Textile Manufacturer, Philanthropist and co-Founder of Callaway Gardens. Son of textile manufacturer Fuller Earle Callaway, Sr. and Ida Jane (nee Cason) Callaway, Mr. Callaway and his wife, Virginia Hollis (nee Hand) Callaway are noted for their reforestation and conservation efforts in establishing Callaway Gardens at Pine Mountain in Harris County, Georgia on land depleted from intensive farming operations. First opening on May 21, 1952 as the Ida Cason Gardens, the name was changed in 1955 to Ida Cason Callaway Gardens, and shortened to Callaway Gardens in 1962 and is today operated by the Ida Cason Callaway Foundation. Mr. Callaway, who established himself in his father's business of textile manufacturing, served as treasurer and director of sales of the various operations owned by Callaway Mills. He also served as president of Unity Cotton Mills, Milstead Manufacturing Company, Elm City Cotton Mills, Unit Spinning Mills, Manchester Cotton Mills, Calumet Mills (LaGrange, Hogensville and Stark Plants), Truline Inc., Valway Rug Mills, and Valley Waste Mills. He also served as president of Callaway Mills from 1932 until 1938 when he retired, thereafter devoting his time and resources to agricultural conservation efforts. He serviced as a member and chairman of the board of regents of the University system of Georgia, director of United States Steel, the Shell Oil Company, Chemical Corn Exchange Bank of New York City, the Trust Company of Georgia and the Nutrition Foundation and trustee of LaGrange College. Originally buried at Hillcrest Memorial Cemetery in La Grange, Georgia, he was re-interred in the Callaway Family Cemetery on the grounds of "Hills and Dales" estate in La Grange.
____________________
Cason Callaway Dies;
Noted Industry Leader
LaGrange Native Was Former Textile Head
from: LaGrange Daily News, La Grange, Georgia, Thursday, April 13, 1961, p. 1:
Cason Jewell Callaway, 66, retired industrialist and business leader, died last night at his home at Blue Springs near Hamilton after an illness of one week. He had suffered two heart attacks since his retirement in 1938 from active direction of Callaway Mills. However, he had maintained interest in his varied activities until his last illness.
He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Virginia Hand Callaway, Blue Springs; three children, Mrs. Jack (Virginia) Jackson of Beverly Hills, Calif., Cason J. Callaway Jr. of Columbus, and Howard H. Callaway of Pine Mountain; a brother, Fuller E. Callaway Jr., LaGrange; and 13 grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held tomorrow at 3 p.m. at Hamilton Baptist Church with the Rev. Ayres Ward, pastor, the Rev. William A. Jones Jr. Rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church, LaGrange, and the Rt. Rev. Randolph R. Caliborne, Atlanta, bishop of the diocese of Atlanta of the Protestant Episcopal Church, officiating.
Burial will follow in the new Callaway mausoleum a top Pine Mountain near Blue Springs.
The body will remain at Maddox Funeral home until noon tomorrow and will lie in state at Hamilton Baptist Church from 1 to 3 p.m.
Maddox Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Native of LaGrange
Callaway was the older son of the late Fuller Earle Callaway, founder of the group of Mills that bear his name and the last Ida Cason Callaway.
He was born in LaGrange Nov. 6, 1894, and after attending LaGrange elementary schools, was a student at the Bingham School for Boys at Asheville, N.C., and the University of Virginia at Charlottesville. He subsequently completed a course in accounting at the Eastman School in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. In 1917, he volunteered for service in the U. S. Navy, became an ensign and later a lieutenant, junior grade. He was transferred to inactive service on February 1, 1919.
Returning home, he became active assistant to his father who was treasurer and director of sales of the various mills and other enterprises in the Callaway group. There were at that time six cotton mills producing semi-finished fabrics and yarns for other industries.
President in 1928
In 1928 Cason J. Callaway became president of Unity Cotton Mills, Milstead Manufacturing Company, Elm City Cotton Mills, Unit Spinning Mills, Manchester Cotton Mills, Calumet Mills (LaGrange, Hogensville and Stark Plants), Truline Inc., Valway Rug Mills, and Valley Waste Mills. He also served as president of Callaway Mills from 1932, when the plants were consolidated, until 1938 when he retired.
Under his leadership, the company embarked upon a program of diversification that projected their activities into new fields.
In 1922, the Callaway group established their own selling agency under the name of Callaway Mills, Inc. and Cason J. Callaway was its president until 1938.
Honored By Industry
Callaway's leadership was recognized by the cotton textile industry whose members elected him president of the Cotton Manufacturers Association of Georgia and president of the American Cotton Manufacturers Association. he was the youngest man to be thus honored by the textile industry at the time.
He also served as one of the first directors of Cotton Textile Institute, and was an original member from the South on the Textile Code Authority. He was one of four member of a commission to Japan in 1937.
