BY TERI R. WILLIAMS | PHOTOS BY DAPHNE WALKER, STAFF & THE MCMICHAEL FAMILY
for Tranquilla A NEW CHAPTER
There is no doubt that John “Jack” E. Ladson
II left our town an invaluable legacy with the
founding of the John E. Ladson Genealogical
and Historical Library which houses thousands
of published volumes, microfilm, manuscript
collections, and rare books. But when the doors
of the house Jack’s wife, Margaret Brice Ladson, named
Tranquilla were closed following his death on December,
4, 1999, the stories it held remained silent for thirteen
years. Although Tranquilla, an Italian word meaning “calm,
serene, and restful,” contained many family heirlooms,
exquisite collections and valuable antiques, the house
itself had a past that seemed all but forgotten until 2012
when Jack and Margaret’s granddaughter Dorsey and her
husband Curt reopened its old walnut doors and brought
the legacy within to life again.
Tranquilla was the fulfillment of a dream for Jack
and Margaret Ladson. Their love had brought together
two enterprising families from completely different
backgrounds. Margaret’s father, Mitchell F. Brice,
established many of the well-known businesses in Vidalia
and Lyons that included the Brice Banking Company,
Tanner Brice Wholesale Company, the Dixie Oil Company,
Simms Service Stores, (later bought by the Rockefellers),
and the Pal Amusement company whose chain of motion
picture theatres included the Pal theatres in Vidalia and
Lyons.
Born in 1912, Jack came from a long line of tobacco
farmers in Moultrie, Georgia. After graduating from
Moultrie High School, he attended both Furman and
Duke Universities and also served as a communications
officer in the Navy during World War II. “My grandfather
HOMETOWN LIVING AT I TS BEST 59
ABOVE Jack and Margaret Ladson
married at Vidalia First Baptist Church in
1941. In the 1960s, the couple and their
sons returned to Vidalia where they
purchased land and began to build
Tranquilla. LEFT Jack and Margaret's
granddaughter Dorsey now lives in the
restored house with her husband Curt
McMicheal and their daughter Sus.
After years of closure, the dream house that Jack
and Margaret Ladson built was reopened and the
antique treasures they spent years collecting are
being enjoyed by their descendants once again.