Mattie Lee Baxley Papers

Mrs. Mattie Lee Baxley (October 20, 1920 - August 22, 2013) was born on Second Street in Cochran, GA. Mrs. Baxley received her elementary education at Cochran Public Schools. In 1929 her family moved to Decatur where she attended Decatur High School. She graduated from Young Harris in the Class of 1938. She graduated from Middle Georgia College in the Class of 1941 and she graduated from Wesleyan Conservatory, class of 1943. During World War II and from 1946 to 1956, she was Director of Recreation in U.S. Veterans Hospitals at Augusta and Dublin and in U.S. Air Force bases at Robins AFB Warner Robins, at Moody AFB Valdosta, and at bases in Germany and France. Mrs. Baxley taught elementary grades at Cary in 1945 and from 1959 to 1961 she taught English at Savannah High School. From home in Cochran, Savannah, Longstreet and Baxley, she spent 85 summers on St. Simons Island residing at 620 Postell Avenue at Baxley Beach Cottage, which was once the nearest house on the Island to the Lighthouse. After living in Baxley, GA for 25 years, she returned to Cochran in 1990. She was a member of the Cochran First United Methodist Church and Ladies Circle III. She helped organize and support a Wesleyan Alumnae group in Savannah and for many years she was active in the Appling County Chapter and the Hawkinsville Chapter, National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.