Emily E. Arthur

Emily E. Arthur, daughter of William Henry Arthur and Mattie Belle Moore, was born in Oglethorpe County, Georgia on May 3, 1906. She was the third child of eight—Mary Arthur, George “Hugh” Arthur, Emily E. Arthur, Sue Belle Arthur, Nellie Arthur, Frances Arthur, William Arthur, and Roy Mell Arthur. Emily is the wife of my 2nd cousin 3x removed (Raleigh Minor George). We have no common relatives.

Emily (Arthur) and daughter Juanita George (1936). Photo courtesy of Kenneth George.

On April 15, 1910, Emily and her family lived on Lexington Road in Bairdstown, Oglethorpe County, Georgia. Her parents had been married for seven years and had five children. Emily’s father was a farmer on a general farm. Both of her parents could read and write. Johnnie Arthur, Emily’s paternal uncle, lived in the home. He too worked as a farmer.

On January 2, 1920, the Arthur family lived in the Falling Creek district of Maxeys, Oglethorpe County, Georgia. Emily had a new sister and two new brothers since the last census was taken—Frances, William, and Roy. Her father continued to work as a farmer on a general farm and her brother Hugh now worked as a farm laborer on the home farm. With the exception of Roy, all of the children were attending school.

Emily was just 16 years old when her mother died suddenly in Maxeys on December 30, 1922. Within three years, her father was gone as well, passing away in Oglethorpe County on December 2, 1925. Both were buried at Bairdstown Cemetery in Bairdstown.

Emily married Raleigh Minor George, son of James England George and Gussie Annette McCarty, on May 26, 1924. I assume the marriage would have taken place in Oglethorpe or nearby Greene County, Georgia. There was a six-year age difference between Emily and Raleigh. I’m only aware of one daughter born to this union—Juanita Elizabeth George in 1928.

Arthur family members - Emily is the last woman on the right with the
initials E.A. above her head. Raleigh is standing beside her with the
initials R.G. above his head. Emily's brother Hugh Arthur is the last man on
the right. I'm unsure who the others are. Photo courtesy of Kenneth George.

On April 2, 1930, Emily, Raleigh, and Juanita lived on Railroad Street (East Side) in Maxeys. Emily’s 10-year-old brother Mark T. Arthur lived in the home as well. Raleigh worked as an auto garage machinist. About 1934, Emily and Raleigh opened a general store in Maxeys. Their store was housed in what had once been the Citizens Bank and still included the bank vault that was eventually converted into a kitchen. The store also had a pot-bellied stove to keep them warm. They sold a lot of tobacco products including snuff, chewing tobacco, and apparently tobacco for rolling into cigarettes. They kept a five-gallon jar of pickled pig’s feet on the counter for customers to help themselves at 15 cents each and sold cans of sardines for 5 cents each.

On April 30, 1940, Emily, Raleigh, and Juanita still lived in the Falling Creek district of Maxeys. They’d been living in the same home since at least 1935. Raleigh worked as the proprietor of a filling station, working 70 hours the week before the census was taken. That would have kept him pretty busy so I wonder if the filling station was part of their general store or did he work elsewhere and leave Emily in charge of the store. I found several articles written by Bob Harrell for his “Dateline Georgia” series in The Atlanta Constitution and they didn’t mention a filling station, just the general store.

On May 2, 1950, Emily, Raleigh, and Juanita lived on State Highway 77 in Maxeys. The census enumerator didn’t record an occupation for Emily, although it was apparent from Harrell’s “Dateline Georgia” articles that she worked at the general store for many years. The enumerator did record Raleigh as working as a manager and Juanita as a clerk, both in a grocery store. From the “Dateline Georgia” articles, it appears the store was a gathering place for the citizens of Maxeys from early on and continued well into the 1960s. Their pot-bellied stove was eventually converted to a more modern type stove and they placed several chairs and a sofa around the stove for people to stop and visit. During slow periods, Emily sewed from an old foot-peddled sewing machine they kept in the store. Emily and Raleigh were still operating the store into the early 1970s, although life was different by then and people didn’t stop and visit like they used to. In 1972, Harrell dedicated one article to the bank vault that had been converted into a kitchen. It didn’t have access to running water so Emily brought in buckets of water to cook and clean. She decorated the tiny kitchen with a small table, a couple of “straight-backed chairs” and a “red and white checkered oil cloth.” Emily told Harrell she ate and cooked in the kitchen, saving her from having to go home during the day.

In another 1972 “Dateline Georgia”" article, Harrell wrote of Raleigh purchasing a Model T bus with a body made of wood and planks for seats about 1926. He then contracted to be a school bus driver for the Greene County School Board. Raleigh drove the school bus 43 years and told Harrell he “never would have made it without her” [Emily]. Raleigh told Harrell he had to “draw the oil from the motor” into Emily’s “old iron cookpot” and heat it up the next morning to keep the bus running. But Raleigh didn’t just drive the school bus. Harrell wrote of the children giving Raleigh a shopping list as they boarded the bus in the morning. After delivering the children to school, Raleigh went back to the general store and gathered the goods, I assume with Emily’s help, to give to the students when they boarded the bus for their trip home. It appears that while Raleigh drove the bus and pursued other opportunities to help the children and citizens of Maxeys all those years, Emily ran the store.

Thelma Mapp George, Juanita Elizabeth George Brightwell and
Emily Arthur George. Photo courtesy of Kenneth George.

Emily died on September 30, 1983 in Greensboro, Greene County, Georgia at the age of 77. She was buried at Maxeys Sunset Cemetery in Maxeys. Her funeral, officiated by Revs. Wayne Spangler and Eugene Murray, was held at Maxeys Christian Church. She was survived by her husband Raleigh, daughter Juanita, sisters Nell and Frances, brothers Roy and Hugh, and two grandchildren. Emily was a homemaker, a member of Maxeys Christian Church and the Ladies Aid Society.

Photo courtesy of Bud, Find a Grave member ID 46594959.

References

• Emily A. George, Georgia Deaths 1919–98.
• Emily George, Social Security Death Index.
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/61209883/emily-a-george: accessed 28 May 2022), memorial page for Emily A. George (3 May 1906–30 Sep 1983), Find a Grave Memorial ID 61209883, citing Sunset Street Cemetery, Maxeys, Oglethorpe County, Georgia, USA; maintained by 1-48069415 (contributor 48069415).
• Gravestone photo by Bud, Find a Grave member ID 46594959.
• Harrell, Bob, Her Kitchen Is Bank Vault, Dateline Georgia, The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, June 13, 1972.
• Harrell, Bob, Rabbits Rode His School Bus, Too, Dateline Georgia, The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, June 12, 1972.
• Mattie Bell Arthur, Standard Certificate of Death no. 33357, Georgia State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
• Mrs. Emily Arthur George Obituary, Oglethorpe Echo, October 6, 1983.
• U.S. Federal Census, Bairdstown, Oglethorpe County, Georgia, 1910.
• U.S. Federal Census, Falling Creek, Oglethorpe County, Georgia, 1920.
• U.S. Federal Census, Maxeys, Oglethorpe County, Georgia, 1930, 1940, 1950.