ASHBURN GEORGIA
FOR WHOM THE HAMLET WAS NAMED-
MR. W.W. Ashburn
BY DAVID M. BALDWIN
ASHBURN ADVANCE, AUGUST 1, 1899: Mr. W.W. Ashburn, of Eastman, is here on a visit. Mr. Ashburn, it will be
remembered, is the one for whom our city was named.
The above newspaper reference represents one of three times, after 1897, Mr. Ashburn would be in the local news in
the city named in his honor. The two others were references to his death on October 17, 1906 and, another time, in a
legal advertisement, listing him as a charter subscriber for the Tifton, Thomasville and Gulf Railroad, an investment
which cleared the path for the goods of southwest Georgia to flow to the sea. With this investment, Mr. Ashburn donated
heavily to its success by allowing the railroad company to keep the profits from the sale of all the timber it cleared in its
path from his lands.
According to Men of Mark in Georgia, edited by former Georgia Governor W. J. Northern in 1912, William Warren
Ashburn was born November 26, 1838 in Surry County, North Carolina. He was reared on an old family plantation;
obtained a limited education, and was a mercantile clerk when the War between the States broke. He enlisted as a
private with the Twenty-first North Carolina Regiment and after two years was made courier and scout on General Jubal
Early's staff, serving there until the war's conclusion.
Mr. Ashburn participated in the great battles of Fredericksburg,
Chancellorsville, Winchester, Cedartown,
Gettysburg, and Plymouth, North Carolina, in addition to which he took part in numerous skirmishes during the campaigns of
T.J. (Stonewall) Jackson and Early, in Virginia. He was wounded at Plymouth, North Carolina, but recovering returned
to his command, and on the final day of surrender at Appomattox, was at his post of duty. At the end of the
war, Mr. Ashburn owned a small tract of land; had forty dollars in gold; owned a horse and a few head of cattle. In
comparison to his fellow compatriots, he was in a good financial position to prosper, which he did immensely.
After a two year engagement, Mr. Ashburn married Anna P. Atkinson (1844-1924) of Caswell County, North Carolina on
May 16, 1866. The Ashburn's union would produce five daughters and a son, the count of which includes their 21
day-old daughter, Anna, who passed away on May 22, 1875, of apoplexy in Eastman, Georgia. After having four daughters,
and nearly relinquishing hope for a son, Mr. Ashburn, named his fifth daughter as closely after himself as possible. He
named her Willie Warren Ashburn. As fate would have it, the next child was a son, whom he named Howard.
In 1868, Mr. Ashburn began buying and selling tobacco and livestock in Georgia and South Carolina. It was on these
ventures that he discovered the "piney woods" of Georgia, which in later life he would always call "the garden spot of
the state".
On June 6, 1871, Mr. Ashburn purchased his first Georgia real estate when he obtained six Eastman, Georgia city lots
from William Pitt Eastman of New York City, New York. The purchase would be a small speck of what would eventually
become ownership of thirty-three thousand Georgia acres primarily in Dodge, Worth, and Colquitt counties. While by today's
standard this is an awesome amount of land ownership, it should be noted that the largest property owner in the state
of Georgia in May, 1885 as reported in the Sumner Free-Trader was Mr. J.L. High of Dallas, Georgia, who held
275,000 acres. At his death, the paper further notes, Mr.High would only need occupy a little piece of ground-two by
six.
In the new Dodge County, created October 26, 1870, and in the new city of Eastman, to be established around 1872,
Mr. Ashburn became a leading citizen opening his own mercantile
business and trading in timberlands. In 1882, the lucrative but risky turpentine business came into its own. Mr.
Ashburn, along with many others, flourished financially. It was during this period that many pioneers acquired large
blocks of land. In the mid 1880's, abandon tracts of land were advertised by county governments for sale as "wild
lands" available for purchase for taxes only. Former owners of these tracts had acquired the land through lottery or
inheritance and had little interest in their development. Many parcels sold for $1 to $5 per acre; however, cleared
land within a few miles of a town sold for as much as $35 to $75 per acre. Turpentine operators also rented woods from
other land owners for $ .75 to $1.00 per acre.
With the profits of turpentine, Mr. Ashburn established the Citizens Bank of Eastman with himself as President. He
purchased the Uplands Hotel, a prized Eastman holding. He sought to expand his turpentine operation as he looked south toward
Tift County, then Berrien, for more land. Finding none there, he searched the east side of Worth County and the
west side of Irwin County for willing sellers.
The bill creating the town of Ashburn, having been presented in the legislature as House Bill 461 by Representative
Terrell R. Perry Sr., an attorney from Sylvester, was signed by Governor W.J. Northen on December 26, 1890. As early as
January, 1889, the Georgia Southern and Florida Railroad had surveyed and mapped the town. The railroad, connecting
Florida to Macon, was successfully completed in the fall of 1888 with the rails joining several miles north of Ashburn and this had
precipitated much interest in land in this area.
