Sometimes something that may not be worth anything to one person may be another person's genealogical gold mine.  Such is a treasure that I found in an old trunk that once belonged to Elbie Dills Clement, grandmother to my husband.  This 1945 edition of the North Georgia News is old and brittle and parts of the paper had crumbled, rendering it unreadable in some places.  However, I have transcribed a major portion of it for the readers of our Union County website.  I hope this will help you in placing your ancestors whereabouts during this time frame (August 1945). 

 

    This newspaper is a wonderful read, giving the reader insight as to what life was like in the mountains far away from the toils of war.  Interestingly enough, this particular paper was published August 9, 1945, the exact date of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, and three days after the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.  Nothing is mentioned about this, giving the probability of the slow pace of news arriving in the mountains.  The newspaper is a gossipy piece, homespun and quaint, but poignant at the same time.  You will feel the homesickness as you read between the lines of the letters sent home from the soldiers "over there."  After transcribing the newspaper, I wondered how many of these young men made it back home to their beloved mountains.  If you are a descendant of any of these men, or if you know of their fate, please e-mail us and let us know what happened in their lives. 

 

Enjoy this treasure!

 

Martha Clayton Clement

The North Georgia News
Kenneth West, publisher
259 Cleveland Street
Blairsville, GA 30512
Phone: (706) 745-6343
Fax: (706) 745-1830
e-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.nganews.com/