A Good Man
The country was just coming out of the
“Great Depression.” We were living at Tinsley’s Mill in an
old house that had no electricity or plumbing. As a matter
of fact it was just a shack, not too uncommon in the rural
South. My daddy was a very industrious man but making a
living was hard. No one had any money and jobs other than
farming were not available. Daddy was operating the mill
where corn was ground into meal. It was on Flat Creek where
today Peachtree City is located.
Doc Tinsley owned the mill. Mr. Tinsley seemed to have more
money than most. He operated a large auto salvage place
down near Senoia. He had a reputation of being able to fix
most any kind of automobile or machinery. Mr. Tinsley was a
cheerful man about as wide as he was tall with a belly
laugh that was contagious. He always smoked a cigar and in
the front pocket of his overalls he kept a huge roll of
money that he liked to show off. He always paid cash for
everything; and when he bought something, he’d take out
that wad of bills, chomp down on his cigar, and peel off
what he needed. With money so scarce to everyone else, this
was quite impressive.
As the mill started being used more and Daddy started
making a little money, Mr. Tinsley decided to get his
father to operate the mill leaving Daddy without a job and
the family without a place to live. My mother’s family
lived in a house on Greer’s Mountain, so we went and lived
with them while Daddy looked for a job.
On the Courthouse Square in Fayetteville, Mooney’s
Department Store was for sale. Daddy was interested in it
but he had no money, no collateral, not even an automobile.
Claude Swanson was a man that lived by himself on a large
track of land very near Tinsley’s mill. He was quite
wealthy, though not in outward appearance. Out of
desperation and having mustered the courage, Daddy went to
Mr. Swanson and asked if he might borrow the money to buy
Mooney’s store. Mr. Swanson, being rather gracious, said he
might consider the loan if Daddy could get two people to
sign a note with him. Of course to find two people would be
almost impossible. Daddy told him that he only knew one man
that might consider signing a note with him and that was
Mr. N.W. Kelly. Mr. Swanson responded, “ If you can get
N.W. Kelly, you won’t need anyone else.” Mr. Kelly agreed
to sign the note with Daddy and that was the salvation of
our family.
I told this story to illustrate the respect that everyone
had for Mr. N.W. Kelly. Mr. Swanson loaned Daddy the money
on Mr. Kelly’s honor and not because of his wealth, for he
was not a wealthy man. He was a gentleman’s gentleman. I
can see him now, a -distinguished, neatly dressed man, tall
and always standing very erect. He was witty, good humored,
very intelligent, and willing to help any and every one. He
was the County Clerk of Court. This was an elected office,
but no one ever ran against him. No one could beat him
anyway. He was not a lawyer, but probably knew more about
law than lawyers of that day. He seldom charged for legal
services that he performed for the poor or the rich. I’ve
heard many say that had he charged a modest fee for all of
the services he performed, he would have been a very
wealthy man. In a way he was wealthy for his word was like
gold. He was respected by everyone. Mr. Kelly never
married. He lived with and cared for his mother until her
death. By this time he was an older man and the prospects
of having his own family were in the past.
I
can say with all that knew Mr. Kelly, “This was a good
man.”
*Picture from files of the
Fayette County Historical Society