Gwinnett Historical Society

With much sadness, I wanted to let people know that we lost another Gwinnett County Native this week. Winfred Dutton, from Five Forks was born, raised and died in Five Forks. He was 90, well known for his vegetable gardens along Five Forks Trickum Rd and working at Hewatt Hardware. Funeral is tomorrow.

Gregory Bailey will speak at the May 17, 2021 General Membership Meeting of Gwinnett Historical Society. The meeting will be held at 6:30PM upstairs in the Gwinnett County Historic Courthouse. Guests are welcome! Topic: The Impact and Influence of the African American Church in the Life and Legacy of Gwinnett County. The talk will explore the history of African American churches in Gwinnett. It will discuss how these institutions influenced the everyday life of citizens spir...itually, educationally and socially. It will also highlight individuals who through the church made significant contributions to the growth and sustainability of the county. While it will highlight the almost 200 year history of these churches, it will also explore their contemporary influence." Gregory Bailey serves as the Director of Community and Social Service Ministries for the Salem Missionary Baptist Church of Lilburn, Ga., a church founded by his paternal great grandparents in 1834. In that position he is responsible for Salem’s Senior Day Center, Homebound Seniors, Summer Camp, After School Program, Stephen Ministry, SALT (Salem Adult Learning and Training Academy), Station of Hope Re-entry Program, Food and Clothing Bank, Benevolence and Bereavement counseling and a number of other community endeavors and partnerships. In addition, he has been a deacon at Salem for 27 years. Gregory Bailey is a sought-after speaker and workshop facilitator. He has conducted workshops throughout the US and Canada particularly in the areas of Adult Education, Christian Education, Senior Ministry, Praise and Worship, Deacon’s Training, Parliamentary Procedure, African American Baptist History and Voice and Diction. He is very involved in the denominational work of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. He is an instructor in the General Missionary Baptist Convention of Ga. Congress of Christian Education, the National Baptist Congress of Christian Education, the National Baptist Sunday School Publishing Board and the National Baptist Student Union Retreat. Currently he serves as the Ga. State Director of the Oratorical Competition of the Congress of Christian Education. He serves on the boards of the Dukes Foundation (a youth mentoring program), Lilburn Co-op, the Gwinnett Certified Literate Community and the Alpha Georgia Education Foundation. He is also the President and organizer of the Salem Toastmasters Club.

Local Group Rushes to Save Cabin The Duluth Historical Society is on an unswerving mission to save the Knox Cabin. The cabin which has a connection to Duluth’s first mayor, John Knox, is slated for demolition toward the end of June. The property where it now sits will become a residential subdivision. Society President, Candace Morgan, who envisions the historic cabin being moved to the Southeastern Railway Museum property, is soliciting donations for the move through GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/Duluth-Historical-Society-help-s or through PayPal on the Society’s website: https://duluthhistoricalsociety.org/gallery_2 The circa 1830 cabin is an 1 1/2 story, single pen, with square logs and dove-tailed corners. Photos can be seen on their website.

Gwinnett Historical Society General Membership Meeting March 15th at 6:30 P.M. This meeting will be held in the Courtroom/Ballroom upstairs at the Gwinnett County Historic Courthouse. The large size of the room allows us to have up to 50 attendees. Everyone is required to wear a mask. We will not be able have food and drink. You may bring your own bottled water. The History of E. R. Snell Contractor, Inc....Continue reading

UPDATE: Candace Morgan, President, Duluth Historical Society ([email protected]) has been delicately working this issue behind the scenes with full support of the Knox descendants. The fate of the Knox Cabin which has a connection to Duluth’s first mayor, John Knox, is still in a precarious situation. Candace Morgan met with the developer on Feb 19 who was open for discussion. Due to Covid-19, attendance will be limited at Duluth City Hall. Concerned individu...als may send comments and suggestions to Duluth City Planner, Dan Robinson, ([email protected]). The Duluth City Council is scheduled to vote on this matter on March 8 @ 6 pm. Virtual meeting capabilities or whether the meeting will be moved to an alternate location are unknown at this time. We greatly appreciate your interest Diane McCormic, Chair, Preservation Committee, Gwinnett Historical Society. See more

SOON TO BE A MEMORY? The Knox Cabin, a prominent, nostalgic fixture on Hwy 120 in Duluth, next to the First Baptist Church, is soon to meet with a bulldozer. The Knox family are documented to have resided in Gwinnett since 1830 and the Duluth area, since 1840. The cabin site figured prominently in the 1922 Simpson Murder, where the two brothers, Joe and Orin Simpson, were gunned down on the road near the cabin site by a Duluth Deputy. Presently, a developer plans to demolish the cabin and build a residential subdivision. Interested individuals can follow the fate of this cabin by attending the Duluth Planning Commission Meeting on Z2020-003, March 1, @5:30pm, in the Duluth City Hall, Council Chambers.

Here is an update on what's going on at the Hudson/Nash House in Yellow River Post Office Park. The roof is on, today while I watched they put up copper colored gutters, Looks like a entrance on the back has a handicap ramp. Still wondering what color the house ill be. Stay tuned.

Just a reminder! GHS membership meetingis Monday December 14th at 7PM We will be installing our new officers for 2021 and having officer reports and old and new business. Due to Covid restriction there will be no refreshments or program. As with our last meeting, you must wear a mask there is a limit of 50 people. No worries, our group was much small than that in November, so don't let that concern keep you away. When we get back to having refreshments before the meeting, we will go back to starting at 6:30 We would love to see you!!

WE know its been pretty hard to get into our office recently, so we want you to know we do have some things for sale that might make great gifts! All can be mailed or you can contactus and make an appointment to come up to the office to browse and pickup. Most things can be mailed for $3.00 shipping. Take a look!

As many of you have heard by now the county has torn down the old John Berry Williams House on Five Forks Trickum Rd built in 1890, next to J.B Williams Park named for the family. This sign shows what the county has in mind for the place where the house stood whose ownership was taken over the by the county in 2009

GHS General Membership Meeting was held tonight in adherence with COVID-19 social distancing and mask wearing policies.

I took a walk today and got some pictures to show how the Hudson House is coming along. For so long, they were working inside and nothing really looked like it was happening. Now, they are working on the outsidide and changes are happening daily. They will be making it look like it did back in 1840, which is not quite the same as it did when they moved it.

WE are still working on getting things back to where they were. Right now, our phone is working but our email is not. If you need to reach us, please call. If there is no one in that day, leave a message and we will get back to you. Do not email, we are working on that problem. We are now letting people come in to research by appointment. I fyou want to come, please call and set up a time on a day when someone will be in the office. We do not have volunteers for every day currently. Thanks for understanding! We are hoping to be able to have a membership meeting in November. Stay tuned.