The following post is written in honor of my father-in-law, Mr. Jesse McLendon. It was a great privilege to be the son-in-law of this man. He was a model husband, father, father-in-law, grandfather, veteran of World War II, and a lifelong hard-working farmer. He was the possessor of great wisdom and kindness, as anyone who knew him will readily attest. One of my favorite all-time projects was turning the abandoned, almost a casualty of nature, place of his birth into a family gathering place that will hopefully survive for several more generations. It is a home away from home for us, his grandchildren, and now eight precious great-grandchildren he never had the privilege of meeting (but I see a little of him in each of them).
I thought it would be a good idea to write the history of the log cabin as it is an important part of our family’s story. Most of us have vague ideas concerning this, but I have much detailed information that should be preserved and passed down to future generations.
Jean and I had long thought a log cabin would be a unique home for our family, even when there were only the two of us. Jean’s father had told me on several occasions that he didn’t want to live in a log cabin—that he was born in one (in 1915!).
One day in the 1990s, I asked him how long the cabin had been gone, and he answered that it was still standing. When I asked the condition, he said the last time he saw it, it was in really bad shape. I asked where it was located. He told me it was on the farm of his nephew, Alvin McLendon, located north of GA Hwy. 228 on the Schley-Sumter County line. (His family were sharecroppers on this farm when they lived there. Later his brother George bought the farm.) He took Jean and me to the site initially in the spring of 1996. After deciding we wanted to pursue the project, we returned and we were greeted with what is shown in the photo below, taken in the fall of 1997.
Does this view inspire you as to the possibilities for this showplace?
I made a decision to try to salvage and relocate the cabin and Mr. Jesse asked Alvin about it and he readily agreed to give me the house to tear down, move, and reassemble the structure. (You can see several photos of Alvin much further below in the pictures of Mr. Jesse’s 85th birthday party. He visited the site of the new house several times. We are grateful for his generosity in giving this to us for our use.) Jean and I decided a good location would be on the pond on the Trice tract.
In the fall of 1997, we started the long process of tearing down the house and salvaging as much of the original material as possible for reassembly on our site.
This and several photos below show the condition of the house after the vines, chinaberry trees, and miscellaneous shrubs were removed by Merrill Bailey. You can tell at a glance this has amazing possibilities. Note the date on the photo—October 8, 1997. This is a view from the rear of the house.
This is a front view photo taken October 23, 1997.
The first of many steps in the process involved a cleanup of decades of debris and filth.
Jean and her daddy starting to clean the floor of the bedroom—October 23, 1997.
Cleanup crew taking a much needed break—October 23, 1997. (Mr. Jesse is 82 and Jean is 43).
Day 1 of dismantling, October 28, 1997. Daddy and his trusty dog are walking to the truck as I stand on the porch. The chimney on the left was the only one remaining. The bricks from this chimney were used for the fireplaces in the living room and bedroom.
Later on day 1 of dismantling, October 28, 1997. The gaps in the logs were never chinked, but were covered inside and outside with planks. As a result it was very poorly sealed and must have been very cold in the winter.
Day 2 of dismantling. Daddy is sitting on trailer of salvaged material to be stored in shop at the dairy. At the end of each day, we moved all the salvaged material to the dairy. It was later brought, as needed, to the new building site.
Front view of house on day 3 of dismantling, almost ready to start taking down log walls.
Day 3 showing log numbering scheme. Left photo shows living room and right photo shows bedroom. LR-N-E 2 is "Living Room North Side, East End, Second log from bottom.” BR-W-S 2 is “Bedroom West Side, South End Second log from bottom.” I also made sketches of the log walls to ensure everything was put back in the appropriate place.
Day 3—Mr. Jesse and his sister Minnie Jewel McLendon Peek, both were born in the house. I wish we were privy to some of the conversations they had as they visited the site.
Day 3—Left to right—Merrill Bailey, me, Joe Powell, and Bill McClellan as we are discussing taking down the log walls.
Day 3—Merrill Bailey lifting logs from structure with excavator. He lifted the long logs above the doors and we lifted the shorter ones by hand.
Day 3—Merrill Bailey on excavator, Darrell Bailey stacking logs on trailer. All logs were stored on this trailer borrowed from Merrill Bailey and kept under shelter near railroad until needed for reassembly.
November 10, 1997—Lyman Holloway house off Bumphead Road given to me by Bill Perry. Several long pine logs were salvaged and used on living room walls, as well as beaded boards in ceiling used in kitchen ceiling and bricks used for piers.
November 11, 1997—Closeup of Merrill Bailey lifting logs off Lyman Holloway house.
One of the long pine logs used in living room.
November 28, 1997—Joni and Ashley after loading bricks from Holloway house for use on piers for new house.
Photo given to me showing log cabin with handhewn white oak logs used for the living room. I purchased these from “Hondo.” He had labeled the logs and torn down the house and had them stored near Forsyth. (He claimed to have worked for the Allman Brothers Band and said Chuck Leavell had planned to purchase the logs.)
