Gainesville,Georgia

Square

 

 

Old Joe, still standing tall!

On June 7 of this year Old Joe, will be standing in the Gainesville Square for ninety four years. The only time that he was moved was only slightly and that was during the tornado of 1936. People say that he is standing over a deep well. Old Joe stands for the Confederate soldiers who died during the War Between the States. In 1909 The United Daughters of the Confederacy came up with the idea to erect him. The UDC had a rough time getting the land and the statue. Mrs. Van Hoose headed the committee to select and design the statue with the help of Nell Murphy. They obtained a 99 year lease at the site where Old Joe stands. They decided to have " joe " facing North so he would always be ready to defend. A company in Chicago made the mold for Joe. It is made of bronze and has marble at the base. Col. Sam Tate of Tate, Ga. donated the marble. The marble was hauled on wagons to Gainesville. It took six horses to haul the marble in and when the wagon got to the site the wheels just mired down and stopped. The unveiling ceremony was on a Thursday morning. A procession started from the courthouse, went down Broad Street to the City Hall, then to the Post Office, down Washington Street across Bradford Street to the square. On the platform were Mrs. C. C. Sanders, Mrs. Van Hoose, J. C. orsey, Mayor John Boyd Rudolph, and a Dr. Curtis. To the left sat the UDC, Confederate Veterans and Children of the Confederacy. On the right were the city and county officials and the Candler Horse Guards. Marshal of the day was H. T. Martin. Following an invocation by Dr. Curtis, a song, "We're Old Time Confederates" was sung. Sam Tate, who donated the marble, spoke to the group. A talk was given by General West. \par There was a curtain was pulled from both sides of the statue and immediately a song rang out, " In the Sweet By and By." The program ended with a bugler who played "Taps." This monument was designed as one to the Confederate dead of the Ninth District, not just Gainesville and Hall County.

Iris Thompson Fry

taken from "The Times" March 23, 1969\

 

 

Copyright © 2002 by Vicky Chambers.

This page was last updated Thursday, 10-Apr-2008 22:14:49 CDT.