John Leonard Pilcher Papers, Series VI: Post Office

John Leonard Pilcher Papers, Series VI: Post Office

Descriptive Summary

Title: John Leonard Pilcher Papers, Series VI: Post Office
Creator: Pilcher, John Leonard, 1898-1981.
Inclusive Dates: 1941-1961
Language(s): English
Extent: 5 box(es) (2.5 linear feet)
Collection Number: RBRL131JLP_VI
Repository: Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies
Abstract: The Post Office series consists of correspondence, memos, regulations, reports, and telegrams, the series is concerned with the opening, closing, or construction of post offices; routes; constituent comments on and postal investigations/inspections into service; legislation pertaining to the operation of post offices; and the appointment of postmasters and rural carriers in the Second Congressional District.

Collection Description

Biographical Note

John Leonard Pilcher was born in a two-room log cabin near Meigs, Georgia on August 27, 1898. Although Pilcher's father died when he was five, and Pilcher had to support his mother and two young sisters, he completed seven grades of public school and graduated from Massey Business College. In 1922, he married Dorothy Covington of Moultrie, Georgia. They had two sons: John Leonard, Jr., who in 1946, at the age of seventeen, was killed in a plane crash while serving as an ROTC air cadet at the University of Georgia; and Charles, who handled the family business while his father was in Washington.

Pilcher started working at the age of fifteen, and by the time he was twenty he was operating a small business. Involved in agricultural pursuits most of his life, Pilcher not only owned a farm, but expanded his holdings to include a general mercantile business, a fertilizer manufacturing plant, feed mill, corn elevator, cotton gins and warehouses, and a syrup canning plant. He was involved in many business organizations, such as the National Cotton Council and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, and served as the director of the Thomas County PEA (production and marketing). He also became president of the Bank of Meigs, Georgia.

At the age of twenty--one, Pilcher was elected mayor of Meigs. During the years 1921 through 1940, he also served as a councilman and a public school trustee. In 1940, he was elected to represent the Seventh District in the Georgia State Senate. After his term expired in 1943, he returned to Meigs and was elected to the post of county commissioner of roads and revenue for Thomas County, a position he held from 1943 to 1947. During this same period he also served as a member of the Agricultural and Industrial Board for the county (1944-1948). From 1948 to 1949, Pilcher was the Supervisor of Purchases for the state of Georgia, serving under Governors Thompson and Arnall. In 1953, Edward Eugene Cox, the congressman representing the Second District, died and a special election was held to fill his seat. In spite of a large field of candidates and his late entrance into the race for the position, Pilcher won the seat in a hardworking campaign by a 2,000 vote margin over his nearest competitor.

Pilcher was a member of Congress from February 4, 1953 to January 3, 1965. He started on the House Committee on Government Operations, serving on the committee from 1953 to 1954. After an attempt to gain a seat on the House Agriculture Committee failed, he accepted a seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee where he served from 1955 to 1964. He was a member of the Subcommittee on the Far East and the Pacific and became chairman of the Subcommittee on Foreign Economic Policy. Twice, in 1959 and 1961, Pilcher went abroad with other members of the subcommittee on Special Study Missions to oversee U.S. economic and technical assistance programs.

Pilcher did not run for reelection in 1964. Instead, he retired from his congressional career and took the post of Southeastern Regional Director of the Office of Emergency Planning. Pilcher died on August 20, 1981, at the age of 82.

Scope and Content

The Post Office series consists of correspondence, memos, regulations, reports, and telegrams, the series is concerned with the opening, closing, or construction of post offices; routes; constituent comments on and postal investigations/inspections into service; legislation pertaining to the operation of post offices; and the appointment of postmasters and rural carriers in the Second Congressional District.

Organization and Arrangement

The series is arranged alphabetically by community name or subject.


Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

VII. Academies and VIII. Case Files are closed. Restricted files have been removed from II. Meigs Office, III. Miscellaneous File, and VI. Post Office and are housed separately from the rest of the collection.

Preferred Citation

John Leonard Pilcher Papers, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia 30602-1641

Processing Notes

Scrapbooks, photographs, and artifacts were physically separated from the papers for preservation. Photographs were removed from scrapbooks wherever possible and replaced with Xerox copies.

User Restrictions

Library acts as "fair use" reproduction agent.

