"Through a Glass Darkly"
Collection in Repository: Federal Writers' Project Papers, 1936-1940
Collection Number: 03709
Location in Collection: Series 1. Life Histories, 1936-1940 and undated. / Subseries 1.5. North Carolina.
Object Folder 285: Anderson, George, and Massengill (interviewers): Through A Glass Darkly
Citation: [Identification of item], in the Federal Writers' Project papers #3709, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Filename: 03709_0285.pdf
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Abner Wentworth Clopton
Abner Wentworth Clopton (1784-1833)
In 1820, the famous Milton Female Academy opened its doors to students, soon followed by the Milton Male Academy. The board of trustees of the Milton Female Academy included such Caswell County luminaries as Bartlett Yancey, Jr., Bedford Brown, and Romulus M. Saunders. The school's first superintendent was Reverend Abner Wentworth Clopton, a graduate of the University of North Carolina and a highly respected Baptist minister. It was because of Clopton that John Day, Jr. moved to Milton to continue his religious studies. And, Thomas Day followed his older brother. Thus, had the Milton Female Academy not been established, it is unlikely that Thomas Day would have selected Milton for his cabinet-making business.
In 1820, the famous Milton Female Academy opened its doors to students, soon followed by the Milton Male Academy. The board of trustees of the Milton Female Academy included such Caswell County luminaries as Bartlett Yancey, Jr., Bedford Brown, and Romulus M. Saunders. The school's first superintendent was Reverend Abner Wentworth Clopton, a graduate of the University of North Carolina and a highly respected Baptist minister. It was because of Clopton that John Day, Jr. moved to Milton to continue his religious studies. And, Thomas Day followed his older brother. Thus, had the Milton Female Academy not been established, it is unlikely that Thomas Day would have selected Milton for his cabinet-making business.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Milton Baptist Church (Milton, North Carolina)
Milton Baptist Church
The minutes of the Milton Baptist Church and other early records were lost in a disastrous fire many years ago. Available records have been searched in order for us to learn something of those who preceded us in the work of this church. As early as February 28, 1928, an issue of the Milton Gazette and Advertiser published the following notice: The citizens of Milton were called to a "Church raisin." "It is requested that those who hold subscriptions for building a Baptist Meeting House in Milton will report to the Commissioner in his place the amount subscribed on or before the first Thursday in March next at which time and place all those who may wish to encourage and aid in the said building are requested to attend, especially those who are to furnish labor and materials." Just where that building was is not yet known."
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Farmers' Alliance in Caswell County, North Carolina
The prices that farmers received for their produce were low during the period after the war and the freight rates they had to pay were excessively high. Few farmers had any money left at the end of the year after their bills were paid, in fact many of them went deeper and deeper into debt.
In Texas in 1879 a group of people in similar circumstances formed the Farmers' State Alliance and it spread rapidly in the South, absorbing similar but smaller organizations. Created as a means of enabling rural people to help themselves financially and politically, the Farmers' State Alliance sponsored cooperative business enterprises as a means of reducing the cost of fertilizer, machinery, and other farm necessities. It also served as a means of channeling the political strength of its members. The Alliance entered North Carolina from the South and was organized on a county basis in Robeson, Rockingham, and Wake counties in 1887. Late that year the North Carolina Farmers' State Alliance was formed, and between March 20 and August 14, 1888, there were 17 alliances formed in Caswell County.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Thursday, August 09, 2012
Gordon McNeill Poteat (1891-1986)
Gordon Poteat was born on April 11, 1891. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut but grew up in Greenville, South Carolina. He graduated from Furman University in 1910, and went on to receive his Master’s degree from Wake Forest College and completed his theological training at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Poteat left for Kaifeng, China in 1915 to be a missionary of the Foreign Missionary Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, and he remained there for four years. He left Kaifeng in 1921 to become a professor of New Testament and Ethics at the University of Shanghai.
Poteat returned to the United States in 1927 and worked for a year as educational secretary for the Student Volunteer Movement and editor of its monthly magazine. He left for Denver to become pastor of City Park Baptist Church for two years before returning to the University of Shanghai as a representative of the Northern Baptist Convention. In 1937, he left Shanghai for the States, and became a Professor of Social Ethics and Homiletics at Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. Poteat wrote several books regarding missionary work and China.
Poteat married Helen Anne Carruthers, and they had at least two children: Anne Poteat Rose (1917) and Wallace Bagby (January 28, 1923). He died in November 1986 in Florida.
Source: Furman University Special Collections.
Tuesday, August 07, 2012
Danville Barn Dance
Elbert Fince has a livestock sale each week in one of the buildings. The Barn Dance was in one of the buildings to the right as you went through the skating rink building from Riverside/Piney Forest Road. When I began carrying mail in 1967, there was also a small trailer park over near Sandy Creek.
Source: Danny Ricketts (14 April 2010)
Source: Danny Ricketts (14 April 2010)
President Quotes Caswell's Dr. H. G. Jones
Remarks by the President on the Post-9/11 GI Bill
Dr. Houston G. Jones
HG Jones "Kemp Plummer Battle Lecture" to the UNC Di/Phi Societies on October 12, 1990
_______________
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
ON THE POST-9/11 GI BILL
George Mason University
Fairfax, Virginia
11:20 A.M. EDT
August 3, 2009
August 3, 2009
THE PRESIDENT: Hello. Thank you. Please, have a seat. Good morning, everybody.
AUDIENCE: Good morning.
THE PRESIDENT: It is wonderful to see all of you and wonderful to have one of the best partners that anybody could have in elected office, our Vice President, Joe Biden -- thrilled to have him here. (Applause.)
I want to thank Staff Sergeant Miller for the gracious introduction. I want to thank President Merten for his hospitality. There are a couple of people here who deserve all the credit, because they got a very tough bill done -- and part of the reason they were able to get it done was just because of their extraordinary personal credibility. These are -- one is new to the Senate and one had been there a while, and yet together they formed an incredibly formidable team. They're both class acts. Please give a big round of applause to Virginia's own, John Warner and Jim Webb. (Applause.)
I know that we've got a number of member[s] of Congress who are here and I want to thank them all for their outstanding work. I want to point out that Senator Mark Warner could not be here, but we appreciate him. We've got the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, a hero in his own right, General Eric Shinseki, and I want everybody to please acknowledge him. (Applause.) And of the original bill sponsors who could not be here today, we've got Senator Chuck Hagel, Senator Frank Lautenberg, Representative Harry Mitchell, Representative Bobby Scott, Representative Ginny Brown-Waite, and Representative Peter King. All of them worked hard along with the delegation that is present, so we are very grateful to all of them.
Courthouse Card Players
In the fall of 1941 Life magazine photographer Walter Sanders spent time in Caswell County, North Carolina, taking photographs for an upcoming article that used the Yanceyville Card Players as a theme to showcase the village of Yanceyville and surrounding Caswell County. He captured over 200 images. Only those published in the magazine are known to exist. The article ran in the 8 December 1941 Life magazine, but the events of 7 December 1941 forced the Life editors to cut the Yanceyville story short. General Douglas MacArthur was on the magazine's cover.
Faiger Blackwell Biography
Carolina Pinnacle Studios, President and CEOBurlington , NC
Published 12 July 2005
Faiger M. Blackwell, Chairman
Mr. Blackwell is a native of North Carolina. He attended Winston-Salem University where he earned a B.S. in Public Administration. He is licensed as a Funeral Director, Administrator of Assisted Living Facilities, and Real Estate Agent. Currently, Mr. Blackwell is the President and CEO of Carolina Pinnacle Studios and Universal Health Care Services, Inc. He is a member of the Piedmont Community College Film Commission and Piedmont Triad Film Commission Board of Directors. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the YMCA, the North Carolina Long Term Care Association, and the North Carolina Medical Care Commission. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Elon College. Active in politics, Mr. Blackwell was a member of the Caswell County Commissioners and the first black Caswell County School Board member. He is the 1997 Sertoma Man of the Year and recipient of the 1995 Chamber of Commerce Emerging Entrepreneurship Award.
_______________
Published 12 July 2005
Faiger M. Blackwell, Chairman
Mr. Blackwell is a native of North Carolina. He attended Winston-Salem University where he earned a B.S. in Public Administration. He is licensed as a Funeral Director, Administrator of Assisted Living Facilities, and Real Estate Agent. Currently, Mr. Blackwell is the President and CEO of Carolina Pinnacle Studios and Universal Health Care Services, Inc. He is a member of the Piedmont Community College Film Commission and Piedmont Triad Film Commission Board of Directors. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the YMCA, the North Carolina Long Term Care Association, and the North Carolina Medical Care Commission. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Elon College. Active in politics, Mr. Blackwell was a member of the Caswell County Commissioners and the first black Caswell County School Board member. He is the 1997 Sertoma Man of the Year and recipient of the 1995 Chamber of Commerce Emerging Entrepreneurship Award.
