Madison Springs
Madison County,
Georgia
By Rev. C. P. Willcox
1933
In THE
SOUTHERN BANNER of June 22, 1854, there appeared the
following advertisement:
1/2Madison Springs, Madison
County, Georgia. For the liberal patronage extended to my
Springs, and feeling my entire incapacity for their
management alone, I have arranged with Aaron Gage, Esq., of
Mobile, Alabama, popular host of the 1/2Eutaw House 1/2, to take
an interest in them. The hotel will be under his management
during the approaching season. Mr. Gage 1/2s high reputation
as a hotel keeper, connected with the fact that he intends
making Georgia his future home, is a sure guarantee that
nothing will be wanting under his management to give entire
satisfaction. The reputation of Madison Springs for health,
climate, variety and the efficacy of the water; comfort and
beauty of its environment, the fine rides, agreeable walks
and the distant mountain views, make Madison Springs popular
during the summer months and always insures fine society.
The table will be second to none in the country. The fine
German band from Charleston is engaged for the dancing; one
member will give dancing lessons and one will teach music.
The Springs are twenty miles from Athens, where two lines of
stage coaches are always ready to convey passengers. 1/2
Madison
Springs was discovered about 1800, so the story goes, by a man
who bore the name of Vineyard, under the following
circumstances:
Vineyard
lived on the bluff just above the spring, and was suffering from
what people thought was leprosy (doubtless it was pellagra).
His wife and children had to go out on the farm in order to make
a living for the family. One day, in the absence of his wife
and children, Vineyard crawled down the bluff, suffering from
his disease, and fell into the water and mud below the spring,
and dipping leaves in the water he bathed himself freely, hoping
it would help him, but found he could not get out of the water.
When his wife came back from her work, not finding him at home,
she went down to the spring and saw him in the water unable to
help himself. She pulled him out and helped him up the bluff to
their home.
The next
morning Vineyard realized that he was better than he had been
for a long time and decided he would drink the water every day
because he saw he was getting better and better. He felt there
was 1/2magic 1/2 in the water and that at last he was feeling as
sound as anybody.
This is the
story of the early discovery by a white man of Madison Springs.
In THE ARABIAN NIGHTS there is a story called 1/2The Walking Bird,
the Singing Tree and the Yellow Water. 1/2 1/2The Yellow Water 1/2 in
the ARABIAN NIGHTS story was at the top of a mountain, attained
only after a dangerous and arduous climb. The Yellow Water at
Madison Springs is at the bottom of a low bluff. Around this
spot the trees, if there were 1/2talking trees 1/2, could tell many a
story of days gone by when the Yellow Water of the famous spring
flowed on unmindful of the flight of time and the changes that
come and go with it. Romances? Yes, hidden in the trees and
under the trees that do not talk.
In speaking
of a natural wonder, it is easy for people to say 1/2The Indians
discovered it. 1/2 But there is no record, that I know of, that
the Indians discovered the mineral spring in Madison County,
afterwards called Madison Springs. However, it is doubtless
true that the Indians discovered this spring in the sense that
they discovered everything of importance, because they were the
only ones on the place. But the Indians did not seem to take to
this spring, because there is no evidence that the Indians
(Cherokee Indians) camped around this spring, such as pottery
and arrow heads. About a quarter of a mile to the east of the
mineral spring there is a freestone spring and a good deal of
evidence that the Cherokee Indians had a village there, because
arrowheads and pottery can easily be found. The Indians, in the
opinion of the writer, seemed to like 1/2freestone water 1/2 better
than mineral water. However, this is only a conjecture. But
the real discovery of the Mineral Spring, so far as the white
man is concerned, can really be attributed to old man Vineyard
and his 1/2leprosy. 1/2 This information came to the writer from
Uncle Tom Dean and other old citizens of Madison County who got
it by a 1/2handed-down-by-mouth process 1/2 1/2 from father to children
and grandchildren, as Homer 1/2s poetry and other ancient poets and
historians had their handed down.
Looking over
the records in the Court House at Danielsville, the first
mineral spring, and the freestone springs nearby, naturally gave
the name Madison Springs. This was easily taken up by
the public as the name of the place. We also see this from the
inscriptions on the tombstones in the old cemetery not far from
the spring.
