GwinnettForum | Number 22.03 | Jan. 10, 2023
THIS PEACEFUL SCENE might have been taken anywhere in the world, by putting together a view of a sailboat caught just at the edge of the sun as it went down. The photographer is Bill Durrence, retired in Savannah, who made his living capturing beautiful scenes and rambling all over the world for the camera maker, Nikon. This photo was taken near Key West, Fla.
EDITOR’ S NOTE: Congratulations to the Georgia Bulldogs on creaming the TCU Horned Frogs 65-7 in the national college football championship game.
TODAY’S FOCUS: When GwinnettForum has a story about guns, you can bet on letters
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Book about Robert E. Lee changed my mind on military base names
ANOTHER VIEW: Which state will have the courage to turn things around?
SPOTLIGHT: Gateway85 CID
FEEDBACK: Vagrant riders on MARTA can give Atlanta a bad name
UPCOMING: GGC offering free exercise program starting January 30
OBITUARIES: Deborah (Debbie) Lee Mason
RECOMMENDED: The Sagas of the Icelanders, multiple translations
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Patrick Hues Mell influential educator and educator in 19th century
MYSTERY PHOTO: Lighthouse on a cliff is this edition’s mystery
CALENDAR: Service to honor veterans is postponed
When GwinnettForum has story on guns, you can bet on letters
(Editor’s note: One reason we print GwinnettForum is to have it available for all to respond to current topics, such as these below. We thank them for joining others who submit. Without you readers, life would not be so much fun. One aspect we require of submissions: to get printed, we require readers to list the name of the city where they get mail. This issue we had four more letters to the editor without a home town listing.)—eeb
By several readers
S. Scott Batterton, Lilburn: The law allowing open carry is for people who otherwise qualify for a concealed permit. Not for convicted felons or the mentally Ill. Having said this, I agree with you that it makes it too easy to legally carry. I have no problem with proper permitting to carry a weapon for protection. I am not aware that any mass shooters in the past have been properly permitted.”
Rick Hammond, Flowery Branch: I was moved to reply by your opinion piece on “Open Carry.” First, I’d like to point out that the citizens of 48 of our 50 United States have approved this legal philosophy. I find it pretentious that your feelings should override the will of what is obviously a substantial majority of the people in this country.
Yes, I’d like to sit next to a legally armed citizen at a Braves’ game, or at any other function, large or small. Second, my children and grandchildren are safer in the presence of legally-armed citizens that they are waiting for our understaffed and under-appreciated law enforcement to arrive if something should happen.
And third, statistics will show that almost no armed robberies or shootings are instigated by legal gun owners. In cases where the perpetrator is known, almost all result from illegal possession of a firearm.
I understand the desire to “do something” about the disturbing trend of casual gunplay in modern society. I submit that the prudent and proper way to address the situation is to concentrate on the lawbreakers, and not the law-abiding. If people regularly went to jail for illegal firearm possession, that would be a deterrent.
Ronald Schwartz of Dublin: “You’re a Democrat who won’t admit Georgia is safer with these laws. 26 states with no issues. Atlanta is becoming Chicago because of Democrats and blacks with no appreciation for life. Quit publishing such junk.”
Richard Bowen, Odum: I never go anywhere without being armed. I have never harmed anyone with a weapon in my 78 years of life. Bad folks have been armed as long as there have been weapons. Don’t disarm law-abiding people and leave us helpless.
P.O. Arnold, Gainesville: How did he get the weapons? Was there a background check completed before he purchased these guns? You state he has mental issues. What needs to be done is establish a deep background check system so people like him can’t buy a gun.
Second, there needs to be some system in place for private owners that sell guns to check the buyer’s background. And a law that a person who sells a weapon to another person, and that person commits a crime using the gun, then the seller has to be responsible also.
