100 Years Ago in Middle Georgia: Famed actor invests in Macon bank; Nunn’s store burns

Today’s dive into our archives turns up stories from The Telegraph on Jan. 3, 1917, when the newspaper published items about a “big fire” at a store in Perry that sold “fancy groceries” and word of a “noted actor” investing in a Macon bank.

The fire happened in the small hours of Jan. 2 at George C. Nunn’s store, which sold “fancy groceries, hardware, etc.” The store was said to be “a total loss” after flames left it “badly damaged.

News from Macon made mention of the fledgling Bibb National Bank, where president L.P. Hillyer shared a letter with the paper from Frederick Warde, “America’s foremost Shakespearean actor and scholar.”

Warde had sent the letter to Hillyer to inform Hillyer of his interest in buying “ten shares of stock in the new bank.” Warde at one time toured the country with his friend Maurice Barrymore, grandfather of actress Drew Barrymore.

This story was originally published January 3, 2017 at 4:55 PM with the headline "100 Years Ago in Middle Georgia: Famed actor invests in Macon bank; Nunn’s store burns."