-Chapter IV- TOWNS, COMMUNITIES, AND MILITIA DISTRICTS (1880-1980)
Horrible Holocaust
Dr. Bagwell, Three Children, and Mrs. Williams Burned to Death
Last Wednesday morning at 2 o'clock all that was mortal of Dr. L.P. Bagwell, his three children, Emmelt, Ernest, and Florence, (aged six, three years, and six months, respectively) and Mrs. Williams, who kept house for him, went up in the flames and smoke of his burning residence-the Dr. and Mrs. Williams dying with the children in their arms, martyrs upon the cross of parental love and sublime duty.
Dr. John Gilbert and Frank Williams were sleeping in another room and were awakened by the smoke and groans of the dying ones, and bravely tried to go to the rescue, forcing a window and enlering, but were driven back by the angry flames. The heat was singeing to their hair and severely blistered the ears and face of young Williams. Dr. Bagwell had returned from a professional visit about 1 o'clock and as the fire undoubtedly started in his room, it is supposed that he left a lamp burning, and it either turned over or exploded, or that he had unthoughtedly dropped a lighted match upon the floor before retiring. About two o'clock the alarm of fire and the whole population turned out to Tight the flames but they were too late, the entire front of the house being a sheet of fire. When it was seen impossible to help the ones in the fire, attention was directed to the protection of adjacent property, and it took a hard and furious work to accomplish this seemingly impossible task, but every one did his duty and in an hour's time the heal had abated to such an extent as not to be dangerous, in view of the fortunate fact that not the least air was stirring-else there is not a doubt that every building in that part of town would have been burned.
As soon as it was possible to get (here one line is faded out) carried bucket after bucket of water and threw it upon the coals of that part of the house, (the northeast window) at which the bodies were supposed to be and soon a ghastly spectacle was before the anxious workers. There, just inside the window, on the very brink of life and safety, lay the charred remains of Dr. Bagwell and Mother Williams and by and under them the blackened trunks of the three babies. What a sacrifice upon the pyre of affection had this noble father and grand old lady undergone for those innocent and helpless babes! What pathetic and sublime heroism they exhibited during the last moments of their existence. It is a towering monument to their spotless memory. Too brave and too loyal to leave them, they gathered the little tots to their bosoms and, together, they joined the waiting wife and mother in the realm of the Omnipotent Ruler.
The harrowing details of the holocaust are without a parallel in this section. No description can give one not present an insight into its horribleness. Strong men wept and ladies grew frantic at the appalling destruction of human life. All five bodies were found in a heap, lying on their faces within a few inches of the wall under the window, through which they had intended making their escape. The Dr.'s body was nearest the window. His limbs were burned off from the knees down and his whole frame was scorched, blackened, and drawn beyond recognition. Mrs. Williams' body was nothing but a ghastly black trunk without head or limbs or human shape. The oldest child's legs were burned off and the back of his skull had bursted leaving the entire brain exposed. Ernest, the second child, was wholly consumed, except the spinal column and the heart and lungs. Only one body was recognizable, that of the baby, and its features had been protected by being held under the breast of either Dr. or Mrs. Williams.
Dr. Bagwell was a native of Pickens County, and moved to Spring Place less than six years ago. His success as a physician was phenomenal from the first, his practice growing greater every year. As a man and citizen he had no superiors. His unobtrusive manner and genteel disposition made a friend of every one he met-he never had an enemy. No one ever appealed to him for professional aid and was denied. A manlier man, truer friend, nobler citizen never lived. This county is bereft of one of its most potential powers for good and every citizen feels deeply and keenly the loss of this embodiment of all that was grand and noble. Peace to his precious spirit.
The funeral service was held at the Baptist Church yesterday, conducted by Rev. J.W. Bailey. Kully one thousand people formed the procession to the grave, all the bodies being buried in one grave, those of the Dr. and children in one casket and that of Mrs. Williams in another.
The Masonic fraternity conducted the exercises at the grave. Appropriate resolutions follow::
Spring Place Lodge No. 145 F. & A.M.
Brethren :-We your committee appointed to draft suitable resolutions to the memory of our beloved brother, Dr. L.P. Bagwell, submit the following:
It having pleased the Supreme Architect of the Universe to call from labor to refreshment our dear and devoted brother and friend, be it resolved,
1. That we bow in humble submission to Him who doeth all things well, in this our great affliction, and let us rejoice in the hope that we may, by and by, join him in that country from "whose bounds no traveler returns," and meet him on that level where parting is no more.
2. In the untimely death of our (here it Is faded out) member-one of her chief supporters has fallen, the community a worthy and enterprising citizen and a useful man to his profession.
3. That we sympathize deeply with those of his relatives who are weighted down with grief, and,
4. That a copy of these resolutions be furnished the father of the deceased; spread upon the minutes of our lodge and published in the "Spring Place Jimplecute." Fraternally Submitted: J.A. McKamy TJ. Ovby C.N. King, Committee
The North Georgia Citizen of May 11, 1899 contained some additional information about the fire. The L-shaped house faced east and was across Elm Street from the Temple Hotel. One theory of the fire's cause involved a paper cone placed over a chimney of a lamp which normally burned low throughout the night. Dr. Bagwell returned from a call about 1:30 a.m. and possibly left th lamp turned too high or else the paper cone got too hot. Another theory that either the doctor or Mrs. Williams accidentally turned over the lamp while getting up to care for the baby. The Citizen added that the caskets were "draped" bv Charlie Carter and J.T. Newsom of "J.A. Carter undertaking establishment in Dalton."
The victims of the tragedy were buried next to Mrs. Bagwell who had died just a few months earlier. The graves are marked with a prominent monument in the southeast section of the Spring Place Cemetery. The Bagwell house was located south of the courthouse on what later became a recreation area for the Lucy Hill-Spring Place Schools. A marker inscribed "Bagwell Memorial Playground" is still near the spot where the family lost their lives.
Dr. Gilbert, one of the fire's two survivors, went on to practice in Murray and Gordon counties for some time. Frank Williams, who was Mrs. Williams' grandson, later moved to Texas. Mrs. Williams, the former Nancy Rogers and a native of Murray County, has many relatives in the Rogers and Springfield families living in Murray County today.
Unfortunately, the new century saw more fires in Spring Place. In 1906 a jewelry shop and a store burned while in 1909 the Bond Johnson Hotel and the entire block was destroyed. The Shields Hotel burned about 1914 or 16, and other fires occurred in 1920, 1921, 1922 when the D.D. Kemp house burned, 1927, and 1929. Several other structures burned in the 1930's and the 1970s.
Another tragic event, not just for Spring Place but for the entire county, occurred in 1907 when sheriff Ben Keith died from wounds received in the line of duty. The North Georgia Citizen of August 1, gave front page coverage to Keith's passing as follows:
Murray County Heritage