Lamar Harden, Brunswick: I somehow missed this story regarding the homeless person and the disturbing facts that he was possibly a nightmare waiting to happen due to our open carry law! I’m a firm Republican, bit this situation is in dire need of revision! And should be addressed in detail now.
Barbara Warden, Norcross: “Did the fellow in Publix kill anyone? I admit it is a bit much to travel with, but he did no harm. Start collecting the guns from gangs and known criminals and stop attacking law bidding citizens. And by the way, if the criminals know the citizens carry, they are less likely to commit a crime against them. Let’s start getting DA’s to uphold the laws!”
Book about Lee changed mind on military base names
Robert E. Lee in 1864 photo. Via Wikipedia.
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
JAN. 10, 2023 | The book, Robert E. Lee and Me, was written by Ty Seidule, an author I had never heard of. Though I hesitated in opening the book, I’m glad I did. For it is an amazing book, one that thoroughly changed my mind about renaming military posts for Confederate leaders.
Seidule is a retired career Army brigadier general, who for 20 years was a professor of history (now emeritus) at West Point. He is a graduate of Washington and Lee University and holds a Ph. D. from the Ohio State University. In 2021, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin appointed him to the National Commission on Base Renaming. He served as the Vice Chair
Seidule grew up in Lexington, Va., the site of Washington and Lee, and was immersed in Robert E. Lee’s life. He understands the “Lost Cause” of Southern history which held that Lee was the greatest man who ever lived. The work of Seidule is essentially showing us why and how he changed his views about the Civil War and its leaders, showing them in a far different light than most Southerners think.
In our nation’s history, the U.S. Army named military installations for individuals, such as Fort Washington, Md., in 1776; Fort McPherson, Ga. in 1867 for Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson; and Schofield Barracks in Hawaii for Lt. Gen. John Schofield in 1908.
One of the reasons there are many military bases named for Confederates is that many Army posts were founded during a time when leaders in Congress were Southerners and former Confederates, and who controlled the naming of military posts. Yet many Army posts therefore were named for people who fought (as Confederates) against the country. That is why the country is re-naming Army posts these days.
Therefore, we had 10 Army facilities named for Confederates.
- Fort Benning, Ga.: Brig. Gen. Henry Benning. lower rank Confederate general who was a secessionist and slaveholder.
- Fort Gordon, Ga.: Georgia’s John B. Gordon. After the war, he was Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, and led the national Klan. He is a former Georgia governor and senator.
- Fort Lee, Va.: Gen. Robert E. Lee of Virginia, overall commander of the Confederate Army. Later president of Washington College.
- Fort Pickett, Va.: Maj. Gen. George Pickett, best known for leading the futile charge at Gettysburg, who initially fled to Canada after the war.
- Fort A.P. Hill, Va., Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill, was a division commander under Lee and died in combat.
- Fort Bragg: Braxton Bragg, considered one of the worst generals of the war, as his frontal assaults often lost.
- Fort Polk, La.: Leonidas Polk, an Episcopal bishop, another incompetent who was known to fail to follow orders.
- Camp Beauregard, La.: Pierre G.T. Beauregard led the attack on Fort Sumter.
- Fort Hood, Tex.: John Bell Hood., abandoned Atlanta to Sherman.
- Fort Rucker, Ala.: Col. Edmund Rucker of Tennessee, a former enlisted man, later became an industrial leader of Birmingham, Ala.
All but Benning, Gordon and Rucker were graduates of West Point, but then fought against their country. That’s one reason the Army bases are being renamed.
The author also illustrates how many facilities at the Military Academy at one time were named for Confederates, many of them for Lee. An announcement last week told how West Point will continue removing Confederate symbols.
More than 200 symbols of the Confederacy have been removed or renamed at the Academy since 2020. A Defense Department directive ordered West Point to remove or replace items “that commemorate or memorialize the Confederacy.”
Our country owes a debt of gratitude to Brig. Gen (Ret) Ty Seidule for explaining this to our country. It changed my view of military base names.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Which state will have the courage to turn things around?