Spring, 1998—Building site prior to removing trees.
Floor framing complete.
Start of bedroom log wall erection. Original log cabin had bedroom logs 80% good and living room only 20% good. Good living room logs were used to complete bedroom. These were all split pine logs.
Joni and Ashley inspecting log erection process. Living room logs were hand hewn white pine logs primarily, supplemented as needed by hand hewn pine logs from Lyman Holloway house.
Log erection complete.
Main structure roof framing and fireplace erection complete. Notice front windows in living room not yet cut out.
July 10, 1998—Daddy inspecting start of front porch roof framing.
All roof framing complete and start of installation of roofing metal—notice a very busy construction site.
Fred Rockenhaus installing last pieces of metal on main structure.
Danny Beckwith working on bedroom fireplace. (Danny was an elementary school classmate of Jean and me.) Notice too the windows are installed and the chinking is complete.
Bedroom fireplace complete.
Joni doing jigsaw work as she helps me with rafter closures for installation above log walls.
Kitchen framing and another view of a very busy work site.
Two happy visitors inquiring about completion date.
October 14, 1998—Another view of a busy work site. Scaffolding surrounds living room chimney, living room windows installed, living room ceiling boards ready for installation. These were originally in the living room of the cabin and painted yellow (as were the inside of the bedroom walls). The paint was stripped by Tommy James in preparation for installing in new cabin.
Interior photo of living room showing windows and fireplace complete.
View from loft showing interior of living room.
October 28, 1998—Danny Beckwith proudly showing his work on the kitchen fireplace.
November 27, 1997—East exterior wall of kitchen finished.
November 27, 1998—Joni and Ashley posing in cabin loft windows.
December 2, 1998—Exterior nearing completion. Fireplaces and chimneys complete, exterior walls of utility room, bathroom, and kitchen almost complete.
December 2, 1998—Even “the old Dodge Caravan” made the photo!
December 2, 1998—This photo shows the jig I made to construct all the doors. ALL doors were a unique size, so I made the jig adjustable. The doors were all constructed with two layers of cypress, nailed and glued, with bracing on the inside made to fit the openings in the walls.
December 2 1998—Newly completed and installed front door to bedroom,
February 16, 1999—Excited guests invited to spend the very first night in the newly (and nearly) completed cabin—Gran (age 76), Papa (age 83), and Aunt Minnie Jewel (age 85).
February 16, 1999—Jean forgot to tell me she invited three guests to spend the night! As a result, I spent all day completing the plumbing, finally enjoying supper after dark in the not yet completed kitchen.
February 17, 1999—After a great night’s sleep, two of the three guests spending the night in the cabin for the first time in about 80 years, get ready to enjoy a hearty breakfast prepared by Gran using temporary wiring and a hotplate.
February 17, 1999—”Minnie Jewel, how many years has it been since we ate breakfast in this cabin?” “I don’t know Jesse, but it has to be close to 80 years!”
Five of us enjoyed the first meal prepared in the nearly finished cabin—and a very good breakfast it was. (I am standing out of view behind the camera.)
March, 1999—Four excited turkey hunters the night before opening day (L-R me, Jim Sellars, Steve Evans, Lee (aka Flash) Turner).
November 25, 1999—Thanksgiving—Uncle Billy, Mama, and Uncle Bobby.
Thanksgiving, 1999—Sisters and best friends for life!
Thanksgiving, 1999—Family gathering at the cabin.
Thanksgiving, 1999—Daddy and Uncle Billy
Thanksgiving, 1999—Supper at the cabin
September 9, 2000—This photo and the several that follow show Mr. Jesse’s 85th birthday party we hosted at the cabin.
Special Note: Alvin McLendon, Mr. Jesse’s nephew (and Jean’s first cousin) who gave us the cabin is seated with his back to the fireplace.
“This is my birthday celebration, this is my cake, and I am not sharing it with anyone!”
“OK, I guess I will share with the rest of you.”
It would be hard to find a better photo of this very special man!
As with the photo above, it would be hard to find a better photo of this man and his two granddaughters. You can see the mutual love they have for each other!
September 10, 2000—The sunrise provides perfect lighting to “the old cabin.”
September 10, 2000—The old pump I purchased at an antique store in Smithville, had powder coat paint applied, installed it near the back porch. Jean did the brickwork and added the flowers for Mr. Jesse’s birthday party.
Kelly Sellars took this photo after a snowstorm in 2010. What a beautiful sight!
Jimmy and Martha were married at the cabin in October, 2002 on a VERY hot day!
When Mr. Trice built the pond in the late 1970s, he left most of the timber standing as he loved to hunt ducks. As a result the trees died and broke off at the water line. I drained it in 1999 and had Harper’s Tree and Stump come in with a chainsaw crew, cut the standing timber and piled and burned it. We restocked the pond in 2000. This photo gives a great view of what it looked like before we cleared the standing dead timber.