Agnes Ellen Harris (Brief Biography)

Agnes Ellen Harris, a native of Cedartown, Georgia, became a pioneer in the field of women's education. Harris graduated from Georgia Women's College, obtained her teaching certificate, and then attended Oread Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts. From there, she returned to her home state of Georgia, where she taught Home Economics for five years. She was a Charter Member of the American Home Economics Association, organized in 1908. She would later serve as national vice-president of that organization. She continued to further her own education, obtaining her Bachelor of Science degree at Columbia University in 1910. She later moved to Florida, where she continued to work in forefront of home-economics education. In a 1917 report, she was mentioned as President of the Florida Educational Association and as Dean of the School of Home Economics in Tallahassee. She was also a State Agent for Home Demonstration Work, teaching rural women about nutrition, canning, and selling produce. As part of her state work, she organized "Tomato Clubs," which later grew into Florida's 4-H club for girls. In 1919 she moved to Texas for a year, but returned in 1920, settling in Washington, D.C. There, she worked as a Field Agent for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, while completing her Master of Arts Degree at Columbia. Upon accepting a new position as Dean of Women at Auburn University in 1922, she moved to Alabama. She remained at Auburn until 1927, when she became Dean of Women at the University of Alabama. During her tenure there, she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Alabama, and became head of the Home Economics Department. Harris died in Tuscaloosa in 1952. She was posthumously inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 1972.

Obituary of Georgia Lowther, Daughter of B. F. Lowther - May 1907, Cedartown, Polk, Georgia

Obituary of Georgia Lowther

Publication: Cedartown Standard
Place of Publication: Cedartown, Polk, Georgia
Date of Publication: 30 May 1907
Page: 3; Column 3
Title of Obituary: "A Sad and Sudden Death."
Library/Database: GALILEO (GeorgiA LIbrary LEarning Online)

Name of Deceased: Georgia Lowther

Title of Deceased: Miss

Residence: Cedartown, (Polk), Georgia

Date of Death: "last Thursday night" (est. 23 March 1907).

Place of Death: (not stated; concluded): Cedartown, Polk, Georgia

Date of Burial: (not stated; surviving family members accompanied her remains to Maryland

Place of Burial: Baltimore, Maryland

Brief Prayer (in lieu of funeral, locally): by Rev. H. M. Quillian, her pastor

Funeral Service: brief prayer in Cedartown, Georgia; possibly also memorialized in Maryland (date not stated).

Cause of Death: (not stated)

Duration of Illness: "several days"

Other: "...a trained nurse had been brought in from Atlanta the evening before her death."

Date of Birth: (not stated; she was young)

Place of Birth: (not stated; probably Maryland)

Parents: Mr. and Mrs. B. F. Lowther (surviving)

Brother: Frank Lowther (surviving)

Place of Funeral (concluded): Maryland

Other: Body accompanied by family to Maryland

Church Affiliation (member of): Methodist Church

Graduated from: (Cedartown) public schools

Remarks/Praise: "as sweet of character as she was fair of face"; "a young lady of exceptional talent and literary taste"
_________________________

Extract by: D.K. Pritchett, 28 March 2017; also published on FamilySearch.org

Full Citation: Obituary of Georgia Lowther, "A Sad and Sudden Death," |Cedartown Standard|, Cedartown, Polk, Georgia, Thurs., 30 May 1907, pg. 3 (via GALILEO). http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/ngnewspapers/id:csn1907-0187 (accessed 28 March 2017).
__________________________________

Related: Find A Grave: Memorial no. 101731821: Georgia Lowther. Birth: October 1, 1878, per memorial; tombstone has October 1, 1879 (from photo). Death: May 24, 1907. Burial: Wesley Chapel Cemetery, Eldersburg, Carroll, Maryland, United States of America. Note that the death date on the stone is one day off from the estimated death date, which was calculated from the given day (Thurs., May 23, a week previous to the date of the obituary, Thurs., May 30, 1907). Calendar used for calculation in the above extract: U.S. Calendar for 1907, Time and Date website, timeanddate.com , https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/?year=1907 (accessed 28 March 2017).

Obituary of Alva Matthews, Cedartown, Polk County, Georgia (1910)

Obituary of Alva Matthews of Cedartown, Polk, Georgia 

Library/Database: GALILEO (GeorgiA LIbrary LEarning Online)
Newspaper: Cedartown Standard
Place of Publication: Cedartown, Polk, Georgia
Date of Publication: Thursday, 03 March 1910
Page: 2. Column: 4
Title of Article: "A Fatal Accident."
Subtitle(s): "Alva Matthews killed Last Thursday Morning: At the Wray Mines of the Independent Mining Company."

