Partridge family of Clarkston
I must admit, when I hear the words “the Partridge family” I think of the television show and David Cassidy. What can I say? I was 13 years old when the show first aired in 1970.
Another Partridge family lived in Clarkston, Georgia in DeKalb County beginning in 1911 when Sadie and Arthur Partridge built a home on Church Street. There was no city water, electricity, or gas and the road was not yet paved. (DeKalb News Sun, July 11, 1981, “Partridges Integral Part of Clarkston Since 1911”)
They joined the Clarkston Baptist Church. Sadie was active in the church, teaching Sunday School for over 50 years and taking other leadership positions.
Their family vacations were to places where the family could set up tents. There was St. Simons Island and Brunswick Georgia, or Pablo Beach in Florida. Sometimes they went to parts of Georgia north of their home, such as Dahlonega.
The family had an affinity for cars, owning different models through the years. There were only three families in Clarkston who owned cars. Some of the models the Partridge family owned were Maxwell, Overland, Everitt and Nash.
The Partridge family had different cars through the years, one of which was a Nash. This photo shows a 1931 model of a Nash, available in Columbus, Georgia. (photo from The Columbus Ledger, August 30, 1931)
Back when newspapers had social columns, the Clarkston social news included members of the Partridge family motoring to Macon to visit a family member at WWI Camp Wheeler. W. H. Partridge of Norcross, A. N. Partridge of Clarkston, along with M.J. Martin of Clarkston and their families traveled to visit their son and brother Private George F. Partridge of the 122nd Infantry before he went overseas. (Atlanta Journal, June 16, 1918)
Some members of the Partridge family lived in Norcross and part of their land became the Norcross Rifle Range during World War I. The Rifle Range was near Chamblee’s Camp Gordon and soldiers went there to practice their rifle skills.
The 1920 U.S. Census shows Sadie and Arthur living with their three children on Desalve Road. The street name could be either correct or incorrect because misspellings of family and street names happen often. The 1940 census shows the family living on Stone Mountain Car Line Road, which is Church Street in Clarkston today.
Arthur Partridge died in 1954 and Sadie Partridge died in 1981 at the age of 87. He is recorded as being buried at Melwood Cemetery, according to FindaGrave. Although that information is not available for Sadie, her obituary indicates she was also buried at Melwood. The cemetery is on E. Ponce de Leon Road in Stone Mountain.
As happens often, this history has brought more questions to my mind. There was a streetcar going out to Clarkston and Stone Mountain?
Thank you to my mom for her love of local history and for saving special issues of The DeKalb News/Sun from 1981 and other years.