A Remembrance of Great Historian Mr. Wilbur Kurtz ………………… Mr. Wilbur Kurtz was born on February 28, 1882 and passed away on February 1, 1967. Mr. Kurtz was born in Oakland, Illinois and passed away in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1903, he came to Georgia to interview Captain William H. Fuller, born April 15, 1836 and died December 28, 1905, about his involvement in the “Andrews Raid.” This was the “Great Train Chase” of the Civil War in North Georgia. The men were caught and treated as spies and hung for their espionage. Mr. Kurtz wanted to make sure that the story of the raid was told correctly. While here he met his future wife Annie Laurie Fuller born October 21, 1884 and died October 2, 1946. Mr. Kurtz married Annie on June 14, 1911 and they lived in Atlanta, Georgia. She was the daughter of Capt. William and Susan Alford Fuller. Annie was the granddaughter of James and Alley Butler who had Butlers Ferry on the South River in Henry County. Mr. Kurtz studied and interviewed veterans and residents of the area who were here at the time of the Civil War. He studied this between 1903 till 1930 when he became friends with a young Franklin Garrett. In 1914, he interviewed former Judge Stephen Green Dorsey about what happened at Lovejoy Station in 1864. There was a newspaper photo that was found in the archives in Atlanta back in the late 1970’s which was a reprint of Mr. Dorsey and Mr. Kurtz in front of the Dorsey house where a granite marker was placed about the Kilpatrick Raid of August 20, 1864. The marker was placed by a group of women who formed a ladies Confederate group from Griffin who in 1867 had a train with flat cars brought to Lovejoy to retrieve nearly 500 bodies and to place the marker. The Crawford-Dorsey Home would burn mysteriously after it was placed on the Registry of Historic Places in 1984 and the marker disappeared as well. Clayton County had planned on restoring the home and using it for a tourist attraction. Mr. Kurtz studied all around Atlanta for 27 years before he teamed up with Mr. Garrett. They would study and tour the whole area of Clayton and Henry Counties from 1930 till his passing in 1967. (I had the honor of meeting Mr. Kurtz on a Scout trip to the Historical Society in January 1967 and he would pass away only a month later. Mr. Kurtz was known as the foremost authority on the Atlanta Campaign. He and Mrs. Kurtz would go to Hollywood to be advisers on the film “Gone With the Wind.” Mr. Kurtz was an excellent artist who had brought old Atlanta and Georgia to life again. Mr. Wilbur Kurtz served on the first Civil War Round Table and was the man who wrote the texts for the many historical markers you see dotting the roadways of Georgia that were erected in the 1950’s. After Mr. Kurtz passed away, Mr. Franklin Garrett said that his friend had spent 64 years studying the Civil War History of the Atlanta Campaign. He said that his friend possessed three qualities that are rare in a historian: First, Mr. Kurtz had an inquiring mind asking the questions most do not about the very smallest details. Second, he had the ability to write and bring all the material together in a concise and orderly way. And third, Mr. Kurtz was a skilled artist who could recreate from details provided by the pioneers of the area that lived before any photo’s were ever taken here. Mr. Kurtz is a wonderful man to learn from just as Mr. Franklin Garrett (whom I had the honor of working with beginning some 33 years ago between 1980 to 1990. Mr. Garrett was a great mentor during those years. He was born on September 25, 1906 and passed away on March 5, 2000. He joined the Atlanta Historical Society in 1927 a year after its creation. He would retire from the Coca Cola Company and would devote his time to the Atlanta History Center (the new name for the Atlanta Historical Society). His historical talent brought him the honor of being named the Historian of Atlanta. When Mr. Kurtz and Mr. Garrett passed away they would likely take knowledge of the history of the area that would never be learned to the grave. It would be Mr. Kurtz who would invigorate and inspire Mr. Garrett to learn and teach history the correct way. Pastor Dr. Mike Moon Senior Researcher for the CRG
Posted on: Sun, 11 Aug 2013 21:40:33 +0000
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