By Ashley Herndon
OCEANSIDE, Calif. | The homes or offices of the new attorney general and four other elected officials in New Mexico have been buffeted by gunfire in the last month.
Herndon
Georgia, (my old home state), and 47 other states, have approved “Open Carry” legislation. As we all know ‘Open Carry’ allows people to carry a loaded weapon (semi and automatic included) in public. Whaaaat? This behavior makes Dodge City and Tombstone look calm…they only had six shooters, shotguns, and lever action rifles. Some of those towns were smarter than us today…weapons had to be turned over to the sheriff.
How did this happen? We do not like finger pointing, but it happened mostly in Republican controlled states. I am pleased to be a California resident, at least on this issue. The Republican Party we once knew is gone…most likely forever…being replaced by folks who either backed or participated in the January 6, 2021, treasonous coup attempt and assault on the Capitol and our democracy. This problem of legalized carry does not just lie at, but lives actively at the door of the new, what some call the Neo-Fascist-Republican Party. That group appears to believe in the old Wild West method of governing and approval of murderous people. Violence did not work in the old west. Our lives will be even worse today if allowed to continue.
We are left to wonder which states and leadership has the courage to turn things around without waiting for one of their own to be assaulted.
Look on the Internet and you will find there have been candidates in recent elections posting pictures of themselves holding automatic weapons and grinning.That’s not good in any language.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Gateway85 CID
The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Gateway85 Community Improvement District is a self-taxing district that includes just over 800 commercial property owners with a property value of over $1.7 billion. Gateway85 includes the southwestern part of Gwinnett County including properties along Jimmy Carter Boulevard, Buford Highway, Indian Trail Road, and Beaver Ruin Road. Gateway85 is one of five CIDs to be created in Gwinnett County and is one of the largest CIDs in the state. The community is an economic powerhouse that helps fuel the regional economy. More than 3,000 businesses employing roughly 47,400 people call Gateway85 home. The jobs in the district account for almost 16 percent of Gwinnett County’s total employment. Gateway85 provides $27.5 billion in economic output for the County and $36.4 billion economic output for Georgia. Gateway85’s mission is to improve property values through increased security, decreased traffic congestion, and general improvements to the curb appeal and infrastructure of the area. The CID has recently moved its headquarters to a portion of the Gwinnett County-owned OFS site. The mailing address is 1485 Chinook Ct., Lilburn, Ga. For more information, visit https://www.gateway85.com/ or call or call Emory Morsberger at 770-409-8100.
- For a list of other sponsors of this forum, click here
Vagrant riders on MARTA can give Atlanta a bad name
Editor, the Forum:
It might be interesting to see what your readers think about Marta.
Recently I had the opportunity to take Marta from the airport to the Doraville station. Two stops before Five Points, a meek homeless man was going through the train with his hands out. He never spoke, and I was reading something, and did not realize he had passed me, until an altercation about a minute later.
A very verbal man (nicely dressed) started shouting at him that he was nothing more than a drunk and he should be finding a job. He said he would give him a dollar if he got off of Marta and stopped pestering people. He did. Then, a lady across the aisle stood up and yelled at the verbal man saying he “Didn’t have the right spirit in his heart.”
Being from Atlanta, even to me this was a bad situation that could get worse. I felt horrible for the two ladies in front of me that were obviously here for business and had never ridden Marta. (They looked absolutely petrified.)
That prompted me to want to complain to Marta about security. The internet search on that was quite interesting. It told me that Marta used poor security with outdated cameras. Complaints could be handled after you set up an account with Marta. (I later found an email site for customer service.)
Atlanta has to figure this out. Marta could be good, but when you get visitors coming from all over the world, and this is their first impression after going through a world class airport, Atlanta gets a bad name!
