He Wouldn't Be a Republican for a Job, Part 3

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The destruction of the railroad was a terrible sight, but when Jim arrived home, it was worse. Both armies had passed through Big Shanty and nothing was left of his hometown.

There wasn't a thing to eat. It was just blank. The face of the earth had been swept clean; not an animal or fowl existed. The Lacy Hotel, the shanties, the depot and homes were burned to the ground. His mother and the children were living in a wrecked rail car with several other families. They had survived off the little given to them by Confederate and Union troops and what they could find in the woods.

He had learned to hate the Yankees, but his first job after the war was working for the reconstruction government. He and some other men were hired to dig up the dead buried in the trenches on and around Kennesaw Mountain and transport them to the National Cemetery in Marietta. It was horrible work. Wild animals and domestic hogs had rooted all through the earth works, leaving bodies half buried. But he received $5 a day, and that really helped his mother and the children. That job only lasted about two weeks, so he had to find something else to provide for his family.

The reconstruction government had control of the W&A Railroad, but on July 5, 1865 Jim got work as a section hand. Soloman Bennett was the track foreman and Martin Dooley was the road master. He didn't have to worry about something eat any longer because he was now receiving $1.40 a day working on the tracks. After about three months, they got the tracks in shape so trains could run. Jim worked on the Big Shanty Section for three years under a foreman named John Wade, but all good things come to an end.

Governor Bullock, a Republican, was "elected" and he fired all employees who were not "Good Republicans" replacing them with men who had never worked on railroads before. One morning a new boss and crew showed up at Big Shanty with orders to relieve the section hands. Not a single Democrat was left on the W&A. Even the famed William A. Fuller, hero of the Great Locomotive Chase, was fired. Jim again was faced with finding a way to provide for his family. He had also fallen in love with a lady named Victoria Chalker, and marriage was a distinct possibility. 

As luck would have it, he and John Wade met a man named Baldwin who was a section foreman for the Mobile & Montgomery Railroad. They both were hired and went to work for that line in Montgomery, AL. On the first day of March 1869, Jim took a 15-day leave of absence and returned to Big Shanty to marry Victoria Chalker. During his visit home, he met with Martin Dooley, and was offered a section foreman job in Jackson, TN with the Mississippi Central Railroad. He stayed there until 1870 when he caught Scarlet Fever and had to return home to recuperate.

A friend of Jim's, Judge Carree, was on good terms with Foster Blodgett who was then the superintendent of the W&A under Governor Bullock. When Jim was able to return to work, the good judge asked if he would like to have a job on the "State Road." Jim told him yes, but explained that he could not be hired with the Republicans in charge. Carree wrote him a splendid recommendation and told him to take it to Joe Mills in Atlanta.

Jim walked to Atlanta the next day and entered the railroad office. He didn't know Joe Mills, but figured the man sitting in the swivel chair must be him. "What can I do for you?" the man asked.

"I don't know what you can do for me, but I have a recommendation for a job," Jim replied as he handed the sheet of paper to Mills. He read it and then looked Jim up and down from head to toe. Then he read it again.

"I haven't a vacancy today," he finally said. "You come back tomorrow and I'll make one for you. You must be a good Republican or you wouldn't have a recommendation like this."

Jim looked the man straight in the eye and said, "I RECKON I AIN'T NO GOOD REPUBLICAN AND I DON'T WANT YOUR DAMN JOB." Then he walked back to Big Shanty.

Jim went to work for the Macon & Western Railroad where he remained until Joseph E. Brown leased the W&A. His old friend Martin Dooley returned to the State Road and Jim was put in charge of the Marietta Section. He stayed with the W&A until it was leased to the Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis Railway in 1890. Jim was promoted to track supervisor and retired from the NC&StL in 1903.

At the premier of "Gone With The Wind," Jim was one of four Confederate veterans who were honored guests. It was the first motion picture he had ever seen. He died on October 8, 1941, exactly three years to the day before I was born. He and Victoria are buried in the Kennesaw City Cemetery. They had seven children who lived to adulthood. Five of them became railroad conductors on the NC&StL Railway and retired.

I sincerely hope everyone has enjoyed this story of Kennesaw history. I will be posting more articles soon.