Turn of the century Fayette

County was a world away from what is now our congested suburban community.

Although it was a poor farming area, the people that built the towns were

proud people, striking characters whose faces if not for the early development

of photography would have been lost forever.

Those black and white photographs

captured the times and the flavor of the people that developed this county

more than a century ago. Here are some of the untold stories behind those

intriguing but otherwise silent pictures.

A line begins

The Davis family was one of

the early families to settle here in the west central part of the county

known then as Shakerag. Her Davis descendants still live in the Ebenezer

Road area of Fayette County.

Elvira Belle Davis grew up

with few expectations. The American dream for her was as simple as finding

a man of character to marry and raise a family, and that's what she did.

Her children and their children would shape the future of Fayette County.

Elvira's natural beauty won

her the attention of a man from another large family that settled in Fayette

County in the early years. The Brown family had settled here long before

the beginning of the 20th century.

F. B. "Tobe" Brown

was one of 12 children born to a woman whose name was recorded only as

"Granny Great Brown." Tobe was one of eight boys born to Granny

Great. Seven of the eight brothers were so similar in appearance that

the people in Fayetteville in those days had trouble distinguishing which

Brown brother was visiting in town.

By 1900 Tobe and Elvira were

married and far along in raising their family. Tobe had just been elected

sheriff of Fayette County. They moved their family into the county jail.

They soon had a son George and two daughters, Lois and Lovalle Brown.

A sheriff's wife

It was difficult for all of

the families trying to raise children in the small farming town, but it

was even more difficult for Tobe and Elvira, or as her friends now called

her, "Bunch."

Tobe and Bunch were living

in the upstairs living quarters of the county jail. Tobe frequently had

to fend off lynch mobs, including one in 1908 that had formed bent on

hanging Jim Bennett for the murder of Buddy McEachern.

Bunch hid Bennett in a clothes

hamper while Tobe convinced the crowd to go home. Later in the night Tobe

concealed Bennett under a lap robe in his buggy and took him to Jonesboro

for safekeeping.

Life was a challenge for the

wife of a 1900s sheriff but Bunch was a feisty character up to the challenge.

She had big hopes for the future of her children, and their future would

be the future of Fayette County.

An unexpected marriage

Things were much more comfortable

for J. R. and Octavia Seawright living in their large two-story home in

Atlanta. Their home was equipped with an electric lift on the stair case

(Octavia was somewhat of an invalid) and a foot pedal buzzer in the dining

room used for summoning the hired help during dinner.

They had big plans for their

son Eugene Chester Seawright, whom they had just put through college and

medical school at The School of the South in Tennessee.

Mr. J.R. Seawright had made

his money off of a string of saloons stretching from Tennessee to Florida.

He was now heavily connected into the politics of the city of Atlanta,

holding several key positions, including at one time the position of mayor

pro tem. The Seawrights had never heard of the Brown family of Fayette

County but they soon would.

Their son, Dr. Eugene Chester

Seawright, had just completed his internship at Emory University. Little

did the Seawrights suspect that while there he would fall in love with

the daughter of the sheriff of Fayette County, a dirt-poor farming community

south of Atlanta.

Lois Brown had swept Eugene

Seawright, now Dr. Seawright, off his feet, and she would change the destiny

his parents had planned for him.

The Seawrights of Atlanta and

the Browns of Fayetteville had very little in common up to this point

in the century. This love affair would insure a common bond for decades

as their decedents shaped the politics of Fayetteville.

A doctor's wife

Lois Brown was an attractive,

sassy brunette. Her poses in photographs reveal a bold sensuality which

would have been less than humble for a lady of her times.

Lois married Dr. E. C. Seawright

and convinced him to come