August 15, 2018
TAKING A llKENS TO You by Dale likens
Abolitionist John Brown
was in my neighborhood
any years ago I grew up on a lonely, tree
lined, dusty road in northeast Ohio. Very
few houses lined this road we once knew as
Anglin’ Road. Because my life on Anglin’
Road became an exciting time in my life as a child, my
first novel was subsequently titled “Our Mansion on
Anglin’ Road.”
Our family of eight children and Mom and Dad lived
in a run-down, dilapidated old farmhouse that had no
electricity, no running water and no inside bathroom
facilities. At the time I wrote
my first novel about our life
on Anglin’ Road I knew very
little about this road. I did not
understand the significance of
the history of this road.
As a young boy growing up
in Hartford, I had often heard
about a man named John
Brown. I remember some-
times talking about him as we
gathered around our supper
table late in the winter eve-
nings under the dull, flickering Egg/e [J ,éerkfi
light of our kerosene lamp. I
certainly remember learning a
few things about John Brown throughout my 12 years of
formal public schooling. I recall reading about his deter-
mination to free the American slaves at any cost. Many
historians believe very strongly that it was John Brown’s
valiant desire to free these slaves that ultimately led to
the greatest war America had ever faced, our Civil War.
But one day a very dear friend, who still resides in Hart-
ford, Ohio called my wife and me and said, “I believe I
have a newspaper article I have saved from 1960 that you
may be very interested in.”
“A newspaper article?” I asked in surprise. “I guess it
must be something newsworthy or you wouldn’t have
called.”
“I’m sure you will enjoy the article. I understand you
are back in town visiting relatives; so I thought I’d give
you a call.”
Three weeks ago, my wife and I visited Norma Fabick,
a longtime friend of ours who now slowly pulled that
very old, crumpled newspaper from her dining room
dresser. The article she referred to now lay somewhat
discolored from the many years of storage in her dresser.
“The Sharon Herald” the paper read at the top of the
page, “Sharon, Pennsylvania, May 27, 1960.” Sharon is,
of course, a town much larger than our small town of
Hartford, Ohio. Many of the business buildings still line
the Main Street I often traveled as a young man. Four
movie theaters once sat on that street. All are gone today.
But todayI stared down at that old, yellowed, wrinkled
newspaper that read “Famous John Brown Once
‘Fleeced’ Hartford!”
“John Brown!” I said excitedly to my wife. “John
Brown! The famous abolitionist once lived in Hartford?”
As I quickly scanned the full-page article I soon
discovered that John Brown often visited a man named
Seth Thompson who lived on Anglin’ Road. “Hon!” I
nearly shouted to my wife. “John Brown stayed with Seth
Thompson on the very road I once lived on! I remember
the house he lived in! It was just up the road from our
house! That house had to be well over a hundred years
old when my brothers and sisters and I once walked the
Anglin’ Road! I wrote about Seth Thompson in my first
book. Do you recall about the young boy who walked
home from school one day with a large bear following
him all the way to his house? When he entered his house
it was getting dark and two men who were following him.
home ended up shooting the bear immediately after Seth
Thompson walked into his house?”
“Of course I remember!” Karen said.
“The ancestors of Seth Thompson still lived in that old
house! Of course it’s no longer there today, but I remem-
ber that house well!”
“Oh, my gosh!” Karen whispered. “I remember that
house as well!”
Of course my memory may be a little fuzzy through—
out the years and perhaps a little distorted at times, but
no one can deny the resolve John Brown possessed in
his pursuit to free the American blacks from such an
atrocious act as slavery. I remember that he often carried
a Bible with him and preached against slavery with fire
in his eyes. I could picture him waving that Bible high
above his head and shouting, “Repent! For the Lord will
surely judge you!” .
Many well-known politicians and free blacks such as
the famous Frederick Douglass, who had once been a
slave himself, had supported John Brown quietly and
often attended his meetings as he traveled back and
forth to Kansas where slavery was a hot issue. I guess
the picture of John Brown, his sons and many of his
raiders taking control of Harpers Ferry, a United States
armory in Virginia, still burns strongly in my mind. I
still can’t grasp how easy the entire venture seemed to
be. A bloody battle broke out and two of his sons and a I
few of his raiders were killed in the volley of gunfire that
followed.