On Board of Regents
In 1932, Callaway became a member of the board of regents of the University of Georgia, appointed to revise the State's higher education system. He has also served as chairman of the board.
As a member of the board, on which he served from 1932 to 1943, he found that considerably more, proportionately, of Georgia's tax money was spent for education than was the national average; yet the schools were relatively poor because, literally, the State was poor. And he found that the Sate was poor because the farmers were poor.
Callaway had already bought some 2,500 acres of land around Pine Mountain and kept on buying. What he had in mind was a model for the restoration of the eroded farm lands of Georgia.
His new systems of farming and forestry began about 1940. In the meantime, he had planted perennial leguminous grass, and was raising ducks, turkeys and Hereford cattle. By 1944, he had some 3,000 acres of reclaimed farm land at Blue Springs Farms, which he called his place near Hamilton.
Better Farms Plan
In August 1944, Callaway addressed a rally of the civic leaders of Atlanta. At that time he presented a plan to reclaim Georgia's farm lands. His plan called for the organization of 100 Better Farms Corporation which would buy 100 acres of land to be reclaimed with proper farm practices. By January, 1943, the 100 corporations had been formed.
Callaway's plan included four basic steps, namely: improvement of soil; establishment of long term commercial credit for the farmer; machinery to work crops and processing plants near the farms.
Blue Springs Farms set the example by building gullies into fields that then included 40 acres of scuppernongs, 700 acres of kudzu, 400 acres of alfalfa, sweet clover and other legumes in a 1,600 acre tract.
A dehydration plant was located in the center of the grass field to dry down the foodstuff which was fed to livestock on the place or sold.
His "Georgia Better Farms" project won for him the 1948 title of Georgia's "man of The Year in Agriculture" and his interest in this phase of Georgia's economy has been sustained.
Latest Project
Callaway's latest project was the development of the Ida Cason Callaway Gardens, named for his mother, and located on U. S. Highway 27, two miles south of Pine Mountain, and opened to the public in the spring of 1952. The gardens are operated by the Ida Cason Callaway Foundation.
The Ida Cason Callaway Gardens cover 1,200 acres in which Callaway developed 11 lakes, the largest of witch is 175 acres with a five mile shore line. The others vary in size from two to 70 acres. The largest lake is well stocked with fish and is open to the public for fishing at a nominal charge. The boat harbor is on the largest lake and provides 100 individual docks and boats.
A nine-hole golf course, the largest man-made beach in the United States, a motel, a club house where meals are available, and picnic areas are some of the other facilities of the gardens.
Native trees and shrubs make the gardens of special interest. These include the prunifolia azalea, the summer blooming flaming variety which Callaway found growing wild and propagated, and for which he won the conservation award of the Garden Society of America.
Other Interests
His business interest were state-wide and national in scope. He was a director of U. S. Steel, the Shell Oil Company, Chemical Corn Exchange Bank of New York City, the Trust Company of Georgia and the Nutrition Foundation.
He was a longtime trustee of LaGrange College.
He also was a member of First Baptist Church of LaGrange. He held membership in Highland Country Club, Piedmont Driving club and Capital City Club, Atlanta, and Columbus Country Club.
________
Friends Pay Tribute To Mr. Callaway
from: LaGrange Daily News, La Grange, Georgia, April 15, 1961, p. 1:
Hundreds of friends from this area and from great distances attended the funeral service yesterday at Hamilton Baptist Church for Cason Jewell Callaway, retired industrialist, farm leader, philanthropist and friend to person in all walks of life.
Mr. Callaway died Wednesday night just before 11 o'clock at his home, Blue Springs, near Hamilton following a heart attack.
The Rev. Ayres Ward, pastor of the Hamilton Baptist Church, the Rev. William A. Jones Jr., rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church of LaGrange, and the Rt. Rev. Randolph R. Claiborne of Atlanta, bishop of the Atlanta diocese of the Protestant Episcopal Church, conducted the service at the church and the last rites at the new Callaway mausoleum atop Pine Mountai
W. T. Cooksey, Eitel Bauer, Thomas Tweed, Jack Adams, Bruce Williams and Fred Galle served as active pallbearers.
Honorary pallbearers were John A. Sibley, Atlanta; Roger Blough, M. E. Staght, Baxter Jackson, and Harold Helm, all of New York City; Robert W. Woodruff, Atlanta; Robert D. Williams Jr., New York; William Banks, Newnan; D. Abbott Turner, Columbus; Joe Lanier, West Point; J. Q. Davidson, Columbus; C. F. Palmer, Atlanta; George Woodruff, Atlanta; H. B. Stewart Jr., Hartsville Ohio.
LaGrange Rotary Club of which Mr. Callaway was a charter member, formed an honor guard.
The body lay in state at Maddox Funeral Home until noon yesterday and at Hamilton Baptist Church from 1 to 3 p.m.
