Natives pretty scarce in Fayette

By CAROLYN CARY
ccary@thecitizennews.com

She is one of the extremely rare citizens here, a native Fayette countian.

There are only about 7,000 natives out of the 93,000 citizens currently residing in our 199 square miles.

Gertrue Faye Huddleston Griffin (no, there is no ‘d’ in her first name) first saw the light of day 83 years ago when Charley and Myrdie Roberts Huddleston welcomed her into the world. A year later, her brother Gerald was born. They both still live in Fayetteville.

Their maternal grandfather had an interesting name, Richmond Williamsburg Virginia Roberts.

She attended school in what is the Fayetteville City Hall and there were only 11 grades then. There were two recesses each day and the playgrounds were divided so that only boys played on one end and the girls played on the other end. Each side had a basketball hoop and Miss Gertrue got pretty proficient at the sport.

However, if it was raining, school went straight through until 1 p.m., to give everyone time to slosh home through the mud.

The school principal was Clayton Peacock, under whom many Fayette countians received an education that allowed them to enter any college they chose; the school superintendent was Ferrell A. Sams Sr. The superintendent’s office was in the (original) courthouse then.

Their senior year was a difficult one because the school board ran out of money to pay the teachers and Miss Gertrue’s class was facing the fact that they might not graduate.

Ever the resourceful group, they threw a big Halloween party and raised enough money to pay the teachers for the remaining school year.

The senior trip was exciting to them then, but her grandchildren probably wouldn’t think so today — they went into Atlanta to visit the Coca-Cola plant, the Fox Theater, Grant Park and a candy company.

Local churches could not afford full-time preachers and everyone supported both the town Methodist and Baptist churches. Sunday School would be held in one of them and then everyone walked across the street to worship services in the other church.

Fayetteville could be a rough town up into the 1940s and on election day girls and women were not allowed out during the day and they were positively not allowed out in town the night of elections.

Entertainment came in the form of taffy pulls in homes, and dances were held in people’s homes also. There were two dance halls outside of Fayetteville, but “nice girls” didn’t go there.

Picnics were at Lee’s Lake, Lake Bennett (where the Old Mill Restaurant is now) and Starr’s Mill. Once a year a medicine show would come to town and set up behind the stores at Ga. Highway 54 and N. Jeff Davis. Several times a year the Gypsies would come through selling material goods and pots and pans in exchange for fresh vegetables. They would camp for several days in Woolsey and the area is still known as “Gypsy Woods.”

One Gypsy offered fresh eggs, though, and Miss Gertrue can remember the Gypsy saying, “If you buy my eggs, you be a good woman.”

Pocket money was made by picking cotton for her grandfather Huddleston at a penny a pound and she made 30 cents a bushel for picking beans.

In 1936 she married Vangie Ferrell Griffin, who was from the north end of Fayette County. He worked for the Atlanta Constitution for 39 years. He died in 1993.

They had three girls: Beverly Lambert, who lives in Illinois, Faye Mowell and Elaine Foley, both of whom live in Fayetteville.

She has nine grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.
A parting comment from Miss Gertrue: “Fayetteville is not a little town anymore.”