Tales by Old Timer

Tales by Old Timer by Ralph Jordan, compiled and edited by Pamela Hudson

Old Timer Writes Again

“Kick up your heels, nostalgia lovers, Old Timer’s back again!”

William Ralph Jordan (1906-1976) retired from Goodyear. He wrote for The Cedartown Standard, The Wingfoot Clan, and Southern Outdoorsman Magazine.

This book is available in our gift shop and can also be purchased on Amazon in paperback or Kindle edition. There’s no Table of Contents in the book, so we have compiled a list of chapters here:

The Old Timer, page 1

Nostalgia, page 5

A Pioneer Family, page 9

The Cedartown Standard 1902, page 12

Life on the Farm 50 Years Ago, page 17

Fiddler’s Hollow, page 22

From the Farm to the Cotton Mill, page 29

Rev. W. P. Whitlow, page 35

Moonshiners, page 40

Schools at the Start of the 1900s, page 47

The Old Home Place, page 53

The Valley of the Cedars, page 59

Cedar Town in 1854, page 62

The Civil War and the Effect on Cedartown and Polk County, page 69

The Revenge of John T. Prior: True and Thrilling Story of the Life of a Noted North Georgian, page 75

Reconstruction Years, page 86

The Milk Cow, page 91

Death of a Friend or Neighbor, page 97

Cotton and Railroads, page 103

Cedartown’s Early Businesses and Buildings, page 110

Evening Stories around the Fire, page 115

Old Timer Remembers When He Was a Boy, page 120

Cedartown’s History, page 124

Cedartown 1894, page 129

Midway, page 134

The Night Winds, page 140

National Boy Scout Week, page 145

An Old Ox Shoe, page 151

Adventure at Cave Spring, page 154

Longing for Spring, page 158

Portrait of Two Pioneers, a Husband and Wife, page 161

The Squirrel Hunt, page 168

Hightower Falls, page 171

The First Movie Show, page 175

Coca Cola and Ice Cream, page 180

Samuel A. Steere, Sr., page 183

Battle of Cheatham’s Hill, page 188

The Love of Home and Native Soil, page 192

A Summer Evening, page 196

Cedartown in the 1920s, page 199

The Woodsman, page 203

The Roaring Twenties, page 207

Life in the Early 1920s, page 211

A Summer Day, page 215

Roaring Twenties – At the Movies, page 217

The Baugh Opera House, page 220

Old Family Burial Plots, page 224

The Fairground, page 227

The Beginning of WWI, page 231

Changes Brought About by World War I, page 235

Automobiles in the 1920s, page 239

Two Characters, page 243

Old Timer Takes a Look at Landmarks, page 246

Old Timer: Remembrances of a Battle, page 250

Federal Government Aid to the Impoverished, page 253

Simple Pleasures, page 258

Train Excursion to Bordon-Wheeler, page 262

Headquarters in the Saddle, page 266

The Grocery Man, page 271

Magic of the Night, page 275

Reconstruction Years 1, page 278

Reconstruction Years 2, page 281

Reconstruction Years 3, page 285

Christmas with Old Timer 1974, page 289

Outlaws in the 1860s, page 292

Church Bells, page 296

Silent Movies, page 299

Before Welfare, page 303

A Winter Night and a Lonely Country Road, page 307

Cedartown 1882, page 310

A Missing Husband’s Return, page 313

The Great Depression, page 316

Cedartown and the Great Depression, page 320

The Old Chimney, page 329

A Love Story, page 332

Evening Tide, page 337

The Best of the Past and Present, page 340

Homecoming Day, page 343

The Train Ride, page 348

Ghost Stories, page 351

Mrs. Cornelia Whitlow Robertson (1893-1975), page 354

‘Coon and Cat Hunters, page 356

We Are a Part of the Past, page 363

Family Burial Places in Cedartown, page 366

The Missing Ring, page 370

The South and Her People 1, page 374

The South and Her People 2, page 377

The South and Her People 3, page 380

The South and Her People 4, page 380

Mattie Nettles, page 386

Death Visits the Old Couple, page 389

The Coming of the Cotton Mills, page 392

Factory Hands, page 395

Child Labor, page 398

Main Street of the 1920s, page 401

Saturday Afternoons on Main Street in the 1920s, page 405

The Mine Worker, page 408

Thanksgiving Day Hunting Trip, page 412

The Record 1874, page 416

Thanksgiving in the Country, page 419

Christmas Eve 1924, page 422

The Week After Christmas, page 425

Preachers from the Hill Country, page 428

Reverend Charles Witt, page 432

Water, Lights and Sewerage in the 1880s, page 436

Old Timer Remembers, page 439

Indoor Plumbing, page 442

The Seasons of the Forest, page 445

The Founding of Georgia, page 448

A Letter from Old Timer, page 454

Traveling Salesman, page 457

Father’s Day, page 460

First Methodist Church, Cedartown, Ga., page 463

First Baptist Church, Cedartown, Ga., page 466

The Episcopal Church, Cedartown, Ga., page 469

The Presbyterian Church, Cedartown, Ga., page 472

Echoes of the Past, page 475

Advantages and Miracles of Our Present Day, page 477

Outdoors with Old Timer, page 481