Bess Connolly of Hickory Hosts Spooky Event, 1916

“Halloween Party,” from the Hickory Daily Record, Oct. 31, 1916

Miss Bess Connolly delightfully entertained at a Halloween party last night at her home on Twelfth street. Promptly at 8 o’clock silent white-shrouded figures began to appear from all directions and were met at the door by a black-robed witch who ushered them into a darkened hall and presented them to a mysterious figure who greeted them with a cold clammy hand. From the hall the visitors were directed into an adjoining room where the thrills of horror were heightened by the inevitable bump on the head of a large apple suspended above the floor. The house was in darkness save a weird glow which a few grinning pumpkins cast about the rooms decorated with black cats and autumn leaves.

Interesting events of the evening were the fortunes told by the witch in her den lighted by her cauldron and a “Goblin” contest which afforded much amusement. During the evening a pleasant surprise was sprung on the assembly by the visit of 25 or more gentlemen spirits who were in session at a nearby home. Following this the visited spooks decided to return the visit and on the return from this delicious refreshments in keeping with the occasion were served, after which the masked figures disappeared into the darkness for their homes.

Norman Rockwell Illustration of Pumpkin Carving

Minor Who Refused to Say Who Sold Him Cigarettes Is Sentenced to Jail, 1914

“Enforcing the Cigarette Law,” an editorial from The Lexington Dispatch, October, 1914

The Dispatch has called attention several times to the fact that minors are buying cigarettes in Lexington and it is gratifying to note that the officers are making an effort to find out who is doing the selling. Wednesday a small boy was brought into court and efforts were made to induce him to tell who sold him the cigarettes. He refused to tell and was sentenced to jail. To save the boy from jail, an appeal was taken in his case and he was released on bond. It is not only against the law to sell cigarettes to persons under 18 years of age, but it is against the law to give cigarettes to such persons, and every good citizen should do all he can to help the officers locate the guilty person who is carrying on the illegal traffic.

Election to Recall Mayor and Commissioners of Charlotte, 1919

From the editorial page of the Oct. 16, 1919, issue of the Rockingham Post-Dispatch

An election for the recall of the Mayor and Commissioners of Charlotte will be held Oct. 21. The eyes of the entire State are upon the Queen City. Simply because Mayor McNinch obeyed his oath and enforced the law in the recent riot there, he is being attacked and an effort made to remove him from office. Lovers of fair play, lovers of decency earnestly hope this pernicious effort will fail, and that the voters of Charlotte will re-elect McNinch by a rousing majority.

The people “down the road” here in Richmond county are watching this effort against law and order with keen interest.

Don't Let Vass Suffer From Big Fire Before Installing Water Works, 1924

“The Need of Water Works” from the editorial page of the Friday, October 24, 1924, issue of The Pilot, Vass, N.C. Stacy Brewer was listed as owner of the newspaper.

Last week a fire not far from The Pilot office gave an illustration of what a bigger fire in some other section of Vass might do. Water was not plentiful. But luckily the fire was not a very big one. But it was big enough to indicate what might have happened and to show that sooner or later Vass must have a water system that will be sufficient to oppose fires when one comes that is bigger. It is not worth while to let a big fire come before anything is done to protect the town against fires. We might just as well have the water protection before a fire comes as to get it after we have one big fire with all its attendant loss. That fire may cost more than water works, and no fire is ever profitable.

Auman Retiring From Management of Hotel Vass, 1924

“A Creditable Record” from the Friday, October 24, 1924, issue of The Pilot, Vass, N.C.

In retiring from the management of the Hotel Vass, A. Auman closes an engagement that has been a creditable experience in a community that was new to him when he came here. He proved a good hotel man, a capable mixer with the strangers who came this way, and he goes out of his public contact with the visitors to Vass with the cordial good feeling of the folks in town and those here for brief periods.

The Pilot is not aware yet of what he expects to do in the future, but whether he stays here or goes away this community has a friend in A. Auman as he has in the collective population of the village.

Farmers Benefit From Controlled Sale of Sweet Potato Crop, Says W.M. Barton, 1922

Farm Advice from W.M. Barton, County Agricultural Agent, from the Rockingham Post-Dispatch, October 19, 1922

Three men in the county have produced approximately 600 bushels of sweet potatoes this year, and each constructed a curing house in which to keep them. I figure that 6,000 bushels will just about supply the demand of the three downs, Rockingham, Hamlet and Ellerbe, not including the hilled potatoes that will be for sale by small producers. One farmer who has five acres and no curing house has been offered 50 cents per bushel in the field. I understand that potatoes are being sold on the local markets to merchants at 50 cents, and at digging time, when the “dumping” sale begins, they will probably bring 25 cents. The curing house man can wait ‘till the “dumping” sale is over. His potatoes will keep until next spring and he can even ship potatoes north and west, but without a knowledge of the needs in the various markets at different times, he may make some mistakes even if he deals with reliable commission merchants. He is just as apt to get a bill for freight charges as he is to get a check for the potatoes, especially if he ships to a market already glutted.