Mr. Callaway, a former president of the textile enterprises established by his father, the late Fuller Earle Callaway, retired in 1938 from active management of the mills.
he then turned his interest and ability to the development of diversified farm practices in order to assist Georgia farmers increase their income. His "Better Farms Plan" won state and national recognition and helped farmers through out Georgia.
His latest interest was, the development of the Ida Cason Callaway Gardens, located on U. S. Highway 27, two miles south of the town of Pine Mountain. His dream of a place where his friends and their friends could find beauty and recreation was realized for the Gardens are the mecca of thousand each year.
In 1920, Mr. Callaway married Miss Virginia Hollis Hand of Pelham, Ga., who survives him. Other survivors are three children, Cason J. Callaway Jr. of Columbus, Howard H. Callaway of Hamilton, and Mrs. Virginia Callaway Jackson of Beverly Hills, Calif., and 13 grandchildren. A brother, Fuller E. Callaway Jr. also survives.
____________________
Cason Callaway Dies;
Noted Industry Leader
LaGrange Native Was Former Textile Head
from: LaGrange Daily News, La Grange, Georgia, Thursday, April 13, 1961, p. 1:
Cason Jewell Callaway, 66, retired industrialist and business leader, died last night at his home at Blue Springs near Hamilton after an illness of one week. He had suffered two heart attacks since his retirement in 1938 from active direction of Callaway Mills. However, he had maintained interest in his varied activities until his last illness.
He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Virginia Hand Callaway, Blue Springs; three children, Mrs. Jack (Virginia) Jackson of Beverly Hills, Calif., Cason J. Callaway Jr. of Columbus, and Howard H. Callaway of Pine Mountain; a brother, Fuller E. Callaway Jr., LaGrange; and 13 grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held tomorrow at 3 p.m. at Hamilton Baptist Church with the Rev. Ayres Ward, pastor, the Rev. William A. Jones Jr. Rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church, LaGrange, and the Rt. Rev. Randolph R. Caliborne, Atlanta, bishop of the diocese of Atlanta of the Protestant Episcopal Church, officiating.
Burial will follow in the new Callaway mausoleum a top Pine Mountain near Blue Springs.
The body will remain at Maddox Funeral home until noon tomorrow and will lie in state at Hamilton Baptist Church from 1 to 3 p.m.
Maddox Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Native of LaGrange
Callaway was the older son of the late Fuller Earle Callaway, founder of the group of Mills that bear his name and the last Ida Cason Callaway.
He was born in LaGrange Nov. 6, 1894, and after attending LaGrange elementary schools, was a student at the Bingham School for Boys at Asheville, N.C., and the University of Virginia at Charlottesville. He subsequently completed a course in accounting at the Eastman School in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. In 1917, he volunteered for service in the U. S. Navy, became an ensign and later a lieutenant, junior grade. He was transferred to inactive service on February 1, 1919.
Returning home, he became active assistant to his father who was treasurer and director of sales of the various mills and other enterprises in the Callaway group. There were at that time six cotton mills producing semi-finished fabrics and yarns for other industries.
President in 1928
In 1928 Cason J. Callaway became president of Unity Cotton Mills, Milstead Manufacturing Company, Elm City Cotton Mills, Unit Spinning Mills, Manchester Cotton Mills, Calumet Mills (LaGrange, Hogensville and Stark Plants), Truline Inc., Valway Rug Mills, and Valley Waste Mills. He also served as president of Callaway Mills from 1932, when the plants were consolidated, until 1938 when he retired.
Under his leadership, the company embarked upon a program of diversification that projected their activities into new fields.
In 1922, the Callaway group established their own selling agency under the name of Callaway Mills, Inc. and Cason J. Callaway was its president until 1938.
Honored By Industry
Callaway's leadership was recognized by the cotton textile industry whose members elected him president of the Cotton Manufacturers Association of Georgia and president of the American Cotton Manufacturers Association. he was the youngest man to be thus honored by the textile industry at the time.
He also served as one of the first directors of Cotton Textile Institute, and was an original member from the South on the Textile Code Authority. He was one of four member of a commission to Japan in 1937.
On Board of Regents
In 1932, Callaway became a member of the board of regents of the University of Georgia, appointed to revise the State's higher education system. He has also served as chairman of the board.
As a member of the board, on which he served from 1932 to 1943, he found that considerably more, proportionately, of Georgia's tax money was spent for education than was the national average; yet the schools were relatively poor because, literally, the State was poor. And he found that the Sate was poor because the farmers were poor.
Callaway had already bought some 2,500 acres of land around Pine Mountain and kept on buying. What he had in mind was a model for the restoration of the eroded farm lands of Georgia.
His new systems of farming and forestry began about 1940. In the meantime, he had planted perennial leguminous grass, and was raising ducks, turkeys and Hereford cattle. By 1944, he had some 3,000 acres of reclaimed farm land at Blue Springs Farms, which he called his place near Hamilton.
