Henry Newton Franklin was born on a hot summer day, August 9, 1897. Newton grew up in Southeast
Schley County, in what was then a town called LaCrosse (pronounced LAY-cross) near the Sumter County line and by
Andersonville. LaCrosse no longer exists and is marked as a crossroads. His parents were James Henry Franklin and Mary Julia Grantham Franklin. Newton had seven brothers and sisters but only three lived to adulthood.
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| James and Mary Franklin |
According to the Franklin family Bible, the oldest, Willie was born May 15, 1883 but drowned cotton in October of 1886. Zachary Taylor Franklin was born May 31, 1885 but died April 18, 1886. Cause of death cited in the Franklin family Bible is teething. Note that 10 percent of infant deaths in the 1800s were attributed to teething. Roger Benjamin was born July 8, 1887 but died July 23, 1888. His cause of death listed in the family Bible was "swallowed some ceder". Bright Allison was born May 26, 1889. Bright lived until 1956 when he died of a heart attack. Bright married Annie Clyde Perry and they had four children. Ola May Franklin was born February 21, 1892 and she died January 1893 with pneumonia. Ephriau Filmore was born July 14, 1895 but died August 27, 1908 with typhoid fever. Lillie Bell was born February 23, 1900. She married James Larkin Hall, known as Jim L. in 1921. They were known to be good dancers. They lived just southwest of Americus. The famous
Koinonia Farm was not
too far from their farm. Aunt Bell had a wood stove in her house until
she left it in the 1980s to live in the Plains Nursing Home. She died
March 18, 1990. James Franklin was a farmer.
Newton married Bessie Beckwith September 4, 1917. Bessie's family owned large tracts of land in southwest Schley and northwest Sumter counties, as well as property in south Sumter County. Bessie told her children and grandchildren that she almost called off the wedding because Newton tried to kiss her the evening before the wedding. Newton left his family on the east side of Schley County and he and Bess lived in a small house on the Beckwith land about a mile from "the big house" where Bess grew up. The newlyweds were together about a year and then Newton joined the Army to fight in WWI. He was a private with the
Army Coast Artillery and went to Savannah. His timing was good. He signed up October 22, 1918 and the war was over November 11 and he was discharged December 6.
Newton and Bess had four children, Virginia born April 11, 1920, Donald born November 4, 1921,
LaVerne born August 14, 1924 and Carolyn born October 21, 1929.
Newton and Bess were active in Shiloh Baptist church. Newton farmed his father-in-law's land. Family stories include a fire that burned down the barn killing the mule and destroying onions saved for the winter. Bess would say the fire was put out with milk they had in the house. Bess had signet ring that her father had given her. Unfortunately, the ring was stolen and Bess suspected it was a young girl she had hired to help around the house. Times were tight for the couple even before the recession hit. Another family story was that Newton had bought a pair of overalls that were way too big for him. He joked that the baby could fit in the pants so he scooped up Virginia and sure enough, she fit in the pant leg with him....but she got stuck. Newton wanted to cut the pants to the free the child but Bess would not ruin the new overalls since they had cost $2, which is about $25 in 2014 dollars.
At the end of WWII, German prisoners of war were housed at what is now
Jimmy Carter Regional Airport and were put to work on local farms. Newton used German POW labor on his farm. Newton served as a Schley County commissioner for one term. His goal was to have the road paved in front of his house and he accomplished his mission. As of 3.23.14, I have not determined the date of the term but believe it was in the 1950s.
Newton was an active member of the American Legion Post 191. He loved country music, Juicy Fruit gum and hunting with his dog. His last dog was Joe and the dog before that was Dot, both fine hunting dogs. He was a loyal Democrat and attributed FDR's New Deal in saving the country. He was always up for a joke or prank and loved to tease his grandchildren. He would often tout his pater familias stating to his
grandchildren, "You wouldn't be here if it weren't for me." He farmed his entire life but in the later years, the crops were smaller, more for family than for the markets. He and Bess were married nearly 66 years. He passed away on his 86th birthday in 1983 of prostate cancer.
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| Nine of Newton Franklin's ten grandchildren |
Carlotta Franklin Ungaro is the last grandchild of Newton and Bessie Franklin. She welcomes any input from other family members or friends on stories about "Papa" (pronounced the Southern way, PawPaw.")
