"Four Hospitals in Tiny Cassville, Bartow Co., GA"

While researching information for this site, I was surprized to discover that tiny Cassville, Bartow County, GA was the home of four hospitals during the Civil War! The hospitals listed for the period from the 12th of October, 1863, to March 16th, 1864 are: Newsom, Frank Ramsay, University and Flewellan Hospitals. Now, Cassville is a tiny place: just a few small public buildings and a small number of houses. It sure doesn't have a university and definitely no hospital. So I began thinking there must be some explanation for this Civil War era burst of growth with four hospitals! (As it turns out, Cassville was the Bartow county seat during the Civil War, but FOUR hospitals?)

"Barnesville (originally Monroe County, now Lamar County Seat) was an important railroad town on the Macon and Western Railroad. A western spur to Thomaston off the main line connected this factory town with the main line. Because of its location on a transportation line, it also was a Confederate hospital town with the following hospitals: Kingsville; Kingston, moved from Kingston; Medical College Hospital, moved from Atlanta; Flewellen Hospital, named for Surgeon Edward A. Flewellen who was medical director of the Army of Tennessee and lived at The Rock and is buried in Thomaston; and Erwin Hospital. One hundred and fifteen Confederate and two Union dead (84 unknown) reportedly from local hospitals and the Battle of Atlanta are buried in the Confederate section of Greenwood Cemetery. (Locals wrote that they could hear the boom of Sherman's cannons during the siege of Atlanta, 60 miles away.) One of the worst train wrecks of the Civil War occurred near Barnesville when a train carrying sick and wounded collided head-on with a supply train. Twenty-two were killed and many were wounded. The dead were buried in unmarked graves next to the tracks. A 15-foot marble shaft stands on a small mound in the center of the cemetery, erected in 1889, with the plain inscription 'To Our Confederate Dead.'

"On April 19, 1865, a skirmish occurred on the edge of Barnesville when a 2,000-man detachment of Union cavalry called Wilson's Raiders attacked a small local militia unit called the Dixie Rangers. The Rangers 'fought with gallantry, gradually withdrawing from the field,' according to local accounts. The Union cavalry burned some storehouses before moving on to Forsyth. Federal troopers came back through Barnesville on May 5, 1865 in pursuit of Jefferson Davis."

Here are more sites that mention these hospitals:

Wilkes County mentions a Flewellen Hospital in Barnesville, 1864.
Tattnall County mentions a Flewellen Hospital in Cassville, 1863. (Notice that the date is earlier than the previous hospital's date. I assume this means they were two entirely different hospitals.)
Historical Markers mentions a marker for Flewellen Hospital in Lamar County, no dates given. (This also seems to prove the theory that many hospitals were named for Doctor Flewellen.)
Emory University contains information for the official correspondence of Samuel Hollingsworth Stout, the medical director of the Confederate Army hospitals in the southeastern states (1861-1865). In addition to this correspondence, the Civil War papers include general and special orders, circulars, and reports from subordinate medical officers relating to personnel, supplies, transportation of sick and wounded, and the transport of entire hospitals. Also included in this portion of the papers is an order book for Flewellen Hospital, Cassville, Georgia and a photograph of Stout in uniform.

Obviously, there are Flewellen Hospitals all over the place! But that still doesn't answer why tiny Cassville had FOUR hospitals. What about Newsom, Frank Ramsay, and University Hospitals? The following links supply little information:

Richard Thomas, a nurse in Newsom Hospital, Cassville, GA.
Martin Van Buren Wiseman, who died in Newsom Hospital.
John W. Tally, who died in Newsom Hospital.
Sanford V. Owen (or Ownes), who died in Newsom Hospital.
Several listed for both Newsom and Flewellen Hospitals in Cassville.
Schley County (Sellar-Joiner Families) mentions University hospital at Cassville
Includes several who are connected with Cassville.
Includes several who are connected with Cassville
I was unable to locate the Frank Ramsay hospital on the internet, but I did find he was active in politics and his house in NC is on the historic register. Perhaps, the hospital was named after him.

Okay, here's my guess. During the civil war, hospitals sprang up all over as needed: in taverns, stores, churches and other public buildings. The four hospitals mentioned for Cassville may have had their beginnings in other towns and counties. As the battle moved toward Atlanta and grew more heated, these hospitals may have moved to safer locations. Sherman had possibly already moved through Bartow County, so that area may have been considered a safe place to move the more southern hospitals as the war raged to Atlanta and points South. If this theory is correct, I still wonder where these four hospitals were located originally.