Better Farms Plan
In August 1944, Callaway addressed a rally of the civic leaders of Atlanta. At that time he presented a plan to reclaim Georgia's farm lands. His plan called for the organization of 100 Better Farms Corporation which would buy 100 acres of land to be reclaimed with proper farm practices. By January, 1943, the 100 corporations had been formed.
Callaway's plan included four basic steps, namely: improvement of soil; establishment of long term commercial credit for the farmer; machinery to work crops and processing plants near the farms.
Blue Springs Farms set the example by building gullies into fields that then included 40 acres of scuppernongs, 700 acres of kudzu, 400 acres of alfalfa, sweet clover and other legumes in a 1,600 acre tract.
A dehydration plant was located in the center of the grass field to dry down the foodstuff which was fed to livestock on the place or sold.
His "Georgia Better Farms" project won for him the 1948 title of Georgia's "man of The Year in Agriculture" and his interest in this phase of Georgia's economy has been sustained.
Latest Project
Callaway's latest project was the development of the Ida Cason Callaway Gardens, named for his mother, and located on U. S. Highway 27, two miles south of Pine Mountain, and opened to the public in the spring of 1952. The gardens are operated by the Ida Cason Callaway Foundation.
The Ida Cason Callaway Gardens cover 1,200 acres in which Callaway developed 11 lakes, the largest of witch is 175 acres with a five mile shore line. The others vary in size from two to 70 acres. The largest lake is well stocked with fish and is open to the public for fishing at a nominal charge. The boat harbor is on the largest lake and provides 100 individual docks and boats.
A nine-hole golf course, the largest man-made beach in the United States, a motel, a club house where meals are available, and picnic areas are some of the other facilities of the gardens.
Native trees and shrubs make the gardens of special interest. These include the prunifolia azalea, the summer blooming flaming variety which Callaway found growing wild and propagated, and for which he won the conservation award of the Garden Society of America.
Other Interests
His business interest were state-wide and national in scope. He was a director of U. S. Steel, the Shell Oil Company, Chemical Corn Exchange Bank of New York City, the Trust Company of Georgia and the Nutrition Foundation.
He was a longtime trustee of LaGrange College.
He also was a member of First Baptist Church of LaGrange. He held membership in Highland Country Club, Piedmont Driving club and Capital City Club, Atlanta, and Columbus Country Club.
________
Friends Pay Tribute To Mr. Callaway
from: LaGrange Daily News, La Grange, Georgia, April 15, 1961, p. 1:
Hundreds of friends from this area and from great distances attended the funeral service yesterday at Hamilton Baptist Church for Cason Jewell Callaway, retired industrialist, farm leader, philanthropist and friend to person in all walks of life.
Mr. Callaway died Wednesday night just before 11 o'clock at his home, Blue Springs, near Hamilton following a heart attack.
The Rev. Ayres Ward, pastor of the Hamilton Baptist Church, the Rev. William A. Jones Jr., rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church of LaGrange, and the Rt. Rev. Randolph R. Claiborne of Atlanta, bishop of the Atlanta diocese of the Protestant Episcopal Church, conducted the service at the church and the last rites at the new Callaway mausoleum atop Pine Mountai
W. T. Cooksey, Eitel Bauer, Thomas Tweed, Jack Adams, Bruce Williams and Fred Galle served as active pallbearers.
Honorary pallbearers were John A. Sibley, Atlanta; Roger Blough, M. E. Staght, Baxter Jackson, and Harold Helm, all of New York City; Robert W. Woodruff, Atlanta; Robert D. Williams Jr., New York; William Banks, Newnan; D. Abbott Turner, Columbus; Joe Lanier, West Point; J. Q. Davidson, Columbus; C. F. Palmer, Atlanta; George Woodruff, Atlanta; H. B. Stewart Jr., Hartsville Ohio.
LaGrange Rotary Club of which Mr. Callaway was a charter member, formed an honor guard.
The body lay in state at Maddox Funeral Home until noon yesterday and at Hamilton Baptist Church from 1 to 3 p.m.
Mr. Callaway, a former president of the textile enterprises established by his father, the late Fuller Earle Callaway, retired in 1938 from active management of the mills.
he then turned his interest and ability to the development of diversified farm practices in order to assist Georgia farmers increase their income. His "Better Farms Plan" won state and national recognition and helped farmers through out Georgia.
His latest interest was, the development of the Ida Cason Callaway Gardens, located on U. S. Highway 27, two miles south of the town of Pine Mountain. His dream of a place where his friends and their friends could find beauty and recreation was realized for the Gardens are the mecca of thousand each year.
In 1920, Mr. Callaway married Miss Virginia Hollis Hand of Pelham, Ga., who survives him. Other survivors are three children, Cason J. Callaway Jr. of Columbus, Howard H. Callaway of Hamilton, and Mrs. Virginia Callaway Jackson of Beverly Hills, Calif., and 13 grandchildren. A brother, Fuller E. Callaway Jr. also survives.