Copyright Information

Before material from collections at the Richard B. Russell Library may be quoted in print, or otherwise reproduced, in whole or in part, in any publication, permission must be obtained from (1) the owner of the physical property, and (2) the holder of the copyright. It is the particular responsibility of the researcher to obtain both sets of permissions. Persons wishing to quote from materials in the Russell Library collection should consult the Director. Reproduction of any item must contain a complete citation to the original.

Finding Aid Publication

Finding aid prepared on: September 2008.


Related Materials and Subjects

Subject Terms

Related Collections in this Repository

Iris F. Blitch Papers

S. Ernest Vandiver, Jr. Papers

Carl E. Sanders Papers

Herman E. Talmadge Collection

August H. Turnbull Collection of Carl Sanders Speech/Press Files

E. L. (Tic) Forrester Papers

Stephen Pace Post Office Files

Richard B. Russell, Jr. Collection

Democratic Party of Georgia Records

Related Collections in Other Repositories

Georgia Government Documentation Project, Series F: Marvin Griffin oral history collection. Special Collection Department, William Russell Pullen Library, Georgia State University

Stellanova Osborn papers, 1916-1992. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University

Griffin Bell Papers, School of Law, Mercer University


Series Descriptions and Folder Listing

 

VI. Post Office

5 box(es)
(2.5 linear feet)
Consisting of correspondence, memos, regulations, reports, and telegrams, the series is concerned with the opening, closing, or construction of post offices; routes; constituent comments on and postal investigations/inspections into service; legislation pertaining to the operation of post offices; and the appointment of postmasters and rural carriers in the Second Congressional District. The series is arranged alphabetically by community name or subject. It is cross-referenced by series III. Miscellaneous File. Restricted material has been removed from this series. The files on Benevolence and Bluffton, Georgia contain material directed solely to Third Congressional District Congressman E. L. Forrester and his predecessor, Stephen Pace. The files were apparently transferred because of redistricting in 1964 which added the counties of Clay, Crisp, Quitman, Randolph, Terrell, and Turner, all originally part of the Third District, to the Second District. Additional post office material on these counties, covering the years 1937-1964, may be found in the E. L. Forrester Papers and Stephen Pace Post Office Papers collections.
boxfolder
VI.1 1Acree, GA, 1954-1955
VI.1 2Albany, GA, 1954-1958, 1960
VI.1 3Albany, GA - Postmaster, 1961-1964
VI.1 4Albany, GA - Rural Carrier File, 1960-1962, 1964
VI.1 5Amsterdam, GA, 1959
VI.1 6Arlington, GA, 1953, 1955, 1957, 1959-1961
VI.1 7Attapulgus, GA, 1953, 1958, 1960
VI.1 8Attapulgus, GA - Rural Carrier, 1963-1964
VI.1 9Baconton, GA - Rural Route, 1954
VI.1 10Bainbridge, GA, 1954, 1956-1963
VI.1 11Bainbridge, GA - Rural Route, 1954, 1962-1963
VI.1 12Barney, GA, 1957, 1959-1960, 1963-1964
VI.1 13Barney, GA - Rural Route, 1962, 1964
VI.1 14Barwick, GA, 1956
VI.1 15Benevolence, GA, 1947-1948
VI.1 16Berlin, GA, 1955, 1958
VI.1 17Bluffton, GA, 1941, 1944-1945, 1952-1954, 1963-1964
VI.1 18Boston, GA, 1954-1956, 1959
VI.1 19Boston, GA - Highway Post Office No. 57 and No. 58, 1960
