My Father
My father was
raised on a farm near Athens,
Georgia, where the University of
Georgia is located. He attended
the University two years and
earned a degree in law around
1909. His graduating class was
small.
After Dad
graduated, a distant relative
working at the State House helped
him get accepted to fill a
vacancy of an indisposed elected
official; a little nepotism I
imagine. Nearing the end of the
term, Dad started thinking about
his future. Joe, his brother, was
an insurance salesman and he had
moved to Vidalia, Georgia. Dad
wrote Joe and asked him about
Vidalia. Mainly he wanted to know
if Vidalia offered a promising
future for a young attorney?
Joe wrote back
encouraging words. He told of the
two railroad tracks and one paved
State highway that ran through
the town. And he said they are
starting to pave the towns dirt
streets. Based on his brother's
glowing optimism, Ben Jackson
decided to move his family,
consisting of a dependant father,
mother and sister to
Vidalia when the term ended.
When he told
friends about his plans to move
his family to Vidalia they were
shocked and expressed fear for
them. "That's an awful long
way to go, Ben." Wow! 140
miles. "I hear that water
born diseases are rampant, and
the mosquitoes are so big they
wear saddles." Sure there
were health risks like cholera,
malaria and yellow fever, but the
mosquitoes were of normal size.
With four people to feed and care
for, the idea of moving a family
to a strange town took immense
courage and self-confidence in
1912.
Undaunted, Ben
Jackson faced the uncertainties
and moved his family lock, stock
and barrel. He said, "I made
a living from the start. I had
to."
Yes, in the
beginning he made a living
representing pickup clients at
the Justice of the Peace Court.
He had no connections or friends
and this was the best he could
do, and he gave it his best.
One day, Dad
represented a defendant who had
allegedly wronged the City. As
the trial progressed, Dad’s
persistent rebuttals refuted
every point of law the City
Attorney, a respected attorney of
long standing in the community,
raised. Dad noticed he became
more and more frustrated with
each rebuttal. Finally, his
frustration turned to blind rage,
and he rose abruptly and stared
defiantly at the judge. Your
honor . . . I have read you the
damn law. It's obvious my
recitations have fallen on the
ears of a dead jackass."
This got the
judge's undivided attention, and
he rapped the gavel several time
loudly. "Look here Colonel,
one more outburst like that and
I'll hold you in contempt."
The City Attorney
glared back. "If you knew
how much contempt I have for this
court, you'd put me in jail for
life." His voice had been
mollified, but only slightly.
In time, he became
a pillar of the community. He
would be Mayor when Vidalia built
the first sewer system. He fought
endlessly with the citizenry over
the bond issue to pay for the
system. He never understood why
intelligent people resisted, when
citizens were dying of water born
diseases. Then, those same
citizens came to him later with a
rather frivolous request.
It’s another horse tale or
is it tail? Read The Horse-Racing
Slot Machine.
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