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by Stephen Whigham (Compiled by), Brainard Cheney (Contribution by), Caroline Gordon (Contribution by)
The Lightwood Chronicles tells the epic story of a violent struggle over land rights. The novel Lightwood told the story in fiction. The Chronicles offers the historical background and also celebrates the work of Brainard Cheney, author of Lightwood. Following the Civil War, another war broke out in the piney woods of south Georgia between Northern land barons-the Dodge Company-and local landowners. The Dodge Company began harvesting the ancient pine forests and shipping the timber to customers worldwide. They made hundreds of millions of dollars in the process. They evicted the squatters from land occupied for decades. Epic court battles led to violent struggle and murder. Angry "squatters"demanded that "the Dodges be sent hellward." An alleged conspiracy led to the murder of Captain John Forsyth, the timber company boss. Prominent citizens went to prison and many others died. The Dodge Company left the majestic pine forests a wasteland, with 300,000 acres of wooden treasure ransacked, the lives of the natives forever altered.
