Happy Dance 2

Jim's uncle, Jim Gaines, read the previous post, Happy Dance 1, and contacted me via facebook. He wrote:

Saw the post about the marriage. Richard Gaines Jim's great grandfather was known in the family as Daddy Gaines, she known as Mamma Lucy. He became a County Judge in Bartow County, Georgia. The lived in Cartersvile in a beautiful home near town. I visited them often as a young man, they were wonderful people.

I mentioned in Happy Dance 1 about finding the marriage license for Richard M. Gaines and Willie Vandivere Gaines. They had four children: Guy Vandivere (1899), Mattie (1902), Margaret (1905) and Richard M., Jr. (1908). Sadly, Willie Vandivere Gaines died in 1914, leaving one teenage son and three other children ages 12, 9, and 6.

Richard M. Gaines, Sr., did not remain a widower long. In 1915 on December 31 he married Miss Lucy Donahoo (full name Jemima Lucinda Donahoo). In the 1910 census, Lucy was employed as a milliner in a dry goods store. They had a daughter, Mary, born in 1919. Lucy Donahoo Gaines is the grandmother, Mamma Lucy, that Uncle Jimmy knew.

Marriage License for Richard M. Gaines and Lucy Donahoo, right page, middle

I was curious about Richard M. being a County Judge in Bartow County since he worked in the marble (stone) business, according to the 1900, 1910, and 1920 censuses. In the 1930 census his occupation was listed as "Ordinary." I looked up the word "Ordinary" and found this definition:

Law

a. A judge or other official with immediate rather than delegated jurisdiction.

b. The judge of a probate court in some states of the United States.

 

 I also noticed on the marriage licenses in the picture above that a person signed each license as an Ordinary. I searched online for Richard M. Gaines, and I found an old book about Bartow County, Georgia. There I found a photo of some Bartow County Officers in 1933. Low and behold, there was my husband's great grandfather pictured with the Bartow County Tax Receiver, Sheriff, Tax Collector, Commissioner, Clerk of the Superior Court, Chairman of Board of Education, Coroner, and School Superintendent. He was the Ordinary.  He first became an Ordinary in 1928. I still would like to know what he did in this position.

Richard M. Gaines is on the front row, first one on the right

Richard M. Gaines' name is listed under the Ordinaries