Textile Manufacturer, Philanthropist and co-Founder of Callaway Gardens. Son of textile manufacturer Fuller Earle Callaway, Sr. and Ida Jane (nee Cason) Callaway, Mr. Callaway and his wife, Virginia Hollis (nee Hand) Callaway are noted for their reforestation and conservation efforts in establishing Callaway Gardens at Pine Mountain in Harris County, Georgia on land depleted from intensive farming operations. First opening on May 21, 1952 as the Ida Cason Gardens, the name was changed in 1955 to Ida Cason Callaway Gardens, and shortened to Callaway Gardens in 1962 and is today operated by the Ida Cason Callaway Foundation. Mr. Callaway, who established himself in his father's business of textile manufacturing, served as treasurer and director of sales of the various operations owned by Callaway Mills. He also served as president of Unity Cotton Mills, Milstead Manufacturing Company, Elm City Cotton Mills, Unit Spinning Mills, Manchester Cotton Mills, Calumet Mills (LaGrange, Hogensville and Stark Plants), Truline Inc., Valway Rug Mills, and Valley Waste Mills. He also served as president of Callaway Mills from 1932 until 1938 when he retired, thereafter devoting his time and resources to agricultural conservation efforts. He serviced as a member and chairman of the board of regents of the University system of Georgia, director of United States Steel, the Shell Oil Company, Chemical Corn Exchange Bank of New York City, the Trust Company of Georgia and the Nutrition Foundation and trustee of LaGrange College. Originally buried at Hillcrest Memorial Cemetery in La Grange, Georgia, he was re-interred in the Callaway Family Cemetery on the grounds of "Hills and Dales" estate in La Grange.
____________________
Cason Callaway Dies;
Noted Industry Leader
LaGrange Native Was Former Textile Head
from: LaGrange Daily News, La Grange, Georgia, Thursday, April 13, 1961, p. 1:
Cason Jewell Callaway, 66, retired industrialist and business leader, died last night at his home at Blue Springs near Hamilton after an illness of one week. He had suffered two heart attacks since his retirement in 1938 from active direction of Callaway Mills. However, he had maintained interest in his varied activities until his last illness.
He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Virginia Hand Callaway, Blue Springs; three children, Mrs. Jack (Virginia) Jackson of Beverly Hills, Calif., Cason J. Callaway Jr. of Columbus, and Howard H. Callaway of Pine Mountain; a brother, Fuller E. Callaway Jr., LaGrange; and 13 grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held tomorrow at 3 p.m. at Hamilton Baptist Church with the Rev. Ayres Ward, pastor, the Rev. William A. Jones Jr. Rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church, LaGrange, and the Rt. Rev. Randolph R. Caliborne, Atlanta, bishop of the diocese of Atlanta of the Protestant Episcopal Church, officiating.
Burial will follow in the new Callaway mausoleum a top Pine Mountain near Blue Springs.
The body will remain at Maddox Funeral home until noon tomorrow and will lie in state at Hamilton Baptist Church from 1 to 3 p.m.
Maddox Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Native of LaGrange
Callaway was the older son of the late Fuller Earle Callaway, founder of the group of Mills that bear his name and the last Ida Cason Callaway.
He was born in LaGrange Nov. 6, 1894, and after attending LaGrange elementary schools, was a student at the Bingham School for Boys at Asheville, N.C., and the University of Virginia at Charlottesville. He subsequently completed a course in accounting at the Eastman School in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. In 1917, he volunteered for service in the U. S. Navy, became an ensign and later a lieutenant, junior grade. He was transferred to inactive service on February 1, 1919.
Returning home, he became active assistant to his father who was treasurer and director of sales of the various mills and other enterprises in the Callaway group. There were at that time six cotton mills producing semi-finished fabrics and yarns for other industries.
President in 1928
In 1928 Cason J. Callaway became president of Unity Cotton Mills, Milstead Manufacturing Company, Elm City Cotton Mills, Unit Spinning Mills, Manchester Cotton Mills, Calumet Mills (LaGrange, Hogensville and Stark Plants), Truline Inc., Valway Rug Mills, and Valley Waste Mills. He also served as president of Callaway Mills from 1932, when the plants were consolidated, until 1938 when he retired.
Under his leadership, the company embarked upon a program of diversification that projected their activities into new fields.
In 1922, the Callaway group established their own selling agency under the name of Callaway Mills, Inc. and Cason J. Callaway was its president until 1938.
Honored By Industry
Callaway's leadership was recognized by the cotton textile industry whose members elected him president of the Cotton Manufacturers Association of Georgia and president of the American Cotton Manufacturers Association. he was the youngest man to be thus honored by the textile industry at the time.
He also served as one of the first directors of Cotton Textile Institute, and was an original member from the South on the Textile Code Authority. He was one of four member of a commission to Japan in 1937.