This is from the Bartow Co, GA GenWeb site: "Bartow County History"

"In 1833, the town of Cassville was laid out and made the county seat. By 1849, Cassville had a brick courthouse, three churches, seven stores, two hotels, and two colleges: The Cassville Female College and the Cherokee Baptist College.

"The views of General Cass on slavery caused a revulsion of feelings and the people of Cass County felt their county should be re-named after a Confederate hero. On December 8, 1861 the county changed the name from Cass to Bartow in honor of the gallant Francis S. Bartow, who perished at the head of his regiment in the opening battle of the Civil War, the Battle of Manassas. At the same time an effort was made to change the name of Cassville to Manassas without success.

"After the destruction of Cassville by the forces of General Sherman in 1864 the county seat was changed to Cartersville, then a small, thriving town on the Etowah River. Cartersville was named for Farish Carter, esq., perhaps the wealthiest land owner in the State during the ante-bellum period. The town was incorporated by an Act of Legislature approved February 5, 1850."

THE RAILROAD CASSVILLE REFUSED

At some point, Cassville refused the building of a railroad and Cartersville accepted. No doubt, this had a bearing on the decline of Cassville, but I don't believe this event was connected to the CSA hospitals being in Cassville. Here is a link to an off-site page about Cassville Station.

The Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History site includes information about the sale of a locomotive to the Cartersville Railroad Co:

"The Glover Family has been in the Marietta area since prior to the Civil War and originally owned and operated a tannery, which was burned along with much of Marietta by General Sherman before the occupation of Atlanta. In the 1880�s the family acquired a machine works, which remained in business up to the end of the 20th century. Glover Machine Works produced products that reflected the growth of the area such as log skidders and loaders. In 1902 they started to manufacture locomotives and continued to do so for the next 28 years. Records indicate that production was close to 200 engines. In the 1930�s when the Glover Machine Works ceased production of locomotives they acquired another site in Cordele, Georgia and a trained core of workers from Marietta moved there to operate the plant. Much of the casting took place in Cordele and the Glover Machine Works was known in the industry for the quality of their high-pressure piping. The foundry in Marietta was razed in 1995. The plant in Cordele, Georgia is of this date (8 May 2002) still in the casting business. Much of what was saved includes archival and collections material including three complete locomotives and the largest single (complete) collection of locomotive casting patterns from any manufacturer in the world."

PLOT MAP OF OLD CASSVILLE
A History of Old Cassville, 1833 � 1864
Joseph B. Mahan, Jr.

The foundation of Cherokee Baptist College, no. 3, is still standing at the junction of
Cass-White Road and Highway 41.

1	Cass County Courthouse	29	Levy Store
2	Cassville Female College	30	J.D. Carpentry
3	Cherokee Baptist College	31	George L. Upshaw Store
4	Chunn Home	32	Store
5	John Laudermilk	33	Chunn and Patton Dry Goods Store
6	Original Site of Baptist Church	34	Store
7	Dr. Weston Hardy	35	Jail
8	Judge Nathan Land	36	Jail 36 M. Murrey Store
9	H.H. Holmes	37	Printing Shop, home of the �Cassville Standard�
10	H.H. Holmes Carriage and Wagon Shop	38	Hotel
11	John F. Milhollin	39	William Headdon Carriage Shop
12	Chester Hawkes	40	Headdon Home
13	Levi Branson	41	Hotel
14	Nelson	42	Methodist Church
15	Jessie R. Wylde	43	Miss Lizzie Gaines
16	Dr. Griffin	44	Col. Warren Aikins
17	Mrs. Kenny	45	Brick Kiln
18	Tom Word	46	Hotel
19	Original Site of Methodist Church	47	Rev. A.G. Johnson
20	Silah Home	48	Goldsmith Home
21	Silah Furniture Shop	49	Presbyterian Church
22	Unidentified	50	A.C. Day, Tailor
23	Latimer Hotel	51	Cemetery
24	Post Office	52	Baptist Church
25	Madison McMurrey	53	Baxon Home
26	Col. Abda Johnson	54	Rev. B. Arborgas
27	Livery Stable	55	Rev. Rambaut
28	Collins	56	Mercer Home

10/25/2006 The military section of the GaBartow website is currently under re-construction. Please excuse the mess... Arlene Woody, Bartow County GenWeb Coordinator.

FOUR HOSPITALS IN TINY CASSVILLE?