• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About the TCP
    • Our Towns
      • Ashburn
      • Rebecca
      • Sycamore
    • Community Engagement
    • Foodways
  • Digital Archive
  • Ashburn Driving Tour
  • Road Name Project
  • People of Turner County

Turner County Project

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
Home » Jerry Wooten

Jerry Wooten

July 25, 2023Ashburn, People of Turner County, Rebecca, Sycamore
0

Jerry Wooten is never one short of stories. When the Turner County Project sat down with him on June 17, 2023, story after story poured out of his mouth. Sitting on his back porch in some rocking chairs with critters all afoot, a few hours flew by before anyone realized. He lived and continues to live a life full of variety. Whether it was discussions of his life on the farm, being a rural postal carrier, chewing on rosin, or even the KKK in Turner County, this is an interview you don’t want to miss!

Jerry Wooten
June 17, 2023

Some of this interview has been edited for clarity.

Finding and Farming in Turner County

TCP: Have you always lived in Turner County?

Jerry: No. I was actually born in Tampa, Florida. When I was about 5 years old, my birth parents divorced. My mother was very poor. My father was a truck driver. He hauled orange juice for Tropicana Orange Juice. So he was on the road. My aunt and uncle lived down there at that time, down below Plant City, FL. They farmed. He was originally from here – Billy Davis and Mary Ruth Davis – she was my daddy’s sister. And they had told them they would probably never have any children. So they just, not legally, adopted me more or less. So shortly after that, they moved back up here [Coverdale]. Down there [down Cofer Rd.], they farmed strawberries and produce and stuff. And bought this farm where we are at now. They lived at the old house down the street. An old, old house. I told them you can tell which way the wind was blowing because the curtains would be stretched out that way. And on the weekends, Billy always loved to go to movies and they went dancing a good bit. And when the television came along, he bought a television. All the neighborhood people would gather up on like Friday night or Saturday and we’d watch TV. We would have a room full of people. Of course, back then, neighbors socialized more than they do now. We have been here since 1951.

TCP: That is you plus your aunt and uncle.

Jerry: Yes. When I was a senior in high school here, Randy was born. He is like a brother to me. After they [Jerry’s aunt and uncle] passed away, I wanted this side of the road and got 15 acres. He got the house and an acre of land. But we farmed. It was a family farm. Two brothers and me basically. I farmed from 1963 until 1979. They were wanting to retire. We farmed in five different counties. We had land in Tift County, Irwin County, Crisp County, a big plantation in Worth County. And then we owned 500 acres ourselves and one of brothers owned 150 acres here in Coverdale. They got ready to retire so they after a while they wanted to sell it.

TCP: What type of stuff did you farm?

Jerry: We grew corn, peanuts, cotton, watermelons, cantaloupes.

TCP: All of Turner County staples grown now.

Jerry: That’s right! We had a few cows but we never were big into cows. We had at one time, we had a pretty extensive feed out lot for swine. I can hear that sound right now. We had those feeders right there and when they get down low and empty, they lift those lids up and you can hear them rattling. You knew to go get the feed mill out and grind feed. Didn’t matter what was going on.

Local Love

Jerry: Nancy and I, we have been married- we got married in 1966 so we have been married 57 years.

TCP: Is she from here?

Jerry: Yes. She was partially raised in Rebecca. Her daddy was Woodrow Faircloth. Her mama was Millie Anderson. He pretty much maintained the hospital here. He was the maintenance guy. They lived at that time, by the Baptist Church in Ashburn. The house is still there. It’s the house on the East side of McLendon right next to the the parsonage. [Editor’s note: The parsonage is no longer there but the house he is referring to is still there at 322 McLendon St. in Ashburn, GA]. That is where she was actually raised. Yea, so she was a local girl. Her grandaddy was a pharmacist there in Ashburn at Union Drug Store. It was right on the corner of [U.S. Highway] 41 and College [E. College Avenue]. Nancy and I are pretty fortunate.

Rural Postal Carrier

I have worked with the postal service as a rural mail carrier over 28 years. I was in an accident and got boogered up pretty good. Liked to kill me, really. I didn’t know it until later on but they had to do emergency surgery on me and take my spleen out. 

TCP: What did you like about being a postal carrier?