Mr. Ashburn began selling lots and one of the first sales was lot 77 and lot 52, Block 8 on October 1, 1889 to
J.S. Shingler, Joe Lawrence, and C.D. Baldwin. This location is at the southeast corner of S. Main Street and E. Washington
Street. It would be the location for Shingler and Lawrence mercantile firm until January 4, 1898 when Joe Lawrence
would sell his interest to the other two and become a guano salesman for one year prior to beginning his long and
successful career as Editor of the Wiregrass Farmer and Stockman. Another sale, being lot 85, block 7 (current
location of the Suwannee Swifty, southeast corner of Hwy. 41 and Monroe Street)
was made to E.D. Paulk on January 8, 1890. In August that same year, Bennett Pate bought lot 24, block
3(one of the Piggly Wiggly lots) for $100.
Other earlier buyers were G.R. Christian (southeast corner of Hwy. 41 and E. College
Avenue), Gabe Davidson (southeast
corner of Gordon Street and E. College Avenue), H.A.J. Gorday (southeast corner of Land Lot 132),J.C. and C.A.
Hickman (southwest corner of Gordon Street and Monroe Avenue), John West Evans (lot on Main Street just north of
Mary Blackwell Florist), Ralph Huckabee (lot just south of H.R. Wiggins home), and
J.M. Raney. Many of the earlier
buyers were purchasing business lots as some of them, like Bennett Pate and
H.A.J. Gorday, had been pioneer farmers
in the area for years.
On February 25, 1892, Mr. Ashburn sold six lots for $250 on the south side of Block 8, which is bounded on the south by
Monroe Street, on the East by Gordon Street, and on the west by Main Street, then Railroad Street. On these lots the
Hotel Clyde, named for the oldest daughter of J.S. and Emma Shingler and wife of Dr.
G.C. McKenzie, Clyde Shingler
McKenzie, would be built in 1895.
The writer has reviewed the courthouse real estate records for Mr. Ashburn in Dodge, Irwin, Worth, and Turner Counties.
There are several items which the records reveal about Mr. Ashburn and his Turner County investments. First, we should
acknowledge that since Turner County was created on August 18, 1905, Mr. Ashburn's investments were, for the most part,
Worth County purchases made in what now is Turner County. For simplicity we will call them Turner County purchases. It
should also be noted that during this time, land deeds did not have to be recorded. Hence, the conclusions derived here
are limited, though nonetheless interesting.
The majority of recordings found at the Sylvester courthouse were sales of city lots in Ashburn, many of which were just
previously listed and occurred between 1890 and 1896. At the Ashburn courthouse, there were fifteen transactions for
the purchase of property, fourteen of which occurred between June 4, 1888 and September 17, 1890. From this information,
it is evident Mr. Ashburn's investment interest here were short-term. The sale of the land would take longer; from
August, 1888 until December, 1899 and only 5 of the 21 sales would occur after 1892.
Mr. Ashburn's first Turner County purchases were made on June 4, 1888. Two purchases were made on that date for a
total of 804 acres. The first tract was purchased from W.M. Kirkland and H.C. Nix containing 399 acres. This tract was purchased for $.68 per
acre and is located a few miles out Warwick highway northwest of Ashburn. The second
tract, purchased from A.H., D.M. and
Thersa Griffin, consisted of two land lots (311, 355) of 202.5 acres each in Land District 13. One was located off of
Ward Road in northwest Turner County and the other was located in Southwest Turner County near Whiddon Road.
On two of the purchases, each made June 23, 1888, Mr. Ashburn accepted as a partner Mr.
J.S. Betts, his friend
from Eastman. In two transactions, together they purchased 5,077 acres. 607.5 of these acres were located just east of
Ward Road in three land lots (320,321,322). Most of the remainder was located out Hwy. 112 at the Wanee Lake Country
Club area. There is no evidence otherwise that Mr. Ashburn had any other partners. In fact, his partnership with Mr.
Betts would be very short lived. On December 8, 1888, Mr. Betts sold Mr. Ashburn his one-half undivided interest in
10,097 acres for $7249.30.
Of the thirty-six recorded deeds, all but three were recorded after the death of Mr. Ashburn, some extending as
late as 1915.
Among the fifteen grantee (land purchase) transactions, our own pioneer, Mr. Daniel H. Davis, was the seller in three.
Mr. Ashburn bought one tract from Capt. Jack Henderson and relatives of Sycamore and Irwin County. You may recall,
Capt. Jack Henderson was born in old Irwin County in 1827. He represented the South at the siege of Petersburg,
Virginia receiving a minnie ball to the mouth during that memorable battle. It was also he for whom most soon-to-be
Turner Countians had agreed to name our county; however, the current rule of the Georgia legislature would not allow a
county to be named after one living. It is an honor to mention Capt. Henderson here and a full biographical sketch
of his 82 year life would certainly be in order even with information hard to come by.
One of Mr.Ashburn's largest purchases was 3,847.5 acres from the Josiah Sibley estate. Mr. Sibley had obtained the land
from the State of Georgia in June and July, 1849.