In tracing
the early history at this point, we must look back to 1830,
where on February 2 of that year William L. Griffith, Sheriff of
Madison County, sold to William J. and Joseph F. Morton the
original Madison Springs tract, of 900 acres on North Broad
River, containing 1/2all unsold lots and unimproved ones,
reserving all the privileges to these lots which have been held
and reserved by former owners, etc. 1/2
Why Sheriff
Griffith, of Madison County, sold Madison Springs at this time I
do not know. Whether he sold it to satisfy a debt or whether he
owned it personally and was simply selling out to the Mortons.
This I know, people were going early to Madison Springs after
its discovery by Vineyard, and after the value of the mineral
water became known. The tombstones in the Madison Springs
cemetery show this. The writer has traced ruins of cottages or
huts near the spring where the people were living in the summer
over a hundred years ago.
I do not
this it will be necessary to give here any long abstract of
title to show how the Madison Springs property came into the
possession of the present owners. In looking over an abstract
from the records in the County Court House, I am touching only
certain 1/2high spots 1/2 to make this sketch interesting to the
general reader.
According to
the records, Robert Toombes (who afterwards became a general in
the Confederate Army), Blanton M. Hill and P. J. Simmes in 1839
owned the Madison Springs tract of 900 acres, and they sold it
Henry J. Pope, along with five other tracts or parcels of land
amounting to 2450 acres, for which he paid $7,000.00.
About this
time Daniel Morrison of Augusta saw the possibility of
developing a wonderful summer resort for health and pleasure at
Madison Springs. Morrison had evidently been spending some time
at the Springs and he saw what the water could do for health,
and so in September he prevailed upon Henry J. Pope to sell him
the land he purchased from Messrs. Toombs, Hill and Simmes in
January. Here we find the records state that on September 24,
1839 Pope conveyed the same 2450 acres, including the Madison
Springs tract, to Daniel Morrison, and for the same price he had
paid to Toombs, Hill and Simmes in January. Thus, Daniel
Morrison became the sole owner of Madison Springs, which was
destined to become one of the South 1/2s celebrated summer resorts
in colonial days. At this time there were small cottages and
huts for the summer colony, but Morrison had other plans for his
resort as people were coming more and more to the Springs. He
must have a hotel for the crowds that would come to his resort
and partake of the magic water which was bubbling from his
Mineral Spring. This hotel was built by Morrison about 1841.
The building was of colonial type, one and a half stories high 1/2
the chimneys outside. The dining room was in the basement, the
floor of which was cement. This cement was evidently of very
good quality as the old floor is almost intact to this day. A
porch encircled the building, and Uncle Tom Dean said to walk
around the building on this porch thirteen times was equivalent
to walking a mile 1/2 a favorite sport at the time, especially on
rainy days. There were ample 1/2accessories 1/2 such as a large
kitchen at the rear of the hotel building. In colonial days,
kitchens were detached from the 1/2main house. 1/2 In this kitchen
was a large brick oven for the baking of bread, and there was a
coo for the bread-making and a cook for meats and general
cooking. Nearby was a dry well where the meats and milk were
kept. The ruins of the old kitchen and the dry well can be
readily seen at this time. The china used in the rooms of the
hotel was etched with a picture of the spring 1/2 so to this day
pieces can be picked up bearing the legend 1/2Madison Springs,
Daniel Morrison, Proprietor. 1/2 Mr. Morrison also had a beautiful
marble urn made in Augusta, and this urn is still doing service
at the spring. Right at the springs was the pavilion. The
original pillars of the pavilion can be seen at this time with
names carved on them, dated carrying one way back before the War
Between the States. When the hotel was built, Mr. Morrison also
built a number of cottages. The people, it seems, would have a
public house or barroom; so one was built, but I am glad to say
there was also a church. And just beyond the spring there was a
commodious bathhouse, and nearby there was a splendid bowling
alley for the amusement of the guests. From the freestone
spring just below the mineral spring, water was conveyed to the
hotel by a ram. Madison Springs was well planned and well
built. The lumber for building was cut from the forests nearby,
and the brick made from clay dug in the meadows just below the
spring. There was a broad avenue leading from the hotel to the
spring covered with white sand. This was called 1/2Euclid
Avenue. 1/2 An old resident of Danielsville remarked once to the
writer that he had seen as many as one hundred couples at one
time in this broad avenue leading from the spring to the hotel.
