Ed Jackson and Charles Pou

The University of Georgia

December 25

1837 Gov. George Gilmer signed an act creating Dade County as Georgia's 92nd county. Created from portions of Walker County, the new county was named for Maj. Francis Dade, who commanded a company of U.S. soldiers that was massacred by Seminole Indians near Withlacoocha in Dec. 1835--an event leading to the Seminole War.

1866 Lawyer and politician John Slaton was born in Meriwether County, Ga. At age nine, his family moved to Atlanta, where his father became superintendent of the city school system. Slaton attended the University of Georgia, obtaining a masters degree in 1886. The following year, he passed the bar and began practicing law in Atlanta. In 1896, he was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives, and in 1905 was selected Speaker of the House. Three years later, he ran for the Senate, where in 1909 he was elected President of the Senate. In this capacity, he became acting governor in 1911 when the General Assembly elected Gov. Hoke Smith to fill the unexpired term of the late U.S. Senator A.S. Clay. In 1912, Slaton successfully ran for the office of governor. As governor, he supported progressive measures--such as ending the practice of leasing convicts to perform labor in the private sector. But his most memorable claim to history was his commuting Leo Frank's death sentence in 1915. The courageous action ended Slaton's political career, and he returned to the practice of law. He died in Atlanta on Jan. 11, 1955.

1868 President Andrew Johnson granted an unconditional pardon to all persons involved in the Confederate cause during the Civil War.

1896 Gov. William Atkinson approved a joint resolution creating a state Schoolbook Commission to "enquire into the methods that obtain in other States of furnishing schoolbooks for the common schools and to devise and recommend some plan for providing schoolbooks for the Georgia schools at more reasonable cost, if possible." The resolution further directed local school boards not to enter into any long term contracts for purchasing school books until the commission has made its report.

1897 Lawyer and judge Stella Akin was born in Savannah, Ga. After a public school education in Savannah, she read law and became the first woman admitted to the Georgia bar in 1917. The following year, she began practicing law in Savannah. In 1933, Pres. Franklin Roosevelt appointed Akin to serve as a special assistant to the attorney general. In 1957, she was appointed to fill an unexpired term as judge of Savannah's municipal court. During her career, Akin held many "firsts" for women in Georgia's legal profession. She died in Savannah on Oct. 8, 1972.

1929 The Fox Theater opened in Atlanta.

1991 Georgia Tech beat Stanford 18-17 in the Aloha Bowl.

2006 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame musical artist James Brown, popularly known as the "Godfather of Soul," died in Atlanta. He was a native of Augusta, GA.

In Their Own Words on This Day. . .

1861 From his plantation at Rockbridge, Thomas Maguire recorded in his journal his thoughts about this first Christmas Day of the Civil War:

"Dec. 25 -- Christmas Day, 24° clear & the promise of a pleasant day. There is not near so much bustle among the young folks as usual on that occasion. Abe's government has cast its shadow of war around the country, and gloom and seriousness is the effect, even among the young and thoughtless. It is to be hoped this misfortune will not long oppress our country, but that peace will soon be established & rejoicing once again resound through our country. I shall devote this day to writing to the soldiers that are enduring the hardships of camp life & standing between us as a wall of fire and the vandals of the North, so we comparatively are enjoying peace and the pleasures of home. All honor to the volunteers of the Confederacy -- they deserve well of their country."

Source: Franklin M. Garrett, Atlanta and Environs: A Chronicle of its People and Events (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1969 reprint of 1954 original volume), p. 518.

1867 Almost three years after the Civil War, Atlanta merchant Samuel P. Richards was able to record in his journal that things were improving this Christmas:

"Dec. 25. Christmas Day -- and great rejoicing among the little folks this morning as they investigating the stockings that their good old, yest mysterious friend Santa Claus had fille during the nright. Poor as the people pretend to be -- and as many really are -- they have found considerable to spend on Christmas. Our trade was pretty good yesterday, considering the smallness of our Christmas stock, but Jack the Toy dealer [Geo. W. Jack] did a heavy business. . . ."

Source: Franklin M. Garrett, Atlanta and Environs: A Chronicle of its People and Events (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1969 reprint of 1954 original volume), p. 767.