On Board of Regents
In 1932, Callaway became a member of the board of regents of the University of Georgia, appointed to revise the State's higher education system. He has also served as chairman of the board.
As a member of the board, on which he served from 1932 to 1943, he found that considerably more, proportionately, of Georgia's tax money was spent for education than was the national average; yet the schools were relatively poor because, literally, the State was poor. And he found that the Sate was poor because the farmers were poor.
Callaway had already bought some 2,500 acres of land around Pine Mountain and kept on buying. What he had in mind was a model for the restoration of the eroded farm lands of Georgia.
His new systems of farming and forestry began about 1940. In the meantime, he had planted perennial leguminous grass, and was raising ducks, turkeys and Hereford cattle. By 1944, he had some 3,000 acres of reclaimed farm land at Blue Springs Farms, which he called his place near Hamilton.
Better Farms Plan
In August 1944, Callaway addressed a rally of the civic leaders of Atlanta. At that time he presented a plan to reclaim Georgia's farm lands. His plan called for the organization of 100 Better Farms Corporation which would buy 100 acres of land to be reclaimed with proper farm practices. By January, 1943, the 100 corporations had been formed.
Callaway's plan included four basic steps, namely: improvement of soil; establishment of long term commercial credit for the farmer; machinery to work crops and processing plants near the farms.
Blue Springs Farms set the example by building gullies into fields that then included 40 acres of scuppernongs, 700 acres of kudzu, 400 acres of alfalfa, sweet clover and other legumes in a 1,600 acre tract.
A dehydration plant was located in the center of the grass field to dry down the foodstuff which was fed to livestock on the place or sold.
His "Georgia Better Farms" project won for him the 1948 title of Georgia's "man of The Year in Agriculture" and his interest in this phase of Georgia's economy has been sustained.
Latest Project
Callaway's latest project was the development of the Ida Cason Callaway Gardens, named for his mother, and located on U. S. Highway 27, two miles south of Pine Mountain, and opened to the public in the spring of 1952. The gardens are operated by the Ida Cason Callaway Foundation.
The Ida Cason Callaway Gardens cover 1,200 acres in which Callaway developed 11 lakes, the largest of witch is 175 acres with a five mile shore line. The others vary in size from two to 70 acres. The largest lake is well stocked with fish and is open to the public for fishing at a nominal charge. The boat harbor is on the largest lake and provides 100 individual docks and boats.
A nine-hole golf course, the largest man-made beach in the United States, a motel, a club house where meals are available, and picnic areas are some of the other facilities of the gardens.
Native trees and shrubs make the gardens of special interest. These include the prunifolia azalea, the summer blooming flaming variety which Callaway found growing wild and propagated, and for which he won the conservation award of the Garden Society of America.
Other Interests
His business interest were state-wide and national in scope. He was a director of U. S. Steel, the Shell Oil Company, Chemical Corn Exchange Bank of New York City, the Trust Company of Georgia and the Nutrition Foundation.
He was a longtime trustee of LaGrange College.
He also was a member of First Baptist Church of LaGrange. He held membership in Highland Country Club, Piedmont Driving club and Capital City Club, Atlanta, and Columbus Country Club.
________
Friends Pay Tribute To Mr. Callaway
from: LaGrange Daily News, La Grange, Georgia, April 15, 1961, p. 1:
Hundreds of friends from this area and from great distances attended the funeral service yesterday at Hamilton Baptist Church for Cason Jewell Callaway, retired industrialist, farm leader, philanthropist and friend to person in all walks of life.
Mr. Callaway died Wednesday night just before 11 o'clock at his home, Blue Springs, near Hamilton following a heart attack.
The Rev. Ayres Ward, pastor of the Hamilton Baptist Church, the Rev. William A. Jones Jr., rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church of LaGrange, and the Rt. Rev. Randolph R. Claiborne of Atlanta, bishop of the Atlanta diocese of the Protestant Episcopal Church, conducted the service at the church and the last rites at the new Callaway mausoleum atop Pine Mountai
W. T. Cooksey, Eitel Bauer, Thomas Tweed, Jack Adams, Bruce Williams and Fred Galle served as active pallbearers.
Honorary pallbearers were John A. Sibley, Atlanta; Roger Blough, M. E. Staght, Baxter Jackson, and Harold Helm, all of New York City; Robert W. Woodruff, Atlanta; Robert D. Williams Jr., New York; William Banks, Newnan; D. Abbott Turner, Columbus; Joe Lanier, West Point; J. Q. Davidson, Columbus; C. F. Palmer, Atlanta; George Woodruff, Atlanta; H. B. Stewart Jr., Hartsville Ohio.
LaGrange Rotary Club of which Mr. Callaway was a charter member, formed an honor guard.
The body lay in state at Maddox Funeral Home until noon yesterday and at Hamilton Baptist Church from 1 to 3 p.m.