_______________
The Sportsman (Yanceyville, North Carolina)
"The Sportsman" apparently was a bar and pool hall in Yanceyville, North Carolina. When it was built is not know, but it was in operation in 1938.
History of Asheville
Asheville and Buncombe County By Forster Alexander Sondley, Theodore Fulton Davidson:
SETTLEMENTS
Shortly after the conclusion of the Revolutionary War in 1784 or 1785 settlers from the headwaters of the Catawba and the adjacent country whose frontier establishment was the blockhouse at Old Fort began to cross the mountains into the Swannanoa valley. Among the first of these was Samuel Davidson who came in with his wife and infant child and one female negro slave and settled upon Christian Creek of the Swannanoa a short distance east of Gudger's Ford near the present railroad station called Azalea. He had been here but a short while when one morning he went out to find his horse. Soon his wife heard the report of guns and knowing too well what had happened she took her child and the servant and made her way along the mountains to the Old Fort. An expedition from there at once set out to avenge the death of Davidson.
SETTLEMENTS
Shortly after the conclusion of the Revolutionary War in 1784 or 1785 settlers from the headwaters of the Catawba and the adjacent country whose frontier establishment was the blockhouse at Old Fort began to cross the mountains into the Swannanoa valley. Among the first of these was Samuel Davidson who came in with his wife and infant child and one female negro slave and settled upon Christian Creek of the Swannanoa a short distance east of Gudger's Ford near the present railroad station called Azalea. He had been here but a short while when one morning he went out to find his horse. Soon his wife heard the report of guns and knowing too well what had happened she took her child and the servant and made her way along the mountains to the Old Fort. An expedition from there at once set out to avenge the death of Davidson.
Riverside Cemetery (Asheville, North Carolina)
The Riverside Cemetery encompasses 87 acres of rolling hills and flower gardens overlooking the French Broad River. Riverside Cemetery dates to 1885, when the Asheville Cemetery Company established the land as a municipal graveyard to answer the growing need for burial grounds. The City of Asheville adopted the cemetery in 1952. It is still an active cemetery with more than 13,000 people buried here, 9000 monuments and 12 family mausoleums. Many of the graves in Riverside contain remains which were removed from other burial grounds and re-interred here. Once inside the large iron gates, you may take a self-guided walking tour through ancient oak, poplar, dogwood and ginkgo trees.
Riverside is the burial place of noted authors Thomas Wolfe and William Sidney Porter, better known as O. Henry. You can learn about Confederate generals James Martin, Robert B. Vance and Thomas Clingman. Some of the names recorded in Riverside Cemetery are those of the city's most prominent citizens: Jeter C. Pritchard, T. S. Morrison, Thomas Patton, and Zebulon B. Vance. Individuals of note interred at Riverside Cemetery include: Isacc Dickson, the first African American to be appointed to an Asheville City School Board; Quenn Carson, Asheville's first female public school principal; George Masa, a Japanese photographer who documented much of the Blue Ridge Mountains and was integral in the establishment of Great Smokey Mountains National Park; James H. Posey, a bodyguard to Abraham Lincoln; and the remains of 18 German sailors from WWI. Riverside Cemetery is maintained by the City of Asheville, Parks and Recreation Department and has been designated a Buncombe County Treasure Tree Preserve.
Riverside Cemetery is located along Birch St. off Pearson Dr. within the Montford Area Historic District. Visitors are welcome 8:00am to 8:00pm during daylight savings time, and until 6:00pm the rest of the year. Self-guided tour packets are available at Riverside Cemetery office Monday-Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm. For information visit the City of Asheville's Parks and Recreation Department website or call 828-350-2066.
Riverside is the burial place of noted authors Thomas Wolfe and William Sidney Porter, better known as O. Henry. You can learn about Confederate generals James Martin, Robert B. Vance and Thomas Clingman. Some of the names recorded in Riverside Cemetery are those of the city's most prominent citizens: Jeter C. Pritchard, T. S. Morrison, Thomas Patton, and Zebulon B. Vance. Individuals of note interred at Riverside Cemetery include: Isacc Dickson, the first African American to be appointed to an Asheville City School Board; Quenn Carson, Asheville's first female public school principal; George Masa, a Japanese photographer who documented much of the Blue Ridge Mountains and was integral in the establishment of Great Smokey Mountains National Park; James H. Posey, a bodyguard to Abraham Lincoln; and the remains of 18 German sailors from WWI. Riverside Cemetery is maintained by the City of Asheville, Parks and Recreation Department and has been designated a Buncombe County Treasure Tree Preserve.
Riverside Cemetery is located along Birch St. off Pearson Dr. within the Montford Area Historic District. Visitors are welcome 8:00am to 8:00pm during daylight savings time, and until 6:00pm the rest of the year. Self-guided tour packets are available at Riverside Cemetery office Monday-Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm. For information visit the City of Asheville's Parks and Recreation Department website or call 828-350-2066.
Asheville Colored Cemetery
Asheville Colored Cemetery
It would appear that many persons, particularly those who settled the South Asheville Community were related. There is evidence that there were large family clans who were buried in the cemetery. The descendants who live nearby, today, say that they are related thusly: the Pattons to the Millers, the Millers to the Hemphills, the Hemphills to the Averys, the Averys to the Williams, the Williams to the Harpers, and the Harpers to the Paynes.
Illegitimacy appeared to be widespread, or, perhaps, information about black deaths was recorded haphazardly, or many blacks who were born into slavery did not know who their fathers were.
The writer saw only one instance supported by written documentation, of a burial in the South Asheville Colored Cemetery. That was the funeral program of David B. Shields, the father of Mrs. Saint Ola Mapp of Asheville.
Smith-McDowell House
AN ARCHITECTURAL ORIENTATION
to the Smith-McDowell House
Historic photo of the front elevation of the house
The Smith-McDowell House is the oldest surviving house in Asheville and the oldest brick structure in Buncombe County. Pictured here in a McDowell family photograph from 1875, the house is seen as it was originally constructed and landscaped. Today Smith-McDowell House is a blend of architectural styles dating from its original 1840 construction and additions completed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is a Local Historic Landmark and is included in the National Register of Historic Places.
Newton Academy and Cemetery
Newton School was built in 1922 and he remembers the principal (see file). Originally Union Hill Academy was, with several other buildings, on this location. For several years the school ceased to exist and the city, in agreement with the trustees, built and opened Newton. It operated until 1982 when, due to integration, the school was not large enough to accommodate the number of children required [however Jesse Ray's children attended - see his tape re: integration. The school building was said to be unsafe when it was closed suddenly during the school year of 1982.]. The land was leased from the Stevens' Family Trust. When the city was unable to use the building it was turned back to the trust. The trust stipulated that the land be used to operate a school. Jack, head of the trust and a member of the Community Foundation Board (see Imogene "Cissie" Stevens tape), devised legal means for the land to be given to the Community Foundation which could sell a portion of the school property and use the proceeds for educational purposes. [Mrs. Mabel Snowden, Jack Stevens]
Glenn Brown (1854-1932)
Glenn Brown (1854-1932) is the son of Dr. Bedford Brown, Jr., M.D. (1823-1897), and the grandson of Senator Bedford Brown (1795-1870) of Caswell County, North Carolina.
The following is from the history of the American Institute of Architects:
Glenn Brown, a founding member of the Washington Chapter, was tapped to become executive secretary of the AIA when it moved to Washington. Brown was a strong administrator and had the connections to position the Institute as a major player in shaping the architectural landscape of this country. During Brown's tenure, the Institute was instrumental in consolidating the MacMillan Commission (also know as the Senate Park Commission) plan for Washington and ensuring that it became a reality. This plan reasserted the open spaces and planning concepts of the eighteenth-century L'Enfant plan. In addition, the commission envisioned complexes for government buildings in the Federal Triangle and around the Mall and Lafayette Square.
The Basics of Genetic Genealogy
"THE BASICS OF GENETIC GENEALOGY," by Guido Deboeck
In spite of the numerous sources and vast amount of documented information that can be found, we should not forget that documents can contain errors, may have been written to mislead or hide the truth, or may have been destroyed either on purpose or by accident (e.g. by fire, floods, or earthquakes). Additionally, some relationships may never have been recorded. This is why conventional genealogy can only go as far as the research of documents allows.
To go beyond the constraints of the paper world, there is genetic genealogy. Genetic genealogy relies on DNA, which we all have, does not change, cannot be destroyed, and is never wrong.
DNA testing complements conventional genealogy through the analysis of the unique sequence of chemicals that defines each human being. Through DNA testing, one can tell if two people are related (though not the exact nature of the relationship), verify, or potentially correct genealogical information extracted from documents.