I have heard my mother say (she was there in 1854 and 1855) that
stands were erected from the hotel to the spring, and on these
stands pine knots were placed and lighted, and the whole place
lighted up till bed time and after. The people knew how to have
a good time in those days. There was a band from Charleston, as
we see from the advertisement heading this sketch, and dancing
of the old fashioned kind was frequent in the hotel. In August
there was a grand ball. Commencement at the University of
Georgia was in August in those days; the stage coaches and
carriages from Athens and other parts of Georgia were crowded
with young people going to Springs to attend this ball. Let me
here quote from a letter written to 1/2The Southern Banner 1/2 by an
enthusiastic spectator at the grand fancy ball in the hotel the
night of August 8, 1854:
1/2Mr. Editor: I am writing to
furnish you with an account of the grand fancy ball on the
eighth. It was far more brilliant than anyone ventured to
hope 1/2 dazzling beauty, sparkling wit and mirthful fancy
combining gave joyous revelry. The ball room was
brilliantly lighted, and at half past eight the guests
commenced assembling. First, I noticed among the spectators
Judge Lumpkin of Athens; Judge Starnes of Augusta, Dr.
D 1/2Antignac, Dr. Dugas and Governor Schley of Augusta 1/2 all
of whom were specially invited guests 1/2 besides various
gentlemen from Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi and
Alabama. And now let me present the intelligent, witty and
handsome Mrs. R. of Beaufort. You may be sure she caused
shouts of laughter as she entered the room dressed as the
wife of an old English yeoman. She was leaning on the arm
of Dr. P. of Macon. You must permit me to mention here Dr.
P. 1/2s dress, for it would be too unkind to separate so unique
a pair. Their dress corresponded well. I can only describe
them by saying they were vast in dimension, huge in
rotundity and superlatively antiquated. Both sustained
their characters admirably, and could you have seen this
happy couple, as they plodded though the dance, you too
would have been convulsed with laughter. Let me also
present Miss Y of Mississippi as 1/2Mary, Queen of Scots 1/2;
Miss G of Mobile as 1/2Flora 1/2; Miss L of Portland, Maine; and
lots of others from Athens, Augusta, Charleston and
Savannah. There were others that I cannot now remember. I
would like to give you an account of the supper which was
elegant, but I have already detained you too long. Suffice
it to say that the evening will long be remembered by all
present as one of the most pleasant that ever passed. 1/2
1/2Spectator 1/2
At the
height of its popularity it was necessary to build an annex at
the Springs. This was a long wooden building to the left of the
main hotel further down the stage road going to Anderson, South
Carolina. This went by the name of the 1/2Long House 1/2 or 1/2Stag
House 1/2 and was used for the men folks exclusively during the
height of the season at this popular watering place. Of course,
the mineral spring was the drawing card for most of the people,
but not the only drawing card, as certain amusements were
provided each season besides the parties and dancing at the
hotel, as we have seen. The woods at Madison Springs were, and
still are, wonderful 1/2 a virgin forest of beautiful trees 1/2
white oaks and other oaks, hickories and pines and the beautiful
dogwood and other smaller trees and shrubs, all wild and
romantic looking, winding country roads through them, and hills
and valleys on all sides. Analysis, as we shall see, makes the
spring one of nature 1/2s own medicine chests which, combining with
the fresh forest air, gives one an exhilarating experience at
Madison Springs. One writing some years ago of the woods at
Madison Springs said of them:
1/2The magnificence of grand
cities, however much it inspires, cannot absorb my love for
the rural simplicity of this beauteous spot or drive away
admiration for the majestic solemnity of its deeps woods
full of tall pines continually 1/2bowing like saints in
prayer. 1/2 Could the thousand echoes which lie sleeping here
against those wooded hills be awakened, with what a grand
chorus would these forests resound! 1/2
Mr. Daniel
Morrison was the sole owner of Madison Springs after he acquired
the property of Henry J. Pope, and after he built the hotel in
1841, but in the early 1/250s (about 1850 or 1852) he sold the
original Madison tract, the hotel and all accessories and all
rights and privileges to John D. Watkins and Harrison Musgrove.
Musgrove, a short while after, sold his interest to Watkins, and
Watkins became the sole owner of the property and proprietor of
the hotel.
We see from
the advertisement introducing this sketch how Watkins managed
the hotel. It must indeed have been a most attractive place.
