[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 108 (Monday, July 21, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H7207]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          CELEBRATING THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF BOWDON, GEORGIA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GINGREY. Madam Speaker, I did not rise to speak on this issue, 
but I just feel compelled to respond to some of my colleagues on the 
other side of the aisle who are not directly questioning the honesty 
and truthfulness of President George W. Bush, but yet are doing it 
secondarily through these so-called ``constituent letters.''
   I want to remind them that it is inappropriate, indeed, out of 
order, for a Member of Congress to speak in this House from this well 
and to suggest that the President is lying, that the President is 
untruthful, that the President deceived the American public. Whether 
they are saying that directly or they are suggesting it through these 
so-called constituent letters, they are getting very, very close to 
crossing that line.
   I want to remind my colleagues that this president was elected, for 
more than any other reason, because of his honesty and his integrity. 
The American people trust President Bush and applaud him for what he is 
doing, what he has done and what he will continue to do to bring peace 
to the Middle East.
   Madam Speaker, actually I am rising today to celebrate the 105th 
anniversary of Bowdon, Georgia, a jewel of a city in the 11th 
Congressional District which I represent.
   Bowdon has a proud history that dates back before the official 
founding of the city. In 1847, Carroll County troops from the Bowdon 
area, fighting under General Winfield Scott, defeated a large army 
under Santa Anna at Cerro Gordo, Mexico. The town of Bowdon was 
originally called Cerro Gordo to commemorate that victory. After 
Alabama Congressman Franklin Welch Bowdon assisted the town in securing 
a post office, the citizens honored him by renaming their town Bowdon 
in 1848.
   Several years later, in 1853, about 30 local residents selected the 
present town site. Lots were sold to the highest bidder, with the most 
expensive lot going for $10.50. The city grew quickly, and by 1855 
Bowdon had five stores, several shops, a primary school and a high 
school. At least one of those original houses in Bowdon still stands 
today.
   It was not long before the people of this community chartered Bowdon 
College in 1856. The college was the fifth chartered in Georgia. The 
school was a trailblazer in the State, as it was first to educate both 
men and women. With few resources, but with the commitment of a devoted 
community, Bowdon College educated thousands of poor but ambitious 
students until 1936. After the Civil War, Bowdon College was one of 
five endowed by the State of Georgia to educate wounded and disabled 
veterans, in 1866 and 1867. The program educated more than 200 
veterans.
   In the early part of the 20th Century, Bowdon flourished with cotton 
and lumber sales. Soon there was a demand for rail service, and a rail 
line was completed in 1910. Governor Hoke Smith and Congressman William 
Charles Adamson, a native of Bowdon, attended the ceremony to celebrate 
the completion of the line.
   Bowdon expanded its job-base during the Great Depression, when 
Bowdon College graduate Warren Palmer Sewell opened a clothing plant in 
1932. Warren Sewell Clothing was one of the top ten manufacturers of 
clothing in the country when he died in 1973.
   Today, Bowdon remains a proud city in Carroll County. Each August, 
Bowdon holds its annual Founders Day celebration. This year, the city's 
105th anniversary, the celebration will be particularly special.

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