Ed Atkinson: Hero

All during the 1870’s Charles Amos had provided supplies and provisions to the work crews building the railroad through the Polk County, NC area just north of his Campobello, SC farm and timber operation. Ed and George Atkinson were living in his household, running a sawmill for him while waiting for work to resume on the railroad, when the Amos house caught fire. Ed was credited with having saved the life of Mr. Amos’ 13 year old daughter, Fannie, who was called “Miss Fannie,” by rescuing her from the burning house.

The fire did extensive damage to the house. Rather than rebuilding there, Mr. Amos moved his family to property he owned in Cherokee County, SC.

Fannie Amos married Robert C. Sarratt in 1887, and after his death in 1926, she was actively engaged in the management of her late husband’s business interests in Cherokee County.

We do not know if “Miss Fannie” and Ed Atkinson had seen or had any contact with each other in the intervening years. However, about 1951, when Ed was in his early 90s and Miss Fannie was in her early 80s, Ed visited her at her home in Gaffney. They spent an afternoon catching up and reminiscing. Ed learned that the sawmill business he had helped run so many years before was still in operation and was being run by Miss Fannie’s grandson.