Oftentimes the writer, while at Madison Springs, would looks
over towards the ruins to the old hotel and hear that band from
Charleston playing for the dances and see his mother dancing the
stately minuet. One summer (1854 or 1855) Grandmother Harris
and my mother (Mary Smythe of Augusta) were looking forward to
going to the dance at the hotel 1/2 perhaps the night of the
1/2grand fancy ball. 1/2 Suddenly, the stage coach arrived in front
of the hotel, as it did every day, and a letter was handed to
Grandmother Harris announcing the death of George Smythe, Mary 1/2s
uncle. Did Grandmother Harris tell Mary Smythe the news? No
indeed. She put the letter away until the next day so Mary
could go on to the fancy ball at the hotel that night. And the
letter was 1/2news 1/2 the next day. That 1/2s the way folks did in
those days. That 1/2s the way some folks do now. Anyway, that 1/2s
the way Grandmother Harris did.
As I write,
there is before me a picture of the old hotel pillars 1/2 all that
was left of the large hotel which once stood at Madison
Springs. As I look at the picture I can think back and see the
stage coach arriving in front of the hotel, the people coming
out on the porch and coming out in the yard to meet friends and
relatives and the new arrivals and to get the all-important mail
and the newspapers of the day. National questions which fill
our newspapers of the present day filled the newspapers of the
1/249 1/2s and 1/250 1/2s. The old gentleman wearing his 1/2black stock 1/2
can be seen in a quiet corner of the porch reading his paper,
and the 1/2mammy 1/2 gathering up the children and taking them down
to the spring to drink the water and play in the pavilion. But
somebody once said 1/2Everything passes. 1/2 The old hotel is gone,
the bowling alley is gone, the church is gone 1/2 in fact, all is
gone except the marble urn at the spring, part of the pavilion,
some tombstones in the cemetery and one cottage which has been
remodeled.
Madison
Springs reached its height under the management of Messrs.
Morrison and Watkins. To get a clear image of how things looked
at Madison Springs at this time, note the following letter
written by a guest at the Springs and which appeared in an
Athens paper dated July 13, 1854:
1/2Mr. Editor: I am not much
given to watering places, and generally they are to me
exceedingly dull places. The last week, however, I have
spent at Madison Springs, with comfort and pleasure. I do
not propose to 1/2puff 1/2 the proprietor, but I feel as a
Georgian that it is due to the enterprising proprietor that
the traveling public should know the amount of ease,
comfort, good cooking, good music, good bathing and good
cheer generally which may be found under his roof. The
number of visitors at present is limited, not exceeding
thirty, but I do not hesitate to say that for the number, I
never met so many real, genuine, intelligent ladies and
gentlemen. As the visitors are 1/2for the season 1/2 they
constitute of themselves and attraction to the Springs.
Some of them are from your City and are known by you to
merit the encomium I bestow. In the hope to find leisure
for another week of quiet enjoyment at this delightful
place, I am your obedient servant. 1/2 (signed) 1/2T 1/2
The
following write-up is from the same paper:
1/2We had occasion during the
past week to visit this delightful watering place, and were
highly pleased to notice many improvements by the present
proprietor for the better accommodation of his guests. Two
new springs have been discovered during the last year. The
first is about three-quarters of a mile from the hotel, and
is strongly impregnated with sulphur, magnesia and soda; the
second principally white sulphur. Our short stay did not
permit us to visit the latter, but as to the efficacy of the
former, the hearty supper we ate after drinking its water is
sufficient testimony of its powers. We find a marked change
in one night 1/2s sojourn. The enterprising host, Col.
Watkins, intends several very great improvements which will
be completed by the next season 1/2 among others, a tower on
the hill between the hotel and the new spring from which an
extensive mountain view may be enjoyed. We do not hesitate
to say that the accommodations are equal to any
establishments of the kind in the south 1/2 An excellent band
of music performs before dinner and after tea, and those who
have a passion for twirling the light fantastic toe can
enjoy it to the extent of their desires 1/2 Madison Springs
cannot be surpassed. 1/2
While
incorporating in this sketch of Madison Springs these
interesting excerpts from old newspapers, we must not overlook
the fact that one of the biggest conventions ever held in the
Old South took place at the Madison Springs Hotel in 1856. Let
us look at this very condensed report from 1/2The Southern
Watchman 1/2 telling about 1/2The Georgia Airline Railroad
Convention 1/2:
1/2The Georgia Airline Railroad
Convention, Madison Springs, Tuesday, July 8th,
1856. Pursuant to previous notice, the Georgia Airline
Railroad Convention assembled at this place today at eleven
o 1/2clock A.M., where delegated gathered from the counties of
Madison, Clarke, Jackson, Fulton, Gwinnett, Franklin,
Habersham and Elbert in Georgia; and from Anderson in South
Carolina. Preliminary organization was in charge of Gabriel
Nash and James S. Gholston of Madison County. In the
permanent organization of the convention James M. Calhoun of
Fulton County was made chairman, and James S. Gholston and
John M. Freeman of Madison County were made secretaries.
