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Profiles of Prominent Citizens
Pauline Thaxton Robinson
Editor, County Newspaper
From a speech “Historic Women of Charlton County” by Lois Barefoot Mays given in October 1989 for the Charlton County A.A.R.P.
Pauline Thaxton Robinson was one of the first women in the state of Georgia to become the editor of a newspaper. She was also one of the first businesswomen in Folkston.
She was born October 29, 1876 in Jackson, Georgia, into a distinguished family.
Her father, David J. Thaxton, was the editor of the county paper in Jackson;
her brother, Dr. Oscie A. Thaxton, became a professor at the Georgia State College
for Women, and in her earlier days she herself was a school teacher. Her work
as a teacher was a reflection of her passion for knowledge and education.
When she was 25 years old she married William Henry Robinson, a cousin of President
William Henry Harrison. The couple moved to Florida where, for 15 years, they
lived on their farm and prospered by raising pineapples. But when their crops
were ruined by two winters of severe freezes, she and Mr.Robinson decided to
look elsewhere for their livelihood.
He felt that they should return to his childhood home in Oklahoma and decided to take a trip back there to explore that possibility. However, he got on the wrong train. Instead of a westbound train, he wound up on one headed north for Savannah. As soon as he realized his mistake, he got off the train and found himself in Folkston.
While he was waiting for the next train west to Oklahoma, he struck up a conversation with Eli Waughtel from Homeland. Billy was impressed with the way Mr. Waughtel seemed to love living in Charlton County. In fact, before the conversation ended, Mr. Waughtel had not only signed him up as a subscriber to the local paper, but sold him a parcel of land as well. Mr. Robinson changed his travel plans and returned to their homestead in Florida to reconsider the move to Oklahoma.
Each week the couple received a copy of the Charlton County Herald in the mail and Pauline, coming from a newspaper family, read it faithfully. Then one week she came across an ad in which the newspaper itself was offered for sale. She was naturally interested in a situation like that, because she knew the business of newspapers very well. She had helped her father set the type for his paper in Jackson and was familiar with the day to day workings of a newspaper operation.
The Robinsons had begun considering moving to Folkston and buying the paper
when the forces of nature helped them make their decision. A third winter of
freezes took its disastrous toll on their pineapple crops.
In 1916, they sold their homestead in Florida, purchased the Charlton County
Herald and moved to the tiny village of Folkston. Residents who recall those
times say it was no coincidence that the years that followed were marked by
many positive changes in the town.
When the couple arrived in Folkston, Pauline Robinson was dismayed that the local high school did not meet the standards for state accreditation. The young people of the town had little chance of continuing their education in college or trade schools without a diploma from an accredited high school.
Pauline had been raised in a family that placed a high priority on education. She also had worked for several years as a teacher, and therefore enrolled her own three children, Margaret [Scott], Irene [Caudle] and Billy, in state approved schools of nearby towns.
As editor of the newspaper, she gathered the news each week of making the rounds of meetings at the courthouse, schools and churches. She wrote all the articles herself and sold all the advertisements. And she set the type for the printing press, by hand, for each week’s issue.
She was the picture of a serious businesswoman of her day. She usually wore
a trademark outfit that consisted of a long black skirt, a white blouse decorated
with a gold pin, and a pair of eyeglasses on a gold chain. She was a striking
figure and a familiar sight to the people of the town as she made the rounds
in her weekly routine. Each morning she walked to work from her home which was
the old Colonel Oliff homestead. On printing day she involved her children in
proofreading, folding and addressing the papers.
She wrote frequent editorials encouraging the local government to raise the
standards of the high school. More qualified teachers had to be hired. More
courses had to be offered. She also became active in local organizations and
served as president of the Parent-Teacher Association. Five years later, in
1921, her goal was accomplished. The state accredited the local high school.
The roadways that connected Folkston with nearby communities were all dirt roads, unpaved and ungraded. They were rough, filled with holes and became muddy during rainy spells. Since there were few bridges, travelers to and from Florida had to cross the St. Marys River by privately operated ferries. At a time when automobiles were becoming more numerous, traveling through Charlton County was still an arduous journey. She joined with other leaders of the community in an effort to improve the roadways of the county. Using the influence of her editorial pen, she helped make the citizens of the county aware of this opportunity and these efforts were rewarded in 1919, when the voters approved an added tax burden of $50,000 to finance the construction of the Dixie Highway.
Almost immediately there were economic opportunities that had not existed before. Gas stations, motels and restaurants that catered to the tourist trade sprouted like mushrooms along the new highway. Many new jobs were created.
Pauline Robinson was a district president of the Georgia Editors’ Association, probably the first woman to hold that position. She was also a dedicated member of the Baptist Church and served as S.S. Superintendent and president of the Women’s’ Missionary Union for many years. She wrote songs for the children of the church .
Mrs. Robinson retired as editor of the Charlton County Herald in 1927 but she remained active in the community. She was hired as guest teacher and checked up on students who failed to attend school regularly.
In 1953 Pauline Robinson died after a full and fruitful life. She is buried in Jacksonville, Fla. But though she is gone, her legacy remains. The improved quality of education and the economic prosperity which she helped to bring about have earned her an honored place as one of the great women leaders in the history of Charlton County.
Mrs. Robinson was selected as Folkston’s entry in the “Discovering Georgia’s Historic Mothers, 1776-1976,” a project of the Charlton County Bicentennial Commission.
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