ANITA BUTTS SAMS

Profile written and provided courtesy Nowell Briscoe ( [email protected] )

 

ANITA BUTTS SAMS

1913 – 1993

 

        Every time a person picks up a copy of the history of Walton County, Wayfarers in Walton, they make friends with one of the most delightful ladies and dedicated writers I have ever known, Anita Butts Sams.

When I think of my friend Anita, I instantly recall to mind the quote author Peter De Vries once penned. When asked his thoughts on being a writer, he replied, “I love being a writer.  What I can’t stand is the paperwork!”

        I feel sure that if Anita were still with us today, she would glory in the advent of the computer screen and how using a computer has eliminated reams and reams of paper that used to go along with being a writer. Back in the days when she was an active writer, the tools of her trade were a typewriter, packs of paper, pencils to make corrections and erasers to remove errors from the pages.  But, if questioned about writing, she would say with that shy smile on her face. “Writing was not meant to be easy.  Unless you do battle with what you are writing, it has no value.”

        The gifted author of the 885 page history of Walton County was born in Walton County on May 22, 1913 to Joel W. Butts and Elizabeth Launius Butts.  After graduation from Monroe High School Anita graduated with an ABJ in journalism from the University of Georgia in 1936. During the summers she was at Georgia, she worked part time for the Walton Tribune. She took a position in Atlanta with Rawson-Morrill Advertising Agency prior to her marriage to Robert S. (Bob) Sams on October 20, 1938.  The couple lived for a short time in Charlotte, NC before returning to Monroe in 1941.  Bob Sams died in 1980.

   Anita was a founder and former president of the Monroe Junior Service League and a member of the Monroe-Walton County Public Library’s Board of Directors.  She was a former secretary and member of the board of trustees of the Walton County Foundation, a forerunner to the General Charitable Foundation as well as a long time member of the “As You Like It” Study Club.  She was also one of the founders, a trustee and past president of the Historical Society of Walton County.

        Anita happily applied her unique talents as a writer for the Walton Tribune, writing book reviews, society columns, obituaries and other interesting columns for the paper until ill health forced her away from her ever present typewriter.

        It was her keen interest and devout fascination with history that led her to write the all encompassing history of Walton County which still stands today as “the Bible” of Walton history. It was during the late 1950’s that Anita questioned the fact that there was no written account of Walton County’s history. Describing how she came to be named county historian, she said, “I’ve always been interested in its history.  I kept mouthing around how much we needed a county history and the next thing I knew, I was in the business!”  After an exhausting ten years work on the book, it was published in 1967.  She told a friend, “The process of gathering data took a lot longer than I thought. If I had known at the beginning how much time would be involved, would I have taken on the task?” With a quick smile on her face, she added, “Probably!” Her dedication and determination paid off to great acclaim. 

After the publication of this book, she compiled and edited “With Unabated Trust”, the Civil War letters of Governor Henry McDaniel to his “secret girlfriend”, Hester Felker. These letters were preserved in a bonnet box which sat unopened for years. When Anita learned of these letters and had access to read them, she knew that they had to be published to give an authentic picture of the war as seen through Henry McDaniel’s eyes.

        In 1977, writing of the publication of this book, beloved Atlanta Constitution columnist Celestine Sibley, a friend of Anita’s, said: “Anita Sams, who will be remembered for her fine county history, Wayfarers in Walton, says she was fascinated by the McDaniel letters when she read them more than a decade ago. Through the generosity of her good friend, Emily Tichenor and the Historical Society of Walton County, and the Walton Press, the book was published to high acclaim as one of the most detailed accounts of the war as seen through a soldier’s eyes. A Latin phrase recited in the book giving a depiction of the deaths of some of the soldiers was translated by Anita to reveal: ’Southern Soldiers KNOW how to die.’”

        Anita was one of Monroe’s most devoted and treasured “Wayfarers” and had a world of friends and fans.  One of her most prized letters was a handwritten letter from then Governor Jimmy Carter, praising her literary achievement, saying it was one of the best county histories he had ever read.

        Anita Butts Sams died on July 6, 1993 at the Walton County Hospital after a long decline in health.  Her good friend and long-time columnist at the Tribune, Wayne Shields, said of his friend, “She was quite a woman and she will be sorely missed.”

        Missed she is, to this very day.  When I remember Anita, I see a woman of style and class; one with a love and appreciation of her hometown history which she unselfishly shared asking nothing in return. To paraphrase a title from a favorite song, “Nobody Did It Better!”