'An unbelievable American story': Mourners line streets from Plains to honor Jimmy Carter
Church Street in downtown Plains was at a somber hush Saturday morning despite the hundreds of people lining the streets when former President Jimmy Carter's state funeral procession made its way to his Boyhood Farm.
There, the longest serving National Park Service Rangers in Plains, Randy Dillard and Karen Berry, rang the farm bell 39 times. That same bell would ring an hour before daylight during Carter's boyhood, which was the name of his memoir about his early years.Carter’s ride through Plains marks the beginning of one last journey, a trip that will mirror the path of his storied life from a modest farm community to the state Capitol in Atlanta and onto Washington D.C. The former President died in his Plains home on Dec. 29 at age 100.
"I think he was the finest man that ever served in office," said Randy Fenley, who traveled from Macon, Georgia for the procession.
The procession will conclude back in Plains on Jan. 9, where President Carter also returned from Washington D.C. after losing reelection in 1980. There will be a private funeral at Maranatha Baptist Church, where he taught Sunday school into his 90s, before a private internment at the Carter residence. Jimmy Carter will be buried next to his beloved late wife Rosalynn Carter on those grounds. The home they shared together eventually will become part of the complex that makes up the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site.
“I think President Carter's story is the quintessential American story, singular in its uniqueness,” said Jacob Harper during an interview at the Jimmy Carter Boyhood Farm last Monday, before the procession.
Accompanying Jimmy Carter’s remains on this trip were members of his family, many who experienced these stops alongside him throughout his life.
The flurry of people in Downtown Plains also filtered throughout the local businesses. The Plain Peanuts and General Store offered free samples of its signature peanut ice cream. Next door at Southwest Trophy & Gifts, coffee flowed for free—tips only. Visitors' hometowns spanned from neighboring rural Georgia communities to states hundreds of miles away.
Alan and Owen Bowers traveled from nearby Warner Robins, Georgia, to honor the legacy of President Carter and pay their respects. The father and son woke up at 5:45 a.m. to make the trip. Alan Bowers said coming from a nearby Georgia town provides a sense of kinship to Jimmy Carter. On the quiet drive in, Alan Bowers found himself thinking about the red Georgia clay that President Carter also came from.
“It’s special … It shows how hard he had to work to get from his small town to the (Oval) Office,” said Owen Bowers, a high school freshman.
'An unbelievable American Story'
The funeral procession began Saturday at the Phoebe Sumpter Medical Center in Americus, Georgia, Plains' neighbor city. There, Carter's casket was carried to the hearse, accompanied by nine of his former Secret Service security detail.
A train whistle blew in the distance over the reverent crowd of hundreds, waving flags and holding signs.
Several hours later, Carter’s funeral motorcade arrived at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta where Gov. Brian Kemp, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and other state and local leaders gathered for a moment of silence on the capitol steps to honor the former president.
All along the 150-mile route from Plains to Atlanta, mourners gathered on the side of the road and along highway overpasses to pay their respects to the former president.
“There was a lot of love on the side of the road. It was amazing,” the president’s son, James Earl “Chip” Carter III told mourners in Atlanta. “Gave me goosebumps just to sit in the van and see the reactions.”
The motorcade then proceeded from the Capitol to the Carter Center where dignitaries were present, but speakers were limited to members of the Carter family. The private service at the non-governmental organization Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter founded in 1982 was in many ways as much for the staff and supporters of the Carter Center as it was for the public watching around the world.
The Carter Center ceremony began at 4 p.m. local time with the playing of “Hail to the Chief” and “America the Beautiful” as the former president’s casket was moved inside, where a Morehouse College glee club sang hymns.
There will be ample opportunities to pay tribute the former president this week, Carter’s grandson, Jason Carter, said as the ceremony began, but there was a special reason the motorcade stopped at the Carter Center.
“His spirit fills this place. And the real reason that his spirit fills this place is because of the people who are standing here,” Carter said. “You all are the real keepers of my grandparents’ legacy.”
Their story is an “unbelievable American story”, Carter said, telling the Carter Center employees that they continue his legacy.
“We will spend this week celebrating this incredible life, and a life that I think we can all agree is as full and powerful as any life can be,” Carter said. “As someone said, ‘It’s amazing what you can cram into 100 years.’”
Evan Lasseter is the city of Savannah and Chatham County government reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at ELasseter@savannahnow.com.
Amy Paige Condon contributed to this report.