Hayden Edgar George, Jr.

Hayden Edgar George, Jr., was born on March 15, 1922, in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia, to Hayden Edgar George and Lillie Della Lankford of Greene County, Georgia. Hayden was the youngest of four children, with three older siblings: Dell Louise George (1911), Mary Winnie George (1913), and Marguerite Elizabeth George (1920). He is my 1st cousin 2x removed; our nearest common relatives are James C. Lankford and Mary Ann Wilson, my 2nd grandparents, and Hayden’s grandparents.

In 1923, the George family lived at 57 Woodward Avenue, Atlanta, before moving to 505 Pulliam Street in 1924, which was close to the future site of the Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium built in the 1960s. They moved again in 1925 to 53 Crew Street and in 1926 to 189 Crew Street, where Hayden’s father worked as a mechanic. By April 8, 1930, the family still resided on Crew Street, though his father was unemployed and had previously worked as an automobile machinist. At that time, his 17-year-old sister Winnie was the sole employed person in the household, working as a telephone company operator.

The census record shows a 10-year age difference between Hayden’s parents. When they married, his father was 28 and his mother was 18. Everyone in the home, except for Hayden who was just 3.5 years old, could read and write. Both Hayden and his sister Marguerite were attending school. Hayden went to Crew Street School, a public school located between Washington Street and Capitol Avenue. In November 1931, Hayden was recognized in an Atlanta Journal article for achieving perfect spelling for one week and maintaining perfect attendance for the first quarter of the school year.

From at least 1933 to 1939, the family lived at 62 Clark Street in southwest Atlanta. During this period, his father worked as a mechanic and foreman. On September 18, 1936, Hayden’s father passed away in a private hospital in Fulton County. A memorial service was held at the chapel of Howard L. Carmichael, officiated by Rev. Lawrence Davis, followed by burial at Penfield Cemetery in Penfield, Greene County, Georgia.

In 1938, Hayden worked as a manager, and in 1939, he worked as a delivery man for Atlanta Ribbon and Carbon Company. On April 4, 1940, 18-year-old Hayden and his widowed mother, aged 47, continued to live at the Clark Street home. Hayden, recorded as a ‘new worker,’ worked a 42-hour week from March 24–30, earning $125 in 1939.

On December 15, 1941, a week after Pearl Harbor was attacked, Hayden enlisted in the U.S. Navy in Macon, Georgia. Shortly after his enlistment, he married Nancy Evelyn Blankinship. The couple had two daughters, who remain unnamed for privacy reasons.

Hayden’s naval career was short-lived and nearly cost him his life. On May 19, 1942, he was aboard the U.S. freighter Ogontz when it was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-103 in the Gulf of Mexico, about 70 miles southeast of Cozumel. As he leapt over the side of the ship, his foot got caught in a rope, dragging him deep underwater as the ship sank. An explosion in the ship’s boiler room freed him, bringing his unconscious body back to the surface, where his life jacket kept him afloat. The ship sank that afternoon. Hayden was lucky to escape with only a burst eardrum and a sprained ankle. He was taken to a hospital in New Orleans, from where he wired his wife, whom he had only been married to for a few months, and his mother. News of the event was reported in the Atlanta Constitution on May 28. Tragically, 17 merchant seamen and two armed guard sailors lost their lives, many due to a mast falling across a lifeboat during the evacuation.

Hayden’s wife, Evelyn, and his mother, Della, reading the telegram
and letter (The Atlanta Constitution (H. J. Slayton), Atlanta, Georgia,
May 28, 1942)

Hayden in the hospital (The Atlanta Constitution 
(AP Photo), Atlanta, Georgia, May 29, 1942)

A U.S. Navy World War II muster roll from the U.S. Naval Hospital in Pensacola, Florida, reveals that Hayden, a Seaman Second Class, was honorably discharged on September 24, 1942, due to medical reasons.

Despite his recent discharge, on September 28, 1942, Hayden registered for the World War II draft in Fulton County. At that time, all men aged 18 to 64 were required to register, even those currently or previously in service. Hayden fell within this age range, thus had to comply. Although there is no evidence suggesting he served again after his discharge, his registration card provides a snapshot of his life at age 20. He listed his address as 22 Georgia Avenue in southwest Atlanta, with Mrs. H. George of the Clark Street home noted as the contact who would always know his address—likely his mother. Hayden stood 6 feet tall, weighed 165 pounds, and had blue eyes, brown hair, and a ruddy complexion.

