Tuba Skinny, GOING BACK HOME

We were going to a concert tonight in downtown Marietta but it was storming and raining off and on, which made us have second thoughts.  Then, I thought of the pushing , shoving, and shouting crowds at those concerts.   Instead, we brought a concert to us, in the comfort of our own den.

We have Tuba Skinny, ironically, singing "GOING BACK HOME." 

Tuba Skinny plays GOING BACK HOME, April 13, 2012.

Battle of Kennesaw Mountain 150th Anniversary Coming Up

It is almost time to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, here near Marietta.  In mid June 1864 the Confederates led by Joseph Johnson and the Yankees led by William Sherman had a battle that killed thousands of soldiers on both sides.

People that lived miles around, near Barnes Mill Road, said the battle sounded  like popcorn.

My great grandfather William Trammell* was shot in the knee while drinking water from one of the eight springs on or near the mountain.  As he was shot in the knee had had the bad misfortune of seeing his good friend shot between the eyes at the same moment.  His other friend Posey C. Wild ran with the Yankees in hot pursuit.  They did not catch Posey, and they didn't catch William either, he pretended to be dead as they ran by.

William recuperated near Woodstock at a private home and later returned to the area with his family.

Posey and William both lived to be elderly men.

*After the war, William changed his name to William Hunter, long story. 

Murder and Kinfolk

In the latest issue of GEORGIA BACK ROADS (Summer  2014) there is an article named FROM IMMAGRANT TO MAYOR by Scott Thompson.  It is about a German native, Henry Beusse,  who became Mayor of Athens, Georgia.  He was a natural leader and seemed to have his hand in every enterprise that proved good for the people, for example, he started Athens' Volunteer Fire Department.   Everybody seemed happy with him

However, three of his eleven children killed a man on the streets in Athens.  They had a fierce argument with the man one day, the next day, on the streets of Athens again, they demanded an apology and when he refused they got into a violent confrontation, which one of the Beusse Brothers used a heavy stick and hit the man over the head and killed him.    They were charged with murder and stood trial.

There is much more to the story than that - read it and see.  But I gave you a run down because it immediately reminded of my ancestor William Trammell's brother, Daniel Trammell (1745-1814).  He was shot by his step son on the streets near Athens.  Actually Wakinsville was the seat of of Clarke County, Georgia at the time.  Now, the county seat is only about 4 or 5 miles away in Athens, Georgia.

What I have on Daniel Trammell's incident in my genealogy information:

Daniel Trammell first married Mrs. Sarah BROWNFIELD, widow of John BROWNFIELD, who was killed by Indians.  In 1808, Sarah died and Daniel was the administrator of the BROWNFIELD Estate.  Children of John and Sarah BROWNFIELD did not like this situation:  Daniel TRAMMELL, their stepfather, had control of the money their real father had accumulated. Daniel married Fanny BOYD, 24 November 1809.  About the same time the BROWNFIELD children were suing Daniel for the estate.  As the years passed the feeling between their stepfather and them grew hotter.  On 21 November 1814, Sarah's son Benjamin THURMOND "murdered" Daniel.  The trial lasted ten days.  Ben was sentenced to be hanged 25 March 1815.  He escaped.  The authorities issued a three hundred-dollar reward for his capture.  He was recaptured and resentenced "to be hung or hanged by the neck at or near a gallows to be erected at or near Watkinsville, the county seat of Clarke County, Georgia, 14 April 1815."

About THE PIRANHA CLUB Comic Strip

click on each panel above to make it readable

Bad is good.  And good is bad.  I am talking about ratings and books and  soap operas.  On a soap opera the bad ones are the ones that keeps people coming back for more.  You would get bored real quick if everyone was good.

The same goes for comic strips.  You a bad person to stir the pot up - to get things  fired up, so to speak.

Which brings to mind the comic strip THE PIRANHA CLUB by Bud Grace (above).  THE PIRANHA CLUB, according to Wikipedia, is paradoy on THE LIONS CLUB, where people are in the Lions Club for a good cause,  it is just the opposite for The Piranha Club.  Its members are self-centered, greedy, sleazy, and will cheat you in a second for gain, with no remorse about it - and like Piranha, they will eat each other.  No scruples is what I'm trying to say.