VI.1 20Boston, GA - Postmaster, 1961
boxfolder
VI.2 1Bridgeboro, GA, 1956-1957
VI.2 2Brinson, GA - Postmaster, 1964
VI.2 3Cairo, GA, 1953, 1955-1956, 1961
VI.2 4Cairo, GA - Postmaster, 1961-1963
VI.2 5Cairo, GA - Rural Mail Delivery - Requests, 1962
VI.2 6Cairo, GA - Rural Route, 1958-1959, 1962-1963
VI.2 7Camilla, GA, 1953, 1956, 1961
VI.2 8Camilla, GA - Postmaster, 1958, 1960-1963
VI.2 9Camilla, GA - Rural Route, 1956, 1960-1963
VI.2 10Cavalry, GA, 1957-1959
VI.2 11Cedar Springs, GA, 1955, 1963-1964
VI.2 12Chattahoochee, Florida - Rural Route #1, 1963
VI.2 13Chula, GA - Postmaster, 1963-1964
VI.2 14Climax, GA, 1961, 1963-1964
VI.2 15Climax, GA - Rural Carrier, 1953-1954, 1963-1964
VI.2 16Colquitt, GA, 1953-1954, 1956-1957, 1959-1961
VI.2 17Colquitt, GA - Rural Route, 1961-1963
boxfolder
VI.3 1Coolidge, GA - Rural Route, 1964
VI.3 2Crosland, GA, 1955
VI.3 3Damascus, GA - Postmaster, 1962-1963
VI.3 4Damascus, GA - Rural Route, 1953-1954
VI.3 5Dixie, GA - Rural Route, 1956, 1959
VI.3 6Doerun, GA, 1953, 1955, 1958-1964
VI.3 7Doerun, GA - Rural Route, 1964
VI.3 8Doles, GA, 1956
VI.3 9Donalsonville, GA, 1953, 1959-1962
VI.3 10Edison, GA, 1958-1960
VI.3 11Edison, GA - Rural Route, 1957, 1959
VI.3 12Eldorendo, GA, 1953, 1955, 1959-1961
VI.3 13Ellenton, GA, 1954-1955, 1957-1958
VI.3 14Elmodel, GA, 1953, 1959-1960
VI.3 15Faceville, GA, 1955
VI.3 16Fender, GA, 1958-1959
VI.3 17Fowlstown, GA, 1955
VI.3 18Hartsfield, GA - Postmaster, 1955, 1964
VI.3 19Hilton, GA, 1955
VI.3 20Iron City, GA, 1953, 1961
VI.3 21Leary, GA, 1959-1961
VI.3 22Leary, GA - Postmaster, 1963
VI.3 23Leary, GA - Rural Route, 1960-1963
VI.3 24Meigs, GA, 1955, 1959-1960
VI.3 25Meigs, GA - Rural Carrier, 1963
VI.3 26Metcalf, GA Rural Station, 1953, 1955, 1959
VI.3 27Milford, GA, 1954-1955
VI.3 28Morgan, GA - Postmaster, 1962-1964
VI.3 29Morgan, GA - Route 1, 1953
VI.3 30Morven, GA, 1961
boxfolder
VI.4 1Moultrie, GA, 1953-1956, 1961-1964
VI.4 2Moultrie, GA - Rural Route ,#2, 1959, 1963
VI.4 3Norman Park, GA, 1953
VI.4 4Oakfield, GA - Postmaster, 1961, 1963-1964
VI.4 5Oakfield, GA - Rural Carrier, 1961-1962
VI.4 6Ochlocknee, GA, 1954, 1959
VI.4 7Omega, GA, 1955, 1958, 1961
VI.4 8Omega, GA - Rural Route, 1964
VI.4 9Pavo, GA, 1954, 1959, 1962
VI.4 10Pavo, GA - Postmaster, 1961-1963
VI.4 11Pavo, GA - Rural Carrier, 1962
VI.4 12Pelham, GA - Rural Route, 1953, 1958, 1962-1963
VI.4 13Pidcock, GA, 1955
VI.4 14Post Office Department, 1955, 1958-1959
VI.4 15Postmaster and Rural Carrier Appointment Rules, 1951, 1964
VI.4 16Postmaster Examination Information, 1961
VI.4 17Putney, GA - Rural Route, 1954, 1959
VI.4 18Quitman, GA, 1958, 1963
VI.4 19Quitman, GA - Rural Route, 1953, 1962
VI.4 20Railway Postal Service between Waycross, GA and Montgomery, AL, 1964
VI.4 21Sale City, GA, 1954
VI.4 22Sale City, GA - Rural Route, 1957
VI.4 23Star Routes, 1953
VI.4 24Sylvester, GA, 1953-1955, 1964
boxfolder
VI.5 1Thomasville, GA, 1953-1954, 1956-1963
VI.5 2Tifton, GA, Folder 1, 1963-1964
VI.5 3Tifton, GA, Folder 11, 1953-1955, 1958-1962
VI.5 4Tifton, GA - Rural Route, 1964
VI.5 5Turner Air Force Base - Postal Facility, Albany, GA, 1963
VI.5 6Ty Ty, GA, 1955, 1960-1961
VI.5 7Ty Ty, GA - Rural Route, 1960-1961
VI.5 8Veterans Preference, undated
VI.5 9Walkerton, VA, 1959
VI.5 10Warwick, GA, 1961
VI.5 11West Bainbridge, GA, 1957, 1959
VI.5 12Whigham, GA, 1953-1954, 1961-1962

Special Collections Libraries
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602-1641