As reported front page by the Union Sentinel, June 15, 2006:
To view the source site for this and more news articles on Micajah Clark Dyer, click here.A group of Dyers from Georgia, Alabama and Florida journeyed to the Capitol on May 31 to meet with Governor Sonny Perdue for official recognition of their ancestor, Micajah Clark Dyer, who invented a "flying machine" in the North Georgia mountains more than two decades before the Wright brothers' flight at Kitty Hawk, N.C., in 1903.
The Governor signed H.R. 413, which incorporated H.R. 1236 introduced by Rep. Charles Jenkins and approved by the Legislature during its recent session, to name a portion of State Hwy. 180, located about 8 miles south of Blairsville, Ga., the Micajah Clark Dyer Parkway.
The youngest descendent present at the Governor's office was 10-month-old James Micajah Cooper, a great-great-greatgreat grandson of the inventor (pictured above). His parents are Joseph and Sarah Coker Cooper, and his grandparents are David and Geraldine Dyer Coker.
Although the U.S. Patent Office granted Dyer a patent for his machine on September 1, 1874, it was only a little over a year ago that the family finally located the patent and authenticated the legend that has been handed down through generations about the airplane Dyer invented and flew off Rattlesnake Mountain in Union County.
According to oral history, after Dyer's death in 1891 his widow sold the plans and specifications for the aircraft to two Redwine brothers in Atlanta, who later sold them to Orville and Wilbur Wright. It is probable that the Wrights incorporated Dyer's design into their plane and received credit for the first flight.
Following discovery of Dyer's patent, word has spread about his sophisticated drawings and descriptions crafted at this early time in history and his important contribution to the advancement of aviation. The Curator of the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame at the Museum of Aviation located at the Air Force Base in Warner Robins, Ga., is planning to include Micajah Clark Dyer in the celebration of Georgia's 100th Anniversary of Flying planned for next April.
A dedication ceremony for the Micajah Clark Dyer Parkway is planned for Saturday, July 15, 2006, at 3 p.m. at the Choestoe Baptist Church Life Center, located on Highway 180 a short distance from US Hwy. 19/129, south of Blairsville. The Dyer family is cordially inviting everyone to attend the celebration.
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