Submitted by: Florence Wikle
In June, 1949 the paradise that five very happy children
enjoyed beyond comprehension was destroyed.
The winter of 1948 had been extremely rainy. This continued
into the month of June of 1949. As the ground became more and more saturated
with water there was nowhere for it to go but into the streams. Located in the
Batesville community was a dam used by the Wikle family for a source of
electrical power for the family houses and businesses. This dam was located on
Raper Creek which flowed in into the Soque River. There was also another dam
located on the Ernest Nash property which was located on Shoal Creek, which ran
into the Soque River, below the dam which belonged to the Wikle family.
I remember it had rained almost continuously for about two
weeks, most of the time in torrential downpours. I remember my mother washing
our clothes and then having to hang them on the porch and all over the house
rather than hanging them outside to dry. I am sure at this point in her life
she must have prayed every night for it to stop raining so she could get us
five kids out of the house and out from under her feet. My mother was not the
only one feeling frustrated, we kids needed and wanted to get outside. We were
so used to playing in our beautiful woods and in the gorgeous Soque River just
being inside was sheer torture. For a kid, this home and its surroundings was
sheer paradise. Over the years the land around our house had flooded leaving
beautiful sand all along the river, just perfect to take a running jump down
the bank and into the Soque River. It was also the perfect place to do our
night fishing with Mr. Otto Fricks. My brother, Willard and I would go with Mr.
Fricks, sit on that lovely sand, set out lines, lean back and hope to catch
some kind of fish, we were not particular about the kind of fish we caught
since we never kept the fish, just threw them back.
Our father operated what was known as the lower plant. It
was one of two power plants used to generate power for Habersham Mills and the
village. As you came down the narrow road that led to the plant and our house,
you first came to the lower dam, below the dam was located the power plant and
then beyond that our house, barn, etc. The charm of this place was our swimming
hole which was located behind the plant. It was just at the bottom of the dam
on the shoals and went from very shallow to about six feet deep. Perfect for
our ages! We also had a beach where you could build sand castles and have all
manner of fun. This was sort of like living in a resort with something to do
every season. In the summer we had the river and all the fun you could possibly
have there and the glorious woods and hills to play in the winter and fall. I
also think one of the nicest things about living so close to the river was the
sound of the Soque cascading over the dam and onto the rocks. This is the sound
that will always remind me of my childhood and is responsible for my home I
live in today, being located on Hazel Creek in Demorest where I hear this
delightful sound every day.
The Soque is a
gorgeous river which most of the time is very placid except in the areas where
there are mild shoals, but on this particular June night it was running strong
and wild. We had gone out during the day to watch the water as it rushed over
the dam. It was very exciting to watch, never thinking in a million years what
lay ahead of us.
That morning around two o’clock we heard a great commotion,
my father, along with several men from the village came into the house and
began getting us out of our beds and out of the house as quickly as possible.
We all had on our pajamas and I remember whoever took me out put a quilt over
me to keep off the rain. As we started out the water was rising fast. The thing
I remember the most about that night was the fact that when we had been flooded
before, which was two times, the water had never been so rushing and wild. My
parents had time to remove or put our furniture on blocks and save the
furniture before, but this time it was very different, as I have state, the water
was coming up so fast that I knew this time it was much, much more serious than
the other two times we were flooded.
I did not find out until the next morning what had actually
happened. My mother came by the C. Moss house, where I was staying, and told us
the dam at the Wikle property on Raper creek and broken due to debris and the
over abundance of water, which in turn caused the dam at the Nash property to
break and flow into the Soque creating havoc on our home and the power plants.
My mother did not want us to see what was going on at the house, but she
finally relented and let us go with her to the house. It was a real shock. I
remember standing up on the hill above the house and looking down on the house
and all I could see was a part of the roof. My father was going to build some
chicken houses out in the pasture and had lumber stacked up drying for that
purpose. This lumber was floating everywhere and Boots and Reeves Hill were
swimming around the house trying to save anything that was salvageable from
livestock to household items. Nothing much was salvaged except my mother’s
sewing machine and one chair from our dining room suite. All our clothes, toys,
furniture was gone. To us, was the horrible realization that we would never
again get to live in our paradise. We were all absolutely devastated. It was a
long, long time before I could go back and look at what was once a child’s very
large playground, but go I did. Today even though our modest little cottage no
longer exists, I still have those very wonderful memories that do not fade nor
can anyone take away from me and the beautiful Soque flows as beautifully as
ever.
A remembrance by: Florence Wikle