Extract:
Name of Deceased: Alva Matthews
Gender: Male
Age: 30
Date of Death: "Last Thursday" [not stated; estimated, Thursday, 24 Feb. 1910]
Place of Death: Wray Mines at Lime Branch [type of location not stated; community or mining camp, , Polk, Georgia]

Cause of Death (summarized): struck by iron pipe, which had come lose while he was moving machinery.

Date of Funeral: "Friday" [estimated, Friday, 25 Feb. 1910]
Place of Funeral: Bethlehem Church
Minister/Officiator: Rev. Filmore Waddell
Date of Burial: "Friday" [estimated, Friday, 25 Feb. 1910]
Place of Burial: [not stated; probably Bethlehem Church]
Date of Birth: 24 Jan. 1880
Place of Birth: Dallas [not stated, but probably Dallas, Paulding, Georgia]

Survivors:
Wife (Maiden Name): Miss Lizzie Sparks ("daughter of the late Judge W. M. Sparks")
Two children (boy, aged 7; girl, aged 1)
Religious Affiliation: Baptist (Protestant, Christian)
Membership: Baptist Church (name not stated; probably in, near Cedartown)
_____________________________________

Extract by: D.K. Pritchett, 26 Feb. 2017

Citation: "A Fatal Accident: Alva Matthews Killed...," |Cedartown Standard| [Cedartown, Polk, Georgia], 3 March 1910, pg. 2 (via GALILEO). http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/ngnewspapers/id:csn1910-0070 (accessed 26 February 2017). 

Reference: Found, J. A. Matthews. See Find A Grave Memorial no. 100846089. https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=100846089 (accessed 26 Feb. 2017).

A quick search of records in Family Search tells me that he is probably the same as James A. Matthews, a.k.a. J. A. Matthews, born Jan. 1880, Cedartown, Polk, Georgia, son of Janie. (Not yet searched in depth, though).

With a quick search of Find A Grave, for Bethlehem Cemetery in Polk, Georgia, I found: M. Jane "Janie" (Ansburn) Matthews. See Find A Grave Memorial no. 100846684. Link: https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=100846684 (accessed 26 Feb. 2017).

"United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M3JB-K5B : accessed 27 February 2017), James A Mathews in household of Janie Mathews, Cedartown town, Polk, Georgia, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 86, sheet 28A, family 535, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,217.

Obituary of B. F. Lowther (Cedartown, Polk, Georgia), 1918 - formerly of Baltimore, Maryland (Benjamin Franklin Lowther)

Obituary of Mr. B. F. Lowther

Publication: Cedartown Standard 
Place of Publication: Cedartown, Polk, Georgia, U.S.A.
Date of Publication: Thursday, 31 January 1918
Page: 3
Title of Article: "Death of a Sterling Citizen"
Media: Newspaper
Library/Database: GALILEO (GeorgiA LIbrary LEarning Online)
Website: Galileo
Home Page: Galileo.usg.edu
URL: http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/ngnewspapers/id:csn1918-0035
Access Date: 23 Feb. 2017
31 Jan. 1918, pg. 3
Subject: Obituary

Name: B. F. Lowther (1)  
Gender: Male (implied, "Mr.")
Age: 72 "last November" (1917)
Birth: November (est. 1845)
Date of Death: "during the night" (date not stated; before  January 1918, concluded)
Cause of Death: Pneumonia
Place of Death: not stated [in/near Cedartown, Polk, Georgia, concluded]
Place of Birth: near Baltimore [Maryland, U.S.A., concluded]
Place of Residence: "here" [Cedartown, Polk, Georgia, concluded]
Moved: "twenty-seven years ago" (est. 1891)
Previous Residence (before 1891): Garrett [Dekalb], Indiana
Wife (surviving): Mrs. Lowther (previously Miss Kate Backer, (2) of Baltimore)
Marriage: "Forty years ago" (est. 1878)
Surviving Son: Mr. Frank Lowther (3) (Chattanooga)
Preceding in Death: "another son and daughter…several years ago"
First Occupation: Office Boy, B. & O. [Railroad]
Occupation (before 1891): Master Mechanic, I. B. & Q. (4) [Railroad]
Occupation (as of 1891): Superintendent, East & West Railroad
Occupation (sometime after 1891): Proprietor, Cedartown Ice Company (5)

Church Affiliation: First Methodist church [of Cedartown, Polk, Georgia, concluded, probable]
Membership: Missionary Committee (of First Methodist church)
Funeral Services: "Saturday" [apparently 26 January 1918, as preceding publication of obituary on Thurs., 31 January]
Place of Funeral: "at the residence" [Cedartown, Polk, Georgia, concluded]
Officiator/Minister: Rev. W. T. Hunnicutt
Burial [after 26 January 1918]: "at his boyhood home near Baltimore"
________________________________________________

REFERENCE NOTES:

(1) B. F. Lowther (the deceased), born November 1846, appears in the US Census, 1900, as "Benjamin F Lowther" (Cedartown town, Polk, Georgia, U.S.); he is usually listed in genealogies as Benjamin Franklin Lowther, born 8 November 1846, in Maryland.