DNA contains the blueprint of life, i.e., all the instructions that build and control the day-to-day functioning of the cells in our body. This blueprint, with its instructions, is passed from parent to child with few or minor changes.
DNA stands for DeoxyriboNucleic Acid. It is structured as a double-stranded helical molecule. Think about a ladder with rungs or sides that are twisted: the rungs are composed of chemicals held together with a sugar backbone, somewhat like table sugar. These chemicals are called nucleic acid bases, or nucleotides; they are the building blocks of every DNA molecule. The four nucleotides contained in every DNA molecule are Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine, and Thymine, which are simply labeled as A, C, G, and T.
A section of the long, double-stranded helical DNA molecule is a gene. A gene contains instructions for some specific functions, such as making a protein. Some genes are responsible for physical characteristics.
There are about 30,000 genes, but they constitute less than five percent of all DNA. The rest are commonly called "junk DNA," although some parts of this DNA determine the structure of the chromosomes. Genes are packaged in 46 chromosomes, which are arranged in 23 pairs that define the human genome. In sum, the complete human genome contains billions of bits of information.
Children inherit copies of their parents' DNA. This genetic hand-off is repeated from generation to generation. In copying DNA, some mistakes may on occasion occur, for example, the substitution of a C for G or a T for an A. Think about monks in a medieval monastery who copied manuscripts and on occasion made some mistakes (maybe after finishing their daily ration of five liters of beer). Despite the efforts of even the abbot of the monastery, who proofread all pages that the monks copied, spelling mistakes may have remained in the final document.
The same happens when proofreading a book: several mistakes may be removed but despite my best efforts some mistakes still remain. In genetics, such mistakes are called "mutations." These mutations provide variation, or the evolution of the basic building blocks. However, mutations occur at a low rate, maybe 50 changes per generation in billions of nucleotides that make up the human genome.
How can this evolution in the building blocks be useful to genealogists? The DNA in the nucleus of a cell contains 23 pairs of chromosomes. One pair determines the gender. Males receive or inherit a Y chromosome from their father and an X chromosome from their mother. Females inherit two Xs. Hence, males with the same Y chromosome have a common ancestor. Y chromosome analysis (Y-DNA) can verify or help to investigate the paternal lineage of an individual. Investigation of the X chromosomes in a female can verify her paternal lineage only if the X that is common between two sisters is the same as the X chromosome of their father.
Outside the nucleus of a cell are many small organelles, called "mitochondria." These are the power stations of a cell because they are structures in which energy is produced and stored. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is the small amount of DNA found in the mitochondrion. mtDNA is passed on via the egg cell of a mother, hence only females can pass mtDNA to their offspring. In consequence, an analysis of the mtDNA in males or females can provide valuable information to verify or help to investigate the maternal lineage of an individual. In this way, genetic genealogy can identify paternal lineage via Y chromosome analysis and identify the maternal lineage via mtDNA analysis. By testing males for both Y-chromosome and mtDNA, one can trace their paternal and maternal lines. By testing females for mtDNA, one can trace their maternal lines. The information obtained through these analyses can determine the specific branches via which an individual comes from the evolutionary tree of human relationships. DNA testing complements conventional genealogy. Both conventional and genetic genealogy can contribute to a more comprehensive family history.
About the author:
Guido Deboeck, Ph.D., is the author of FLEMISH DNA & ANCESTRY: History of Three Families over Five Centuries Using Conventional and Genetic Genealogy. This book is a model case study in the application of DNA research in genealogy as well as a thorough genealogy of some prominent Flemish families.
Source: Clearfield Publishing
In spite of the numerous sources and vast amount of documented information that can be found, we should not forget that documents can contain errors, may have been written to mislead or hide the truth, or may have been destroyed either on purpose or by accident (e.g. by fire, floods, or earthquakes). Additionally, some relationships may never have been recorded. This is why conventional genealogy can only go as far as the research of documents allows.
To go beyond the constraints of the paper world, there is genetic genealogy. Genetic genealogy relies on DNA, which we all have, does not change, cannot be destroyed, and is never wrong.
DNA testing complements conventional genealogy through the analysis of the unique sequence of chemicals that defines each human being. Through DNA testing, one can tell if two people are related (though not the exact nature of the relationship), verify, or potentially correct genealogical information extracted from documents.
DNA contains the blueprint of life, i.e., all the instructions that build and control the day-to-day functioning of the cells in our body. This blueprint, with its instructions, is passed from parent to child with few or minor changes.
DNA stands for DeoxyriboNucleic Acid. It is structured as a double-stranded helical molecule. Think about a ladder with rungs or sides that are twisted: the rungs are composed of chemicals held together with a sugar backbone, somewhat like table sugar. These chemicals are called nucleic acid bases, or nucleotides; they are the building blocks of every DNA molecule. The four nucleotides contained in every DNA molecule are Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine, and Thymine, which are simply labeled as A, C, G, and T.
A section of the long, double-stranded helical DNA molecule is a gene. A gene contains instructions for some specific functions, such as making a protein. Some genes are responsible for physical characteristics.
There are about 30,000 genes, but they constitute less than five percent of all DNA. The rest are commonly called "junk DNA," although some parts of this DNA determine the structure of the chromosomes. Genes are packaged in 46 chromosomes, which are arranged in 23 pairs that define the human genome. In sum, the complete human genome contains billions of bits of information.
Children inherit copies of their parents' DNA. This genetic hand-off is repeated from generation to generation. In copying DNA, some mistakes may on occasion occur, for example, the substitution of a C for G or a T for an A. Think about monks in a medieval monastery who copied manuscripts and on occasion made some mistakes (maybe after finishing their daily ration of five liters of beer). Despite the efforts of even the abbot of the monastery, who proofread all pages that the monks copied, spelling mistakes may have remained in the final document.
The same happens when proofreading a book: several mistakes may be removed but despite my best efforts some mistakes still remain. In genetics, such mistakes are called "mutations." These mutations provide variation, or the evolution of the basic building blocks. However, mutations occur at a low rate, maybe 50 changes per generation in billions of nucleotides that make up the human genome.
How can this evolution in the building blocks be useful to genealogists? The DNA in the nucleus of a cell contains 23 pairs of chromosomes. One pair determines the gender. Males receive or inherit a Y chromosome from their father and an X chromosome from their mother. Females inherit two Xs. Hence, males with the same Y chromosome have a common ancestor. Y chromosome analysis (Y-DNA) can verify or help to investigate the paternal lineage of an individual. Investigation of the X chromosomes in a female can verify her paternal lineage only if the X that is common between two sisters is the same as the X chromosome of their father.
Outside the nucleus of a cell are many small organelles, called "mitochondria." These are the power stations of a cell because they are structures in which energy is produced and stored. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is the small amount of DNA found in the mitochondrion. mtDNA is passed on via the egg cell of a mother, hence only females can pass mtDNA to their offspring. In consequence, an analysis of the mtDNA in males or females can provide valuable information to verify or help to investigate the maternal lineage of an individual. In this way, genetic genealogy can identify paternal lineage via Y chromosome analysis and identify the maternal lineage via mtDNA analysis. By testing males for both Y-chromosome and mtDNA, one can trace their paternal and maternal lines. By testing females for mtDNA, one can trace their maternal lines. The information obtained through these analyses can determine the specific branches via which an individual comes from the evolutionary tree of human relationships. DNA testing complements conventional genealogy. Both conventional and genetic genealogy can contribute to a more comprehensive family history.
About the author:
Guido Deboeck, Ph.D., is the author of FLEMISH DNA & ANCESTRY: History of Three Families over Five Centuries Using Conventional and Genetic Genealogy. This book is a model case study in the application of DNA research in genealogy as well as a thorough genealogy of some prominent Flemish families.
Source: Clearfield Publishing
Spears Family of Texas
Mrs. George T. Spears, Sr., Regent of the Texas State Society from 1947 to 1949 and founder of the Texas State Officers’ Club in 1948, was born at Myrtle Springs, Texas, on December 29, 1877. She was married to Colonel George Thomas Spears, a newspaper publisher who, at one time in his career, owned seventeen Texas newspapers. They were the parents of three children: Lucille, who died at the age of three years; George T. Spears, Jr., who married Alysse Sangster; and Clara Mary, who married Philip E. Luker. Mrs. Spears, her daughter, and her daughter-in-law were all organizing members of the Honorable Philip Livingston Chapter, DAC of Fort Worth.
Maude Lucille Dawson Spears received her education at Kidd-Key College in Sherman, Texas, where she prepared for her profession as a teacher. She was active in the Methodist Church and held local and district Offices in the women’s work of the church. A member of the Chautauqua Literary and Science Club of Graham, Texas, she participated in many community projects.
Mrs. Spears was also active in hereditary associations other than DAC. She filled the offices of State Historian and State Vice Regent of the Texas Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, and was a board member of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants.