Jerry: The people. Really and truly. Being outside. Once we got the mail up, I was on my own. My route, when I finished with it, was 500 stops; 101 miles. When I first started, I started in Ashburn there in that mobile home park on 41. I went around through town and hit the country and would up down below here I was going to the edge of Worth County and the edge of Tift County. And came back in at Clements Chapel Church back into Turner County. And then I went back south out of Coverdale back into Worth County and ended up on Sumner Road and worked [GA Highway] 112. I actually finished up on Hodge King Drive in Ashburn. This was everyday. I guess this route was established way back. You added on to it some but it was interesting. Pretty well all of the people I knew personally. It had changed a lot from when I started. We started scanning packages and then it got to be more and more and more. When this disease came along [COVID-19], they changed it a lot. Certified letters, we signed for the people. We didn’t let them touch our scanners. Plus these scanners had the ability to tell where we were at and how fast we were going. I was told, “that’s a Big Brother kind of thing.” I told them that is true but it also provides proof of delivery that protected us. It showed that I had put that package in her mailbox and the exact date and time. After my wreck, they told me I couldn’t lift anything over 5 pounds for 8 weeks so I had 28 years [in the job] and I was getting older… so I decided to retire.

A Building with a Past

Building Jerry Wooten purchased that was once located on Robert Davis Rd. in Sycamore, GA. It is now located on his property on Cofer Rd.

TCP: Tell me, what is that building right there?

Jerry: I purchased it from a family in Sycamore. It sat over pretty close to the Interstate [75]. I had the restorer from the Agrirama [now Museum of Agriculture in Tifton, GA] and he came and looked at it before I moved it and he said it was one of the best building he had ever seen. So we finally negotiated with them where we bought it… In terms of history, after they moved out, it had became the meeting place for the Ku Klux Klan.

TCP: Really?! And where was this at?

Jerry: Yes! Robert Davis Road right before you cross the Interstate. It was sitting down there right beside the road. I took the rafters and all down and put them inside. We had a moving company that moved it and set it up. My wife sits in it. We eventually are going to restore it. I had started the project. I have since found a contact for a guy in Fitzgerald that does log cabins so I got to get in touch with him.

TCP: How did you hear about it’s part in the KKK? Did the family tell you this?

Jerry: No, it was a friend of theirs. We were just having a conversation talking about it. He said, “As a kid, we played in that house and I can remember all kinds of paraphernalia in it.” Supposedly one of the family members was the head of the Ku Klux Klan in Turner County. 

TCP: Well that is interesting! You don’t really hear much about the KKK in Turner County.

Jerry: The KKK kind of back then, if you were mistreating your family or your wife, they would make a visit to you. They would say, “Look here… you straighten up and do right or there is going to be severe consequences.” That is pretty much what they did. Of course they wore the hoods and all that. But that is what I have been told.

Turpentine Tales

Jerry: That old barrel down there, that’s a barrel they put turpentine in.

TCP: Turpentine was a big industry for a while here. Not so much anymore.

Jerry: Yea, the Kennedy family, they were big into turpentine. Mr. Rodgers – the Reinhardts – Mrs. Reinhardt’s father [He is referring to Mary John Rodgers Reinhardt and her father Johnnie Rodgers]- he did turpentine. I don’t know if you are familiar with how they did that?

TCP: I am not at all. It is something with pine trees, right?

Asheville Post Card Co. (Asheville, N.C.), “D-504 Turpentine Industry in the South,” Turner County Project Digital Archive Repository, accessed June 29, 2023, https://turnercountyproject.com/archive/items/show/336.

Jerry: They would get a pine tree and they would have a little metal thing and they had a special tool that they would slice the bark off the tree and they would put that metal piece there and it would run at an angle. And it would go into this pot. Now there are 2 or 3 different kinds of pots. Some were ceramic but most were metal. And they would attach them to the side of the tree and once they got through with it, that tree would have a “cat face.” I remember Mr. Rodgers and an old black guy – they called it dipping the turpentine. He had a wagon with a mule that pulled it and that mule would just follow him just like a dog follows everywhere they went. 

TCP: Turpentine seems to have a similar process of retrieval as maple syrup. It’s the same concept.

Jerry: It would make a rosin.