Mr. Callaway, a former president of the textile enterprises established by his father, the late Fuller Earle Callaway, retired in 1938 from active management of the mills.
he then turned his interest and ability to the development of diversified farm practices in order to assist Georgia farmers increase their income. His "Better Farms Plan" won state and national recognition and helped farmers through out Georgia.
His latest interest was, the development of the Ida Cason Callaway Gardens, located on U. S. Highway 27, two miles south of the town of Pine Mountain. His dream of a place where his friends and their friends could find beauty and recreation was realized for the Gardens are the mecca of thousand each year.
In 1920, Mr. Callaway married Miss Virginia Hollis Hand of Pelham, Ga., who survives him. Other survivors are three children, Cason J. Callaway Jr. of Columbus, Howard H. Callaway of Hamilton, and Mrs. Virginia Callaway Jackson of Beverly Hills, Calif., and 13 grandchildren. A brother, Fuller E. Callaway Jr. also survives.
____________________
Cason Callaway Dies;
Noted Industry Leader
LaGrange Native Was Former Textile Head
from: LaGrange Daily News, La Grange, Georgia, Thursday, April 13, 1961, p. 1:
Cason Jewell Callaway, 66, retired industrialist and business leader, died last night at his home at Blue Springs near Hamilton after an illness of one week. He had suffered two heart attacks since his retirement in 1938 from active direction of Callaway Mills. However, he had maintained interest in his varied activities until his last illness.
He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Virginia Hand Callaway, Blue Springs; three children, Mrs. Jack (Virginia) Jackson of Beverly Hills, Calif., Cason J. Callaway Jr. of Columbus, and Howard H. Callaway of Pine Mountain; a brother, Fuller E. Callaway Jr., LaGrange; and 13 grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held tomorrow at 3 p.m. at Hamilton Baptist Church with the Rev. Ayres Ward, pastor, the Rev. William A. Jones Jr. Rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church, LaGrange, and the Rt. Rev. Randolph R. Caliborne, Atlanta, bishop of the diocese of Atlanta of the Protestant Episcopal Church, officiating.
Burial will follow in the new Callaway mausoleum a top Pine Mountain near Blue Springs.
The body will remain at Maddox Funeral home until noon tomorrow and will lie in state at Hamilton Baptist Church from 1 to 3 p.m.
Maddox Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Native of LaGrange
Callaway was the older son of the late Fuller Earle Callaway, founder of the group of Mills that bear his name and the last Ida Cason Callaway.
He was born in LaGrange Nov. 6, 1894, and after attending LaGrange elementary schools, was a student at the Bingham School for Boys at Asheville, N.C., and the University of Virginia at Charlottesville. He subsequently completed a course in accounting at the Eastman School in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. In 1917, he volunteered for service in the U. S. Navy, became an ensign and later a lieutenant, junior grade. He was transferred to inactive service on February 1, 1919.
Returning home, he became active assistant to his father who was treasurer and director of sales of the various mills and other enterprises in the Callaway group. There were at that time six cotton mills producing semi-finished fabrics and yarns for other industries.
President in 1928
In 1928 Cason J. Callaway became president of Unity Cotton Mills, Milstead Manufacturing Company, Elm City Cotton Mills, Unit Spinning Mills, Manchester Cotton Mills, Calumet Mills (LaGrange, Hogensville and Stark Plants), Truline Inc., Valway Rug Mills, and Valley Waste Mills. He also served as president of Callaway Mills from 1932, when the plants were consolidated, until 1938 when he retired.
Under his leadership, the company embarked upon a program of diversification that projected their activities into new fields.
In 1922, the Callaway group established their own selling agency under the name of Callaway Mills, Inc. and Cason J. Callaway was its president until 1938.
Honored By Industry
Callaway's leadership was recognized by the cotton textile industry whose members elected him president of the Cotton Manufacturers Association of Georgia and president of the American Cotton Manufacturers Association. he was the youngest man to be thus honored by the textile industry at the time.
He also served as one of the first directors of Cotton Textile Institute, and was an original member from the South on the Textile Code Authority. He was one of four member of a commission to Japan in 1937.
On Board of Regents
In 1932, Callaway became a member of the board of regents of the University of Georgia, appointed to revise the State's higher education system. He has also served as chairman of the board.
As a member of the board, on which he served from 1932 to 1943, he found that considerably more, proportionately, of Georgia's tax money was spent for education than was the national average; yet the schools were relatively poor because, literally, the State was poor. And he found that the Sate was poor because the farmers were poor.
Callaway had already bought some 2,500 acres of land around Pine Mountain and kept on buying. What he had in mind was a model for the restoration of the eroded farm lands of Georgia.
His new systems of farming and forestry began about 1940. In the meantime, he had planted perennial leguminous grass, and was raising ducks, turkeys and Hereford cattle. By 1944, he had some 3,000 acres of reclaimed farm land at Blue Springs Farms, which he called his place near Hamilton.
