06 HR
413/AP
House
Resolution 413 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE)
By: Representative
Hanner of the 148th
A
RESOLUTION
To dedicate certain
portions of the state highway system; and for other
purposes.
PART
I
WHEREAS, Harry H. Eason
was born on August 15, 1915, and he spent his career as a
superintendent for H.G. Smith Construction Company building bridges
throughout south Georgia; and
WHEREAS, in 1956, he
moved his family to Tifton, where his company had been awarded the
contract to construct bridges for Interstate Highway 75 from Tifton
to Ashburn, and Mr. Eason was assigned the task of supervising the
construction of those bridges; and
WHEREAS, he was known
to work as hard as any of his crew in the construction project and
each of the bridges was constructed on time and the work was
approved without correction; and
WHEREAS, many of the
bridges he built were of a complicated design which were even more
difficult to construct in the days before computers;
and
WHEREAS, it is only
fitting that a bridge be named for such a renowned bridge builder
as Mr. Harry H. Eason.
PART
II
WHEREAS, on a day in
the 1880s, at least 15 years before the Wright Brothers' famous
flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Micajah Clark Dyer rode his
"apparatus for navigating the air" — the term airplane would not be
coined for decades — down a slip on Rattlesnake Mountain in Union
County, Georgia, and flew low over a meadow on his farm in the
Choestoe community near Blairsville; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Dyer, who
was born in South Carolina on July 23, 1822, and who farmed in
Union County, Georgia, to support his large family, received his
only formal education in a one-room school, but despite this
limitation developed a reputation as a true genius because of his
many inventions; and
WHEREAS, most of Mr.
Dyer's inventions have been lost in the veil of time, but it is
known that he equipped his house with running water, built an
efficient water-powered grist mill, and invented a "perpetual
motion" machine that could power devices; but his most famous
invention was his flying machine, for which he was awarded a patent
in September, 1874, and which he continued to improve and refine
until his death on January 26, 1891; and
WHEREAS, stories of his
flying machine were kept alive through Dyer family oral tradition
until 2004, when, thanks to the modern invention of the Internet,
family members were able to identify the 1874 patent and obtain a
copy, proof that the machine had, in fact, been built and that
sophisticated plans had been filed with the United States Patent
Office, although the flight from Rattlesnake Mountain over the
meadow remains unverified local lore; and
WHEREAS, although the
flying machine invented in the remote North Georgia mountains never
made it into the history books, family history indicates that Mr.
Dyer's widow, Morena Owenby Dyer, sold the machine and plans to the
Redwine Brothers in Atlanta, who, in turn, sold them to the Wright
Brothers of Ohio, so it is probable that Micajah Clark Dyer did,
indirectly, contribute to the first human
flight.
PART
III
WHEREAS, Mr. J. Lucius
Black was born on July 27, 1915, in Webster County, Georgia, a
community to which he was dedicated throughout his distinguished
career as a public servant; and
WHEREAS, during his
service in the House of Representatives of the State of Georgia
from 1945 to 1948 and from 1951 to 1972, Mr. Black was regarded as
a man of outstanding character with an exceptional understanding of
state and county government that was highly valued and respected by
his fellow members in the General Assembly; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Black
continued his public service as sole commissioner of Webster County
from 1977 to 1990 and then as chairman of the reconstituted county
commission from 1991 to 1996; and
WHEREAS, in the course
of his career, he demonstrated great energy, intelligence, ability,
and dedication to the betterment of the State of Georgia and the
quality of life of its citizens; and
WHEREAS, with the
passing of Mr. J. Lucius Black on October 18, 2004, the State of
Georgia lost a most estimable citizen and
statesman.
PART
IV
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT
RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA that the bridge on
Chula Brookfield Road over Interstate Highway 75 in Turner County,
Georgia, is hereby dedicated as the Harry H. Eason Bridge in honor
of this distinguished Georgian, and the Department of
Transportation is authorized and directed to erect and maintain
appropriate signs so dedicating the bridge.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED
that the portion of Georgia Highway 180 in Union County from the
intersection with US Highway 129 to the Towns County line be
dedicated the Micajah Clark Dyer Parkway, and the Department of
Transportation is authorized and directed to place and maintain
appropriate markers designating the Micajah Clark Dyer
Parkway.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED
that the members of this body join together to express their
deepest regret at the passing of Mr. J. Lucius Black and resolve
that the bridge on SR 45 that spans the Kinchafoonee Creek in
Webster County is dedicated as the J. Lucius Black Bridge, and the
Department of Transportation is authorized and directed to erect
and maintain appropriate signs to identifying the
bridge.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED
that the Clerk of the House of Representatives is authorized and
directed to transmit appropriate copies of this resolution to the
Department of Transportation, Harry H. Eason, the family of Micajah
Clark Dyer, and the family of Mr. J. Lucius Black and the Webster
County Commission.