods, and somebody seems to have laid an extra rock on top of the NE cornerstone [maybe it had been a step they were saving?]
That joyful discovery was after years of asking around. Then one day while looking for something else, I noticed an old map (1895) in the Special Collections Department at the Rome Floyd County Library. Studying it in detail, I noticed it listed "Livingston CH. [church] and ACDY [Academy]" on the north side of Land Lot 287; south of it was "Old Court House"; south of that was "Livingston PO" [post office]. I made a copy of the LL-287 and LL-286 [which included a section of the river at Turner's Bend] and I enlarged them and made a transparency of it which I placed over our new tax map of those land lots (fitted to scale) so that the result showed that the old Court house was approximately where the present red brick Livingston United Methodist Church is. The helpful staff, Dawn Hampton and others In the Special Collections Department of the Library also showed me papers of John L. Harris (A local Historian who assisted George McGruder Battey, Jr. in his History of Rome and Floyd County (published 1922) former clerk of the U.S. District Court). Mr. Harris's papers included an old cartoon which showed the log cabin court house had been hauled up the Coosa River to Rome when it was moved in 1834.  That was discouraging because I knew then I would not find the old ruins. Mr. Harris had also traced the deed records showing that Livingston Methodist Church had acquired the old court house property September 4, 1851 from Adam Metz [Deed Book H, page 269]. Metz had acquired it [and all of LL-287, 4th District and 4th Section and part of LL-286] from the "Inferior Court" September 4, 1836 [Deed Book B, page333]. Deed Books A, page 283 and Book A, pages 262 and 282 shows the Justices of the Inferior Court got LL-287 from William Smith February 15th, 1830, who got a 1/3 interest from Seaborn Delk and the remainder from Washington Baker who had drawn it in the Land Lotterygaway of Cherokee Lands. Mr. Harris also stated that "From the Floyd map of 1895 it would appear that the old Courthouse, Livingston Church and Livingston Academy were all located on lot 287, in 4th District, 4th Section; on the western side of the road to Coosaville." That was the way I had read it too. However some others who had seen the old map took it to mean that the old Courthouse was on the other [Eastern] side of the road because "Old Court House" was written on that side of the road--though all the dots for the buildings were on the Western side of the road. The map maker didn't have room to write all the names on the same side as they were pin pointed with dots on the map. Another bit of confusion comes from several old books which mentioned that the old Court house was "near Morton's Bend of the Coosa River"--that is indeed true--however it was even closer to the Turner's Bend of the Coosa River [and was East, West, and South of the winding river]. The "Morton's Bend" reference is what was often quoted because the farming community at Turner's Bend was on the other side of the river, whereas the farming Community at Morton's Bend was on the Courthouse side of the river accessible by wagon not boat and therefore most of those at the Courthouse, church, school, P.O. etc. lived in Morton's Bend.
Another thing that made me think I would never find the exact location of the old Courthouse was that Floyd County Superior Court Clerk Joe E. Johnston had an oil painting on the wall in the clerk's office showing the old Courthouse which appeared to be sitting flat on the ground with no foundation, no cornerstones. I doubted that anybody who went to the trouble of handling heavy logs would sit them on dirt where they would soon rot and need more work to replace them, so I figured the artist maybe landscaped the dirt a bit to hide the foundation on the front side. I doubted any cornerstones would remain anyway with redevelopment of the site into a church. They might even have been handy for grave headstones. Nevertheless on 4-19-08 I went to look around at the slope of the ground to see where I would have put the old Courthouse If I had been the builder.
I stood in amazement when I spotted a stack of stones that did not look like grave head stones! there on the SE edge of the church. Without breathing I solemly looked to its South. There was another stack!  I thought "This is too good to be true? Between them and further West was a flat white granite marker on the ground. It said: "FOUNDERS MEMORIAL, FLOYD COUNTY 1832, LIVINGSTON CHURCH 1833, ROME CITY 1834". That was all true but, when the church was established, in 1833, it was established North of this spot--as shown on the old 1895 map. It moved here around the time it acquired this property from Adam Metz September 4, 1851.
