Upchurch Building Stores (Yanceyville, Caswell County, North Carolina)

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Upchurch Building Stores

In the background of this 1939 photograph is the Upchurch Building (just to the right of the tall Yanceyville Drug sign).

Not discernible in this low-resolution photograph is the window of the store that operated on the first floor of this building. The script is: "F. T. Whitfield." This is Franklin Thomas Whitfield (1894-1950). When F. T. Whitfield opened the store is not known. In the early 1940s he sold the business to Clyde Banks Rogers (1900-1980), discussed below.

However, there was an earlier store operating on the first floor of the Upchurch Building (east side of the Square in Yanceyville, Caswell County, North Carolina). This was Dodson & Hunter.

This check, dated 12 December 1931, was signed by Norman S. Upchurch, son of the owner of the Upchurch Building, Ernest Frederick Upchurch (1877-1960). Ernest Frederick Upchurch, a lawyer by trade, moved to Yanceyville in 1906. Note: in today's dollars the check amount was $390 (quite a large sum in 1931). The purpose of the payment is not known. Also not known is when Ernest Frederick Upchurch built the Upchurch Building.

Little is known about the Dodson & Hunter business. The Dodson is Peter Tice Dodson (1856-1936). The Hunter is Thomas Parks Hunter (1894-1943).

When Dodson & Hunter sold the business is not known. However, as shown above, in 1939 the proprietor was W. T. Whitfield. And, this advertisement is from 1941. Thus, it was in or after 1941 that W. T. Whitfield sold to Clyde Banks Rogers.

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In this photograph, Clyde Banks Rogers and son are standing in front of his Yanceyville store: C. B. Rogers Genl. Mdse. (C. B. Rogers General Merchandise).

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(Left to Right): Clyde Banks Rogers, Franklin Thomas Whitfield (1894-1950), owner of a general store in Bushy Fork, Person County, N.C., his wife, Martha Susan Long Whitfield (1893-1974), and store clerk James Edward (Ed) Mise (1886-1946). Clyde Banks Rogers is related to the wife of Franklin Thomas Whitfield. She may have taken the photograph.

Clyde Banks Rogers (1900-1980) sold the store in 1973, retiring with his wife, Myrtle May Blalock Rogers (1906-1993), to Greensboro. The couple had four children: Curtis W. Rogers, Edith Ann Rogers, Carl Banks Rogers, and Richard Russell Rogers.

Photograph courtesy The Caswell Messenger and Curtis W. Rogers.

William Motley Parsons

To whom Clyde Banks Rogers sold his store in 1973 is not known. However, it appears that as of 1985 the owner of the store was William Motley Parsons (1945-2004). While this has not been confirmed with respect to any primary documents, it appears to be a reasonable assumption.
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Store Chronology

Upchurch Building Constructed (probably 1920s)

1. Dodson & Hunter
2. F. T. Whitfield
3. C. B. Rogers
4. W. M. Parsons
5. Phillip Mabry Pawn Shop
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United States Address Index
Name: Phillip Mabry
Residence Years: 2000-2002
Address: 168 Court Sq
Residence Place: Yanceyville, North Carolina, USA
Zip Code: 27379
Phone Number: 336-694-1291