The above strips are a not so random sampling.  I had to cast aside 3 because I thought  they might be offensive to some.  

THE PIRANHA CLUB is not carried locally.  I read mine every day online at:

http://www.chron.com/entertainment/comics-games/comic/Piranha-Club/

James Holcomb

A friend of mine, James Holcomb, died  last Friday. He was 70 years old.  His funeral will be tomorrow at East Cobb United Methodist, across from the old Methodist Campground. at 11:00 AM.

For more details:

http://www.mayeswarddobbins.com/obituaries/James-Holcomb-2/

Cartoonist Ed Dodd (MARK TRAIL) Died 23 Years Ago Today

Twenty-three years ago today, May 27, 1991  cartoonist Ed Dodd died.  Sometime before he died he turned the Mark Trail comic strip over to Jack Elrod.  Ed lived in Georgia .  I know two people who were college students at UGA at the time, who worked for him:  My first cousin Jo.  One time over at her house she showed me an original signed and framed Mark Trail comic strip hanging in her dining room.    And the other one Jack Davis, the most well-known of the MAD artists and also the most well known drawer University of Georgia's  mascot UGA.

Back in my youth I was a fan of Mark Trail.  He was always on a high outside adventure, plus about once a week, on Sunday, he would have an educational illustration on something about nature beings surviving or building a dam or something; always interesting.

I thought it was interesting that Jack Davis, who once worked for Dodd, did a lampoon on Mark Trail in MAD comicbook.

click on image to enlarge and read, wala!

A nature cartoon.  Ed Dodd carefully laid out ecology with nature to show how living things depended on other living things to survive.  A detailed master plan laid out for life to instinctively follow. 

Mark had a dog named Andy.  I remember one time there was some kind of contest about Andy that  Andy's puppies, that looked just like Andy, was offered as a contest prize.  I just knew I was going to get one of those puppies..... I just knew it.  That was about 65 years ago, there is a still a chance that Andy Jr. was lost in shipping and he'll show up any day.

By the way, the above Mark Trail/Andy panel was drawn by Jack Elrod who took over Ed Dodd's position.  You can tell by what Andy is up to, attacking mary-jane growers the political climate of the strip.

Tuba Skinny, 4-13-2013 FINGERING WITH YOUR FINGERS

The name of this tune is "Fingering With Your Fingers".  That is catchy.
Also, cornet player Shaye Cohn looks gleefully happy.  Somebody might have just put a big bill into the hat.

Marietta National Cemetery, 2014

This past Saturday we dropped by the Marietta National Cemetery.  It is always beautiful and is full of heroes.  
Click on each image to make it larger.

This is the grave of my fist cousin, once removed, or my father's first cousin

This is my late friend Sam Carley's father's memorial marker..  His section of the ship was hit by a Japanese Kamikaze plane.  His body was never found.

SUNDAY FUNNIES!! Memorial Special, CHOOSE SIDES

This is Memorial Day Weekend, that means you get a comic about soldiers.  This story was first published in EC Publishing FRONTLINE COMBAT.  It was written by editor Harvey Kurtzman and illustrated by Wallace Wood.

Click on each image to be able to read it.

Kin Who Served

These are the kin folks that I know served in the Armed Forces.  Proceed with caution,  they might not be chronological order and some are not in uniform.  In error I probably left someone out.

click on image to enlarge any picture.

3rd great grandfather -Greenville Pullen, Sr. served in the Indian Wars as a musician.  He played a fife.

3rd great grandfather - Jesse Bookout also fought in the Indian Wars and later became an employee of the famous Chief Van of Chatsworth, Georgia, which was against the law and caused problems.

William A. Hunter/Trammell &Emaline Ray

3rd greant grandfather -William served in the CSA, NC 39th Infantry, Co . I.  He was wounded during the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, and recuperated nearby in Woodstock, which ended up being his and his family's new home.

William Hunter/Trammell fought on Kennesaw Mountain with the name William Trammell (before he changed his name to Hunter).  

4th great grandfahter - His great grandfather, also named William Trammell fought at Kings Mountain, in the Revolutionary War.  Same name; both wounded in a battle on a mountain that started with the letter K.   