Better Farms Plan
In August 1944, Callaway addressed a rally of the civic leaders of Atlanta. At that time he presented a plan to reclaim Georgia's farm lands. His plan called for the organization of 100 Better Farms Corporation which would buy 100 acres of land to be reclaimed with proper farm practices. By January, 1943, the 100 corporations had been formed.
Callaway's plan included four basic steps, namely: improvement of soil; establishment of long term commercial credit for the farmer; machinery to work crops and processing plants near the farms.
Blue Springs Farms set the example by building gullies into fields that then included 40 acres of scuppernongs, 700 acres of kudzu, 400 acres of alfalfa, sweet clover and other legumes in a 1,600 acre tract.
A dehydration plant was located in the center of the grass field to dry down the foodstuff which was fed to livestock on the place or sold.
His "Georgia Better Farms" project won for him the 1948 title of Georgia's "man of The Year in Agriculture" and his interest in this phase of Georgia's economy has been sustained.
Latest Project
Callaway's latest project was the development of the Ida Cason Callaway Gardens, named for his mother, and located on U. S. Highway 27, two miles south of Pine Mountain, and opened to the public in the spring of 1952. The gardens are operated by the Ida Cason Callaway Foundation.
The Ida Cason Callaway Gardens cover 1,200 acres in which Callaway developed 11 lakes, the largest of witch is 175 acres with a five mile shore line. The others vary in size from two to 70 acres. The largest lake is well stocked with fish and is open to the public for fishing at a nominal charge. The boat harbor is on the largest lake and provides 100 individual docks and boats.
A nine-hole golf course, the largest man-made beach in the United States, a motel, a club house where meals are available, and picnic areas are some of the other facilities of the gardens.
Native trees and shrubs make the gardens of special interest. These include the prunifolia azalea, the summer blooming flaming variety which Callaway found growing wild and propagated, and for which he won the conservation award of the Garden Society of America.
Other Interests
His business interest were state-wide and national in scope. He was a director of U. S. Steel, the Shell Oil Company, Chemical Corn Exchange Bank of New York City, the Trust Company of Georgia and the Nutrition Foundation.
He was a longtime trustee of LaGrange College.
He also was a member of First Baptist Church of LaGrange. He held membership in Highland Country Club, Piedmont Driving club and Capital City Club, Atlanta, and Columbus Country Club.
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Friends Pay Tribute To Mr. Callaway
from: LaGrange Daily News, La Grange, Georgia, April 15, 1961, p. 1:
Hundreds of friends from this area and from great distances attended the funeral service yesterday at Hamilton Baptist Church for Cason Jewell Callaway, retired industrialist, farm leader, philanthropist and friend to person in all walks of life.
Mr. Callaway died Wednesday night just before 11 o'clock at his home, Blue Springs, near Hamilton following a heart attack.
The Rev. Ayres Ward, pastor of the Hamilton Baptist Church, the Rev. William A. Jones Jr., rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church of LaGrange, and the Rt. Rev. Randolph R. Claiborne of Atlanta, bishop of the Atlanta diocese of the Protestant Episcopal Church, conducted the service at the church and the last rites at the new Callaway mausoleum atop Pine Mountai
W. T. Cooksey, Eitel Bauer, Thomas Tweed, Jack Adams, Bruce Williams and Fred Galle served as active pallbearers.
Honorary pallbearers were John A. Sibley, Atlanta; Roger Blough, M. E. Staght, Baxter Jackson, and Harold Helm, all of New York City; Robert W. Woodruff, Atlanta; Robert D. Williams Jr., New York; William Banks, Newnan; D. Abbott Turner, Columbus; Joe Lanier, West Point; J. Q. Davidson, Columbus; C. F. Palmer, Atlanta; George Woodruff, Atlanta; H. B. Stewart Jr., Hartsville Ohio.
LaGrange Rotary Club of which Mr. Callaway was a charter member, formed an honor guard.
The body lay in state at Maddox Funeral Home until noon yesterday and at Hamilton Baptist Church from 1 to 3 p.m.
Mr. Callaway, a former president of the textile enterprises established by his father, the late Fuller Earle Callaway, retired in 1938 from active management of the mills.
he then turned his interest and ability to the development of diversified farm practices in order to assist Georgia farmers increase their income. His "Better Farms Plan" won state and national recognition and helped farmers through out Georgia.
His latest interest was, the development of the Ida Cason Callaway Gardens, located on U. S. Highway 27, two miles south of the town of Pine Mountain. His dream of a place where his friends and their friends could find beauty and recreation was realized for the Gardens are the mecca of thousand each year.
In 1920, Mr. Callaway married Miss Virginia Hollis Hand of Pelham, Ga., who survives him. Other survivors are three children, Cason J. Callaway Jr. of Columbus, Howard H. Callaway of Hamilton, and Mrs. Virginia Callaway Jackson of Beverly Hills, Calif., and 13 grandchildren. A brother, Fuller E. Callaway Jr. also survives.
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