During the latter half of the 19th and the first quarter of the 20th century, merchants from Europe came to Central Georgia. With the coming of the railroads, new markets for dry goods and general merchandise were opening up. Most of the these merchants were of the Jewish faith. One of these merchants who came to this area was Morris Dawson.
Morris Dawson was born in Posen, Prussia on April 15, 1840. As a young man, he came to America and eventually made his way to Cedar Hill. Cedar Hill was a small community which grew up around Boiling Springs Methodist Church in eastern Laurens County. When he first came to this country, his language skills made sales difficult, especially when he was peddling his wares out in the country, where many of the people couldn't read or write. Most of the farmers had little possessions and little or no money to buy new ones.
One fine fall morning, this teenage peddler came into a home and dumped his possessions out on a table for a young boy to see. The boy's eyes immediately focused on a harmonica. Dawson gave the boy the only musical instrument that any of the family had ever seen. Several months passed. The boy would walk down the road playing his harmonica, hoping to get a glance of the stranger. On a winter Sunday morning, two men on horseback with two other men walking in front of them were spotted coming down the road. The boy's uncle, the local constable, had arrested the two men for peddling without a license. Just as the peddlers were about to be taken off to jail the boy came up leading his friends and playing on the old harmonica. He ran to Dawson and threw his arms around him. The constable refused his brother's pleas to let Dawson go. In a few moments the boy's father produced a shotgun saying " Liberty for the Jew, or death to you!" The peddlers were released. Bystanders rejoiced.
Morris Dawson, working under the firm name of John A. Phillips and Company opened a store at the Cedar Hill Post Office. His partners were Wessalosky and Bashinski. War broke out in April of 1861. Dawson enlisted in Company E of the 5th Georgia State Troops on October 10, 1861. Two days later, he was elected 2nd Lieutenant of the Company. After six months of service, Lt. Dawson mustered out of the army. He re-enlisted in the Confederate Army and joined Co. A of the 32nd Georgia Infantry. The company was captained by his boss, Capt. John A. Phillips. The company was composed of men who lived along the old Savannah Road south of the future communities of Scott and Adrian. Dawson, a favorite of the local men, was elected Jr. 2nd Lieutenant. When a vacancy occurred in the office of 1st Lieutenant, Dawson was not appointed to fill it, much to the dismay of his fellow soldiers. Half the company took a leave of absence and went home in protest. Dawson went back home and induced the men to return with him.
The company was assigned to the Georgia-South Carolina theater of the war. In July of 1863, Federal forces launched an attack on Battery Wagner, Morris Island, South Carolina. Lt. Dawson was temporarily breveted to Captain. Capt. Dawson was the only officer who could be persuaded to go outside of the fort with a single company. The company remained outside of the protection of the fort after darkness came. The password for re-entry was "here is your mule." When Dawson's company returned to the lines, Dawson appeared to have forgotten the password. Several volleys of grape and canister shot were thrown upon Dawson's men. Dawson jumped upon the parapet and shouted "By damn, here is yer mule!" It was at Battery Wagner where Col. Shaw of the 54th Massachusetts U.S. Colored Troops was killed in a bayonet fight, possibly by one of Dawson's troops.
President Abraham Lincoln ordered the Federal occupation of Florida in time to allow the state to be represented at the Republican Convention of 1864. On February 20, 1864, Federal forces attacked at Ocean Pond. The battle raged back and forth. When it was over Federal casualties outnumbered the Confederates by two to one. One of those was Capt. Dawson who was struck by a mini ball. The ball passed through Dawson's body. Undaunted by the blood running down in his shoes, Lt. Dawson led the company in a hot and fierce fight. Dawson and his company, under the command of Gen. Joseph Johnston, surrendered on April 26, 1865 at Greensboro, North Carolina.
Dawson, nearly penniless, returned home and went back into business. His first goods were placed in a bedroom of Judge McLemore's house. After a short time, Dawson purchased an old store building, which he quickly renovated. Dawson, in partnership with John L. McLemore, one of the privates in his company, opened what was said to have been the only country store between Macon and Savannah. Times were bad. Most folks had no money. Dawson quickly built a reputation as a benevolent and generous man, giving food and clothes to those in true need. Dawson, at the age of 34, married Lotta Marcus, who was also born in Prussia.
Dawson's acts of kindness were repaid in 1882 when the people of Emanuel County elected him to represent them in the state legislature. Dawson was described as "wise, sagacious, and never harboring a prejudice against anyone." He was always as gentle as a child and forgiving, never forgetting the little "tow headed" boy who saved him from jail. In his old home on the old Dublin road south of Adrian, there hung over the fireplace what appeared to be a painting of a Prussian ruler. Even when tenants were occupying the home, the picture was never disturbed. Morris Dawson died in Atlanta on August 24, 1896 at a relatively young age. He never lived to see the achievements of his grandchildren. One of those grandchildren was Dawson Kea, who practiced law in Dublin for nearly sixty years - longer than anyone else in the history of our county. Morris Dawson was representative of a long gone era of Jewish merchants who provided their communities with a vast variety of goods as well as numerous deeds of public service.
No comments:
Post a Comment