TCP: I have heard of that. Some dish called rosin potatoes.

Jerry: We would use rosin like a chewing gum.


About The People of Turner County Project:

This is an oral history project that works to both preserve, document, and celebrate the people of Turner County and the history through the stories of those who have experienced it.

This project collects oral histories of people who have lived or worked in Turner County, Georgia.

0
Tagged With: Ashburn First Baptist, Billy Davis, cantaloupes, Clements Chapel Church, Cofer Road, corn, Cotton, Coverdale, Hodge King Drive, Jerry Wooten, Johnnie Rodgers, Ku Klux Klan, Mary John Rodgers Reinhardt, Millie Anderson Faircloth, Nancy Faircloth Wooten, Nancy Wooten, Peanuts, Post office, Robert Davis Rd., Rosin, Turpentine, Union Drug Store, Watermelons, Woodrow Faircloth

You may also like:

Wanee Lake Golf

Cotton Blossom

Sunrise on Bethel

Farm Fresh Eggs + Yard Chickens

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
Previous Post: « Big Peanut Sunset
Next Post: Waffle House Sunset »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Search

Turner County Courthouse

The mission of the Turner County Project is to illuminate our local community and cultural practices one photo at a time. To give a permanent photographic presence for future historians, amateur or professional, no matter their interests.

Learn More >

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram

Newsletter

Subscribe for a monthly digest on the latest of Turner County!

Visit our Digital Archive!

Categories

  • Ashburn
  • Ashburn Driving Tour
  • Foodways
  • Historical Documents
  • People of Turner County
  • Rebecca
  • Road Name Project
  • Sycamore
  • Uncategorized

© ALL content on this website is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this website’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Email the site admin at contact@turnercountyproject.com for specific questions and usage.

Instagram

Turner County Project

turnercountyproject

Preserving small town charm one photo at a time.
Be sure to tag #TurnerCountyProject for a chance to be featured!

Location: 5054 Highway 112, Ashburn, GA Location: 5054 Highway 112, Ashburn, GA
This past weekend, there were exponentially more p This past weekend, there were exponentially more people in Turner County than is typical for the 29th annual Fire Ant Festival.

This year's theme was the Greatest Show ANT (circus themed!) Have you ever been? What theme was your favorite?

Location: E College Avenue near Heritage Park behind Colony Bank in Ashburn, GA
Date: March 29, 2025
Sycamore Elementary’s legendary obstacle course Sycamore Elementary’s legendary obstacle course has been a hot topic lately, stirring up memories and stories from those who took on its challenges. The Turner County Project has gathered photos and personal accounts to bring this piece of local history to life.

Take a trip down memory lane and see why this course left such a lasting impact. 

Read more here: https://turnercountyproject.com/2025/03/01/the-legendary-obstacle-course-of-sycamore-elementary/
Inside what was once the old Mitchell Stewart Hard Inside what was once the old Mitchell Stewart Hardware Building, much has changed over the years. Now home to an event center and gallery on the bottom floor and a stunning loft apartment above, the space has been beautifully transformed. However, one piece of history remains—the old fire doors. Dating back to when the building was Shingler Hardware Co., these doors have a fascinating history written on them, preserving a glimpse of the past within the modern space.

Location: 113 E. College Avenue in Ashburn, GA 
Date: March 1, 2025
For generations, the image of the “little red sc For generations, the image of the “little red schoolhouse” has been a symbol of early education, community values, and the nurturing hands that guide young learners. One such school, the Happy Center Kindergarten, painted in a classic red hue, stands as a testament to this enduring legacy. Though it no longer serves as a school, the little red schoolhouse still stands on James Avenue—now a home—its walls quietly holding the echoes of laughter, learning, and the enduring spirit of education.

Read all about it at the link in our bio.

Photo information
Date: February 16, 2025
Location: 222 James Avenue in Ashburn, GA
Gordon St sunset Location: Gordon St Ashburn, GA Gordon St sunset

Location: Gordon St Ashburn, GA
Date: December 11, 2021
Foggy courthouse on film 🌫️ Location: corner Foggy courthouse on film 🌫️

Location: corner of McLendon St and E College Avenue in Ashburn, GA
Date: December 28, 2024
Copyright © 2025 · Turner County Project · Hearten Made ⟡