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A Black Success Story

The Blacks were a distinguished African American family who resided in Clinton through the Reconstruction. Frank Black (1868-1928) was a farmer, mail carrier, and chairman of the Republican Party of Jones County.  Frank and his wife, Sally Barfield Black (1871-1964), of African…


Adaptive Reuse of the Johnson Law Office

The Johnson Law Office is one of three early nineteenth-century buildings that stood on Madison Street. The Honorable Richard Johnson (1847-1921) used this building during Clinton’s heyday in the 1830s. James Smith, Ellen Craft’s father, would have conducted business here as well, and it is…

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Jack P. “Jake” Hutchings, Stone Mason and State Legislator

 
Jacob P. “Jake” Hutchings (c. March 1831-June 1909) was born in slavery in Virginia. He was sold in 1842 to Alfred George of Jones County, Georgia, and then soon owned by Richard Henry Hutchings (c. 1817-74), whose granite quarry near Clinton occupied an area now known as Jake’s Woods.…

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Jacob P. “Jake” Hutchings, From Slavery to the State House

On December 22, 1869, after two years as a political organizer, Jacob P. “Jake” Hutchings (c. March 1831-June 1909) was sworn in as the first Black and first Republican member of the Georgia legislature. He is the only Black state legislator ever elected in the history of Jones County. He actively…


The Graves of the Enslaved

Jake’s Woods and the grounds behind the Clinton Methodist Church contain the graves of Black and White people, including enslaved persons such as Caesar whose headstone is quoted above. Dr. J[ames]. F[inney]. Barron (Feb. 10, 1825-Jan. 17, 1898), a surgeon and doctor, owned Caesar. The headstone…

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The Inner Life of Sarah “Sallie” Bowen [Hamilton Swanson]

Sarah (“Sallie”) Eliza Bowen [Hamilton Swanson] (1838-1912) was the daughter of wealthy landowner and enslaver Dr. Horace “Horatio” Bowen (1792-1860). As an affluent young white woman, her life was dominated by domestic duties —supervising the preparation of meals and upkeep of the house by…


The Roots of Medical Racism

In a 2016 study of medical students, 73% of all participants held at least one false belief about the biological differences between races. Furthermore, White medical students disproportionately believed the falsehood that Black people possessed a higher pain tolerance than White people. This…

The Last of His Race" by Jane Thigpen from her Lover’s Revenge, p. 9.
The Secret Lives of “Jessie Linn”

“Jessie Lin,” aka Jane Thigpen (c. 1824-Feb. 9, 1914), is the Clinton Female Seminary’s most famous student. Born the same year as the enslaved Ellen Craft, she had access to education, unlike Ellen, and eventually taught in both Clinton (Georgia) and Rome (Georgia), and became a published poet.
As…

Georgia Messenger (Fort Hawkins), May 18, 1837, p. 70. Georgia Historic Newspapers.
“A Most Improved School” for Young Ladies

The Clinton Female Seminary occupied a two-story frame building facing the courthouse square. It reflects the emphasis on literacy, culture, and learning that distinguished Clinton during its glory days from the 1800s through the 1830s, before nearby Gray and Macon supplanted it in importance as…