1/2The convention had as its
prime object the building of a big airline railway from the
South to the North, and it was here at Madison Springs,
through this convention, the great railroad was organized
that became the Richmond and Danville Railroad (The Piedmont
Airline) that became in after years a prominent part of the
great Southern Railway.
1/2Our space is too limited to
give the names of all the delegates to the convention, but
they were such men as James M. Calhoun, Jonathon Norcross,
L. E. Bleckley of Fulton County; Dr. Henry R. J. Long,
William Gerdine, W. G. DeLoney, E. O. Lumpkin, John C.
Lumpkin and John H. Newton of Clarke County; John Scott, R.
H. Bulloch, W. H. Griffith, Gabriel Nash, James S. Gholston,
James W. Daniel of Madison County 1/2 and others from the
adjacent counties interested in the project. 1/2
When he took
charge as proprietor the first thing that John D. Watkins did
was to get an analysis of the water of the various springs. In
May 1852, Mr. Watkins secured the services of Dr. Lewis Harper,
a well-known chemist of his day. Dr. Harper made what he called
a 1/2Qualitative chemical analysis of the Madison Chalybeate
Sulphurous and Alkaline Springs. 1/2 Dr. Harper in writing to Mr.
Watkins under the date of May 22, 1852, said in reference to his
work in analyzing the springs, 1/2to determine their contents, 1/2
that he had only been bale to make an 1/2accurate qualitative
analysis. 1/2 At the time other engagements did not allow time to
proceed with an exact 1/2quantative analysis. 1/2 But, nevertheless,
Dr. Harper classed them as 1/2really valuable springs. 1/2
The analysis
centered around the two mineral springs, one called the old
spring or 1/2number one 1/2, situated in the grove in front of the
large hotel; and the other situated in a northern direction
about a half mile from the hotel, which he called the new
spring, or 1/2number two 1/2, and later it was called 1/2Sulphur
Spring. 1/2 The temperature of Spring Number One was 62 degrees
Fahrenheit; that of Number Two was 61 degrees Fahrenheit. The
quantity of water given out by both springs was the same, viz,
one gallon in one minute and forty-five seconds, or a little
over 822 gallons in 24 hours. The reaction of the water is
alkaline in both springs, and the smell and taste of both
springs is practically the same, though Number Two was found to
have a little more sulphur in the water than the water at Number
One.
Here is Dr.
Harper 1/2s 1/2Summary recapitulation of the contents of the
Springs 1/2:
No. 1
Old Spring
-
Protocarbonate of Iron, consisting of Protoxide of Iron
and Carbonic Acid.
-
Protosulphate of Iron, consisting of Protoxide of Iron
and Sulphuric Acid.
-
Sulphate of Ammonia, consisting of Ammonia and Sulphuric
Acid.
-
Alumina, a trace consisting of Aluminum and Oxygen.
-
Chloride of Magnesium, consisting of Magnesium and
Hydrochloric Acid.
-
Lime, a trace, in the form of a Sulphate, containing
Calcium and Oxygen.
-
Crenic and Apocrenic Acids 1/2 of no importance
-
Silicic Acid 1/2 of no importance
No. 2
New Spring
-
Protosulphate of Iron (as at One 2)
-
Protocarbonate of Iron (as at One 1)
-
Sulphate of Amonia (as at One 3)
-
Magnesia, a trace in the form of a Carbonate, containing
Magnesia and Carbonic Acid.
