Keep Chamblin Road's name as reminder of people and their history

Editor:

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I am dismayed each time I pass signs indicating that some of our county officials want to change the name of Chamblin Road to William Few Parkway. William Few's parkway should end where it meets Chamblin Road.

Mr. Few already has his honor and his road. If our officials would take note of Mr. Few's sojourn in this county, they would realize that he left us. He shook Columbia County dirt out of his shoes and moved to New York.

The Chamblins and their descendants stayed in Columbia County. They were physicians, farmers, teachers and good citizens who helped to produce the county that we have inherited and enjoy. Even though the family name is not present today, the Chamblins deserve to have the name memorialized for their contributions.

I have a deep interest in keeping the name because my mother named the road on Feb. 14, 1949, in honor of Jennie Ashmore Chamblin. Mrs. Chamblin and her daughter, Mary Chamblin Green, loved Columbia County, its people and its history.

Mrs. Green was one of the last teachers at the original Grovetown High School that closed in 1925. Mrs. Chamblin maintained a boarding house for teachers who taught at that school. She was cousin to Thomas and Otis Ashmore, who edited Grier's Almanac. Otis Ashmore was one of the first teachers at the first Harlem High School before he joined his uncle in Savannah.

When Chamblin Road was named in 1949, it began at Wrightsboro Road and extended to Columbia Road. I hope that does not change. We need to keep as much history as we can to give a good heritage to our future citizens.

Constance Grimaude

Augusta