Gwynn-Watlington House (Hodges Dairy Road, Caswell County, NC)

 

Gwynn-Watlington House

This house on the Hodges Dairy Road in Caswell County, NC, purportedly was built in 1846 by Augustus (Gus) Gwyn/Gwnn (c.1818-aft.1860).

Ruth Little-Stokes described it as: "R. L. Watlington House. ca. 1860. Standard Boom Era Greek Revival style house with hip roof, exterior end brick chimneys, ornate double door entrance with corner block surround. Replacement porch."¹

The house and surrounding 14 acres apparently now (August 2021) are owned by Piedmont Community College (Yanceyville, NC) for use in its Agriculture-Business courses.

Apparent chain of ownership:

(1) Built in 1846 by Augustus (Gus) Gwynn (c.1818-aft.1860);

(2) James William Watlington (1845-1917) and Laura Ann Jones Watlington (1848-1919) purchased the property in 1898;

(3) Their son Robert Lindsey Watlington (1875-1954) and wife Hattie Harris Sturdivant Watlington (1891-1974) purchased it from his parents in 1910 or 1912 (raised their seven children there); and

(4) Harvey Wilson Watlington (1917-2012) and Annie Dora Carter (1923-2005) were the last known Watlington owners of the property. 

_______________

¹ Little-Stokes, Ruth. An Inventory of Caswell County, North Carolina. Waynesville (NC): Don Mills, Inc., 1979, p.105. The discrepancy between the build dates (1846 and c.1860) is not understood.

_______________

The James W. Watlington household [1900 Census dwelling 100 in Locust Hill Township] shows that he was born January 1845, had been married 33 years, and was a farmer. In the home were his wife Laura, born April 1847, "mother of 9 children of whom 6 are living," and four of those six children were listed: son Robert L., born August 1876, single, farm laborer; son Lonnie, born August 1879, single, farm laborer; daughter Linnie, born August 1879, single, at school; and son Hassell, born July 1890, single, at school.

The two older living children had already left home. One of them was Otis O. Watlington, father of Julius, Oscar, Wilson, and Clarence. We called him "Cousin Ode," and I think I attended his funeral at Oak Grove back when the church building was standing.

Another note in my file indicates that James and Laura also had daughters Annie and Ida, but I have no further information on them, so they apparently were away, married, or dead in 1900.

James W. and Laura Jones Watlington were "Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Laura" to my father, because she was my grandfather's (Thaddeus Cornelius Jones) sister. She was the daughter of John Edward and Mary Watlington Jones whose children, in addition to Laura and Thad, were Emma Gladys, who married the Civil War veteran Robert Z. Gwyn; Robert Henry, who married Caroline Bennett; and Mary Frances, who married George L. Jones.

At the sale of Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Laura's furnishings, my father purchased a mantel clock, which I gave to my nephew many years ago. The couple lived in an attractive little house on the north side of the Hodges Dairy Road, between the "Josie Rudd" place and Oak Grove Church. It was standing a few years ago.

Source: Dr. H. G. Jones 19 April 2008.