Reverently I pulled brush aside and started into the woods looking for the Western cornerstones. There within 6 feet from the SW corner of the newer brick building I found the NW corner of the Old Courthouse (right where my engineering had figured it! Then easing my eyes to the left I saw nothing but brush. I eased between brush and briars to the distance to complete the square and there I found the fourth cornerstone. I noticed narcisus and bettercups around the stones. I thought, I've got to get Clerk Johnston's daughter to bring him here for a picnic with church members--not tell him what I found but let him discover it for himself. To have the joy of such discovery I made photos. I could not reach the clerk's daughter. I took him the photos. He was overjoyed--after 30 years as Court Clerk and the whole time wondering where the original Court house was.
The next Sunday I went to the 11 O'clock worship service and told them how much this county owes them that they preserved the site. They smiled but said "No mam--that's where our first previous wood church was. Both Methodist and Presbyterians met there. But the Presbyterians moved to Rome after the County seat was moved there. They invited me back for a hot dog lunch celebration the next Sunday.
All the old timers were gone but while members arranged the food, I studied proclamations on the wall back towards the bathroom: There was a "FLOYD COUNTY GEORGIA, Proclamation, dated April 26, 1983 Signed by Anne Rigas, Chairman of the Board, and Sue Broome, Commission Clerk, where the Floyd County Commission proclaimed April 17-23, 1983 as Livingston United Methodist Church Week" on their 150th Anniversary April 17. 1983. How appropriate, I thought that I was drawn to look here April 19, 2008--that was its 175th Anniversary! I am not usually that inclined to read all church details but Livingston is special and reading the 8th WHEREAS I found: Whereas, The fieldstone granite boulders which first supported Floyd County's log cabin courthouse and later the church building once used for worship by both methodists and Presbyterians, and are a part of today's Memorial Garden; and,..." on the wall just inside the entry door was another Proclamation from the Georgia House of Representatives, HR 598, which had all the same whereas paragraphs as the Floyd County proclamation but the State one had been presented by Representatives Forest McKelvey and Buddy Childers of the 15th District and was signed by clerk Glenn Ellard and it was January 25 , 1984. The new Floyd County Commission clerk, Kathy Arp's office got me a copy of their proclamation from the archives and I gave a copy to the surprized but happy Court Clerk Joe Johnston. I promised him that I would also get him a copy of the Georgia House Proclamation when I get it in the mail--on condition he agreed to hang it on the wall, right next to his oil painting of the old Court House. I'll also give him a photo of the old log cabin on the Sidney Evans place about a mile north of where the old Courthouse was and which was also built around the same time. Like the old Courthouse, the cabin on the Evans place also sits on granite fieldstones very much like those still down the road next to the newer brick Livingston United Methodist Church. The old log cabin ion the Evans place is still in pretty good condition and I hope it will be preserved.
I'm also hoping that we will recognize Floyd County's first couurt house this December 21st on its 175th Anniversary and that Rome News Tribune will keep it repeated and remembered frequently so that nobody else ever has to re-invent that wheel as I did. It took me a lot of time and effort to discover what had been buried with the old timers. Maybe they'll put it in one of their terrific Past Times magazines too.
THANKS LIVINGSTON UNITED METHODIST CHURCH FOR PRESERVING THE SITE.
Thank you Rome News Tribune for every time you help us remember it.
Ms. Serpentfoot, May 10, 2008
The picture is of the Georgia House of Representative's Proclamation on January 25, 1984 (on their 150th anniversary), recognizing that the Livingston United Methodist Church's previous wood building was on the cornerstones of the Floyd County's first courthouse.Attachment: Proclamation_HR.jpg (Downloaded 123 times)
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romegasir
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| Joined: | Sun Oct 7th, 2007 |
| Location: | Rome, Georgia USA |
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Posted: Sat May 10th, 2008 08:25 pm |
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| hmmmmmmmmmm
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Deaglos
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| Joined: | Mon Feb 4th, 2008 |
| Location: | Rome, Georgia USA |
| Posts: | 1356 |
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Posted: Sat May 10th, 2008 09:02 pm |
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Serpentfoot great history, but this site has o thats (ZERO) affiliation with the tribune.
we do prefer the newswire, hence the reason we are here.
