News & Updates from
the Milton Historical Society
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Cities are new, names have been around awhile
By Aubrey Morris
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Editorial note:
Many of the articles donated by the Aubrey Morris estate are relevant today - both as well-researched chronicles of our history and as educational tools for Milton citizens. This article was first published in the
Alpharetta-Roswell Revue & News
on July 27, 2006 when the cities of Milton and Johns Creek were being formed. In the interest of space, Milton is reprised first, with Johns Creek history to follow in a subsequent newsletter.
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"What's in a name? In the monikers of North Fulton's two newest towns, plenty.
Both Johns Creek, Ga., and Milton, Ga., were born without significant natal pains on July 18. And, though infant municipalities, each came into being already firmly rooted in the early history of this area."
"Since I spent the first decade of my life as a resident of Old Milton County, by the Grace of God and a healthy helping of voters in Northwest Fulton, chances are I'll while away my last in Milton...maybe in the widely-touted, loudly projected, seemingly politically-viable, reincarnated Milton County as well."
"Meanwhile, Joe T. Reynolds, III, retired corporate executive, longtime Alpharetta resident, whose home in Crabapple is across the street from the newly formed city of Milton, plans to continue his campaign to locate the exact Burke County burial spot of John Milton, the Revolutionary War hero, in whose honor old Milton County (Dec. 18, 1857-Jan.1, 1932) and the newly born city of Milton were named."
"Reynolds plans to return full honors to a guy who fought gallantly in the American Revolution spent nine months as a prisoner of the British in the dark and dank dungeon at St. Augustine, Fla. After his release, he went on to be Georgia's first secretary of state."
"And, by the way, now that the town of Milton is for real, Mr. Reynolds would like to see the bordering Town of Alpharetta, the county seat of Old Milton, press the Georgia Historical Commission to 'correct' the commission's marker, erected in 1955, and standing near the entrance to the Alpharetta City Hall."
"The marker says Old Milton County was named for Homer V. Milton, a General in the War of 1812, though, quoting from the marker, "some claim the name was for his ancestor, John Milton, first Secretary of State of Georgia." (According to the Dictionary of Georgia Biography, U. of Ga. Press, Homer Virgil Milton was John Milton's only son.)"
"City of Milton historians, true to the role of the town's namesake, might consult Page 786, Paragraph 1 of the authoritative book, 'Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends,' by famed historian Lucian Lamar Knight, M.A. Princeton, COMPILER OF THE STATE RECORDS OF GEORGIA, 1913: 'MILTON: created by Legislative Act, Dec. 18, 1857, from parts of Cherokee, Forsyth and Cobb, originally Cherokee. Named for Hon John Milton, a patriotic public official, who kept the records of the State from falling into the hands of the British during the Revolution.'"
"The late, great Atlanta historian Franklin M. Garrett, in his published, multi-volume 'Atlanta and Environs,' allowed the Legislature's Act of 1857 'represented a somewhat belated honor to Georgia's first secretary of state, a faithful public servant.'"
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Old Milton County historical marker in Alpharetta
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County boundaries, including
Old Milton County
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We need your help! It is nearly impossible to locate an image of our City's namesake, John Milton, Revolutionary War hero and Georgia's first Secretary of State.
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In fact (spoiler alert) the Georgia State Archives says, "No known portrait of John Milton exists, but his signature as Georgia's Secretary of State is on many surviving documents."
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2020 Fall Programs
Note
: All programs are subject to change based on library availability. The second Tuesday of each month is our tentative program date, indicated below. Emails closer to the program dates will keep our readers informed.
September: Tuesday Sept. 8 - 6:30 p.m.
Early Post Offices of Old Milton County
Speakers: Ed Malowney, Barbara Latham, Connie Mashburn
October: Tuesday Oct. 13 - 6:30 p.m.
History of Sweet Apple
Speaker: Ann Foskey, Author
November: Tuesday Nov. 10 - 6:30 p.m.
Presidential Paramours
Speaker: Dr. Ron Grossman
December: TBD
Holiday Luncheon - Patrons and Guests
Note:
Evening programs are held at the
Milton Library, 855 Mayfield Road
. Many thanks to the Atlanta-Fulton County Public Library System for use of this amazing facility, and thanks to Todd Williamson for his professionalism and caring attitude!
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Venice's Black Death and the Dawn of Quarantine!
Archaeological research is unearthing Venice's quarantine history to illuminate how the Italian city created a vast public health response 700 years ago and helped lay the modern foundation for coping with pandemics.
This article by Sara Toth Stub is reprinted, in part, with permission from
Sapiens
, online anthropological newsletter.
"
Just beyond the shores of Venice proper - a city comprised of dozens of islands - lie two uninhabited isles with a rich history. Today these landmasses are landscapes of grasses, trees, and worn stone . But once they were among the most important gateways to this storied trading city."
"The islands, known as Lazzaretto Vecchio and Lazzaretto Nuovo, are now yielding fascinating insights into Venice's response to one of the most famous pandemics in history. In the mid-14th century, Venice was struck by the bubonic plague, part of an outbreak, known as the Black Death, that may have killed up to 25 million, or one-third of the population, in Europe. This spread was just one of several waves of the plague to strike Northern Italy in the centuries that followed."