For the last few years of her life, Mrs. Spears was confined to her room in the Decatur home of her daughter, but she remained alert and interested in the happenings of the times. She died at Decatur on December 12, 1975, only a few weeks before her ninety-eighth birthday.
Maude Lucille Dawson Spears received her education at Kidd-Key College in Sherman, Texas, where she prepared for her profession as a teacher. She was active in the Methodist Church and held local and district Offices in the women’s work of the church. A member of the Chautauqua Literary and Science Club of Graham, Texas, she participated in many community projects.
Mrs. Spears was also active in hereditary associations other than DAC. She filled the offices of State Historian and State Vice Regent of the Texas Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, and was a board member of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants.
For the last few years of her life, Mrs. Spears was confined to her room in the Decatur home of her daughter, but she remained alert and interested in the happenings of the times. She died at Decatur on December 12, 1975, only a few weeks before her ninety-eighth birthday.
Caswell Motor Company Employees (1927)
Crowell Automobile Company employees in 1927:
Johnnie Gunn, Manager (seated to left with white shirt)
Lynn Bowe, Utility (seated beside Johnnie Gunn) [Probably Lucza Bowe (born c. 1905)]
Standing, Left-to-Right:
E. L. Poteat, Salesman [Earmine Lee Poteat, Sr. (1898-1979)]
Otis Powell, Mechanic [Otis A. Powell (1900-1960]
T. H. Hodges, Salesman [Thomas Hiram Hodges (1882-1972)]
Woody Lillard, Shop Foreman [Woody Lillard (born c. 1893)]
Pattie Gunn, Office [Pattie Griffin Gunn (1895-1956), sister of Johnnie Gunn]
Hubert Page, Stock Room [Hubert Hodnett Page (1897-1974)]
Harry Bradner, Mechanic [Harry Bradner (1898-1980)]
Loyd Johnson, Mechanic [Loyd Johnson (born c. 1883]
History of Buncombe County, North Carolina
The following is from Asheville and Buncombe County, F. A. Sondley; Genesis of Buncombe County, Theodore F. Davidson (1922):
Shortly after the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, in 1784, or 1785, settlers from the headwaters of the Catawba and the adjacent country, whose frontier establishment was the blockhouse at Old Fort, began to cross the mountains into the Swannanoa valley. Among the first of these was Samuel Davidson, who came in with his wife and infant child and one female negro slave and settled upon Christian Creek of the Swannanoa, a short distance east of Gudger's Ford near the present railroad station called Azalea. He had been here but a short while when one morning he went out to find his horse. Soon his wife heard the report of guns, and, knowing too well what had happened, she took her child and the servant and made her way along the mountains to the Old Fort. An expedition from there at once set out to avenge the death of Davidson. They found him on the mountain near his cabin, killed and scalped, and buried his body on the spot where it was found and where his grave may still be seen. It is further said that they met and conquered the Indians in a battle fought near the Swannanoa River in that neighborhood or about Biltmore.
Shortly after the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, in 1784, or 1785, settlers from the headwaters of the Catawba and the adjacent country, whose frontier establishment was the blockhouse at Old Fort, began to cross the mountains into the Swannanoa valley. Among the first of these was Samuel Davidson, who came in with his wife and infant child and one female negro slave and settled upon Christian Creek of the Swannanoa, a short distance east of Gudger's Ford near the present railroad station called Azalea. He had been here but a short while when one morning he went out to find his horse. Soon his wife heard the report of guns, and, knowing too well what had happened, she took her child and the servant and made her way along the mountains to the Old Fort. An expedition from there at once set out to avenge the death of Davidson. They found him on the mountain near his cabin, killed and scalped, and buried his body on the spot where it was found and where his grave may still be seen. It is further said that they met and conquered the Indians in a battle fought near the Swannanoa River in that neighborhood or about Biltmore.
The Development of Washington, D.C.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF WASHINGTON CITY
IN the early period of our history the people appreciated and demanded beauty in civic planning and development. We find Annapolis laid out on the lines suggested by Sir Christopher Wren for rebuilding London after the destruction of that city by the great fire of 1666. The suggestion of an imposing capital city may be found in Williamsburg, Va., with its principal street 200 feet wide, with a dignified vista of the Colonial Capitol at one end and William and Mary College at the other. The Governor's palace, with its extensive Mall and the Public Square in the center of the city, showed an appreciation of both dignity and beauty. L'Enfant proved his artistic ability in the scheme for Buffalo, with its radial streets, while New Orleans with its fan-shaped plan, laid out by Bienville, had many points to commend it to our attention.This interest of our forefathers culminated in efforts to obtain the highest type of beauty and utility in their capital city. Washington and Jefferson exhibited an active personal interest in the plan of Washington City, and L'Enfant presented a great artistic composition in his design with its proposed park treatment, radial streets, beautiful vistas, reciprocity of site between points of interest and grouping of Federal buildings.
It seems strange that with this early tendency we, as a people, should have ceased to appreciate the value of a beautiful composition and the necessity for growth under artistic guidance. It is only in recent years that travel, culture and leisure have again called the attention of our people to the pleasure and cultivation derived from beautiful surroundings.
The report of the Park Commission on the future development of Washington City, secured by the efficient management of Senator MacMillan, was a spark which lighted a fire of enthusiasm that has spread North, South, East and West. In this movement culture and business go hand in hand. While culture is striving to attain the ideal in the elevation and refinement of life, business has been quick to appreciate the monetary value of beauty.
To indicate the magnitude of this movement, it may be well to mention as among the cities and towns which have taken active steps to procure a systematic and artistic growth: Cleveland, Buffalo, New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis, New Orleans, Hartford, New Haven, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angles St. Paul, Denver, Chicago and Cincinnati. This movement, which shows a keen appreciation of the value of beauty, is not Confined to the United States. It appears to be a wave that has spread over the world. London is spending millions in building the Victoria Memorial, with extended approaches, formal parks, and architectural surroundings, in cutting new streets and widening old streets. Paris, having spent two hundred and sixty-five million dollars on the Haussmann plans, is now contemplating an expenditure of two hundred and thirty-six million dollars on new artistic improvements. Rome, Berlin, Vienna and other European cities are expending vast sums in beautifying their cities. Australia, Japan and Johannesburg have commissions or artists studying schemes for the artistic growth of their cities. The magnitude of work contemplated and in actual progress in our cities and the possibilities of its refining influence upon our citizens is worthy of attention and encouragement.
Senator MacMillan with his knowledge of public affairs, thorough acquaintance with the District of Columbia and its needs, having managed large industries, fully appreciated the value of expert advice when he secured the appointment of a commission to study and report upon the future development of Washington City. The Commission, Charles F. McKim, D. H. Burnham, Augustus Saint Gaudens and F. L. Olmsted, were artists of education, experience and refinement, as well as men of executive ability, who had shown their capacity in executed work. The Commission were neither acquainted with the officials with whom they were to act nor with the problem which they were to solve. The officials were found to be broad-minded and exceptional men who aided and encouraged thorough investigation and study of the subject. The topography of the city and its surroundings was quickly appreciated by the Commission as the wealth and magnificent possibilities of its future development unfolded. The city, encircled by two beautiful rivers, nestled in an amphi-theater of hills; nothing could be more inviting to an artistic mind.
After a careful study of existing work in Europe and colonial work in this country they were ready to begin the preparation of their report. The Commission was surprised to find how broadly and thoroughly. Washington and L'Enfant bad grasped the subject, and, after a careful study, thought it best to adopt the broad principles of the original plan; at the same time ample problems remained for original solution, in the increased park areas, park connections, and the selection of statuary, the erection of buildings, and the treatment of waterways.
The Park Commission's report on Washington City was presented January 15, 1902. The recommendations for the future development of Washington consisted in suggestions for the grouping of future Federal buildings and important monuments in the center of the city, for new park areas necessary to preserve features of natural beauty or to enhance the natural landscape, and lastly suggestions for the most feasible and artistic connecting links between the parks. The report forms an admirable type for other communities to follow as its strength lies in offering a broad and comprehensive composition in which each detail is given its relative value.
Two models were presented by the Park Commission with their report; one showing the city as it is, the other showing the city as they suggest it should be. The model of the city as it is shows how a want of sympathy in well-meaning people has nearly destroyed the great composition left us by the Father of the Country. Since the days of Madison, each park, building and monument has been designed as an individual
Hodges-Hightower Wedding 1923
The Bee (Danville, Virginia) 23 June 1923 (Page 8)
Hodges-Hightower
A pretty wedding was solemnized on Monday at nine o'clock at Prospect Hill, Caswell County, when Miss Clara Mabel Hightower, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. S. Hightower, was married to Howard Price Hodges, formerly of Caswell but now of Washington, D.C. The ceremony was performed by Rev. S. F. Nix at the home of the bride. Miss Mary Hightower, sister of the bride, was maid of honor, and Herbert Hodges, brother of the groom, was best man. Little Edith Wilkerson [probably Edith Cooper Wilkinson] was the ring bearer, preceding the bridal party to the altar before which the ceremony was preformed. Miss Myrtle Wilkerson [probably Eva Myrtle Wilkinson] played the wedding marches, Miss Lulu Compton singing, "At Dawning" and "I Love You Truly." A reception followed the wedding, after which the bride and groom left for Atlantic City and other northern cities, where they will spend their honeymoon before taking up residence in Washington, where the groom is connected with the Baltimore and Ohio Railway company.
