An historic buggy exhibit with ties to legendary author Joel Chandler Harris opens at 1 p.m. on Nov. 3 at the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Georgia Museum of Agriculture and Historic Village.

Melissa Swindell, Executive Director of The Wren’s Nest in Atlanta, will lecture on the famous author and his life at the exhibit opening. Harris’ widow, Esther LaRose Harris, gave their home, The Wren’s Nest, to the Uncle Remus Memorial Association in 1913. It has been a treasured Atlanta landmark and a national memorial to Harris ever since.  Linda Harris, the great-great granddaughter of Harris, will join Swindell and assist with the lecture.

Peter Myzuka, an artist from Madison, worked with Museum Curator Polly Huff in the development of photos of the remnants of the Turnwold Plantation near Eatonton, the original home of the buggy.  These photos create the core of the exhibit’s backdrop.

The Wren’s Nest partnered with Huff in the creation of the exhibit’s interpretive panels and provided a grammar book on loan to the exhibit signed by Turnwold Plantation owner Joseph Addison Turner and given to Harris.

Another highlight of the exhibit opening will be a performance of Harris’ Brer Rabbit stories by one of the Wren’s Nest storytellers.  ABAC Dining and the Wiregrass Farmers Market are working together to provide an opening reception with a southern flair.

Museum guests can also witness the Museum’s steam-powered sawmill and cotton gin in action, soak up the tantalizing smells of the annual cane grinding and syrup cooking, and ride the Vulcan Steam Train.

Harris was hired in March 1862 as an apprentice on the 1,000-acre Turnwold Plantation.  As a part of his duties, Harris had full access to Turnwold’s slave quarters and to the kitchen, where he listened to African-American animal stories related by Uncle George Terrell, Old Harbert, and Aunt Crissy.  They told stories about Brer Rabbit and other creatures.

When he began writing 10 years later, Harris used these animals as models for Uncle Remus, Aunt Tempy, and other figures.  Harris’ fictionalized autobiography, “On the Plantation,” chronicles the influence of the Turnwold years on his development.

While Harris was at Turnwold, the buggy which has undergone a complete refurbishing, was undoubtedly used on many occasions. However, it was hidden away when General William T. Sherman’s troops ransacked Turnwold in 1864 during the Civil War.

“This is where the story really gets interesting,” Huff said.  “Eventually disassembled, the buggy was found in one of the farm buildings at Turnwold years later by the late Fred Herring, who was contracted to take down a barn. The late Lonnie Cooper of Colquitt County purchased the buggy from Herring more than 20 years ago and put it back together.

“In 2018, Lonnie’s family decided to donate the buggy to the Museum to get it restored and placed on display. The Cooper family made the donation in honor of Fred and Lonnie-the two men responsible for salvaging the buggy. The buggy is believed to have been originally made in Barnesville, Georgia.”

The buggy underwent a careful restoration upon arrival at the Museum. The restoration team focused on rebuilding the buggy while honoring its history and maintaining its integrity. After consulting with wagon builders in South Dakota and Oklahoma, the team rebuilt the broken wagon box back to historic specifications for size, thickness, and angles.

The historically correct poplar and white oak lumber was milled at the Museum’s steam-driven sawmill and air-dried just like it would have been back in the early 1800s. Intricate angled cuts, beveling, and flutings were made using antique hand tools to create the “splayed” look of the wagon box and to honor the original process.

All leather surfaces were deeply cleaned and conditioned. With painstaking detail, the team restored the paint and ornate hand-drawn designs on the four wheels of the buggy, creating an exact color match to the original red, black, and yellow. A missing whip socket was recreated by Iowa Valley Carriages and arrived just in time for installation.

“Carefully made metal fittings were sourced and used to tip the worn shafts,” Huff said.  “Greg Tucker, a local blacksmith, hand-forged replacements of the missing buggy handles and scuff guards, all while following original patterns from another Barnesville buggy.

“The missing footrest was recreated using the same buggy as a guide and was shaped and etched by hand. The footrest was finished using a unique technique to darken the metal. The otherwise mechanically sound buggy’s body was deeply cleaned, and the flaking and fading paint job of the chassis was restored to the original shiny red and black.”

ABAC Rural Studies student Britt Fuller worked on the buggy restoration as a part of her summer internship.  Dr. Russell Pryor and Dr. Charlotte Klesman’s students also assisted the project with research, graphics, and promotional materials.

Following the opening day festivities, Huff said the buggy will be permanently displayed in the Main Museum Hall. Admission to this exhibit as well as to the rest of the special events that day is included with general admission and free with a valid Season Pass.