Allon & Rollo

Zenith & Lee Pope

Untold Story of Zenith and Lee Pope Reprinted from the January 28, 2010 edition "The Georgia Post."

Powell, a newspaper columnist and author, has a penchant for history and loves to research and write about people, places, and events from the past.

Naming of Zenith and Lee Pope

The Atlanta and Florida (A&F) Railroad opened its 105-mile track from Atlanta to Fort Valley in 1888. As trains passed southward through Crawford County, the last three flag stops before reaching Fort Valley were Gaillard, Zenith, and Lee Pope, in that order. In track miles, the distance from Gaillard to Zenith is four miles, from Zenith to Lee Pope is one mile, and from Lee Pope to Fort Valley is six miles.

W. P. (Washington Perry) Carr (1853-1930), a pioneer Crawford Countian and large land owner, named both Zenith and Lee Pope. He and wife Laura (1865-1949) were married in 1882. The Carrs had eight children: Perry-born 1886, Mary-1888, Walter -1890, Milton-1892, Madison-1895, Charlie-1897, Cecil-1899, and Hampton-1904. Carr’s father, Perry Cook Carr (1814-1862), was a captain in the confederate army. W. P. Carr applied the term “zenith” because the settlement there was located at the highest point (584-feet elevation) between Macon and Columbus. He named Lee Pope after the Lee and Pope families of Crawford County. Lee Pope first appeared on the Georgia map in 1895 and Zenith in 1899. The grave of W. P. Carr is located on the west side of the old Benevolence Church Cemetery, (now Zenith Road Baptist Church) on Zenith Mill Road.

The Lee family

At the time Lee Pope was named, Lewis Lee (1848-1929) was a fellow Crawford Countian and contemporary of W. P. Carr (1853-1930); also in the same business as Carr—real estate. Lee’s parents, John and Sara Lee, were from South, Carolina. When the A&F Railroad came to Crawford County in 1888, Lee owned over 1000 acres of farmland, including the settlements that became Lee Pope and Zenith. In fact, the old Lee home, torn down during the 1960s, was located near the railroad tracks at Zenith. Lee’s postal address was nearby Gaillard, Georgia. In the 1900 census of militia district 529 (encompassed Lee Pope and Zenith), Lewis Lee, age 51 at the time, was single and living in the same home with his younger brother, Edward S. Lee (age 50, occupation: farmer) and Edward’s family: wife Wylie J. Lee-age 36 and five children (Ervin E.-age 12, Paul J.-11, Lewis W.-8., John M.-6, and Mary M.-3). Lewis Lee was still listed on the Crawford County tax rolls in 1914. During the Civil War, Lee was a cadet at the Georgia Military Institute in Marietta, Georgia. When Union General Sherman made his march to the sea, Lee was conscripted with other GMI cadets to defend the state capitol at Milledgeville, Georgia. There is no record that Lee ever married. He died July 29, 1929, in Fulton County. Sidney Goodrich’s mother, Jewel Spillers Goodrich, circa 1915, about age 10 at the time, recalls seeing Lee in a parade in Atlanta. “Mr. Lewis was riding in a horse-drawn buggy,” Jewel told her son Sidney, “He recognized me and waved.”

The Pope family

Lee Pope also was named after Col. Solomon Lewis Pope (1810-1872). In 1839, Solomon Pope married Joanna Troutman, who was born in Crawford County in 1818, the daughter of Hiram Baldwin Troutman. During the time Texas was fighting for its independence, Joanna became inspired to design a Texas battle flag. After crafting the flag, she presented it to a battalion of 150 volunteers from Georgia, which was marching to Texas to assist in the fight against Mexico. The flag presentation ceremony was held at Knoxville, Georgia, in 1835. Joanna’s flag was later adopted as the official Texas state flag. Solomon and Joanna had four children: Henry-born 1842, Marcellus-1845, John-1847, and Solomon Jr.-1852.

Solomon Pope, a lawyer by profession, owned a 5,000-acre plantation named Elmwood in western Crawford County (off Avera Road), which bordered the Flint River. Solomon died in 1872 and was buried at Elmwood. Joanna remarried William Green Vinson, a Georgia state legislator in 1875. Four years later in 1879, Joanna died at Elmwood and was buried next to her first husband. In 1913, Texas governor Oscar B. Colquitt, in response to entreaties by Mrs. Louis L. Brown Sr. of Fort Valley, took action to honor Joanna for her work in producing the “Lone Star” flag. Governor Colquitt secured permission for Joanna’s remains to be exhumed, transported to Texas, and reinterred in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin, Texas, where a statue was erected in her honor. He also commissioned an oil painting of Joanna to hang in the state capitol. Joanna Troutman Pope is one of Crawford County’s most famous citizens, highly revered and respected by both Texans and Georgians.

