Raylroad Daze

There is a town back in South Carolina, called Branchville.  Every year the citizens of Branchville celebrate Raylroad Daze, yes I know the spelling is weird but that is how we spell it.  This festival celebrates the World’s Oldest Railroad junction in town.  The festival is awesome, and I am very sad that I am missing it this year.  There are gun fights, and can can girls, and rides on the Cal Smoak Special, and a bunch of other fun things to do and look at.

Merchants of Charleston, SC wanted a way to sell their goods to the people who moved inland.  In 1827 they convinced the legislature to charter the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company to look into the railroad.  In 1830 the “Best Friend of Charleston” made its first trip on Christmas.  Before this transportation depended on weather condition, and of course water tides and flow.

A second train called “West Point” arrived just five months later.  Then a accident occurred and blew up the “Best Friend.”  The railroad operated between Charleston, Branchville, Blackville, Aiken and Hamburg, South Carolina...initial run December 25, 1833.  Later operating across the Savannah River at Hamburg into Augusta, Georgia.  Also, line constructed from Branchville to Columbia, SC, making Branchville the first junction point in the world.  See this website to view pictures of the depot: http://www.patsabin.com/lowcountry/branchville.htm.

The train depot is now divided; the front is a museum for the town and has a small replica of the Best Friend.  The back of the depot is a restaurant.  Raylroad Daze is a fun way for the town to remember the history.  On opening day for the weekend, which is a Friday before the last full weekend of September, the mayor speaks, the president of the Branchville High School’s FFA speaks, and the winners of the pagent welcome every one, and every year a train comes through in fashion to open the weekend. 

For more information on the festival please go to: http://www.raylrodedazefestivul.com/ 

           Over the summer, I processed a collection of a Croatian immigrant family. The patriarch of the family, Frank Slivac immigrated to the United States and became a naturalized citizen in 1901. Frank moved to the Keweenaw Peninsula and worked in the copper mines there. That is where Frank met his future bride, Barbara Krupic, another Croatian immigrant and rumored to have ties to the Croatian-American mafia. They had their first child Mary soon after.

            The stress of raising a child without family around finally got to Barbara. She decided to return to Croatia with Mary, and Frank would stay in the US and work in the mines. Frank came back to Croatia for a period of two years, and they had two more children, Dragutin “Charles” and Donna. Frank left for Michigan after Donna’s birth.

            In early 1912, Barbara and the children were going back to the US, but were turned away from boarding the ship because Frank forgot to sign his part of the paperwork. The ship they were supposed sail on that day was the RMS Titanic. Barbara and the kids returned to Croatia and she never attempted to go back to the US. At the Keweenaw National Historical Park archives, there is a picture of Barbara and the kids that was supposed to be used to board the Titanic.

            When Charles was 21, he decided to immigrate to the United States and move to Michigan to work in the mines with his father. However, by the time he arrived his father was working as a farmer in the Upper Peninsula. So Charles headed to the Keweenaw by himself. A couple of months later, his father died in a house fire. It was rumored that the fire started after Frank passed out from drinking with a cigar or cigarette. Also that same year, his mother passed away in Croatia.

            Soon after, Charles met Frances Gasparovich and they married in 1942. Together they had two children. Charles continued to work for the mine until he retired in 1968. Charles and Frances financially helped ten of his nieces and nephews to immigrate to the US. They let them stay at their house until they were financially independent or enrolled in college.

            After researching dates and names, and looking at the documents, I felt like I knew this family and I felt connected. So it was a nice way to spend a summer.

           The copper mine shaft pictured below is Osceola #13, in Calumet, Michigan, the shaft the Charles worked at. 

Marie Aull and Aullwood

              I recently was assigned the task of adding material to the Garden Club of Dayton collection. While going through the collection, I came across some articles on Marie Aull, the owner of Aullwood, now part of the Five Rivers Metro Parks. Marie and her husband John turned a portion of their 350 acre spread into a garden, known as the Aullwoood garden. The 350 acres has over 60species of trees and 400 varieties of plants.

               In 1977, Marie gave her land and home to the future Five Rivers Metro Parks. She also challenged the community to meet her $500,000 donation for an endowment to keep up the property within three years, or she would withdraw her gift. The community surpassed her initial donation and ensured the properties upkeep.

               Marie was a decades long member of the Garden Club of Dayton. She inspired and taught many members about horticulture and environmentalism. The Garden Club in turn decided to create a sculpture in Carillon Park to honor Marie for her service. After looking at many artists, they settled on Erik Blome from Barrington, Illinois. Included in the collection was some of his previous work, which seemed very true to life.

               It is interesting to see the Marie Aull statue in progress and the correspondence about changes they want to see reflected in the sculpture.  The ladies of the Garden Club wanted her in an action pose, holding a trowel and a blooming bulb, wearing slacks and a button shirt, and her hair in a bun.  Some of the correspondence suggests that her chin be less square and wide, and her hair looser. Also there was some discussion on the finish date, there seemed to be some miscommunication, but it was all resolved.

               On August 30, 2002, Marie Aull passed away at the age of 103. The Garden Club of Dayton dedicated the sculpture of Marie Aull on June 17, 2003. The picture to the right is of Marie's sculpture in progress. 

  

Welcome to the HST 7700 Local History Blog

This blog was created for you to share local history stories with the class. Remember, the stories can come from any source. Use the sources you are learning about in your weekly assignments, but don't just post your assignment papers. Study a particular person, place, event or subject in a source and write about it for the blog. It can be from a letter, diary, newspaper, photograph, film, government record, map... the list is endless. Have fun!