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Howard Price Hodges (1895-1979) is the son of Walter Smith and Lucy N. Hodges.
Mabel Clara Hightower (1895-1975) is the daughter of John Stephen Hightower (1855-1928) and Della Susan Smith (d. 1915).
Hodges-Hightower
A pretty wedding was solemnized on Monday at nine o'clock at Prospect Hill, Caswell County, when Miss Clara Mabel Hightower, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. S. Hightower, was married to Howard Price Hodges, formerly of Caswell but now of Washington, D.C. The ceremony was performed by Rev. S. F. Nix at the home of the bride. Miss Mary Hightower, sister of the bride, was maid of honor, and Herbert Hodges, brother of the groom, was best man. Little Edith Wilkerson [probably Edith Cooper Wilkinson] was the ring bearer, preceding the bridal party to the altar before which the ceremony was preformed. Miss Myrtle Wilkerson [probably Eva Myrtle Wilkinson] played the wedding marches, Miss Lulu Compton singing, "At Dawning" and "I Love You Truly." A reception followed the wedding, after which the bride and groom left for Atlantic City and other northern cities, where they will spend their honeymoon before taking up residence in Washington, where the groom is connected with the Baltimore and Ohio Railway company.
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Howard Price Hodges (1895-1979) is the son of Walter Smith and Lucy N. Hodges.
Mabel Clara Hightower (1895-1975) is the daughter of John Stephen Hightower (1855-1928) and Della Susan Smith (d. 1915).
Thomas Mayes Angle (1863-1929) Obituary
The Bee (Danville, Virginia) 9 March 1929
Thomas M. Angle Will Be buried at Milton Sunday
The death occurred yesterday afternoon at 2:17 o'clock of Thomas Meise Angle, age 65, prominent citizen of Milton, N .C. He had been in declining health for some time but was seriously ill but one week. Mr. Angle was a native of Iredell County, N.C., but had lived at Milton for the last 35 years. He was a successful farmer and throughout his active life displayed large interest in community affairs, being for many years a political leader.
He is survived by his widow and three sons T. S. Angle and Sol Angle, of Milton, and M. S. Angle of Greensboro, N. C..
The funeral will be held from his late home at 3 o'clock late Sunday afternoon, services to be conducted by Rev N. R. Claytor and Rev. Mr. Jones.
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Moved to Milton, North Carolina around 1899 and purchased the Dr. Stamps home, which burned around 1929. Source: The Heritage of Caswell County, North Carolina, Jeannine D. Whitlow, Editor (1985) at 91 (Article #19, "Angle" by Lois Sydnor Angle Love).
Late in life James H. (Jack) Miles secured the services of T. M. Angle of Milton, North Carolina, to operate or assist in operation of the distillery in Anderson Township, Caswell County. Arch Lindsey of Yanceyville, North Carolina, was the bookkeeper. The exact dates of operation are not known. It appears that the distillery closed with the coming of North Carolina's prohibition law in 1908. Source: From Rabbit Shuffle to Collins Hill: Stories of Southern Caswell County, North Carolina, Millard Quentin Plumblee (1984) at 130.
Thomas M. Angle Will Be buried at Milton Sunday
The death occurred yesterday afternoon at 2:17 o'clock of Thomas Meise Angle, age 65, prominent citizen of Milton, N .C. He had been in declining health for some time but was seriously ill but one week. Mr. Angle was a native of Iredell County, N.C., but had lived at Milton for the last 35 years. He was a successful farmer and throughout his active life displayed large interest in community affairs, being for many years a political leader.
He is survived by his widow and three sons T. S. Angle and Sol Angle, of Milton, and M. S. Angle of Greensboro, N. C..
The funeral will be held from his late home at 3 o'clock late Sunday afternoon, services to be conducted by Rev N. R. Claytor and Rev. Mr. Jones.
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Moved to Milton, North Carolina around 1899 and purchased the Dr. Stamps home, which burned around 1929. Source: The Heritage of Caswell County, North Carolina, Jeannine D. Whitlow, Editor (1985) at 91 (Article #19, "Angle" by Lois Sydnor Angle Love).
Late in life James H. (Jack) Miles secured the services of T. M. Angle of Milton, North Carolina, to operate or assist in operation of the distillery in Anderson Township, Caswell County. Arch Lindsey of Yanceyville, North Carolina, was the bookkeeper. The exact dates of operation are not known. It appears that the distillery closed with the coming of North Carolina's prohibition law in 1908. Source: From Rabbit Shuffle to Collins Hill: Stories of Southern Caswell County, North Carolina, Millard Quentin Plumblee (1984) at 130.
Mastin Powell (c.1859-1929) Obituary
The Bee (Danville, Virginia) 9 December 1929 (Page 3)
[William] Mastin Powell Dies at Blanche; Funeral Today
News was received this morning of the death last night of [William] Mastin Powell at his home in Caswell county. He was about 70 years of age and had been ill for several weeks. Death was ascribed
to infirmities incidental to age. Mr. Powell spent most of his life in the Blanche section and was one of the most widely known and popular farmers of that section. He is survived by the following children: Samuel Powell, Mrs. William Reagan, Miss Sarah Powell, Eli Powell, and Mrs. Holt. He also leaves a sister Mrs. Mary Owens, and several brothers, nieces and nephews.
The funeral will be held from the home of his niece, Miss Sarah Powell at Blanche tomorrow afternoon at 3 o'clock.
[William] Mastin Powell Dies at Blanche; Funeral Today
News was received this morning of the death last night of [William] Mastin Powell at his home in Caswell county. He was about 70 years of age and had been ill for several weeks. Death was ascribed
to infirmities incidental to age. Mr. Powell spent most of his life in the Blanche section and was one of the most widely known and popular farmers of that section. He is survived by the following children: Samuel Powell, Mrs. William Reagan, Miss Sarah Powell, Eli Powell, and Mrs. Holt. He also leaves a sister Mrs. Mary Owens, and several brothers, nieces and nephews.
The funeral will be held from the home of his niece, Miss Sarah Powell at Blanche tomorrow afternoon at 3 o'clock.
Thomas Rainey (1825-1910)
Thomas Rainey was born January 1825 in Yanceyville, North Carolina, the first son of James Glenn Rainey and Sophia Hendrick Rainey.
Rainey Park, 8.09 acres, is located in Queens, New York (Vernon Blvd, 33 Rd, 34 St, East River)
Queensboro Bridge Under Construction
Queensboro Bridge
Father of the Queensboro Bridge
Rainey Park, 8.09 acres, is located in Queens, New York (Vernon Blvd, 33 Rd, 34 St, East River)
Queensboro Bridge Under ConstructionQueensboro Bridge
Father of the Queensboro Bridge
Important Road Notice (1922)
The Bee (Danville, Virginia) 3 February 1922 (Page 11)
Important Notice
This is to notify Oil Companies, Bottling Companies, and all people who have customers living in Caswell County, North Carolina., that they are forbidden the use of the public roads with any trucks or vehicles weighing (gross) more than two tons until the roads are in condition that they will not be damaged by use. At no time can a vehicle weighing more than two tons be used on public roads of Caswell County without permission of the Highway Commission. All persons or corporations violating this law will be prosecuted to the limit.
This February 2nd, 1922
M. C. Winstead
Chairman Highway Commission Caswell County, N. C.
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Important Notice
This is to notify Oil Companies, Bottling Companies, and all people who have customers living in Caswell County, North Carolina., that they are forbidden the use of the public roads with any trucks or vehicles weighing (gross) more than two tons until the roads are in condition that they will not be damaged by use. At no time can a vehicle weighing more than two tons be used on public roads of Caswell County without permission of the Highway Commission. All persons or corporations violating this law will be prosecuted to the limit.
This February 2nd, 1922
M. C. Winstead
Chairman Highway Commission Caswell County, N. C.
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Bartlett Yancey Elementary School
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Prof. G. T. Wendell, of Fort Mill, S.C. has been elected principal of the school. Prof. Wendell is a graduate of Furman University and has had three years of successful experience teaching in this State. Mrs. Wendell, who is also a very efficient teacher, has been elected as teacher of the first grade. Four full years of high-school work will be taught this year. Four trucks will be used in transportation of pupils.
