THROUGH
MOUNTAIN MISTS
Early Settlers of
Their
Descendants...Their Stories...Their Achievements
Lifting the
Mists of History on Their Way of Life
By: Ethelene Dyer Jones
A Tribute to
Congressman Edgar Lanier Jenkins
Union County, Georgia can be
justifiably
proud of one of her native sons, Congressman Edgar Lanier Jenkins. He grew up in the county, was educated in the
elementary and high schools at Blairsville, and went out to make his
mark in
the world. We salute him, pay tribute to
his memory, and extend condolences to his family.
Congressman Edgar Lanier Jenkins who served as the United States Representative from the Ninth US Congressional District, Georgia, passed away Sunday, January 1, 2012, three days shy of his seventy-ninth birthday. He was born in Young Harris, Georgia on January 4, 1933, the second son of six children born to Charles Swinfield Jenkins and Evia Mae Souther Jenkins. He served in the United States House of Representatives for sixteen years, from 1976 through 1992 when he retired.
He
and I were, as we say in genealogical terms, double-first cousins twice (or thrice) removed. We
both descend from stalwart early settlers
to Union County, Georgia (where Ed and I both grew up).
As John Donne so aptly stated in one of his
poems, Ed’s death “diminished me.” I was
deeply saddened that he could not recover from the cancer he so bravely
fought
and that took his life three days before he reached his seventy-ninth
birthday.
I will miss his presence at our annual Dyer-Souther Reunions in July. I will miss sending him “The Chronicle,” the newsletter I write and send out to about 300 descendants of Ed and my common ancestors, John and Mary Combs Souther and Bluford Elisha and Elizabeth Clark Dyer. Edgar’s connection back to them is through his mother, EviaSouther Jenkins, the granddaughter of William Albert and Elizabeth “Hon” Dyer Souther. This couple’s first-born son, Frank LoranseySouther (1881-1937) who married Nancy Elizabeth Johnson (1886-1967) was Edgar’s grandfather, his mother Evia’s parents. Edgar’s great, great grandparents were John Combs Hayes Souther (1827-1891) and Nancy Collins Souther (1829-1888)—and through the Collins line Edgar and I pick up still another relationship, for we share the same Collins ancestors as well. But all these ancestral connections get to be a bit confusing, especially if you don’t deal with them on a regular basis. Suffice it to say that the family connections are back there, strong and with definite influence upon both of us.
Edgar
Lanier Jenkins perhaps got his penchant for public service in an
“honest” way,
as we say in the mountains. His
grandfather, Frank LoranseySouther (1881-1937) was what we call in
Appalachia a
“revenooer.” That is, he worked for the
U. S. Government to find, break up, and arrest perpetrators of the law
who made
“moonshine liquor” in the coves and hollows of this mountain region. When Edgar was a slip of a boy only four
years old, his grandfather Ransey (as we called him) was killed in the
line of
duty. Maybe that Grandfather’s death
made such an impression on Edgar that he resolved at an early age to do
what he
could in future to treat people well and to make a difference with his
own
life.
Ed
graduated from Union County High School and then attended and graduated
from
Young Harris College in 1951. His
faithfulness to his junior college Alma Mater led him in later years to
set up
a scholarship fund there which has assisted many with tuition. His first job out of Young Harris was with
the Federal Bureau of Investigation (was this in remembrance of his
late
grandfather, RanseySouther?). He then
joined the U. S. Coast Guard and served ably from 1952 through 1955.
Following
his honorable discharge, he entered the University of Georgia to
receive his
bachelor’s degree and then his law degree in 1959.
From
1959 through 1962 he served on the staff of U. S. Congressman Phillip
M.
Landrum of the Ninth Congressional District.
That experience helped the young Jenkins get a feel for serving
in our
U. S. capitol and set the stage for his later direction in life. From 1962 through 1964, Edgar Jenkins was
Assistant District Attorney for Georgia’s Northern District, and he
practiced
law in Pickens County, Georgia, where he and his wife, Bennie Jo
Thomasson
Jenkins made their home at Jasper. Their
two daughters, Janice Kristin and Amy Lynn came along in the 1960’s to
give
them much joy and grace their home. Later he would rejoice in two
grandsons,
Sam and Drew Dotson, sons of his daughter, Amy Jenkins Dotson.