Though John Brown was captured, he never wavered
from his strong anti-slavery beliefs, and he proudly
proclaimed that belief as they placed the rope around
his neck that ultimately hanged him on Dec. 2, 1859 in
Charles Town, Va.* for treason. Sixteen months before
the outbreak of the Civil War John Brown was quoted
as saying, “The crimes of this guilty land will never be
purged away but with blood!”
From these facts, I believed I knew and understood
most of John Brown’s ambitions. I knew he hated slavery
and I knew he believed in God Almighty. Now I pos-‘
sessed, in books, an alarming story of the real John
Brown.
*Charles Town, Va. was oncepart of the state of W. Va.
(To be continued next week.) God bless!
Dale Likens is an author who lives in Monroe County.
v WWW
To the Editor: so, even if you or I do not agree with
t appears that Shane Mobley their choice. Mobley bragged that he
thinks that the First was going to spend up to
Amendment of the $150,000 of his own money
Constitution of these
United States does not ap-
ply to elected officials and
that it is improper for them
to endorse a candidate.
(Reporter, Letters to the
Editor, Aug. 8) Excuse me?
Where in the world did
that jewel of wisdom come
from? Elected officials are
not prohibited from exercising free
speech and have every right to do
It
for Mr. Mobley: You are to never,
ever run for public office again
to win the seat in District
141. Let the record show
that the voters saw right
through that weird decla-
ration, many told me that
they immediately pegged
him as a crackpot that
thought he could just “buy”
the office.
with endorsements, Ie
I have a piece of advice
Page 5A
because your campaign was a joke,
your attempt to buy the office made
you the laughingstock of the campa-
gin, you trashed the roadside with
your illegal signs, and you failed
to clean up your mess after you
came in dead last. Your offer to pay
the qualifying fees of anyone that
agrees to run against John Ambrose,
George Emami, or Greg Tapley is
just another boast with nothing but
hot air to back it up. Sour grapes, if
you ask me.
John Ricketson
South Monroe County
’We're trying to get Trump to build a wall between Bibb and
Monroe.’
Commissioner John Ambrose
HOMES
Continued from Front
Road and 32 lots of
about one acre each on
interior roads. Buice
said the roads and water
lines were put in at the
site, but the subdivision
was never completed.
Since the subdivision’s
initial approval, Monroe
County changed its zon-
ing ordinance to require
three—acre minimum
tracts in agriculture.
About a dozen nearby
, homeowners opposed
Wesley’s request. Long-
time Weldon Road
’ residents Eddie and Leila
Stone said they were con-
cerned about the small
lot size, additional traflic,
a negative effect upon
their quality of life, ad—
ditional strain on sheriff’s
deputies/firefighters/EMS
and that the proposed
project doesn’t represent
the highest and best use
of the land.
a “Weldon Road is just a
small, quiet road,” Eddie
Stone said. “We’re not set
up to have a subdivision
of this size.”
Several other Weldon
Road residents also spoke
in opposition on Aug.
7. Brett Lewis said three
existing homes Wesley
has already built at the
site seem “microsize”
compared to nearby
homes and said Weldon
Road already has crime
issues, labeling a portion
of the south end of the
road “meth city”. Brett
Lewis’ wife, Sarah Lewis,
said she too is concerned
about crime in the area,
noting the emergency
response was slow when
she called deputies previ-
ously about a suspicious
man carrying a hatchet
alongside the road. Ivon
Neal said the subdivi-
sion could turn a rural
area into an urban one
while Ivoney Gainey said
she’s concerned there
would only be one access
road into the subdivi-
sion, which could make
it difficult for emergency
vehicles to navigate.
Forsyth real estate
agent Kerri Swearingen
was the lone supporter
for Wesley’s proposal,
saying there is a void
in the Monroe County
market for homes valued
at between $150,000-
$175,000. Swearingen
said large industries
wanting to re-locate to
Monroe County consis-
tently ask about housing
options for their employ-
ees.
