“Union County” by Mrs. Eugene Ashcraft, from
the editorial page of The Monroe Journal, June 16, 1916 issue, which had many
stories written by members of the Woman’s Club of Monroe.
Topography
Union county lies
in the southern part of North Carolina, about midway between the coast and the
mountains. The general features of the county consists of broad gently rolling
interstream areas, which become more rolling, broken and hilly as the larger
streams are approached. The area is 630 square miles, and there is less
untillable soil in Union than any other county in the State. The highest
elevation is 725 and there are no swamps.
Union county was
founded in 1843 from parts of Anson and Mecklenburg. The western part of the
country was first settled by Scotch-Irish and Germans, the eastern part by
Virginians and North Carolinians, mostly of English descent.
Union county has
now a population of nearly 38,000 about 9,500 being negroes. Less than one per
cent of the entire population are of foreign birth.
Cotton is the
staple product of the county. About 30,000 bales are marketed each year.
Church Statistics
The county is well
supplied with good church and school buildings. The following statistics of the
different denominations are very near accurate:
Baptists, 9,378;
value church property, $63,950.
Methodists, 5,715;
value church property, $130,500.
Presbyterians,
1,501; value church property, $55,680.
Episcopalians, 110;
value church property, $10,750.
Lutherans, 60;
value church property, $10,300.
These figures leave
more than 21,000 people out of the church.
The amount of
taxable property in the county is $10,425,338, the white people owning
$8,118,048., the remainder $2,307,287 belonging to the negroes.
The tax rate of
Monroe township is $1.03 2/3, and in other parts of the county it is .88 2/3.
Health of the
County
Number of deaths a
year are about 400. Two-thirds of these are among the white people, one-third
are negroes. The death rate is then about 10 ½ per 1,000. Making allowance for
failure to report and record deaths, we will say the death rate is 14 per
1,000. The deaths in Union county each year are due to about, tuberculosis, 60;
typhoid fever, 12; pellagra, 10; bright’s disease, 20; senility, 30; cancer,
10; infants under two years of age from various diseases, 130; pneumonia, 22;
paralysis, 15; heart disease, 15; syphilis, 25.
Various other
diseases and accidents cause quite a number of deaths annually. And quite a
number are preventable. Union county has 1,300 births each year, or a net gain
in population by births in excess of deaths of 900 annually.
Union county has
300 marriages yearly.
Monroe
In thinking of the
word Monroe there is a feeling of love and pride that comes into the heart of
every person in Union county, and why? Because it is the county seat of Union.
It is situated at the junction of the two main lines of the Seaboard Air Line
Railway, near the center of the county.
The discussion of
Monroe may be taken up from the following view points, hotels, schools,
cemetery, churches, streets, and general improvement.
First comes the
question of the hotel. If a traveling man was asked what he thought of Monroe,
no doubt he would say, “Monroe seems to e a hustling town as far as business goes,
but oh, it’s ‘Best Hotel!’ Why, it’s a disgrace. How the manager can make it as
good as it is, is more than I can see. I leave as soon as possible after my
work is over to avoid spending much time in the stuffy little hole.” A speech
of this king and there have been many, should make these same business men
think. They have the money and why won’t they make a paying investment of
building a hotel that would cause the traveling man to linger as long as
possible and also to hurry back from his other trips.
Many other
advantages may be gained by such a hotel. Great religious, educational and
other meetings could be held here if we had any place for the people to go.
Monroe is behind
the times, some say. Someday she will wake up and have such a hotel, and why
not now? This is a question for every man in town to answer for himself.
Next we come to our
schools. What about them? If any person would go out and see one of our grades
perched on the stage of the school auditorium, with a teacher, at this
disadvantage, trying to put knowledge into the heads of the boys and girls,
they would leave with this thought uppermost in their minds, the school needs
more room and better equipment. This is just one of instance out of many. Some
say, beautify the grounds, buy more land while it can be gotten cheap, but the
first and most important step to take is to buy more room and better equipment.
No sewerage in our school buildings. Let’s hurry on so the stranger will not
notice the fact.
In passing, a word
about our cemetery. Look at it and profit by the view. Grass is pretty in its
place, but is grass knee high in place here?
The churches are
such that any town of this size should be proud, and yet more room is needed in
most of them.
The streets are
another point that should receive our careful attention. Why should our level
headed aldermen use such little judgment in this matter? This seems a rather
strong statement but we have proof to back it. Money is spent in making
macadamized roads, right behind comes men to lay the sewerage pipes, or larger
water mains. Is there any reason in that? The only answer is just a way of
spending money without much gain. The town’s money is spent by one set of
aldermen to lay a cement walk from the street to the high school building without
ever planning for future improvements. Along comes another set and wants it
laid another way, which all will admit would be a great improvement, but why
not pay a little bit more, and get some one who knows his business, to come and
plan such things in the beginning. Over the town streets appear little stakes
and what are they for? Confidentially, an alderman would say, to fool the
people and get me my job back for another term.
Many dollars are
spent for just such things when they could be used more profitably. Another
remark is so often made, “Oh! I see you haven’t an alderman living on your
street,” because they need to be cleaned off.
If the men we have
cannot or will not use better judgment in spending the town’s money, it is
up to the town to find men that can and
will.
Monroe has
$1,830,284 of taxable property.
The health of the
town is remarkably good considering the sanitary conditions that exist in some
parts of the city. We have a population of 6,400 with suburbs having 1,500 more
people. Monroe has 1,500 negroes. Out of the 6,400 inhabitants there are about
60 deaths annually. The death rate being 9 1/3 per 1,000. The cause of a large
majority of the deaths in Monroe each year are, bad sanitation, bad drainage
and carelessness on the part of the people and the doctors.
--Mrs. Eugene Ashcraft
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