Ed
Jenkins was elected as the Ninth District U. S. Congressman in 1976,
the same
year another Georgian, Jimmy Carter, was elected President of the
United
States. Since Ed had the experience of
being on the staff of Congressman Landrum, he was not to be considered
a rookie
in Washington politics. His sixteen year
tenure (he did not run for reelection in 1992) saw many achievements by
this
legislator from Georgia who served a total of eight terms.
It is interesting that “The Almanac of American
Politics” in 1990 described Jenkins as “one of the smartest operators
on
Capitol Hill.”
This
article could not possibly enumerate all the bills he sponsored or the
legislative committees on which he served.
Some of his major roles in Congress were serving on the House
Ways and
Means Committee, on the very volatile Joint Committee on the
Iran-Contra which
had the task of investigating and dealing with trading weapons to Iran. Ed Jenkins’ main value to the area he served
was his strong stands for the textile industries within the Ninth
District,
holding that these jobs should not be parceled out to other countries. This had to do not only with the carpet
industry of Dalton, but all the once-profitable sewing shops that made
clothing
throughout the mountain region. What do
we see now on labels? “Made in-----”
with the name of another country named.
Jenkins
likewise stood up for conservation in supporting our National Forest
bills, and
for the farmer and small business owner.
He authored bills for soil and water conservation and wilderness
areas.
Having come from salt-of-the-earth ancestors, he recognized the value
of hard
work and of holding on to ideals of integrity and fairness. He also worked hard to bring about tax
revisions to give more equity in the tax structure.
He believed in education and in his
retirement served on the Board of Regents of the University of Georgia
and as a
trustee (emeritus) of Young Harris College.
He and his family demonstrated as well their Christian influence
and
were active in First Baptist Church, Jasper, where his memorial service
was
held on January 7, 2011. His body was
returned to Union County where he was interred at the Antioch Baptist
Church
Cemetery.
To
honor this long-time member of Congress, a bill passed on December 11,
1991 to
name an area of the Chattahoochee National Forest the “Ed Jenkins
National
Recreation Area.” This 23,166 acre
spread of north Georgia forest is a tribute to an humble man who
studied hard,
set goals and reached them, and lived nobly.
In researching for this article, I accessed a beautiful
photograph taken
by Alan Cressler (photostream) of the Lovinggood Creek Falls in Fannin
County,
Georgia. This is one of the beautiful,
sparkling falls in the Ed Jenkins National Recreation Area that lies
generally
within the Blood Mountain Wilderness area and the Blue Ridge Wildlife
Management area. As I saw the image of
the tumbling water, I thought of how Ed Jenkins’ influence is still
flowing on,
still making a difference now and into the future.
He made “footsteps in the sands of time” and
in our hearts.
My condolences go out to his beloved wife, Jo, children Janice Anderson and Amy Dotson, grandsons Sam and Drew Dotson, brothers Charles and Kenneth Jenkins, sisters Ella Battle, Marilyn Thomasson and Patti Chambers. I thought of nephew Rick Jenkins (Charles’s son) and his wife, Cindy Epperson Jenkins (of Epworth, Ga—one of “my” children whom I taught) serving as missionaries in Panama who could not attend the memorial service because of the distance. I thought of all of us many cousins—twice, thrice removed—who people this planet. We will miss you, Ed, but we salute you for the life you lived.
Edgar
Lanier Jenkins, our ancestors would be proud of how you carried on the
tradition of serving others. You
“preached your funeral while you lived,” as our great grandparents
liked to say
as they sought to teach us how to live.
I thought of Ed’s father, Charlie Jenkins, the barber of
Blairsville for
so many years, talking politics and expressing his wisdom to customers
on the
country’s situation as Edgar probably played quietly in the barber shop. I thought of Edgar’s grandfather,
RanseySouther, and his unselfish giving in the line of duty as a
federal agent. So many influences combined
to make Ed what
he was. I thought of our wonderful
mutual teacher, Mrs. Dora Hunter Alison Spiva, at Union County High
School—and
so many more people, kin and friends, who wielded their influence. Now we will look back on Edgar Jenkins’s life
and say, with poet William Winter:
“On wings of deeds
the soul must mount!
When
we are summoned from afar,
Ourselves,
and not our words will count—
Not
what we said, but what we are!”
[Ethelene Dyer
Jones is a retired educator,
freelance writer, poet, and historian. She may be reached at
e-mail edj0513@windstream.net;
phone 478-453-8751; or mail 1708 Cedarwood Road, Milledgeville, GA
31061-2411.]
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