Historic Macon

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Above: The City of Macon carried
passengers and freight the two
hundred miles down the Ocmulgee
and Altamaha Rivers.
Right: Sidney Lanier was born in
Macon in 1842. Best known during
his lifetime for his musical
compositions, he became celebrated
for his poetry after his early death
at age 39. “Corn”, “The Marshes
of Glynn”, and “The Song of the
Chattahoochee” are three of his
best known works. He served as a
scout in General Robert E. Lee’s army
but was captured and interned at a
prison camp in Maryland. At war’s
end he walked most of the way back
to Macon.
In 1846, Dr. Baber again ran for the State
Senate. A false rumor that he led a mob that
“tarred, feathered, and ran out of town” a democrat
cost him the election by a few votes. After his loss,
Dr. Baber was a pitiful figure. He suffered from his
war wound, severe asthma and increasing
curvature of the spine. In that condition he
prescribed medicine for a patient. On the advice of
a pharmacist the patient refused to take the
medicine Dr. Baber prescribed. To prove his
prescription was correct the doctor took two
teaspoons of the medicine with a lump of sugar.
Before he could loosen his collar Dr. Baber
was dead. An investigation revealed a
printing error in the prescription book.
Newspapers printing the story of Dr.
Baber’s death noted the many things
he had done for Macon. He was a
major supporter of Montpelier Institute,
a girls’ school just west of Macon. He
was the first president of the Macon
Lyceum and Literary Society and his
books were the basis of that lending
library. Christ Episcopal Church preserved
the silver communion service he gave it,
and it was noted that “Christ Church owes
more to him than any other man.” The
Masons placed a marble monument at his
grave in Rose Hill Cemetery. A fellow
doctor who had known him said of
Ambrose Baber, “He was deeply interested
in the prosperity of the young place in
which he had settled, and was ranked
among its most enterprising and publicspirited
citizens.”
14 ✦ HISTORIC MACON