– Mickey Merkel, Berkeley Lake
Send us your thoughts: We encourage you to send us your letters and thoughts on issues raised in GwinnettForum. Please limit comments to 300 words, and include your hometown. The views of letters are the opinion of the contributor. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length. Send feedback and letters to: elliott@brack.net.
GGC offering free exercise program starting Jan. 30
Want to get a start on those new year health and wellness resolutions? Georgia Gwinnett College’s (GGC) School of Science and Technology is offering a chance for individuals to work on their personal fitness.
The exercise science program at GGC seeks volunteers to participate in a free 12-week exercise program. The program will help exercise science students sharpen their hands-on skills, while gaining experience in a practical fitness setting. Volunteers will undergo a pre-training and post-training fitness assessment, which will include:
- Blood pressure
- Body composition
- Cardiovascular fitness
- Muscular strength
- Balance
- Flexibility
Following the pre-training assessment, participants will begin a 12-week personalized fitness training program for one hour each Monday and Wednesday between 5-6 p.m., from January 30 through April 26. To participate, volunteers must be healthy adults with no major health conditions. For more information and to volunteer, contact Dr. Lauren Tapp at ltapp@ggc.edu.
Deborah (Debbie) Lee Mason
Debbie (Debbie) Lee Mason, 71, of Peachtree Corners, peacefully passed away on Wednesday, January 4, 2023, at home surrounded by her family. She is survived by her husband of 49 years, Mike Mason, the Mayor of Peachtree Corners; sons, Matt Mason (Mary) and Nick Mason; granddaughter, Clara Mason; brothers, Robert Shoulders, Paul Shoulders; half-brother, James Shoulders; half-sister, Jean Rock; extended family and dear friends. Preceding Deborah in death was her father, Edward Shoulders; mother, Leona Shoulders; and half-sister, Linda Masterson. Her extraordinary impact on this community is difficult to express and she will be profoundly missed by her family, many dear friends, and neighbors to whom she gave her whole heart.
Mason
The funeral services for Deborah were held on January 9, 2023, at Crowell Brothers Peachtree Chapel with Pastor Lori Osborn officiating.
If Debbie Mason believed in a cause, she could be counted on to work toward it tirelessly. Debbie was known to her family as a full-time mom, part-time Wonder Woman, and occasional miracle worker. To her friends and community, she was a professional volunteer, fearless leader, and perpetual truthteller. Before starting her family, she worked as a legal secretary, where she began honing her exceptional organizational skills and trademark charisma, which made her the most formidable fundraiser. PTSA President, scout den leader, drama club mom, sports team mom, volunteer organizer, teen driving advocate, recycling and beautification champion- whatever her kids were involved in or called to her heart, she made it a priority. A consummate “mover and shaker,” there was little in her sphere of influence that didn’t receive a bit of “the Debbie Mason touch.” She and Mike were founders of the Fox Hill Homeowners Association, where she worked to build community on the street she called home for 36 years. Hanging holiday decorations, throwing her annual Halloween party, and even going door-to-door gathering signatures to have sewers installed in the neighborhood, Debbie spent so much of her time and energy in service of others.
When she and Mike became empty nesters, she broadened her scope, getting involved with political campaigns and, most significantly, successfully managing the campaign for the Peachtree Corners Yes! campaign, which would change their lives forever. When Mike became the Mayor, she embraced her role as First Lady to “help make memories” in the City. She was a founding board member of the Peachtree Corners Festival and the Glow in the Corners Holiday Festival. She served on the United Peachtree Corners Civic Association Board, the Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful Board, the City Arts Council, and the City Green Committee.
Still, she never stopped being a wife and mother. She and Mike were always together, generally talking, and could often be seen holding hands. She stayed involved in her sons’ lives, talking with them often and guiding them as they grew older. Often her sons encounter situations in their daily adult lives where they hear the life lessons their mother taught them and smile at how they have and will continue to guide them through the rest of their lives. The measure of her impact on her sons’ lives is shown in how they have modeled her strength, leadership, gentility, and love they give to the many people and causes in their own lives. She treasured her granddaughter Clara, with whom she shared many laughs, adventures, and surprise donuts. She was close to her brothers, Bob and Paul, and her lifetime best friend, Rita Dame. She spoke with them often and, when she did, filled the house with laughter. She had an irresistible smile and infectious sense of humor, connecting with people of all ages and stations.