(2) Kate Backer (also known as Catherine A. Backer, Kate Becker or Katie A. Baker): Ref., Katie A. Baker married B. F. Lowther, 14 Oct 1878, , Carroll, Maryland, as listed in "Maryland Marriages, 1666-1970," (FamilySearch.org). No image available with index.

(3) Mr. Frank Lowther, born July 1881, appears in the US Census, 1900, as "Benjamine F Lowther Jr." (Cedartown town, Polk, Georgia, U.S.); and in "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918" (FamilySearch.org) as "Benjamin Franklin Lowther," born 28 July 1881. Other places of residence, besides Cedartown, Polk, Georgia, and Chattanooga, Hamilton, Tennessee (per external research): Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio (1904); and Louisville, Jefferson, Kentucky (1911). His wife is Pearl Beatrice Owens.

(4) No reference found for “I. B. & Q." It could be a typo for C.B. & Q. (Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, operating in Illinois and Iowa); or that railroad may have been called the Illinois/Iowa B. & Q. at some time in its history.

(5) (Later, referring to the East & West Railroad), “When this road passed into the hands of the Seaboard, he went into business here, organizing the Cedartown Ice Co. and later adding a coal department.”


REMARKS:

Transcribed by D. K. Pritchett on 23 February 2017; also to be published on FamilySearch.org, under Person I.D. of Benjamin Franklin Lowther.

Full Citation: Obituary of Mr. B. F. Lowther, "Death of a Sterling Citizen," |Cedartown Standard| (Cedartown, Polk, Georgia), 31 Jan. 1918, pg. 3 (via Galileo). http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/ngnewspapers/id:csn1918-0035 (accessed 23 Feb. 2017).

Edgar L. Henderson Elected President, Group 3, Georgia Bankers Association (1911)

Library/Database: GALILEO (GeorgiA LIbrary LEarning Online)
Newspaper: Cedartown Standard
Place of Publication: Cedartown, Polk, Georgia
Date of Publication: 4 May 1911
Page 1, Columns 3-4
Title of Article: "Cedartown Young Man"
Subtitle 1: "Highly Honored by His Brother Bankers."
Subtitle 2: "Cashier E. L. Henderson, of the Commercial Bank, Made President of Group Three."
Other: Photo and Caption

Name: Edgar L. Henderson (E. L. Henderson)
Residence: Cedartown, Polk, Georgia
Occupation: Cashier, Commercial Bank
Organization: Georgia Bankers Association
Event: Election as President, Group 3
Place of Election (Meeting Held): Cartersville, Georgia
Date of Election/Meeting: "last week Wednesday" [est. 26 April 1911]
Past Positions Held in Organization: Secretary (since 1909)
Noted: Youngest man to hold position.

(Other officers are listed in article.)
___________________________________

[Full Citation]: "Cedartown Young Man" [article w/photo: Edgar L. Henderson], in |Cedartown Standard| [Cedartown, Polk, Georgia], 4 May 1911, pg. 1 (via GALILEO). http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/ngnewspapers/id:csn1911-0147 (accessed 29 Jan. 2017).

Edgar L. Henderson, of Cedartown, Elected Secretary, Group 3, Georgia Bankers Association (1913)

Library/Database: GALILEO (GeorgiA LIbrary LEarning Online)
Newspaper: Cedartown Standard 
Place of Publication: Cedartown, Polk, Georgia 
Date of Publication: 17 April 1913 
Page 1, Columns 5-6 
Title of Article: "Cedartown Man Honored."
Subtitle of Article: "Mr. Henderson Elected Secretary of Bankers Association."
Other: Photo and Caption 

Name: Edgar L. Henderson 
Occupation: Cashier, Commercial Bank 
Organization: Georgia Bankers Association 
Event: Election as Secretary, Group 3 
Place of Election (Meeting Held): Marietta, Georgia 
Date of Election/Meeting: "Friday" [est. 11 April 1913] 
Past Positions Held in Organization: Secretary; Chairman 
Other Officers: C. H. Lewis (Atlanta), Chairman
T. J. Simpson (Rome), Vice Chairman

___________________________________

[Full Citation]: "Cedartown Man Honored: Mr. Henderson Elected Secretary..." [article with photo], in |Cedartown Standard| [Cedartown, Polk, Georgia], 17 April 1913, pg. 1 (via GALILEO). http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/ngnewspapers/id:csn1913-0159 (accessed 29 Jan. 2017).