The foregoing is inaccurate in that it refers to a "Yanceyville High School." Yes, the new building would include the upper grades, but it also included the elementary grades. Note the reference to Mrs. Wendell teaching the first grade. The school actually was called the "Bartlett Yancey School" and is the building shown herewith, which in 1935 when a separate Bartlett Yancey High School was built, became the Bartlett Yancey Elementary School (demolished in the 1958).
The Bee (Danville, VA), 8 August 1923.
Photograph: Bartlett Yancey School under construction.
Notice To Contractors: The Bee (Danville, Virginia) 9 January 1923
Moorefield Family
Southern Campaign American Revolution Pension Statements
Pension application of John Dunkley, W5267 Tabitha fn59Va. Transcribed by Will Graves 2/14/09 [Methodology: Spelling, punctuation and grammar have been corrected in some instances for ease of reading and to facilitate searches of the database. Also, the handwriting of the original scribes often lends itself to varying interpretations. Users of this database are urged to view the original and to make their own decision as to how to decipher what the original scribe actually wrote. Blanks appearing in the transcripts reflect blanks in the original.]
Virginia, to wit
On this 23rd day of October 1832 Personally appeared in open Court, before the County Court of Halifax now sitting, John Dunkley a resident in the said County of Halifax and State aforesaid aged 73 years, who being first duly sworn according to law, doth on his oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress passed June 7th 1832, that he entered the service of the United States as a Militia-man under the following named officers and served as herein stated, that in the year 1780, as well as he remembers, he was drafted in the militia for 3 months and served his full time under the command of Capt. William Terry and was discharged at Watlington's old field that in the year 1781, he was again drafted for 3 months and served the time fully under the command of Capt. John Faulkner, and was at the siege of Little York, when Lord Cornwallis surrendered, winning where he was discharged from the service, that he has no proof of his service except the affidavits of Moses Epps1 and Moses Dunkley,2 he hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present and declares that his name is not on the Pension roll of the agency of any State.
S/ John Dunkley
Pension application of John Dunkley, W5267 Tabitha fn59Va. Transcribed by Will Graves 2/14/09 [Methodology: Spelling, punctuation and grammar have been corrected in some instances for ease of reading and to facilitate searches of the database. Also, the handwriting of the original scribes often lends itself to varying interpretations. Users of this database are urged to view the original and to make their own decision as to how to decipher what the original scribe actually wrote. Blanks appearing in the transcripts reflect blanks in the original.]
Virginia, to wit
On this 23rd day of October 1832 Personally appeared in open Court, before the County Court of Halifax now sitting, John Dunkley a resident in the said County of Halifax and State aforesaid aged 73 years, who being first duly sworn according to law, doth on his oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress passed June 7th 1832, that he entered the service of the United States as a Militia-man under the following named officers and served as herein stated, that in the year 1780, as well as he remembers, he was drafted in the militia for 3 months and served his full time under the command of Capt. William Terry and was discharged at Watlington's old field that in the year 1781, he was again drafted for 3 months and served the time fully under the command of Capt. John Faulkner, and was at the siege of Little York, when Lord Cornwallis surrendered, winning where he was discharged from the service, that he has no proof of his service except the affidavits of Moses Epps1 and Moses Dunkley,2 he hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present and declares that his name is not on the Pension roll of the agency of any State.
S/ John Dunkley
Sallie Henry Womack Wiggins (1864-1929)
The Bee (Danville, Virginia) 19 February 1929 (Page 2):
Mrs.Sallie Wiggins Dies In Baltimore; Funeral in Caswell
News was received here today of the death yesterday of Mrs. Sallie Womack Wiggins, of Yanceyville, N. C., prominent throughout that section who passed away in the Woman's Hospital in Baltimore where she had been taken for treatment.
Her remains are arriving today in Yanceyville and are to be buried in the old family square. Mrs. Wiggins was identified with the Barlett Yancey family for which Yanceyville was named. She was the sister of the late Mrs. John Bustard of this city.
News was received here today of the death yesterday of Mrs. Sallie Womack Wiggins, of Yanceyville, N. C., prominent throughout that section who passed away in the Woman's Hospital in Baltimore where she had been taken for treatment.
Her remains are arriving today in Yanceyville and are to be buried in the old family square. Mrs. Wiggins was identified with the Barlett Yancey family for which Yanceyville was named. She was the sister of the late Mrs. John Bustard of this city.
The Caswell Messenger (Yanceyville, North Carolina)
The Caswell Messenger
Reverend W. Cecil Jones established The Caswell Messenger newspaper in Yanceyville, North Carolina, in 1926. He sold the newspaper to Erwin D. Stephens in 1933. The paper was purchased from Stephens by Charles A. Womack in 1967. The following year, Harold McCain bought an interest, and later Sam Cooper purchased an interest, with Charles W. Womack, Jr., taking over his father's share.
At some point Womack Publishing Company assumed sole ownership. Headquartered in Chatham, Virginia, Womack Publishing is a privately held, family-owned, media company of newspapers, telephone directories, specialty publications, and Internet-based businesses. Womack Publishing operates fifteen newspapers in North Carolina and Virginia.
Circulation 2012: 4,800
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"We used to race to the mailbox on the County Home Road to get the Messenger on Thursdays. I especially liked the "Social News" section. It was filled with the goings on of towns people--those who "motored" to the beach or mountains, and who had friends visiting from out of town. There were accounts of meetings in homes where refreshments were served, and showers for prospective brides and every little detail down to the nut cups was reported--also the honoree's outfit described with flowery words. The newspaper was once printed in the old building that was at one time "Brown's" restaurant and now opened up again by the same folks. My brother recalls when he was small, Papa took him in to visit with the then editor, who was a family friend. Bro remembers Papa sat him on a tall stool and he and his friend enjoyed passing the time of day while drinking "something" out of coffee cups behind the counter. That was before my time...."
Source: Helen Jean Farthing Ledford 4 February 2014 Post to the Caswell County Historical Association Facebook Page.
Reverend W. Cecil Jones established The Caswell Messenger newspaper in Yanceyville, North Carolina, in 1926. He sold the newspaper to Erwin D. Stephens in 1933. The paper was purchased from Stephens by Charles A. Womack in 1967. The following year, Harold McCain bought an interest, and later Sam Cooper purchased an interest, with Charles W. Womack, Jr., taking over his father's share.
At some point Womack Publishing Company assumed sole ownership. Headquartered in Chatham, Virginia, Womack Publishing is a privately held, family-owned, media company of newspapers, telephone directories, specialty publications, and Internet-based businesses. Womack Publishing operates fifteen newspapers in North Carolina and Virginia.
Circulation 2012: 4,800
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"We used to race to the mailbox on the County Home Road to get the Messenger on Thursdays. I especially liked the "Social News" section. It was filled with the goings on of towns people--those who "motored" to the beach or mountains, and who had friends visiting from out of town. There were accounts of meetings in homes where refreshments were served, and showers for prospective brides and every little detail down to the nut cups was reported--also the honoree's outfit described with flowery words. The newspaper was once printed in the old building that was at one time "Brown's" restaurant and now opened up again by the same folks. My brother recalls when he was small, Papa took him in to visit with the then editor, who was a family friend. Bro remembers Papa sat him on a tall stool and he and his friend enjoyed passing the time of day while drinking "something" out of coffee cups behind the counter. That was before my time...."
Source: Helen Jean Farthing Ledford 4 February 2014 Post to the Caswell County Historical Association Facebook Page.