To nurture was her nature; she loved to look after her home and garden. Visitors often commented on how warm and welcoming the house made them feel and how beautifully decorated it was. She was an artist, viewing the backyard garden as her canvas and the flowers, plants, and pots as her paints. Working in the garden restored her soul; it was her special place. She was brilliant, an independent thinker, honest, direct, and utterly unique. There will never be another one like her.
In lieu of flowers, consider a donation to the Peachtree Corners Festival at peachtreecornersfestival.com.
The Sagas of the Icelanders, multiple translations
From Raleigh Perry, Buford: There are more than 40 Icelandic Sagas and this book has less than half of them in it. Passed on orally for generations, these tales were finally written in the 13th and 14th centuries and some of the oldest literature in the European world. Some of them are brutal. Amongst these stories are the Vinland Saga, about the Icelandic discovery of North America, about 1000 A.D. English and American laws are based more on Scandinavian law than Roman law. Iceland has the oldest legislature in existence today, the Althing, which meets regularly to make laws, try cases and settle issues. We do not know who the authors of these sagas are, but some are attributed to Snorri Sturluson who was an Icelandic historian and the head of the Althing for many years. It is a compendium of a group of the sagas, each of which can be purchased individually.
READERS: We’re low on recommendations. Spend some time to give us your thoughts on books, movies, restaurants….and championship bowl games.
An invitation: what books, restaurants, movies or web sites have you enjoyed recently? Send us your recent selection, along with a short paragraph (150 words) as to why you liked this, plus what you plan to visit or read next. Send to: elliott@brack.net
Mell was influential educator and educator in 19th century
Patrick Hues Mell was one of the most influential educators and ministers in nineteenth-century Georgia.
For almost 50 years he served as professor of ancient languages and chief administrator at Mercer University and the University of Georgia, and he also held leadership roles in the Southern Baptist and Georgia Baptist conventions. His greatest influence as a moderator of numerous religious and educational assemblies earned him the designation “prince of parliamentarians.”
Born in Liberty County on July 19, 1814, Mell received his education from local academies until his entrance into Amherst College in Massachusetts in 1833. He left Amherst two years later and served as teacher and administrator in various schools in the North before arriving at Emory College (later Emory University), in Oxford, Georgia. In 1841 Mell joined the faculty at Mercer University in Penfield as professor of ancient languages. In 1856 he took a similar position at the University of Georgia, becoming that school’s vice chancellor in 1860. From 1878 to 1888 he was the chancellor of the university.
A lay leader of Georgia Baptists, Mell dominated all aspects of his church. As a parliamentarian he was the moderator of the Georgia Baptist Association (1855-87), president of the Georgia Baptist Convention (1857-87), and president of the Southern Baptist Convention (1863-71, 1880-87). As pastor he served the Baptist church at Greensboro for ten years and led the congregations at Bairdstown (in Greene County) and Antioch (in Oglethorpe County) for 30 and 26 years respectively. As an author,
Mell published the following books: Baptism in Its Mode and Subjects (1853), Corrective Church Discipline(1860), A Manual of Parliamentary Practice (1867), and The Doctrine of Prayer (1876). He also wrote articles and tracts on the subjects of slavery, Calvinism, and predestination.
Mell provided brave leadership for the University of Georgia during the Civil War (1861-65) and Sherman’s March to the Sea. In 1861 a group of volunteers organized a company known as the Mell Riflemen or Mell Volunteers, and Governor Joseph E. Brown appointed Mell as the unit’s captain. The death of his wife that same year, however, left Mell with eight young children, and he was unable to leave Athens. In 1863 he became colonel of a command to defend northern Georgia, frequently visiting camps in Savannah and Rome.