The Pearson Farm: growing peaches for 125 years

The Pearson farm has been in operation at Zenith and Lee Pope for 125 years. Its genesis dates back to 1885 when Moses Winlock Pearson purchased his first farmland and began growing peaches. In 1880, Moses (1858-1906) married Emma Carroll (1858-1934), their union producing 12 children: 6 boys and 6 girls. The 1900 census showed that the Pearson and Lee families were neighbors and their children would have played together. Moses died prematurely in 1906 at age 48, leaving Emma with a farm to manage and a large family to raise. John Winlock Pearson, the oldest child, age 24 at the time, assumed the burden of replacing the void created by his father’s untimely death, and keeping the farm profitable during difficult times. In 1915, John and his bother Oscar bought Lee Pope Fruit Company and began packing peaches under the “Big Six” brand label--named after Moses and Emma’s six boys: John, Oscar, Walter, William, James, and Clyde.

John Winlock Pearson (1881-1958) married Rosa Lee Hartley (1887-1976). Their marriage produced three boys (Lawton, Russell, and Willard) and two girls (Virgie and Tina). Lawton’s peach packing shed was located near the railroad at Lee Pope; Willard and Russell’s in Fort Valley on the present site of Harvey’s Grocery Store. When Lawton’s packing shed burned in 1961, he used Russell and Willard’s shed for the next 13 years.

In 1937, Lawton Pearson (1912-1979) married Laurie Lanier (1915-1981). The “Big 6” farmland is currently owned by their three children: Peggy Pearson Jerles, Ann Pearson McGehee, and Al Pearson. In January 2008, a mail order business named “Pearson Farm” was created to ship peaches, pecans, and seasonal gifts to individual and corporate customers. It is owned and operated by Al Pearson and his son, Lawton. The Pearson farm comprises 1300 acres of peaches and 2300 acres of pecans. Bill McGehee (Ann’s husband) and their son, Will, manage marketing operations for both peaches and pecans. The old Zenith School (established circa1900 and closed in late 1940s) became a packing shed for “Big 6” in 1975 and is still in use.

Famous historical landmarks still standing

At Zenith: Zenith Cash Grocery, Hebron Church, Zenith Hotel, Zenith School, Home of Lawton and Laurie Pearson. At Lee Pope: Home of John and Rosa Lee Pearson, Lee Pope Hotel, Lee Pope depot.

Desecration of the Solomon Pope Cemetery at Elmwood

When George and Sandy Simms purchased the old Elmwood plantation house plus 30 acres of land in 1994, they found that the Pope cemetery, once featured in the Atlanta Constitution, was no where to be found on the premises. The obelisk-style monument of Solomon Pope and the headstones of other family members were missing. Where were they? Nearby the former cemetery plot was a large mound of dirt containing shattered stone fragments. It appeared that the cemetery plot had been bulldozed over and pushed up into a pile--the sacred landmark irretrievably lost. The grave marker for Joanna Troutman Pope was discovered at the front of the stone walkway leading to the plantation home. Further, according to Sandy Simms, the graves of some 60 plantation slaves had also disappeared. The Pope cemetery embodied significant historical importance. Buried there were Colonel Solomon Pope, a distinguished Crawford County pioneer, after whom a Georgia town was named; and the nationally acclaimed Joanna Troutman Pope, designer of the Texas state flag. The Pope family deserved better. Is there no respect for the dead?

The Great Train Robbery

Sidney Goodrich’s grandfather, Luther Spillers, told the story of a train robbery that took place in Fort Valley in 1917. A highly inebriated Crawford Countian wanted to catch a train ride to Zenith, where he lived. The train engineer agreed to drop him off at Zenith on the way to Atlanta, but asked the drunk to wait while he and his crew ate lunch in downtown Fort Valley. Since they left the engine idling, the drunk climbed into the cab, released the brake and opened the throttle. The train began pulling out of Fort Valley. The crew, while dining, was alerted that the train was mysteriously leaving town. They interrupted their meal, and started chasing after the train, hoping to board it, but the drunk had it moving at too fast a clip. The train made it six miles up the track to Lee Pope, but ran out of steam pulling the elevated grade to Zenith. By then the news of the train robbery had reached the Railroad Station at Gaillard where Sidney’s grandfather, Luther Spillers, operated a country store. Spillers immediately rushed to Lee Pope. He found the drunk passed out and slumped over the throttle. Since Mr. Spillers knew how to operate the train, he backed it all the way to Fort Valley to an anxiously waiting engineer and crew.

My appreciation to Crawford County historian, Sidney Goodrich, and my brother, Dwayne Powell, an accomplished genealogist. Without their expert help, this story would not have been possible.

A huge thanks goes out to Mr. Billy Powell for sharing this information and photos with us!

Click on the photos for a larger view...

Fourth, fifth, and sixth generations of Pearsons. Standing, L-R: Jake DeMint, Lawton Pearson, Kristofer "Hutch" Hutchinson, Al Pearson. Adults seated, L-R: Laurie Pearson DeMint, Lanier Defnall Pearson, Mary Katherine Pearson Hutchinson, Mary Pearson. Children: L-R: Clark DeMint, Adeline Pearson, Jimbo DeMint, A. L. “Cort” Pearson IV.	Ann Pearson McGehee, Al Pearson, Peggy Pearson Jerles	Hebron Church at Zenith		John Pearson Home
Old Lee Pope Hotel	Old Zenith School	Train passes old Lee Pope Depot	Mound of stone fragments and dirt	Joanna Troutman Pope's grave at walkway

This page was last updated Monday, March 01, 2010

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