Caswell County Poor House 1860
Caswell County, North Carolina Poor House 1860
Levi Cobb Page (1807-1878) was Steward of the Poor House, and his family apparently was living with him at the facility:
| Levi C Page | 53 |
| M C Page | 47 |
| M A Page | 14 |
| L C Page | 11 |
| L L Page | 4 |
| S Murphy | 82 |
| Rainy McKinney | 81 |
| Rachal Paschal | 80 |
| Larkin Ballard | 80 |
| Jas Ware | 76 |
| Rebecca Ware | 76 |
| Thos Chandler | 73 |
| Claton Lambert | 69 |
| M Nilcen | 67 |
| Jas Bowman | 67 |
| Geo Oakley | 65 |
| Jas Rudd | 65 |
| E J Morgan | 60 |
| M Warren | 56 |
| H Carrell | 54 |
| S Scarbury | 52 |
| Polly Childress | 50 |
| S Childress | 45 |
| S Richardson | 42 |
| Ibby Lambert | 39 |
| Sally Kersey | 39 |
| Nelly Yates | 34 |
| Sally Scott | 34 |
| Green Niton | 33 |
| R Scott | 32 |
| Mary Warren | 28 |
| Robt Lewis | 27 |
| E Warren | 24 |
| M A Kersey | 17 |
| Jas Yates | 14 |
| F Kersey | 10 |
| E Warren | 6 |
| Huldah Warren | 5 |
| J C Lambert | 2 |
| E M Lambert | 1 |
| G W Kersey | 6.12 |
| D Richardson | 13 |
Postmasters: Yanceyville, Caswell County, North Carolina
Caswell Court House (Caswell County, North Carolina)
Thomas Bouldin, 8 Mar 1797
Henry Atkinson, 17 Mar 1800
Richard Mathews, 22 Jan 1802
T. Yancey, 1 Jul 1803
Thomas Slade Graves 31 Mar 1804 (1775-1847)
James Alling 1 Apr 1810
Thomas Graves * 22 Apr 1819
Richard E. Matthews, January 22, 1802
T. Yancey, 1 Jul 1803
Thomas Graves, May 10, 1804*
Thomas Graves, April 22, 1819
Thomas Bouldin, 8 Mar 1797
Henry Atkinson, 17 Mar 1800
Richard Mathews, 22 Jan 1802
T. Yancey, 1 Jul 1803
Thomas Slade Graves 31 Mar 1804 (1775-1847)
James Alling 1 Apr 1810
Thomas Graves * 22 Apr 1819
Richard E. Matthews, January 22, 1802
T. Yancey, 1 Jul 1803
Thomas Graves, May 10, 1804*
Thomas Graves, April 22, 1819
A Christmas Bride: Katherine Gertrude Everett Hooper
Page 2 -Social Activities Section
A CHRISTMAS BRIDE
Miss Katherine Gertrude Everett, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. D. Everett, 230 Broad Street, Danville, was married to Henry W. Hooper, of Yanceyville, N. C., on Christmas day, the ceremony being performed in Burlington, N. C. in the presence of a few friends.
The bride is a graduate of Danville high school and was one of the most attractive and popular members of her class. She has many friends in Virginia and North Carolina, having lived with her sister in Greensboro since her graduation.
The bridegroom is a prosperous and prominent merchant in Yanceyville, where he has been associated with his father since his graduation at Oak Ridge institute.
Mr. and Mrs. Hooper left immediately after the ceremony for a motor trip to Washington, Baltimore and New York, and will be home at Yanceyville January 1.
Milton Railroad Depot
(click on photographs for larger image)"Milton Memories" by Jean Scott. The Caswell Messenger (Yanceyville, North Carolina), July 12, 2006.
Down the hill from the Milton Methodist Church there was a narrow little muddy red street, probably never more than a lane for wagons or buggies heading to the depot at the foot of the hill. On a fairly high bank to the right of this street was a boardwalk that ran all the way to high steps at the foot. The bank at the bottom was covered by pillar roses, white with red edges and beautiful. Down there was the railroad station known to us as the depot. There were several trains through per day and many of them were passenger trains. This was the chief mode of travel to Danville and elsewhere until the late 1920's. The depot was a fairly long building. One half of it was waiting rooms for passengers, divided down the middle with whites on one side and coloreds on the other. In each side was a pot-belly iron stove for winter, and nothing to help with the sweltering heat of summer. The station agent's office was in this section with the constant clacking of the telegraph machine. The other half of the depot was for freight, and was used until the railroad was discontinued at a great loss to the area.
Roaming Back Roads In North Carolina
The following article by Ronald Blythe appeared in The New York Times 21 September 1986.
Ronald Blythe's new book, Divine Landscapes, will be published next month by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.. New York Times. (Late Edition (East Coast)). New York, N.Y.: Sep 21, 1986. pg. A.15
Copyright New York Times Company Sep 21, 1986
Whenever I leave home, which isn't often, I tend to go what we used to call ''the extra mile.'' I arrive at a quite unforeseen added destination to that which I set out for. These little add-ed journeys have, over the years, over-shadowed - overshone - the main trip. I find myself dwelling on them, on the accidents that caused them, on their durability as experiences.
Not long ago I traveled what was for me the farthest ever, to North Carolina to assist in celebrating the founding of the first English settlement on American soil. It was one of those sad plantings that did not take. The first small group of men and women that Sir Walter Raleigh earthed on Roanoke Island returned to England; the next just vanished. Were they drowned trying to get home? Slaughtered by offended Indians? No one knows; it is a mystery. Time, wrote Sir Walter in one of his poems, ''When we have wander'd all our ways/Shuts up the story of our days.'' They said he hated the sea.
History of Bartlett Yancey High School
The purpose of this article is to document the history of the Bartlett Yancey High School in Yanceyville, Caswell County, North Carolina. While incomplete, it nevertheless is being published in an effort to encourage others to contribute material.The Yanceyville Male Academy was chartered in the 1840s, headed by Archibald Lindsey. After 1910, it became the Yanceyville Academy (co-educational) and the only public school in town. The last graduating class is believed to be that of 1923. The old Yanceyville Academy building was used as a teacherage (boarding house for teachers) after the new Bartlett Yancey School was built nearby.
Dolley Payne Todd Madison (1768-1849)
Dolley Payne Todd MadisonFor half a century she was the most important woman in the social circles of America. To this day she remains one of the best known and best loved ladies of the White House--though often referred to, mistakenly, as Dorothy or Dorothea.
She always called herself Dolley, and by that name the New Garden Monthly Meeting of the Society of Friends, in Piedmont, North Carolina, recorded her birth to John and Mary Coles Payne, settlers from Virginia. In 1769 John Payne took his family back to his home colony, and in 1783 he moved them to Philadelphia, city of the Quakers. Dolley grew up in the strict discipline of the Society, but nothing muted her happy personality and her warm heart.
Smith Family Cemetery (Hycotee, Caswell County, North Carolina)
Smith Family Cemetery
Hycotee Farm
NC Highway 119,Caswell County,North Carolina
This family cemetery is located on the farm of William Osmond Smith III and Yancey Moorefield Smith, NC Highway 119 N, Caswell County, North Carolina. This is private property, and permission must be obtained before visiting the cemetery.
Monday, August 06, 2012
Lyttleton Luther Stamps Vietnam Articles (1995)
About the author: Lytt Stamps, an international desk editor for the Houston Chronicle, wrote a series of stories from Vietnam marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of Saigon. Stamps served in Vietnam as an Army lieutenant 1969-1970.
Born in Caswell County, North Carolina, Lyttleton Luther Stamps (2 January 1946 - 16 May 1996), graduated from Bartlett Yancey High School in 1964, and the University of North Carolina in 1968. He is the son of William Rufus Stamps (1898-1984) and Myrtle Malloy Hammock (1913-2004).
The above photograph shows Lytt Stamps at his desk at the Daily Tar Heel, student newspaper of the University of North Carolina (where he served as Managing Editor).
Articles in the Series "Back to Nam"
1. "Back to Nam" 23 April 1995
2. "Ho Chi Minh Tomb Sits Among the Empty Graves" 24 April 1995
3. "Return to Camp Enari Brings Memories, Grief" 27 April 1995
4. "Hamlet, Town Transformed by Two Crops" 28 April 1996
5. "Forever Changed/Few reminders of Saigon's Fall Remain Today" 30 April 1995
6. "Remembrance of Two Wars/Celebration in Vietnam Open Only to a Select Few" 1 May 1995
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"Back to Nam" by Lytt Stamps
Houston Chronicle
23 April 1995
"Hi, Mom, I got my orders today."
With those words, I told Mom what she and hundreds of thousands of other mothers across the United States had been fearing, the news that their sons and daughters were headed to war in Vietnam, a war that no one seemed to understand.
It was the late 1960s, and the nation was split. Did the United States have a legitimate mission in Vietnam (remember the Domino Theory?) or was the war simply some grandiose plot of the Pentagon and Big Business to find another colony to exploit?
Mom didn't care about the politics; she just didn't want her middle child to die halfway around the world in a land the GIs called Nam.
Calvin Graves Railroad Controversy
EDITORIALS
Trouble on the tracks
N.C. Railroad should collect its facts, consider its course
The North Carolina Railroad has been making news -- and arousing controversy -- ever since 1848, when the General Assembly created a railroad to connect the Piedmont with Eastern North Carolina. In 1896, when the state granted Southern Railway a 99-year lease to run the railroad, the payment was so low that Josephus Daniels, editor of the (Raleigh) News & Observer, thundered it was "The Crime of the Century."It would be another century before the state regained control of the railroad. In 1999 the state bought all the privately held stock, making the NCRR fully state-owned. It was the right decision. The railway's 317-mile corridor links the state port at Morehead City with the capital in Raleigh and the population centers of the Piedmont Crescent. That means the state will be better able to plan for freight and passenger travel in many of the fastest-growing counties.
To plan sensibly, the NCRR has to take stock of what it owns and what's in the way. Since the 19th century, the right of way has shifted and uses along it have varied considerably from one segment to the next. The railroad is entitled to plan how to use its resources to the state's best advantage. But it made an enormous gaffe by demanding rent from property owners whose businesses lie in the right of way and in some cases requiring them to buy insurance if they're too close to the tracks.