One of Mr. Ashburn's important sales occurred on October 16, 1889 when he sold all of Land Lot 131, 2nd Land District to
Augustus B. Wells. This sale emcompasses the I-75 interchange property.
Mr. Ashburn's largest sale recorded in the Turner County Courthouse included some Dooly County land. On September
18, 1890 he sold 8,505 acres to the Central Georgia Land and Lumber Company of Bibb County for $42,000. This sale was
composed of 42-two hundred and two and one-half acre land lots in Land District 13, Dooly County.
Of the twenty-one grantor (sell land) transactions, Mr. Ashburn sold twelve parcels between August 6, 1888 and September
17,1890.
It is obvious from this kind of turnover, Mr. Ashburn's intentions were speculative. The transactions were not only
speculative on his part, but very much needed in the community. The community needed someone like Mr. Ashburn
with "deep pockets" to parcel land out in smaller tracts to the small farmers and to businessman seeking a downtown lot.
In this sense, Mr. Ashburn was a developer, molding Ashburn as he had done Eastman twenty years earlier, buying and
selling land simultaneously, continuously, turning over his profits, and reinvesting as a
true capitalist until his wealth cup runneth over.
One of the significant purchases Mr. Ashburn made occurred on June 23, 1888 when he purchased 515 acres from
W.L.
Fulton and J.B. Scott of Glynn County, Georgia. The purchase included all 490 acres of Land Lot 132 and a
portion of Land Lot 108, 2nd Land District. Land Lot 132 encompassed what would soon become the town of Ashburn. Mr.
Ashburn would hold this property, selling city lots and acreage as profitable, until October 22, 1896. On that date,
for $2,450.00, Mr. Ashburn sold "all the lands on the eastside of the G.S. and F. Railroad including the Town
Survey of Ashburn and a full one-half of the property owned by J.M. Raney and W.W. Ashburn except where J.M.Raney's
residence is located in Said Town of Ashburn and the sale includes all the Town lots in the Town of Ashburn and all
the land in land Lot Number 132 in the 2nd Land District to contain 200 acres more or less."
The purchasers were J.S. Shingler and Charles David Baldwin, both of whom Mr. Ashburn had known well in Eastman. The
sale is important because it signals the virtual end to Mr. Ashburn's investment efforts in Ashburn. In this same year,
his sights would turn fully to Moultrie beginning with the formation of Moutrie Banking Company.
In Colquitt County, Mr. Ashburn operated Ashburn Lumber Company along with his naval stores and farming operations.
Also included in his portfolio was the Hotel Colquitt, onenof the areas finest hotels. He helped organize the Moultrie Cotton Mills in
April, 1900. The Moultrie Observer said it best when describing Mr. Ashburn as such: "One of the first men to get
a vision of Colquitt County's future was Mr. W.W. Ashburn, a wealthy turpentine operator and merchant, of Eastman. As
far back as 1886 he was attracted by vast timber resources of the county and purchased nearly thirty thousand acres of
valuable lands that were well timbered."
Mr. Ashburn was a resident of Moultrie for six or seven years arriving there around 1900. From 1871 until 1900 he resided
in Eastman. He never lived in Ashburn but his influence on the future leaders of the town was significant. His following
from Eastman to Ashburn in 1888 included Ashburn's first mayor, Mr. J.S. Betts, who capably served for 24 years until
his defeat by Reason Paulk in 1914. With Mr. Betts came his brother-in-law, John West Evans, from Hawkinsville, who
served as our first Postmaster.
From Eastman, J.S. Shingler would come and in 1910 become our county's first state senator, as well as serving for
twenty-four continuous years as a city councilman. Last, but certainly not the least, from Eastman would come Mr. Joe
Lawrence, the Irishman of Sligo, who became the heart and soul of early Ashburn and each week promoted her in the town
paper, The Wiregrass Farmer and Stockman, as his own child and raise the banner for her growth and prosperity. To
these men, Mr. Ashburn was as a big brother. They knew him well. They had spent time with him at the social functions,
at church, and at Mr. Ashburn's store in Eastman. His vision and courage to participate and succeed in American
capitalism had rubbed off on them and the accomplishments of their lives proved it.
During the six years Mr. Ashburn lived in Moultrie, he became a pillar of that community too. He and his wife were very
active Baptists and it was his contribution that greatly supported the building of the new Baptist church edifice. Mrs. Ashburn
was a fervent missionary supporter, who for many years, privately provided the means for several missionaries to China, in
addition to supporting missionaries through her church. The Ashburn's were interned in the Westview Cemetery, Moultrie,
Georgia, which is located just north of the high school football stadium. On the tomb of Mrs. Ashburn, it is
inscribed, "A FRIEND TO MISSIONS AND TO SUFFERING HUMANITY, PRECIOUS IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD IS THE DEATH OF HIS
SAINTS". On the tomb of Mr. Ashburn, it is inscribed,"I AM THE RESURRECTION, AND THE LIFE; HE THAT BELIEVETH ON ME,
THOUGH HE DIE YET, SHALL HE LIVE."
Thank you, Mr. and Mrs.
Ashburn!