Hayden’s World War II draft registration card (front)

Hayden’s World War II draft registration card (back)

In 1944, Hayden and Evelyn lived at 64 Memorial Drive SE, Apartment 133, in Atlanta, where Hayden worked as a checker. By 1948, they had moved to Apartment 100 at 240 Fraser SE in Atlanta, with Hayden now working as a photographer for the Atlanta Portrait Company. Before the 1950 census, Hayden and Evelyn separated. On April 1, 1950, Hayden was boarding at the home of Ernest M. and Annie K. Coppedge at 559 Erin Avenue in SW Atlanta, near the Capitol View neighborhood, continuing his work as a photographer for the Atlanta Portrait Company. Also boarding there was Buren Hendricks, a 36-year-old stock clerk at a meat packing plant, while his wife and daughters (ages six and four) lived at 240 Fraser Street in SE Atlanta. Evelyn was unemployed.

Around late 1950 or early 1951, Hayden married Nora Levon Ford and they lived at 863 Washington Street in SW Atlanta. Hayden worked as a locksmith at the National Key Shop. The couple had three children together: a daughter and two sons (names withheld for privacy).

Hayden served as a pallbearer at his maternal uncle Oliver Wilson Langford’s funeral at McCommons Chapel, followed by burial at Penfield Cemetery, on August 24, 1957. His name was spelled “Hyden” in the obituary. At that time, Hayden lived in Hapeville, Fulton County, Georgia. In November 1970, Hayden was employed as a locksmith at Emory University in Atlanta, where he had the opportunity to fashion a key to unlock an old, pre-Civil War safe found during a renovation project at Oxford College in Oxford, Georgia. The safe turned out to be empty.

Hayden George with safe (The Atlanta Journal, November 23, 1970)

Hayden’s sister, Marguerite (George) Spears, passed away in Cobb County, Georgia, on February 27, 1973. She was buried at Georgia Memorial Park in Marietta, Cobb County, Georgia, following a March 2 funeral service. Hayden lived in Hapeville, Fulton County, Georgia, at the time of her death.

On June 12, 1980, Hayden’s mother, Della, passed away in Clayton County, Georgia, and was buried at Forest Hills Memorial Gardens in Forest Park, Clayton County, Georgia.

Hayden, who lived in Forest Park, passed away at the age of 68 on January 10, 1991, and was buried at Forest Hills Memorial Gardens in Forest Park on January 12, following a funeral service at the Parkway Garden Chapel. He was survived by his wife Nora, three daughters, two sons, sisters Mary and Louise, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

References

• Ahmad, Zahra, The Germans torpedoed a ship during World War II: The wreck is now revealing secrets about underwater mudslides, Science, August 21, 2017. 
• Crew School Garden Planned by Teachers, The Atlanta Journal, Atlanta, Georgia, November 15, 1931.
• Crew Street School, Digital Library of Georgia; https://dlg.usg.edu/record/geh_athpc_1592. 
• Hayden E. George, Atlanta, Georgia, City Directory, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1938, 1939, 1944, 1948, 1951.
• Hayden E. George, Georgia Deaths, 1919–98.
• Hayden E. George, The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, September 20, 1936.
• Hayden Edgar George, Jr., U.S., World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938–1949.
• Hayden Edgar George, U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1898–1929.
• Hayden Edgar George, U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850–2010.
• Hayden George photo, The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, May 28, 1942.
• Hollingsworth, Mary, Oxford Transplant: Homely Old Safe Sound at Emory, The Atlanta Journal, Atlanta, Georgia, November 23, 1970.
• Lillie Dale McCollum, The Atlanta Journal, Atlanta, Georgia, June 14, 1980.
• Obituary, Hayden E. George Jr., The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, January 11, 1991. 
• Obituary, Marguerite Spears, The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, March 1, 1973.
• Smilin’ Through, The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, May 29, 1942.
• U.S. Federal Census, Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia, 1930, 1940, 1950.
• Up From Depths, The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, May 28, 1942.
• Vessel Sunk, Blast Saves Atlantan’s Life, The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, May 28, 1942.