That may seem to be good business on the railroad's part, but it risks undermining public support for the good things the railroad hopes to do to improve transportation across the state. It paints the N.C. Railroad as a modern-day descendant of the 19th century's railroad robber barons -- including their disdain for appearances. N.C. Rep. Jeff Barnhart, a Cabarrus County Republican, wrote to the railroad, "It sure does appear to many that the big guys are just trying to take advantage of the little guys."
Some of the businesses have deeds of sale that don't mention a word about the railroad or the possibility they may be trespassing on the railroad's 200-foot-wide right of way, let alone any liability for paying rent. That why state Rep. Barnhart is calling for a legislative study of how the railroad property is managed.
The N.C. Railroad should complete its right of way study, analyze which businesses and residences lie within it and discuss with legislative officials how to make the best use of the property. That includes establishing an orderly process to collect any rent the state is entitled to. That may require looking at how the use of the railroad property evolved, and how property owners might seek compensation from title insurers or those who prepared or sold flawed deeds.
A complex process? Perhaps. But suddenly demanding rent from people who have owned property and paid taxes on it for years will serve only one purpose: to stir up hostility toward a railroad whose key goal, after all, is to serve the public. That's crazy.
N.C. Railroad Controversies
1855-1860: Company Shops is built in Alamance County to supply railroad's needs, including rail car and track repair. Later renamed Burlington (name considered but rejected: Carolinadelphia).
1897: Gov. Dan Russell sues unsuccessfully to invalidate lease to Southern Railway, claiming it was fraudulent and rent was too low.
1926: Goldsboro residents, unhappy with location of tracks on Centre Street, remove them during the middle of the night.
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Source: Unknown
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The State Magazine, 27 December 1941.
Benny Moore (World War II Veteran)
"Remembering the Face of Sacrifice"
By Shannon White, Editor, The Caswell Messenger
Yanceyville resident Benny Moore shared his memories of combat with a reverent crowd at Monday's Memorial Day Service held in the Veteran's Memorial Garden and Walkway at the Historic Courthouse.
May 30, 2007 - 12:53:08 am CDT
Benny Moore never talked about the horrors of war when he first came home from combat in World War II. Now, after carrying those memories with him for more than 60 years, he is beginning to share them, hopeful that somehow it will allow others to better understand the sacrifices made by so many. "I want people to know the truth about things," Moore said after speaking at a Memorial Day service Monday evening. "It's real with real people with families and a lot of them never came home." Like many veterans, Moore is haunted by visions of things most of us have only seen portrayed on television or in the movies.
By Shannon White, Editor, The Caswell Messenger
May 30, 2007 - 12:53:08 am CDT
Benny Moore never talked about the horrors of war when he first came home from combat in World War II. Now, after carrying those memories with him for more than 60 years, he is beginning to share them, hopeful that somehow it will allow others to better understand the sacrifices made by so many. "I want people to know the truth about things," Moore said after speaking at a Memorial Day service Monday evening. "It's real with real people with families and a lot of them never came home." Like many veterans, Moore is haunted by visions of things most of us have only seen portrayed on television or in the movies.
Yanceyville: Full of Tradition, Low on Activity (2002)
Yanceyville Full of Tradition, Low on Activity
Justin Mazzola - Reporter
BYHS students find a way to pass the time at a local restaurant. Justin Mazzola/ Photographer
"Don’t you ever wonder maybe if things had been slightly different, you could be somebody else? Don’t you ever wonder maybe if you took a left turn instead of taking a right, you could be somebody different? Don’t you ever wonder?" Popular musician Dave Matthews said these words at a 1995 concert in Colorado.
Some days, Caswell County residents wonder what it would be like if their county were more like its big sister, Alamance County. Perhaps the absence of Interstate 40/85 from Alamance County would make it a reflection of northern Caswell County. Interstate-connected cities such as Burlington are dominated by malls, chain restaurants and Wal-Mart. The homogenization of American cities is impacting small communities in different ways. Yanceyville, the largest town in Caswell County, features one traffic light and a recently-renovated courthouse that overlooks the town square.
Justin Mazzola - Reporter
"Don’t you ever wonder maybe if things had been slightly different, you could be somebody else? Don’t you ever wonder maybe if you took a left turn instead of taking a right, you could be somebody different? Don’t you ever wonder?" Popular musician Dave Matthews said these words at a 1995 concert in Colorado.
Some days, Caswell County residents wonder what it would be like if their county were more like its big sister, Alamance County. Perhaps the absence of Interstate 40/85 from Alamance County would make it a reflection of northern Caswell County. Interstate-connected cities such as Burlington are dominated by malls, chain restaurants and Wal-Mart. The homogenization of American cities is impacting small communities in different ways. Yanceyville, the largest town in Caswell County, features one traffic light and a recently-renovated courthouse that overlooks the town square.
Members of the Dialectic Society Instituted in the University of North Carolina: Caswell County
Catalogue of the Members of the Dialectic Society Instituted in the University of North Carolina June 3, 1795, Together With Historical Sketches
President of the Dialectic Society being present, in the person of the venerable James Mebane, of Caswell, the President called upon him to address the Society. As affecting and interesting a scene was perhaps never before witnessed in the meetings of this Society. After an elapse of fifty-three years, one of its founders and its first President was again in our midst; the patriarch of many winters had returned to witness the Dedication of this Hall. Trembling with age, but retaining a voice almost unbroken, the venerable father spoke of those with whom, in the earliest infancy of this Society, he had been associated. But they had all, or nearly all, gone down to the grave. He gave much good counsel, sage advice, friendly admonition and kind expression of regard to the youth assembled around him. He concluded by devoutly praying that prosperity and success might ever attend the sittings of this body; that it might last as long as this University; that this University might continue to prepare young men for the active scenes of life as long as we enjoyed the rich blessings of Liberty and the results of good and just government; and that these we might enjoy as long as the sun and the moon should continue to illumine the world.
Bartlett Yancey House Auction (2003)
| Archive: Historic Real Estate Auction | |
| Conducted: | Tuesday, April 22, 2003, 1:00 P.M. The Bartlett-Yancey House, Yanceyville, North Carolina; To be sold absolute - No reserve. |
| Location: | The Bartlett-Yancey House, 699 US Hwy 158 West, Yanceyville, North Carolina |
| Highlights: | Property Description: The Historic Bartlett-Yancey House, 699 US Hwy 158 W., Yanceyville, Caswell County, North Carolina, is picturesquely set on 15 +/- acres and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This charming country home was built in 1814 for Bartlett Yancey, who served in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the North Carolina Senate. Previews: Sunday, April 13, 1:00 – 4:00 P.M. Saturday, April 19, 1:00 – 4:00 P.M. Tuesday, April 22, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM Click on the above "Photo gallery" hyperlink for more photos! |
| Notes: | This well appointed home features (11) rooms, including (4) bedrooms, (2.5) baths, and (8) fireplaces with architectural mantels, and will provide the new owner with 3,766 +/- square feet of living area. The earliest portion of the two-part structure is a well detailed story and a half Federal Cottage constructed between 1808 and 1814. In 1856, the Greek Revival ell was added. The Greek Revival central hall (17’6” x 11’6”) and formal parlor (16’2” x 17’6”) includes a two-flight staircase, fireplace, & niches attributed to the nationally acclaimed African American craftsman Thomas Day. To the left, a sitting room (16’2” x 17’6’) carries into the central hall (32’ x 8’) which has a half bath and opens at either end to porches. The original den (17’4” x 17’4”) and formal dining room (17’4” x 12’6”) both have fine Federal mantels. The updated kitchen (12’ x 13’) has a ceramic tiled work island, grill top range, oven, and double sinks. The upstairs has four bedrooms (12’6” x 17’5”; 16’ x 17’4”; 17’4” x 12’; 15’6” x 12’6”), and two updated baths. The home has beautiful hardwood floors. The home retains its original dependencies: Bartlett Yancey’s law office; a smokehouse; and a tobacco pack house with diamond notched logs. There is also the Yancey family historical cemetery on the property. The well pump was replace in June 2001 and has very good water pressure. The house has updated electrical and has three-zoned heating by propane gas furnaces and three zones of central air conditioning. Additionally, there is a septic system, wooden siding and brick chimneys. The grounds are nicely landscaped with boxwoods, roses, trees, etc. Tax value: $275,286, zoned commercial, with a 100’ buffer. Appraised value: $397,000. Yanceyville is the Caswell County seat with a population of 2,000+/-. Located 40 miles from both Durham and Chapel Hill, on NC 86/U.S. 158. Danville, Virginia is 12 miles to the north. Leland Little Auctions  |
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