Published: June 21, 2008 10:42 pm      

Terry bridge dedicated in Murray

ETON — A gathering of more than 100 descendants of Major Douglas Terry Sr. occurred Saturday for a family reunion and to honor the man who pioneered thousands of acres in Murray County.

The bridge dedication in honor of Terry, who also served communities as a postmaster and teacher, was actually the future bridge naming since it is yet to be built. The event was attended by state Sen. Don Thomas, state Rep. Tom Dickson, and Murray sole commissioner Jim Welch.

“He owned 8,000 acres at one time, but the forest service ‘took’ 4,000 acres and paid him 50 cents an acre,” said Miriam Terry Ward, a granddaughter who hosted the event with her husband Frank on their CCC Camp Road farm, which is part of the original acreage.

Terry Sr. (1869-1927) was also a businessman who operated a general store, mill, livery stables and rental houses.

Other grandkids at the reunion were Terry Jones (the “only one who stayed around Murray County,” Ward said), Virginia Severinghaus, Sandra Moreland Stewart, Major Douglas “Doug” Terry III, David Terry, Gregg Springfield, Mike Springfield, Randy Springfield, Hilda Terry Phillips, Johanna Terry Smith and Tom Moreland, the former commissioner of the Georgia Department of Transportation for whom “Spaghetti Junction” in north Atlanta is named, also known as the intersection of I-285 and I-85 and other paved tributaries.

Grandchildren Harold Terry, Bill Terry and Tom Jones are deceased.

“He was the backbone of this country,” Thomas said to the clan assembled at the edge of the Chattahoochee National Forest, “and it is because of the backbone of men like him that our country is still prosperous. From what I’ve heard, he sounds like a working man to me.

“To me, there’s always been two types of people — those who work, and those who won’t work, and you can’t change either one.”

“Mother told us that granddad would take leave on Monday from the farm here and go to stay in the store in Chatsworth,” said Moreland. “He would cook breakfast for the kids and get them off to school, then go to work at the Rock Creek farm (near Ramhurst) all day.”

One attendee remarked that Moreland had built a lot of bridges in his own day with the DOT, to which he replied, “But this is the most important one.”

Terry Sr. was born on a farm near Holly Creek, east of Eton. He married Georgia Elmira Gregory on Aug. 22, 1897, and they raised their family in Murray. He was the last postmaster at Dennis Mill in 1905-06, and served in the same position at Ramhurst from 1906-14, where he also operated a general store and livery stables, rental houses and a farm. Later there were businesses in Chatsworth and Eton.

At the time of his death he owned more than 8,000 acres in the county, including the site of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp on Holly Creek.

The present Terry Farm on the CCC Camp Road has been in the family since 1864. The bridge project over Dill Creek has been delayed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife division, which says there is a rare fish in the stream.

“We’ve probably had 10 meetings on this bridge,” said Welch after the function. “Game and Fish also wants to look at the re-design, because in the original design the concrete pillars were too big.”

A federal grant will pay for the project when it gets under way. Dill Creek flows into Holly Creek and then runs by the Terry farm.