Sallie Doss' chimney is the stuff of legend
When you think of Sallie Doss, what comes to mind? She was a widowed landowner that bought land here in the late 1800s. But there were many landowners that came and went before us, so, what sets her apart? A chimney. If this chimney weren’t here, there’s a good chance that we’d never have thought much of the late Mrs. Doss.
Many of you know that she was born in 1841 and lived, died and was buried here in Pickens County. Some of you may know that her tombstone is less than two miles from the front gate at Long Swamp Baptist Church. But if you’ve ever visited the graveyard, you’d have noticed that her gravestone doesn’t sit beside her late husband.
Up until very recently the husband of Sallie Doss was a complete mystery. But with some careful and diligent research by Penny Nelson, a friend of the Harris’ family, that mystery is finally over.
Sarah “Sallie” Pendley was born on August 3, 1841 in Gwinnett County, Georgia.
In 1860 she was 19 years old and living with a relative. What was the name of the family that lived next door? Doss. Sallie’s neighbor, William Parker Doss, was two years Sarah’s senior and within two years they were married. Sarah ‘Sallie’ Pendley had become Sallie Doss.
William enlisted in the Civil War on the side of the Confederacy. Then tragedy struck. Just seven months into his tour of duty and he succumbed to an unnamed disease and died in Bean Station, Tennessee. A tombstone at Bethel Confederate cemetery in Knoxville, Tennessee, some 75 miles away from Bean Station marks the lonely grave of William Doss. The date of his death, November 15, 1862, is etched upon his tombstone.
We learned of their relationship from a document where Sallie petitioned the state of Georgia for her pension from her husband’s death. She was granted $134.13 in 1863. That is the equivalent of $2,726 in today’s money. After William died, Sallie moved back in with her family here in Pickens County in the Grassy Knob District.
20 years later, at the age of 42, Sallie bought 245 acres from Elias Allred. Her land lots were located right where we are today and extend into the lake and beyond.
She remained a farmer for around 25 years thereafter and a widow since she was first married. The census of 1910 shows her as being a widowed farmer that owned her own land.
Three years later in 1913, Sallie died and her land was sold to her relative Clay Padgett.
Lillie Mae Pendley, of the same family as Sally Pendley, lives today at Pendley Circle near the entrance of Bent Tree Drive. While interviewing Lillie one day, and without even mentioning Sallie Doss or her house, Lillie had told me of what had happened to Clay’s house. She told me Clay’s house was one of the homes in the field where Lake Tamarack now is.
The 1926 Tate-Nelson topographic map showed a square where each of the homes were at the time. Padsett Court is right across the lake near the location of Clay’s submerged home, which I believe to be a misspelling of his last name.
People are drawn to old structures, whether it be the chimney of Sallie Doss or a pyramid, being able to touch a tangible part of the past holds a certain appeal to all of us. It is in this way that history becomes alive, if only through a remnant.
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