I'm not sure how many trips I traveled between Soperton and Statesboro in the 1960s, but probably two or three hundred, schooling at GSC and working at Rockwell. This scene was one of the most interesting on the route, and it wasn't far from home, just across the county line of GA 297 over into Emanuel County on GA 46 on the right. The last time I went that way the house was still there, but falling apart.
To this day I don't know who lived there or who owned the property, then or now. Low sun can help create interesting photos, and there's plenty of it during the winter. I like the way it shaped the old house, the enhancement of the fresh furrows, the various textures. I may have even used a tripod, as the details of the water well are quite sharp. The broom sage and other low plants are partially translucent. To me the whole scene has a nice "feel". I worked at it, but it may be just another "happy accident," though. The house was evidently occupied in the winter of 69, as there is dog looking at the photographer. Can you find the dog?
William A. Ricks
http://billricksofsoperton.blogspot.com
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3 comments:
Very good picture. I've always loved black and white.Is that the dog on the left corner of the house? In the field. Just below and to the right of the light pole.
Bill, this is the old Bennett Wilkes house, which is not far from where I live on the old Corbin place. Benjamin Bennett Wilkes was born in 1862, the oldest child of Jordan Bennett Wilkes and Nancy Morris; in 1882, he married Nancy Phillips, daughter of Wilder and Elizabeth Phillips. They built this house and reared eight children there: Addie, Ransom, Eva (Lawson), Estella (Criswell), Harvie (Nasworthy), Wilder Jordan, Frankie (Hardee), and Dessie (Moore). Bennett Wilkes was murdered in 1919 by his nephew, Gordon Phillips. Daughters, Addie and Harvie, lived out their lives in the house and were probably living there when you took this picture. The land is now owned by Billy Wilkes, a great-grandson of Bennett's sister, Maggie.
Olivia Williamson Braddy
Thanks, Joel. You saw the dog in the field in spite of the grainy image. Good job.
Thanks to Olivia Williamson Braddy for providing lots of good information about the house and family. I love my photo even more knowing all that.
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