Rebah Elizabeth Mallory, a native of Clyo, was born Nov. 13, 1902, a daughter of Ransley Burge Mallory, who was born at Sister’s Ferry, Georgia, and Ella (Pursley) Mallory; Ella was born at Americus and moved to Guyton with her family when she was a teenager.
Rebah’s father, known as “Mr. Rantz Mallory,” was a great-great-great grandson of John Adam Treutlen, an ancestry of which Rebah was very proud.
Rebah attended the Clyo schools, graduated from Savannah High School and attended Brenau College, where she was a member of Tri-Delta sorority. After college she worked in her father’s mercantile business for many years as clerk and bookkeeper.
A lifelong member of the Clyo United Methodist Church, she served on the Official Board as church historian. She was a member of the Clyo United Methodist Women, Clyo Homemaker’s Club, Georgia Salzburger Society, Brier Creek Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, a charter member of the Historic Effingham Society and a member of the Effingham County Committee for the National Bicentennial Celebration. As member of this committee she wrote several articles for and participated in the proofreading of the “History of Effingham County, Georgia, 1733-1976.”
Miss Mallory was a charter member of the American Legion Auxiliary Post 209. During World War II, while her brothers were in service, she served as volunteer chief observer for the Clyo post of the Aircraft Warning System with 50 other volunteers manning the post at R. B. Mallory’s store in the daytime and the Clyo railroad depot at night from 1942-45.
Rebah took part in many county and local activities. She served as a member and secretary of the Effingham County Library Board and publicity chairman for the Effingham County Hospital Auxiliary. She was the Clyo correspondent for the Savannah Morning News. As Clyo correspondent for the Springfield Herald for many years, she wrote a weekly column of “Clyo News” and when this newspaper published its 50th Anniversary Edition, she was listed as a contributing editor.
According to Julie Graham Weddle, a past publisher of The Springfield Herald, Miss Rebah was always punctual with her column each Monday well ahead of deadline. Her grammar was always perfect and Julie states, “She wrote with flair and was a flag waver for Effingham County and Clyo.”
Her column, done as a volunteer, graced The Herald’s pages for well over 50 years. She recorded the story of the people of Clyo from new babies and marriages, to college graduations, school events, new homes, community gatherings, accomplishments, tragedies, locals in the military, churches events and family or class reunions.
She loved to help connect people and to write about it. Rebah faithfully called the Clyo citizens by telephone to gather the news weekly. According to Weddle, “Miss Rebah was a sweet lady who genuinely loved people and her beloved town of Clyo as well as Effingham County. Her verbal or written words were always positive.”
Miss Mallory was instrumental in getting many of the historical markers placed in Effingham County. She wrote countless letters to Dr. John H. Goff, a member of the Georgia Historical Commission, suggesting sites that needed marking and seeking his aid to secure the markers.
One week after her 84th birthday, Miss Rebah died quietly in her sleep on Nov. 20, 1986. In all of her writing, Rebah’s motto was, “If you can’t say anything good about your community, don’t say anything.”
This was compiled by Susan Exley of Historic Effingham Society. With the exception of the paragraph with Julie Weddle’s comments the article came from a biographical sketch in the book John Adam Treutlen authored by Edna Q. Morgan, published by the Historical Effingham Society in 1998, available in the museum gift shop. If you have photos, comments or information to share, contact Susan Exley at 754-6681 or email her at: susanexley@historiceffinghamsociety.org
