Wednesday, January 21, 2009

"Here Comes Arabella"







(click on photograph for larger image)


In the early 1930s (probably between 1930 and 1935), a group of
Yanceyville Thespians under the auspices of the Parent-Teachers
Association staged the play "Here Comes Arabella" at the Bartlett
Yancey High School auditorium in Yanceyville, North Carolina. This
was a three-act musical comedy directed by Miss Frances Griffin
accompanied by Miss Mary Hatchett.

Names Mentioned

Clyde Cole (Clyde Caviness Cole, husband of Elsie Lea Hooper Cole)

Paul Worrell (may have been a Baptist minister)

Dabney Williamson (son of Walter H. and Bertha May Williamson)

James Upchurch (James Bartlett Upchurch, son of Ernest Frederick and
Mary Constance Stroupe Upchurch)

Frederick Upchurch (probably Ernest Frederick Upchurch, Jr., son
Ernest Frederick and Mary Constance Stroupe Upchurch)

Mrs. Albert Yancey Kerr (Mary Oliver Kerr)

Mrs. J. A. Massey (Edna McGuire Massey)

Annie Gunn (Mrs. John Oliver Gunn)

Ruth Anderson (Ruth Byrd Anderson, daughter of George A. Anderson and
Mary Elizabeth Slade Anderson)

Helen Williamson (probably daughter of Walter H. and Bertha May
Williamson, and sister of Sheriff Lynn Banks Williamson)

Mrs. George A. Anderson (Mary Elizabeth Slade Anderson)

Miss Kate Blue

Miss Mary Lee Florance (daughter of Thomas Jefferson Florance and
mother of Maud Florance Gatewood)

John Oliver Gunn (husband of Annie Gunn, listed above)

Mrs. Sam Bason (Martha Eliza (Marnie) Eliza Hatchett Bason)

Miss Frances Griffin

Miss Mary Hatchett (possibly the Mary Hatchett who married Claude Lee
Price)

Margurite Dailey (Marguerite Frances Dailey, daughter of James Henry
and Emma Slade Dailey and became wife of Taylor M. Snead)

Sadie Belle

Helen Graves Hodges (daughter of Lynwood Fielding and Mary Elizabeth
Slade Hodges; wife of Bernie Wilson Poteat; mother of Sandra Poteat)

Hannah Bradner (Hannah Estelle Bradner, daughter of Bruce and Nannie
Caroline Smith Bradner; married Arch Slade Crumpton)

Nettie Shelton (Nettie Malloy Shelton, daughter of William Thomas and
Martha Elizabeth Page Shelton; married James Clarence McDaniel)

Jessie Bradner (Jessie Beatrice Bradner, daughter of Bruce and Nannie
Caroline Smith Bradner; married Thomas Cole)

Katherine Malloy (Katharine Yancey Malloy, daughter of Dr. Stephen
Arnold Malloy and Nannie Emma Kerr Malloy)

Jeanette Harrison

Katherine Mebane (daughter of Giles and Edna Earl Watkins Mebane,
married George Wilson Clark)

Marjorie Sullivan

Pemberton Slade (Pemberton Harrison Slade, son of Irvin Hodges and
Frances Woodson Wilson Slade)

Carl Moser

Sue Hodges (possibly Alice Sue Hodges, daughter of Lynwood Fielding
and Mary Elizabeth Slade Hodges)

Doris Giles

Elsie Mae Satterfield

Katherine Kerr (Eliza Katharine Kerr, daughter of Albert Yancey and
Mary Johnston Oliver Kerr, married Colonel Henry E. Kendall)

Sponsors

Bledsoe Furniture (Danville, Virginia)

Crowell Auto Company (Yanceyville, North Carolina)

Robert T. Wilson (attorney at law) (Yanceyville, North Carolina)

J. A. Boswell, Caswell Cafe (Yanceyville, North Carolina

A. Yancey Kerr (Insurance and Bonds) (Yanceyville, North Carolina)

P. T. Dodson (Fancy and Heavy Groceries (Yanceyville, North Carolina)

Justice Chevrolet (Yanceyville, North Carolina)

Warren & Giles Funeral Directors (Hightowers, North Carolina)

T. J. Florance and Son Store (Yanceyville, North Carolina)

Efird's Department Store (Danville, Virginia)
_______________

The "Here Comes Arabella" Program and some of the lines for the part
of Abraham Levinski (played by John Oliver Gunn) seen above also may be viewed at:

Caswell County Photograph Collection

These documents are courtesy the John Oliver Gunn Family Archives.