"Venice, as a trading center, was especially vulnerable, 'They saw that the only solution was to separate people, to take away the sick people, or suspected sick people,' says Francesca Malagnini, of the University for Foreigners, Perugia, who is herself a Venetian, linguist, and member of an interdisciplinary team researching Lazzaretto Nuovo. 'This was the only way to protect everyone's health and allow the economy to continue'"
"Beginning in the early 15th century, the island of Lazzaretto Vecchio was designated for isolating and treating plague-stricken Venetians. Later, Lazzaretto Nuovo became a spot where ships coming from places experiencing the plague, or those with suspected sick passengers or crew, anchored. There, people and goods spent a period of quarantine before being allowed into the heart of the city. (We owe the English word 'quarantine' to the Italian term for 40 days, '
quaranta giorni
.')"
"Together, these islands were at the center of Venice's vast public health response to the plague. Building on earlier traditions of separating the sick from the healthy, the Venetian government became the first in Mediterranean region to systematically use large-scale methods of isolation and information-collecting to monitor and fight infectious diseases."
"The effort was even more impressive given that science then could not explain how diseases spread. A germ theory of disease would not exist for another 400 years."
"Today, as much of the world finds itself under various quarantine, isolation, and stay-at-home orders and facing uncertainty related to the COVID-19 pandemic, Venice's quarantine history and the archaeology of isolation hospitals is especially relevant. Researchers' findings echo many modern experiences - particularly where public health, policy, and economics intersect."
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Doctors in Venice often wore masks when treating patients
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One local family's (happy) experience with the Venice plague
A handfull of years ago we were wrapping up a family European trip and one of our last stops was Venice. Serendipitously, it was the festival of Redentore - a yearly early-summer celebration with wonderful fireworks set off from barges in St. Mark's basin. Not exactly sure what a Redentore was (Venetians seem to have a language all their own - like
doge
) we pieced together that it was a celebration of Christ the Redeemer who spared Venice from an iteration of the plague in the 1500s. We took up spots standing in front of the Doge's palace at dark, finally ending up sitting on the cobblestones (judging by their color, the most traveled in all of Europe). We sat for hours, not knowing the fireworks wouldn't start till 11:30! Despite two tired teens and two grumbling husbands we persisted, and were rewarded with a spectacular experience. Europeans have a way of celebrating their culture and history, even the Black Death!
by Joan Borzilleri
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Muse for our times!
"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."
Marie Curie
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Georgia Tech students during the 1918 flu epidemic
Photo submitted by Byron Foster
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Five Reasons to tell your story to the
Milton Historical Society
You don't have to be part of the Brady Bunch to Zoom and go down in history. The Milton Historical Society invites you - members of the Milton community who live, work, or play here - to be part of a new documentary film and archival project about this time and place. The project is about you telling your story about the impact of the pandemic on your life. The project is called:
Milton Memoirs 2020.
- Experience the pleasure of telling your story, one-on-one, to a Society volunteer on Zoom.
- Leave a personal record of living in this place and time - in Milton during the pandemic of 2020.
- Tell future generations lessons you've learned so far during COVID-19.
- Archive your story with the Milton Historical Society.
- Be part of a documentary film project called Milton Memoirs 2020 to be produced by the Milton Historical Society.
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Milton Historical Society 2020 Patrons
Many thanks for your support!
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Lifetime Patrons
Mark and Amy Amick
Felton Anderson Herbert
Johnny Herbert
Bill Lusk
Robert Meyers
Adam Orkin
Charlie Roberts
Sarah Roberts
Kevin and Marsha Spear
Karen Thurman
Sustaining Patrons
Kathy Beck
Philip Beck
Jeff and Josephine Dufresne
James Farris
Linda Farris
Byron Foster
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Family Patrons
Marc and Lisa Arrington
Laura Bentley
Wayne Boston
Gregg and Mary Cronk
Lara Dolan
Laura Foster
Seth Garrett
Clyde Hewitt
Robert Jamison
Courtney LaFon
Ed and Mary Jo Malowney
Barry and Suzanne Mansell
Paul Moore
Robert and Jennifer Sorcabal
Individual Patrons
Elizabeth Montgomery
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Corporate Sponsor
The William B. Orkin Foundation
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We Love our Founding Members!
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Ron Wallace
Felton and Johnny Herbert
Adam Orkin
Pat Miller
Dawn and Keith Reed
Amy Christiansen
Kathy and Philip Beck
Jessica and Warren Cheely
Joe and Heather Killingsworth
Ronnie Rondem
Seth Chandlee
Curtis Mills
Mary Ann and Clarke Otten
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Mark Amick
Joan Borzilleri
Norm Broadwell
Jeff Dufresne
James Farris
Byron Foster
Kim Gauger
Bill Lusk
Connie Mashburn
Bob Meyers
Charlie Roberts
Kevin Spear
Karen Thurman
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