-
Alumina, a trace (as at One 4)
Dr. Harper,
in concluding his analysis of the springs, says:
1/2Both of the springs contain
such a considerable quantity of Ammonia to render them
Alkaline. 1/2 And he says further: 1/2If the water of the
Madison Springs is to be applied as a merely chalybeate
water, it is advisable to use it as fresh as possible 1/2
immediately from the spring, as a part of the iron is so
easily precipitated; if as a sulphurous water, it is
advisable to use it stale, and let it stand over night. It
loses then nearly all that part of the iron which is in
combination with Carbonic Acid, and likewise nearly all of
the latter, but retains all its Sulphuric Acid, and only
that part of the iron in combination with that acid. As a
bath, the water, especially that of the New Spring, retains
little of its Chalybeate property, but all of its Sulphur,
especially when warmed. 1/2
We are soon
coming to the close of this sketch of Madison Springs. From the
foregoing the reader can see what the magic water of Madison
Springs can do and did do for those who were fortunate to be at
its side and drink its Yellow Water. Before closing this
sketch, however, we want to call the reader 1/2s attention to the
old cemetery at Madison Springs 1/2 something over one hundred
years old. One day not so very long ago while walking in the
cemetery the writer noticed especially the two following
epitaphs which I am sure will be of interest as they link the
past with the present:
In Memory of
James Willis
Twin son of William and Eliza Jane Dearing
Who Died at the Madison Springs
August 27, 1825
Aged one year, one month and twenty days
Suffer little children to come unto Me
Sacred to the Memory
Of
Elizabeth M. Hill
Daughter of
Blanton M. and Elizabeth Ann Hill
Born April 3, 1828
Died September 19, 1834
These were
children of well-known Athens families. Blanton M. Hill was the
joint owner of Madison Springs with Robert Toombs and P. J.
Simmes in 1839.
1/2Everything
passes. 1/2 It must pass on. Such is life in this world. Even in
1854 John D. Watkins, the sole proprietor of Madison Springs,
was beginning to convey the land with the hotel and buildings
thereon to secure a debt, and in 1862 it seems from the records
that he conveyed to John P. Brooks the original tract of 900
acres, together 1/2with household and kitchen furnishings 1/2 1/2
evidently the furniture of the hotel and kitchen. Here we lose
trace of John D. Watkins as proprietor of Madison Springs, and
the place seemed to lose its grip, as it were, in the
imagination of people as a summer resort. Only those seemed to
go there now who knew the value of the water. The War Between
the States was on at this time, and people had already been
going to other resorts as railway facilities increased. And
fire, that great destroyer of things mundane, leveled with the
dust of the earth the old hotel and adjacent building one night
in February 1871.
1/2How did the
hotel happen to burn down? 1/2 I asked Uncle Tom Dean whose lands
were adjacent to those of the Madison Springs tract. I had
heard that is was of incendiary origin. Mr. Dean said a woman
was milking a cow near one of the cottages and a lamp or lantern
was turned over on some shucks and from this the fire started.
A brisk wind was blowing at the time, and the fire spread
rapidly. Mr. Dean said he and others went on top of the hotel
and tried to stop the fire there, but it was so hot they were
forced to come down. The great destroyer had done its work.
Practically everything was burned of any value except two of the
cottages.
A number of
well-known citizens of Athens (namely, Ferdinand Phinizy, Y. L.
G. Harris, W. L. Jones, R. L. Moss, J. A. Hunnicut and Cobb and
Erwin) bought the place in 1872 from Mary C. Scranton, Mary L.
Scranton and Annie E. Scranton. These gentlemen conceived the
idea of obtaining Madison Springs for a private summer resort,
as it were, for their families 1/2 a place hidden away from the
maddening crowd and nestled so quietly underneath the wonderful
forests, and place of wide scope for their children to play 1/2 and
last of all, the magic water. Dr. Hunnicut was especially
advised to take a very sick child to Madison Springs, and there
she was restored to health. Dr. Hunnicut was so impressed with
the value of the place that he and his beloved wife and their
children for years and years made this place a happy and joyous
summer 1/2rendezvous. 1/2 Even to this day, members of the family go
there 1/2 not seeking the 1/2talking bird, the singing trees and the
yellow water 1/2 of the Arabian Nights, but seeking a place where
the Campephilus Imperialis talks to the whippoorwill, the tall
pines sing with the winds and where the yellow water bubbles up
as joyously as a baby 1/2s laughter.
As one by
one the gentlemen mentioned dropped out of the ownership of the
springs, Dr. Hunnicut became the sole owner and after his death,
and that of his beloved wife, his daughter, Miss Mary Hunnicut,
became the sole owner.
The writer
has had many a good time a Madison Springs, and many a good
rest, and felt the glow of renewed health; and when I say
everything passes, I must add, except memory. With this idea in
mind, I close this sketch of Madison Springs with some lines I
wrote in 1895. I do not claim to be a poet, but nevertheless
here are the lines:
Madison Springs! Madison Springs!
How sweetly the name in my memory rings
As at eventime I sit
In the sunset 1/2s afterglow
And fondly turn me back a bit
To the scenes of long ago!
Athens,
Georgia
February 1933
