Argin Artemas Boggus Sr. (1896-1955)

Portrait from the Georgia Official and Statistical Register, 1951-52.

   Georgia state assemblyman Argin Artemas "Double A" Boggus Sr. was for many years a leading figure in the civic and business life of Ben Hill County, being an auto supply store owner, chamber of commerce director and church leader. Elected to a third term in 1954, Boggus would die in office the following year of a heart attack, being just 58 years old. The son of Robert Lee and Lolah Anna (Bass) Boggus, Argin Artemas Boggus was born in Franklin, Georgia on October 26, 1896. He would attend schools local to the area of his birth and graduated from the Glenn High School in Heard County.

  Boggus married in October 1916 to Avie Lee Allen (1892-1982), and later adopted her two children from a previous marriage, Homer Cleveland (1911-1998) and Judson T. (born 1912). Boggus and his wife would also have five children of their own, Lola Belle (1918-2011), Myrtle Lee (1919-2015), Sarah Evelyn (1926-2018), Argin Artemas Jr. (1928-1999) and Everette Delano (1933-2012).

   Following his marriage, Argin Boggus removed with his family to Fitzgerald, Georgia, and later resided in Savannah, Georgia in the early 1930s, where he is recorded as working with the ACL Railroad and as a dairy farmer. In 1936 he and his family removed back to Fitzgerald, and after his return Boggus owned and operated the Western Auto Associate Store, dealing in auto accessories, tires, bicycles, fishing tackle, and other pieces of merchandise. 

  Through the succeeding years, Boggus achieved success in a number of other endeavors in the city, including being a director of the Fitzgerald Chamber of Commerce, vice president of the Fitzgerald Civic Corporation, president of the Fitzgerald Business Men's Club, and was president of the Fitzgerald Baseball Club. A longstanding member and deacon in the Zion's Rest Primitive Baptist Church, Boggus was also a Mason and Lions Club member active in drives for the Boy Scouts and the Red Cross.

From the 1953-54 Georgia Register. 

  Argin A. Boggus made his first move into local politics with his service as a member of the Fitzgerald city council and would serve as mayor pro-tem of Fitzgerald for a time. In 1950 he was elected as Ben Hill County's representative to the Georgia State Assembly and would serve a total of three consecutive terms, last being elected in November 1954. Boggus' last year in the legislature saw him come out as a firm foe against the raising of taxes, and in the spring of 1955 took to the floor of the assembly with a pair of wool-clipping shears and a skinning knife. Having gained the right to speak on the floor, Boggus remarked that "I want to teach you something...If you can clip a sheep this year, you can clip him again next year." His colorful actions warranted write-ups in several Georgia newspapers, and just a few weeks after making the above speech, died on July 8, 1955, succumbing to a heart attack he'd suffered at his store in Fitzgerald.

  Boggus' funeral was attended by an honorary escort of his fellow representatives and he was survived by his wife Avie and all of his children. A burial location for him remains unknown at this time and is believed to be in the Fitzgerald area.

Boggus' obituary from the July 9, 1955 Atlanta Constitution.