It is surprising when you encounter someone
who has resided in this area their entire life but that is true
of my dear friend of over thirty years; she proclaimed Jesus as
her Lord and Savior and joined the Hardwick Christian Church at
a young age and she graduated from Midway Vocational High
School. She
completed all eleven grades of required schooling at age
sixteen; worked downtown at the Campus Theater as a teenager and
was employed in several accounting positions after raising
children.
Her name is Carrie George Cox and for
countless years, her mother wrote a community column called "Did
You Know" that was published in the Union Recorder. She
penned the popular column in long hand and it was delivered
weekly to the newspaper office by a relative.
Carrie explains that she has lived three
distinctly different lives; the adolescent Carrie who resided at
home with her parents and three siblings; Marie, Anne and Alec
in Hardwick, the content young wife and mother and now as a
widow. I
visited with Carrie one afternoon intending to verify some of
the details of the following accounts, but we spent more time
laughing and snacking on cheese, crackers and grapes, than we
did writing this column; many of the memories reminded us of
work and as we frequently remarked, we are both contentedly
retired.
Bill George was a professional carpenter
and his craftsmanship can still be located on buildings in
downtown Milledgeville. In
fact the night Carrie was born; he was working on the building
formally occupied by the Merchants and Farmers Bank, now the
downtown Century Bank building.
Annie George was a homemaker, wife and
mother, who also taught Sunday school
and prepared the Lord's Supper table for the morning service
every Sunday at
Hardwick Christian Church. Each
year during Christmas Bill George prepared and sold delicious
homemade cakes. There were several decadent flavors offered, but
the most popular was his chocolate cake. He
was also famous for making the best meringues in the area by
whipping egg whites by hand, simply using a fork.
Carrie married Jack Harris Cox on June 24
1951, the first wedding ever held in the sanctuary of the
Hardwick Christian Church. Together
she and Jack became the proud parents of six children, three
girls Jackie, Janice, and Joni, all with "J" names to honor
Jack; and three boys, Curtis, Carl, and Craig, with "C" names to
honor Carrie. Jack
owned and operated a lumber business in Baldwin and surrounding
counties and they began raising their family in the community of
Riverview, and then later built a home on the Sparta highway.
Sadly, Jack Cox passed away in 1979 from
complications of a massive stroke; their daughters were married
but the boys were still finishing school. Carrie
is presently the grandmother of 13 and the great grandmother of
21.
Now that you know particulars about Carrie,
in a following column I will detail some accounts of our shared
adventures. More
stories to come.
