Mary Gene Elliott
1934 - 2015
Mary Gene Elliott’s family roots in Newton County date back to 1822, the year after the county was formed. In April 1971, after being frustrated in her efforts to get county representatives to take action against the decay and destruction of historic homes and other structures, Elliott founded the Newton County Historical Society. She launched a campaign to save the Brick Store, the first building to be constructed in Newton County, and later mounted a successful campaign to get Floyd Street in Covington put on the National Registry of Historic Places, forming Covington’s first historic district. Elliott has also donated her time to the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation photographing the county’s historic homes. Elliott and her friend, Mary Jane Dixon, along with Dixon’s mother, undertook a project to catalogue local cemeteries, the data from which they later compiled into three books.
In 1975, Elliott worked in Atlanta, in charge of the Atlanta Museum, one of the oldest museums in the South. She is a member of the Georgia Professional Genealogist Group, a longtime member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and is active in Friends of the Newton County Library.
Elliott lives in the historic Harris House in Oxford and undertook extensive renovation and preservation of the home in 2007. The house was once the home of Cora Harris, author of over 19 books and 200 articles, best known for her novel, The Circuit Rider’s Wife, which was made into the1951 movie, I’d Climb the Highest Mountain starring Susan Hayward.
In 1975, Elliott worked in Atlanta, in charge of the Atlanta Museum, one of the oldest museums in the South. She is a member of the Georgia Professional Genealogist Group, a longtime member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and is active in Friends of the Newton County Library.
Elliott lives in the historic Harris House in Oxford and undertook extensive renovation and preservation of the home in 2007. The house was once the home of Cora Harris, author of over 19 books and 200 articles, best known for her novel, The Circuit Rider’s Wife, which was made into the1951 movie, I’d Climb the Highest Mountain starring Susan Hayward.