Swearingen said, “The
jobs that we just got
down on Rumble Road,
those salaries where
they’re gonna start, I’m
not talking about man—
agement, but just your
average workers, this is
gonna hit the price point
for what they will need to
be looking for.”
When Wesley told com-
missioners that some
current Henry County
residents were already
planning to buy homes
at the proposed site if the
re-zoning passed, District
3 commissioner John
Ambrose said he expects
Macon—Bibb County resi-
dents will want to move
there too.
Ambrose deadpanned:
“We’re trying to get
Trump to build a wall be—
tween Bibb and Monroe.”
District 4 commissioner
George Emami in whose
district the proposed
subdivision would be
built, said opponents
should have voiced their
displeasure with the
proposal back in 2005
and said it was only due
to the agricultural zoning
ordinance revision a year
later that commissioners
had to give the subdivi-
sion another vote of
approval. He said he con-
siders it part of a healthy
government to allow for
affordable housing op-
tions for county residents
and said the homes that .
Wesley intends to build
are not cheap homes.
Emami also noted that
current Weldon Road
residents who oppose the
subdivision could end up
having additional inter-
net options as a result
of the subdivision being
completed.
District 1 commissioner
Larry Evans agreed with
Emami, saying persons
earning less than $30,000
a year are entitled to have
nice home options too.
He added that it’s com-
missioners’ responsibilc
ity to look out for the
welfare of all citizens.
“That’s what makes
Monroe County so nice,”
Evans said. “We are like
one family here.”
District 2 commission~
er Eddie Rowland then
weighed in, saying he too
supports the re—zoning.
Rowland pointed out
that he lives on Rumble
Road in close proximity
to the Five Below distri-
bution center being built
but said it’s in Monroe
County’s best interest the
industry to locate there.
He said Monroe County’s
industrial and economic
successes are only going
to lead to more persons
wanting to be a part of it.
“When you have
something that is popu-
lar, more people want
to come here, they want
to live here, they want
to work here,” Rowland
said. “And it’s incumbent
on us as a commission to
try to make that happen,
to try to make that dream
come true.”
After just under an
hour of discussion, com-
missioners approved the
re-zoning request by a
5—0 vote.
The Monroe County
Planning 8r Zoning
Board previously denied
by a 2~1 vote Wesley’s
request on July 30, but
commissioners had the
final say on Aug. 7. After
about 35 minutes of dis-
cussion, ,P 8: Z member
Chuck Benson motioned
to deny, which was sec—
onded by chairwoman
Connie Gantt. Gantt then
called for a vote, and
Jim Rollins cast the lone
dissenting vote. P 81 Z
Board members Michael
Brewster and Red Ezelle
were absent from the July
30 meeting.
SERVING You...
FORSYTH
CITY
COUNCIL
Eric Wilson
Mayor
478461—0889
Chis Hewett
John Howard
Post 1 Post 2
706819-2890 478-960-1017
Melvm Lawrence Greg Goolsby
Post 3 Post 4
478-993-7841 404-4024 134
Julius Stroud
Post 5 Post 6
706—819-0797 478-9946203
Austin (not long in) City Limits
Monroe County's congressman Austin Scott (R-Ashburn) held
his last Town Hall with his constituents in Forsyth'lat right)
on Aug. 20, 2014. Scott did attend a chamber of commerce
event this spring but did not take questions from constituents
and therefore cannot be considered a town hall meeting. It
you want an’lopportunity to let Scott know what you want
him to dolin'Congress, call his Washington office at (202)
225-6531 and let him know.
Kemp
dawdles "on county line
When Brian emp became secretary of state on Jan. 8, 2010, Terry
Scarborough's
survey at the Monroe-Bibb County line was on his desk. The law says it’s
his iob
to do something with it. He announced on Aug. 23, 2011 that he was
reiecting the
Scarborough survey. Unfortunately, the luv gives him no such option. So on
March
10, 2014, the Supreme Court ordered him to set the line. That was tour
years ago.
The Reporter is devoting this space each week to counting the number of
days Kemp
has been on the lob, and yet not done his iob. It you want Kemp to do the
Job which
he's sought three times before he gets a promotion to governor, call
his office at
(404) 656-2817 and let them know.