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RomeNewswire
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| Joined: | Fri Oct 5th, 2007 |
| Location: | Rome, Georgia USA |
| Posts: | 1670 |
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Posted: Sun May 11th, 2008 02:27 am |
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She means well...
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Rdnckgirl1973
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| Joined: | Sun Oct 7th, 2007 |
| Location: | Rome, Georgia USA |
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Posted: Sun May 11th, 2008 12:29 pm |
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| Oh No!
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NewsChick
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| Joined: | Mon Oct 8th, 2007 |
| Location: | Rome, GA |
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Posted: Sun May 11th, 2008 12:45 pm |
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| No problem on my part with what she posted, just wanted to make sure she new this wasn't the Rome News-Tribune since she was thanking them.
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RomeNewswire
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| Joined: | Fri Oct 5th, 2007 |
| Location: | Rome, Georgia USA |
| Posts: | 1670 |
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Posted: Sun May 11th, 2008 01:59 pm |
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she seems a bit confused.
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ROP
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| Joined: | Sun Feb 24th, 2008 |
| Location: | Lindale |
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Posted: Sun May 11th, 2008 04:45 pm |
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| I like history about this county and am glad she posted it here or else I might have not saw it, a lot of work went into that and I for 1 appreciate it, hope she comes back and shares more.
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Deaglos
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| Joined: | Mon Feb 4th, 2008 |
| Location: | Rome, Georgia USA |
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Posted: Sun May 11th, 2008 05:36 pm |
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| I will ensure she does, when I see her I will ask her to start a thread on floyd history
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ROP
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| Joined: | Sun Feb 24th, 2008 |
| Location: | Lindale |
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Posted: Mon May 12th, 2008 02:31 am |
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| I would love that.
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coggers420
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Posted: Mon May 12th, 2008 06:28 pm |
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I have always wanted to chat with serpentfoot....
very interesting woman
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msla
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| Joined: | Thu Oct 11th, 2007 |
| Location: | Shannon, Georgia USA |
| Posts: | 123 |
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Posted: Tue May 13th, 2008 11:36 am |
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Coggers, give her a call if she has a phone now. She usually tries to keep one and she loves to talk with people. She is fascinating. I met her through the editor, Pierre Noth, of the RNT and she had me over "for coffee." She cooked the coffee over an open flame in an old coffee pot as we sat outside and visited. We met a few times after that but I haven't seen her in quite a long time now.
She has the ultimate spirit of true beauty when it comes to protecting the environment of this area - especially the rivers. And she'll go to great lengths for humane causes. Unfortunately, because of her extreme measures at times, other people throw out all of her messages instead of listening to any part of them. It's a shame because she might be one of this area's finest hidden assets. If folks would distinguish her 'greater good' from what she considers she has to do to get emphasis on a problem, we might understand the situation.
Alas, it's sort of like the story of the boy who cried wolf and nobody would listen...
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ronron
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| Joined: | Thu Jan 3rd, 2008 |
| Location: | Rome, Georgia USA |
| Posts: | 106 |
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Posted: Thu May 15th, 2008 12:55 pm |
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Serpentfoot for President !!!! 
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jpgreen007
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Posted: Thu May 22nd, 2008 07:07 pm |
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THIS LADY SOUNDS PRETTY COOL... HOW DO YOU CONTACT HER FOR MORE HISTORY??? I RECALL SOMETHING ABOUT HER THAT SHE USED TO WRITE TO ROME NEWS TRIBUNE BACK YEARS AGO ABOUT SOME KINDA CONFLICT BUT THIS IS THE FIRST I VE HEARD OF HER IN A WHILE... ANYWAY KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK SERPENTFOOT AND LET ME KNOW WHEN THE COFFEE S READY... I LL BE RIGHT OVER... JPG Attachment: 68-5A-c15.jpg (Downloaded 145 times)
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BodyBareR
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| Joined: | Mon Oct 8th, 2007 |
| Location: | Rome, Georgia USA |
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Posted: Mon May 26th, 2008 02:21 am |
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ROP wrote: I like history about this county and am glad she posted it here or else I might have not saw it, a lot of work went into that and I for 1 appreciate it, hope she comes back and shares more.
That would be okay...as long as she keeps her clothes on!
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