November 27, 1806

1806 Author and stage actress Frances Anne (Fanny) Kemble was born in London, England. Kemble came from a family of well-known actors, but was more interested in literature herself. However, financial problems of her father forced her onto the stage, her first role being that of Juliette. Kemble was an immediate success and embarked on an American tour in 1832. While in Philadelphia she met, andeventually married, Pierce Butler, grandson of a Georgia plantation owner.

Kemble was an intelligent, independent woman who abhorred slavery and was not shy about speaking out against it. These abolitionist views did not sit well with her husband; yet she still strived to make the marriage work. When Butler inherited the Georgia plantation upon his grandfather’s death, she moved to Georgia with him. From December 30, 1838 to April 17, 1839, Kemble kept a journal of what she witnessed. Although she spent just over sixteen months of her life in Georgia, the result was one of the most powerful pieces of historical literature ever produced. Unable to reconcile their differences, Butler and Kemble were divorced in 1849, with Butler retaining custody of their two daughters. During the Civil War she published the journal she had kept some twenty-five years before -- Journal of a Residence on a Georgia Plantation. Her descriptions of the horrifying treatment of slaves is credited with doing much toward maintaining British neutrality during the war, when for economic reasons many favored the South -- which produced cotton for British textile mills. Kemble went on to publish other thoughtful and intelligent works -- Records of a Girlhoodin 1878, Records of a Later Life in 1882, Notes Upon Some of Shakespeare’s Plays in 1882, Far Away and Long Ago in 1889, and Further Records in 1891. Kemble died in London on Jan. 15, 1893.

November 27, 1863

1863 The Battle of Ringgold Gap was fought. After their loss at Missionary Ridge, retreating Confederate troops entrenched themselves in Catoosa County at Ringgold Gap, where the Western & Atlantic RR cut through Taylor’s Ridge. For five hours, Union troops tried unsuccessfully to dislodge the Confederate defenders. Finally, they pulled back, leaving a Confederate victory.

November 27, 1863

1863 Confederate Brig. Gen. Claudius Charles Wilson died of fever as Union and Confederate troops fought at Ringgold Gap in Catoosa County. Wilson was born Oct. 1, 1831 in Effingham County, Ga. Before the war he served as a lawyer and state prosecuting attorney. In 1861, he became a captain in the 25th Georgia Volunteer Infantry, advancing to the rank of colonel in Sept. 1861. He served in the Vicksburg campaign, subsequently commanding a brigade in Walker’s corps at Chickamauga. In Nov. 1863, just prior to his death, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general.

November 27, 1864

1864 Camped just north of Sandersville, Sherman and the 20th Corps marched into town, where Sherman ordered the courthouse burned (because Confederates had used it to fire on Union troops). On this Sunday, they marched four miles to Tennille Station, where they camped for the night.

November 27, 1931

1931 Georgia politician Hoke Smith died in Atlanta. Born Sept. 2, 1855 inNewton, N.C., Smith and his parents moved toAtlanta after the Civil War. Here, he studied law and was admitted to practice at age 17. In the following years, he invested wisely and became quite wealthy. In the late 1800s, he became active in Democratic politics, and for his support of Grover Cleveland in the 1892 presidential campaign was namedU.S. Secretary of Interior. He resigned the cabinet post in 1896 and returned to the practice of law. In 1905, he decided to seek the office of Georgia governor, and in 1906 won overwhelmingly. His administration included many progressive reforms. Smith lost to Joseph M. Brown in 1908, but two years later regained the office of chief executive. After the death of U.S. Senator Alexander Clay in 1910, the General Assembly elected Smith to fill Clay’s remaining term. In the Senate, Smith is bestremembered for his support of agriculture and vocational education. The two most notable pieces of legislation associated with him were the Smith-Lever Act, which authorized agricultural extension programs, and the Smith-Hughes Act, which provided for pre-college vocational education in the areas of agriculture, industrial arts, and homemakingskills. Smith died in Atlanta on November 27, 1931.

November 27, 1944

1944 President Franklin D. Roosevelt arrived in Warm Springs, Ga. for his forty-first visit to his "second home." He had just finished a grueling re-election campaign, and was leading the nation (and the world) toward victory in World War II. But physically he was declining noticeably; he was suffering from heart disease and exhaustion. While this stay at Warm Springs certainly re-invigorated Roosevelt mentally, and to some degree physically (he did get a lot of rest), his health problems would continue.

November 27, 1965

1965 The Atlanta Falcons participated in their first NFL draft. Their first pick was Tommy Nobis, an Outland Trophy-winning linebacker from the University of Texas. Nobis was also drafted by Houston Oilers of the American Football League,but he signed a Falcons contract on December 14.

November 27, 1967

1967 Martin Luther King Jr. announced the formation by SCLC of a Poor People’s Campaign, with the aim of representing the problems of poor blacks and whites.