Because of the size of his family and his dedication to his country churches, Mell declined several opportunities to leave the university. He and his first wife, Lurene Howard Cooper of Montgomery County, had five sons and three daughters. He and his second wife, Eliza Elizabeth Cooper of Screven County, had four sons and two daughters. Mell resigned from the Antioch and Bairdstown churches in 1878, when he became chancellor of the university, but his influence continued. For years the Baptists from Greene and surrounding counties labeled their district “Mell’s Kingdom.”
Mell died on January 26, 1888, at age 74, after months of failing health.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Lighthouse on a cliff is this week’s mystery
GwinnettForum has not run through the nation’s vast number of lighthouses. Here’s one sitting on a cliff. Where is it? Send your answers to ellott@brack.net and include your hometown.
Allan Peel of San Antonio, Tex. writes: “The last mystery photo is of the Owens-Thomas House, part of the Owens-Thomas House and Slave Quarters National Historic Landmark in the Historic District of Savannah. The photo was shot from the back courtyard / English parterre garden, in front of the building that originally served as the Carriage House and Slave Quarters.
“Designed by William Jay (1792–1837) and completed in 1819, this antebellum English Regency-style house was the primary residence of Richard Richardson (1765–1833), a cotton merchant, banker and domestic slave trader and his wife, Frances Bolton Richardson. It was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1976 and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.”
Sara Rawlins of Lawrewnceville adds: “When Mr. Richardson’s fortunes took a turn for the worst and he ended up losing the house to the Bank of the United States. Several years later a Mrs. Mary Maxwell turned the house into an elegant lodging house. When Revolutionary War hero Marquis de Lafayette was invited to Savannah in 1825 as a guest of the city, he stayed in Mrs. Maxwell’s Lodging House. In 1830 the mayor of Savannah, George Owens bought the home for $10,000. The house stayed in the family until 1951 when his granddaughter bequeathed the house to Telfair Museum of Art. Besides the house being built in the Regency style, the gardens are designed in a parterre style which would complement the house.”
Others recognizing the house were Stew Ogilvie of Lawrenceville; Lou Camerio of Lilburn; George Graf, Palmyra Va.; and Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill.
POSTPONED: A ceremony honoring area veterans on Sunday, January 15, has been postponed because of health concerns. The service by the Georgia Military Veterans’ Hall of Fame was originally scheduled at Christ Episcopal Church in Norcross. It will be held at a later date.
Authors and dessert in Duluth with Michael Gagnon and Matthew Hild, Thursday, January 12 at 7 p.m. at the Duluth Branch, Gwinnett County Public Library. Join GCPL for desserts and beverages with local historians and authors Gagnon and Hild as they discuss their book, Gwinnett County, Georgia, and the Transformation of the American South,1818-2018.
GwinnettForum is provided to you at no charge every Tuesday and Friday.
Meet our team
- Editor and publisher: Elliott Brack, 770-840-1003
- Managing editor: Betsy Brack
- Roving photographer: Frank Sharp
- Contributing columnist: Jack Bernard
- Contributing columnist: George Wilson
More
- Mailing address: P.O. Box 1365, Norcross, Ga. 30091
- Work with us: If you would like to learn about how to be an underwriter to support the publication of GwinnettForum as a community resource for news and commentary, please contact us today.
Subscriptions to GwinnettForum are free.
- Click to subscribe.
- Unsubscribe. We hope you’ll keep receiving the great news and information from GwinnettForum, but if you need to unsubscribe, go to this page and unsubscribe in the appropriate box.
© 2023, Gwinnett Forum.com. Gwinnett Forum is an online community commentary for exploring pragmatic and sensible social, political and economic approaches to improve life in Gwinnett County, Ga. USA.
Follow Us