William A. Hunter/Trammell's father, my great great grandfather, Jason Henderson Hunter recruited and formed  his own CSA unit that attacked Federal gunboats on the Mississippi.

1st cousin, 4x removed - Leander Newton Trammell.  He served as a quartermaster in the CSA.

He was an elected representative in Georgia and was the Governor of Georgia, technically for one day.   He made his home in Dalton and Marietta..

I don't have a picture of John T. Huey, but I do have a picture of his wife Drucilla Wilson Huey.  (2nd great grandfather) John was a large landholder, and therefore exempted from Military Service.  However, he went anyway, for a fee, in place of John B. Tippen.  He was caught up in the famous Siege of Vicksburg.

William D. Petty

2nd great uncle -I know he was in, I don't have his facts.

So was his brother Daniel Webster Petty, below.

Great grandfather - Daniel Webster Petty and Jane Garrett

Daniel Enlisted- Confederate Army Co B, 65th Regiment, Ga. Infantry

Great Uncle -Robert Edward Tyson

Uncle Ed, was in WWI.

This picture is the Marietta National Guard in 1937.  Most of the Hunter brothers are there.  In the front row center in the black shirt is Stanley Hunter.

First row:  Jimmy and Bobby Crain.

Uncles & first cousins -Second row: Stanley and Dick Hunter.  Dick was home on leave.  Nephew Bobby would join the Naval Reserves.  I know, because Bobby and I both were Naval Reservists at the same time.

Uncle -Walter Clarence, "W.C." during  WWII W.C was drinking coffee at the Red Cross in Africa and a bunch of U.S. Sailors walked by.  W.C. pointed at one of the sailors and said that kid looks just like his little brother Dick, and it was. He was wounded and a metal plate was put in his head, he was a war casualty that effected him the rest of his life.  He died in the VA hospital many years later.

Uncle - Jack Hunter spent a career in the Navy, and was in the Pacific in WWII.  He survived Pearl Harbor and is credited for pulling Eddie Rickenbacker  from the sea onto their PT boat.

Uncle - Stanley Hunter fought on D-Day, June 4, 1944.  He also had the misfortune of watching his first cousin and best friend Horace Crowder died from enemy fire.

Father - Ed Hunter was in the Georgia National Guard.  I think Daddy loved the fellowship. In the National Guards he made friends with Leo Blackwell, then chief of the Marietta Pollice and he hired daddy as a patrolman.  Up until then Daddy worked for Glover Machinery .  Not only did the Marietta National Guard help with state disasters, go to war, when needed over see, it also served as an excellent networking tool, like Linkin is today.

Uncle -Doug Hunter was in the Army, I just don't have a picture of him in his uniform.

1st cousin - Ray Hunter, WWII

uncle & 1st cousin, once removed - I think this may be cousins Horace Crowder and Stanley Hunter before their service time, they joined together.  As mentioned above, Horace was killed.

Uncle -Leonard Petty, Navy

Uncle -William LeRoy Petty.  He was "Bill" to his friends, he was "Roy" to his family, and "L-Rod "to his service buddies. Roy was in the D-Day Invasion of  Normandy.  He killed a very big number of Germans.  At least two books mentioned him twice and heroic actions:  THE LONGEST DAY and RUDDER'S RANGERS.  He used to stand up in the audience on the Ed Sullivan show to be recognized on or near D-Day.

Me, grandmother, & me -I am in front of my Grandma Viola Ridley Petty and my uncle Osmo Petty.  Osmo was in the Navy.  His brothers, Leonard, Roy, and Wallace considered Osmo the smartest of the Petty siblings. 

I too would be in the Navy in about 20 years, mostly in the Helicopter Squadron HU-4, home station NAS Lakehurst, New Jersey 08733 (Hey look!  I still remember the zip code).

Rocky's late  father-in-law, Sabrina's father,

O'Neal Sexton was in the Army, stationed in South Korea, where he met Sabina's mother-to-be, Chong.

1st cousin - Jerry Hunter was a F-105 Pilot.  He was shot down in Vietnam,  25 May 1966,.  He gave is life.  Hunter Park in Douglasville, Georgia, is named in his memory.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADAM!

Adam Paul Hunter,, May 23, 1979, 2 seconds old.