Watlington House (Yanceyville, NC)
Earlier we discussed what now is known as the Julius Spencer Watlington house on East Main Street in Yanceyville, NC (photograph to right). This was in the context of it possibly being used as a boarding house in the 1940s, which proved not to be the case.
However, the history of the house remains incomplete. It appears at the time of the 1940 United States Federal Census the house to the west (on the corner across from Little Service Station) was owned by widow Vernie Lee Butler Enoch and her daughter Sarah Frances Enoch. The widow's husband Louis Jefferson Enoch died in 1936.
The house on the other (east) side of the Watlington lot was owned and occupied by Herman Lafayette Gunn and his wife Zelda Ruth Roach Gunn (photograph to left).
But what about the property between the Enoch house and the Gunn house. Was there a structure on this lot, or was it vacant? Based upon the sequence of households listed in the 1940 United States Federal Census the following were between the Enoch and Gunn houses:
1. Woodrow O'Rear (or O'Dear) and wife Margaret
2. Luther O. Crotts
Both the O'Rears worked in a "Hosiery Mill." Luther O. Crotts was an "Agriculture Teacher." All were shown as renters. None were native to Caswell County. But, where did they rent? Was there a building of some sort on the lot that eventually was the site of the Watlington house?
The oldest relevant deed found is dated March 15, 1946, from "Mrs. Vernie Enoch, widow of L. J. Enoch, and Frances Enoch Jeffreys" to "Mrs. Laura M. Watlington." See image to right. Why the conveyance was only to Mrs. Laura M. Watlington and not to her and husband Julius Spencer Watlington is not known.
Here are the particulars of the deed:
For $5,000 the Enochs conveyed a parcel of land in Yanceyville Township adjoining the lands of H. L. Gunn and others, and bounded as follows:
"Beginning at an iron stake in the Southern edge of the sidewalk in the center of a driveway with H. L. Gunn; thence South 0° 25* west approximately 297.2 feet with the western boundary of H. L. Gunn to an iron stake and corner with H. L. Gunn in line of Joe Johnson; thence westward in line with Joe Johnson and others 45.4 feet to an iron stake new corner with Mrs. Vernie Enoch and Frances Enoch Jeffreys; thence Northward to new line with the said Mrs. Enoch and Frances Enoch Jeffreys approximately 297 feet going between two water meters to an iron stake in th southern edge of a sidewalk; thence along the said sidewalk Eastward 77' 4" to the beginning.
"Being a part of the land conveyed to L. J. Enoch by E. A. Allison and wife by a deed dated May 12, 1924 and of record in Book 79 on page 71 of the Caswell County Registry.*
"The above described lands were conveyed to grantors by inheritance."
The deed does not describe the property as "improved" (having a building on it). However, would such a small unimproved lot in Yanceyville have sold for $5,000 in 1946? In 1939 when the Enochs sold property to Herman L. Gunn for $2,000, it was described as "A certain house and lot . . . ."
The Property Card for this parcel on file at the Caswell County Register of Deeds gives 1945 as the "Approximate Year Built."
Thus, where O'Rear and Crotts lived at the time of the 1940 United States Federal Census is uncertain. However, we know that in 1946 Mrs. Laura M. Watlington purchased the parcel between Enoch and Gunn. Was the house we know today already there, having been constructed in 1945? Julius and Laura Watlington had a large family (seven children).
Possibility: The Enoch family lived in a small structure on the lot that now is the site of the Watlington house. Before the 1940 United States Federal Census the Enochs built the brick house (west of the Watlington lot; photograph to left). Renters occupied the older smaller structure in 1940. At some point the structure on what became the Watlington lot was expanded (or replaced), and this was before the 1946 sale to Mrs. Laura M. Watlington.
Of course it remains possible that the Watlington house that stands today was indeed built by Julius and Laura Mae Watlington. However, would they have paid $5,000 in 1946 for a small lot on which stood no house suitable for the large Watlington family?
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* In 1922 Edgar Archibald Allison was married to Martha Allen Hatchett. It was the second marriage for both. Martha Allen Hatchett inherited substantial property from her first husband, Thomas Pancoast Womack (1861-1916), including the Bartlett Yancey House and surrounding acreage. She donated the property on which was built the Bartlett Yancey School, with the condition that it be so named.
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While not relevant to the questions surrounding the Watlington house, it is interesting to note who owned the Herman L. Gunn house property before Louis Jefferson Enoch purchased it 23 November 1926:
Harry Bradner (1898-1980) and wife Betty Mae Page Bradner (1899-1981). I believe Harry Bradner was a mechanic and may have worked at Johnny Gunn's Ford dealership in Yanceyville (Caswell Motor Co.).
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