I have written elsewhere on this site several articles about the lives of my family ancestors who lived in what I affectionately refer to as “God’s Smallest Place,” Gough, Georgia in the opening decades of the twentieth century. The crossroads town grew up after a branch line of the Georgia-Florida Railroad was completed about 1905.
My grandmother, Carrie Wright was born in 1901 in Stellaville, just over the line in Jefferson County. Her mother, Arminta Barrow Wright, was the daughter of Henry and Arminta (Mintie) Barrow Wright of nearby Stellaville in Jefferson County. Her husband, Daniel Wright, was the son of recent immigrants from Virginia. “Mr. Wright,” as “Mintie” called him, was considerably older than she, a young widow. After Daniel died, Mintie moved to nearby Gough where she made a living doing some cotton farming and as a seamstress for the little community of Gough. Her children at times worked beside her in the cotton fields. I have described elsewhere how they went into the cotton fields with tiny mops to apply an arsenic solution to the cotton bolls to defeat the boll weevils. According to my mother, Mintie made the wedding dresses of many brides from the area.
This photo must have been made about the time Carrie married Calvin Sego in 1918. The two lived the remainder of their lives in Gough. The town flourish for a time with its own cotton gin, a bank, a high school and several stores and churches . Carrie and Calvin (“Mama” and “Pop”) were much loved in the community. Carrie was very modest, even shy. My grandfather calvin was a mechanic and operated a tractor garage through most of the 1970’s. A biography of my grandfather appears elsewhere on this site. I visited them often as a boy; I enjoyed and loved them.
Despite the scene depicted, my grandmother experience rapid changes even in the little trackside village of Gough. She would be part of the first generation of her family to have electrical power, an automobile, a telephone, see airplanes used to dust the neighboring fields with poison, and to have vaccines. Yet, she still kept a milch cow when I was a boy. Because he was a mechanic, Calvin was among the first to own an automobile in Gough. In the process of learning to drive, a boy crossed Carrie’s path on a bicycle. The car was barely moving when it struck the boy. He got up and pedaled away unhurt. My grandmother would never drive an automobile again. The couple bought their first electric kitchen stove in the 1950’s, but Carrie also kept her old wood stove beside it, choosing the warmth of the wood stove in cold weather. She lived to be ninety five years old.
I love your writings about Gough. We were so blessed to have Mama and Pop. I can see them as I remember them when I’m reading your words. I feel close to you even though you’re far away.
Diana,
Lovely to hear from you. I do not always respond but do see your posts on Facebook. I also did a three part bio of my Dad you might enjoy. I have not yet written much about my mother, Mamie but plan to do so. Hope you will subscribe if you have not done so. You simply enter your email address on the home page. My website has really taken off and I have been reposting some of my older favorites for
recent subscribers.
With warm regards,
Joe
Interesting story and glad you have a photo of her.
I love these posts, Daddy. Good to learn more about the family. Love their names, Carrie and Calvin. I can really get a good picture in my mind from even these short posts. Thanks for sharing.
Mary,
I believe you would enjoy the story “Augusta Mail Boy Flees Influenza Epidemic” (posted March 15, 2020)which is the story of how Calvin Sego came to the new small town of Gough to live. It is truly an amazing story. Calvin was my grandfather and your great grandfather. I was born in Gough, as were both my parents-all delivered by the same physician.
Love,
Dad