Return to E.E. Bates- Decatur, Georgia – a jug mystery.
Originally published in 2012 in Times of DeKalb Quarterly Journal.
By Karen Chance, Exhibits Coordinator
If there is one personality characteristic that is never in short supply around the office of a history center, it is curiosity. One person will wonder aloud about some local mystery and before long the whole staff is tracking down leads on the internet, studying old maps, scrolling through microfilm, and visiting cemeteries in a quest for information.
A search of this sort was recently sparked by an artifact on view in our main office in a display case featuring some of the ceramics in our collection. The most striking of these is an “Albany Slipware” jug bearing the inscription “Return to E.E. Bates, Decatur, Georgia.” This object inspired the question, “Who was E.E. Bates?”
This “Scratch” jug – so-named because the owner’s information was etched in the wet glaze with a pointed tool prior to firing – was discovered in Atlanta’s Maddox Park by Decatur Attorney Hopkins Kidd, in 1977. (1) Mr. Kidd was a member of what is now the DeKalb History Center, and consequently donated his find to the collection. Jugs of this sort were the precursors to the “return for deposit” bottles of later generations, and also functioned as a kind of advertising for the business. (2) They were quickly made, utilitarian vessels, as evidenced by the nicks in the footing and fingerprints in the glaze.
Edwin Earl Bates (alternately known as Edward), was described after his death as “a prominent merchant of Decatur and well known in Atlanta.” He was born January 7th, 1843, in Swanzey, New Hampshire, (3) the second son of Jervis Bates, a “trader” and “drover” from Massachusetts. (4) By age 17, Edward E. had begun working, with his occupation listed as, “Clerk.”(5) His 16-year-old brother, Frederick, held the same position.
In October of 1862, Edward E. Bates (age 19, still listed as “Clerk”) enlisted as a Corporal with the 47th Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, known as the Merchant’s Guard Regiment, largely organized by Boston merchant Lucius B. Marsh. He was stationed for a time near Lake Ponchartrain, LA., and mustered out in August 1863. (6) While none in his regiment died in battle, dozens died from disease.
In 1870, 25-year-old Edward E. Bates, listed as “Clerk in store,” was living in Boston, Massachusetts, possibly in a boarding house. (7) By 1871-72, he had established “Edwin Bates &. Co., jobbers in staple and fancy dry goods and clothing,” on Meeting Street in Charleston, S.C. (8) He also had a branch at 15 Pryor Street, in Atlanta, Georgia, (9) where he touted, “…A good assortment of ready-made clothing, at very low prices.”
He married Lina Conn of Pennsylvania (born July 24th, 1853) (10) around 1879 (11) and they had a son, Frederick, in 1882. Sadly, the child passed away at the age of 7 months. The funeral was conducted from their residence at 439 West Peters Street. (12) A few years later Edward and Lina had their second and last child, a daughter named Mary. (13)
The 1883 Atlanta City Directory lists “Bates Edward E., dry goods, boots, shoes and crockery, 132 Decatur, r 439 W. Peters. It also lists “Bates, Edwin & Co., (C.S. Kingsbery resident partner), whol (sic) clothing, 2 and 4 S. Pryor.”
In 1894, E.E. Bates founded a company with his father- in-law, New York born lumberman Adna C. Conn (14) and several other associates – “The Blount Stave and Machine Company,” (15) for “…the manufacture of hogsheads, barrels, pipes, kegs and other wooden and iron receptacles for holding liquids and other substances.”
In June of 1900, Edward E. Bates was counted on the 12th Federal Census, living with his wife, daughter, and her parents in their residence on Railroad Avenue, now College Avenue. Their property was the sixth house south of McDonough Street. A few months later E.E. Bates died on August 25, 1900, of heart failure. According to his obituary, he was on his way to his store on Sycamore Street (approximately where Shields Convenience store is today) when he became exhausted and stopped to rest at the Jossey hotel (where Cakes and Ale is now), “two doors from his place of business.” Ten minutes later Mr. Bates — who just shortly before had seemed, “in good health, robust and hearty,” – was gone.
E.E. Bates was a Decatur city Councilman at the time of his death in 1900. (16) Despite the fact that he was not a native of Georgia, he was fondly described in his obituary as, “…one of the most worthy and highly esteemed citizens in this section of the country, and loved by all who knew him.” He and his family are buried in lots 51 & 52 in the Decatur Cemetery, just a short distance away from the covered well that is now used as a gazebo.
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(1) The News/Sun Leisure Time 6/8/77
(2) From the 1890s through the first quarter of the 20th century, many businesses promoted themselves by giving out sample products bearing the company’s name. One phenomenon was the “Mini Jug,” (approximately 3-1/4” – 5-1/4” in height), a smaller version of the jug described in this article. E.E. Bates was known to have distributed mini-jugs. (Source: “The Georgia Mini-Jug Story” by Bill Baab, from “Bottles and Extras – The Official Publication of the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors,” Summer 2005).
(3) New Hampshire, births and christening index, 1714-1904, Ancestry.com
(4) 1850 and 1860 United States Federal Census
(5) 1860 United States Federal Census
(6) U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, Ancestry.com
(7) 1870 United States Federal Census
(8) Advertising broadside from the collection of the University of South Carolina, South Caroliniana Library. August 20th, 1872.
(9) Advertisement in the Atlanta Constitution on September 29th, 1871.
(10) 1900 United States Federal Census
(11) 1900 United States Federal Census
(12) Atlanta Constitution, Oct 25th, 1882. See also gravestone, Decatur Cemetery.
(13) 1900 United States Federal Census
(14) 1900 United States Federal Census
(15) The Atlanta Constitution, Jan 6th, 1894.
(16) 1900 Decatur, GA, City records on Ancestry.com