Intelligent Distribution Only Remedy

No individual grower can afford to keep salesmen in all the outside markets to sell his potatoes. Ten counties in North Carolina, however, with hundreds of thousands of bushels of potatoes, all counties federated in one organization, has a hired, reliable salesman in each of 350 big northern and western cities, and these 350 salesmen have approximately 10,000 car lot customers who buy sweet potatoes. Each representative informs each day by wire the needs of his market and the price the market will pay. Hence the head of the federation knows each informs each day where potatoes are wanted worse and where they will bring the best price and knows how many cars each market will take.

It can be seen, therefore, that the only way to sell sweet potatoes is through a co-operative marketing association which controls enough potatoes to justify such methods of selling.

Don’t therefore, produce sweet potatoes more than for home use next year unless you expect to sell through such an organization.

Banks have agreed to finance co-operative sweet potato curing houses for co-operative marketing of the product next year. If you want this service, you can get it by applying promptly. Nobody is going to over-persuade you to take this step now. Sir Weevil will attend to that just a little later if your eyes are not already fully open to the situation.

J.A. McIntyre, Bessie Lee Chance Have Died, 1922

Death Notes from the Rockingham Post-Dispatch, October 19, 1922

J.A. McIntyre

Mr. J.A. McIntyre died at Roberdel No. 2 Wednesday and was buried at Pizpah October 19^th. He was 67 years old and had been paralyzed for some time.

Mrs. D.M. Chance

Mrs. Bessie Lee Chance, wife of D.M. Chance of Route 5, died Tuesday and was buried at Green Lake church Wednesday. She was 25 years old and is survived by her husband and two small children. The sympathy of their friends go out to them in their sorrow.

Social News From Blowing Rock, North Carolina, Oct. 29, 1914

 “Blowing Rock Breezes” from the Watauga Democrat, Boone, N.C, Thursday, October 29, 1914

After an absence of a little over three months, your correspondent is happy to be back “at the old stand” reporting for Watauga’s good weekly, but by no means “weakly” paper, and he “makes his bow” to the audience before him, hoping that they, one and all, have had a pleasant and profitable summer.

Returning too late in the season to witness the exodus of visitors, which grand parade usually takes place in early September, owning to the opening of the schools, your correspondent was pleased to find quite a number of the cottages and bungalows lighted up at night, showing that the lingerers were with us yet, among them artists waiting for the splendid autumnal tinting of the forests when Dame Nature, a wonderful artist herself, paints the most beautiful pictures ever seen with the bluest skies, the grayest cliffs, the brownest grass, the most vivid coloring of the forests which, not even our most noted visiting artists having a nation wide reputation can copy.

Among the “loiters” upon the mountain are the Edwards of Washington, the Boughers of St. Louis, the Perkeys of New York, the Mackays of Raleigh, the Stringfellows of Anniston, the Millers of Winston and several well known individuals who love Blowing Rock and remain with us until the Storm King and his hosts of “fighting men” attack the summit of the Blue Ridge and drive the down-country folks to the shelter of their homes in the milder clime and more balmy atmosphere than old Watauga can afford for the six months between ruddy October and flowery May.

The Ingle House, Grand View House and Watauga Inn, popular all-the-year-‘round hostelries, have their quota of “lingerers,” among those at the last named hotel the following: Mrs. Bessie Patterson who has, for the winter, closed her charming bungalow “Hidden Water,” the Indian name there for the both unspellable and unpronounceable to the ordinary mortal not an authority on Indian names, Mrs. Patterson to spend the Winter in Baltimore and other Southern cities; Mr. and Mrs. W.W. Stringfellow, who, having closed “Chetola,” their beautiful home here, are stopping for awhile at the village Inn before leaving for their winter’s sojourn in New York City; Mrs. Miller and her three charming daughters, the Misses Margaret, Catherine, and Antoinette, who spent the season at Green park and have been at the Inn during the Autumn before returning to their home in Winston-Salem; Mrs. Guyot, whose husband was the noted historian and scientist whose books were studied by many a student a generation ago and her nieces the Misses Tucker of New York, who with their Aunt have been at the Watauga since spring, perfectly charmed with this beautiful region, if possible the most beautiful in the “Land of the Sky;” Prof. John S. Williams, who with Miss Hayes of the A.T.S. are teachers of the Public School here, Miss Hayes is also a guest of the Inn.

Dr. Brooks has returned from a short visit to Greensboro and is ready for medical duty, though we all hope to keep well.

The Brass Band of this town is doing admirably, and delighted the audience gathered to hear Mr. Doughton speak at the school house last week, your correspondent, noting the vast improvement between their “struggling” days in early Summer and their present masterful rendering of difficult musical compositions, patriotic airs, sacred songs and plantation melodies given with skill and pleasing harmony not usually attributed to the amateur bands of our small towns. The boys have shown what talent and zeal can do when guided by a master like Prof. Harbin of Statesville and his teaching put into practice by the boys of our town.

Considerable building is going on here, among others an alteration to the dwelling owned by Mr. Henry C. Hayes, our prosperous merchant and authority on Bee Culture, Mr. J. Lee Hays, well-known builder and contractor in charge of the work; while Mr. W.L. Crisp, our big-hearted citizen is building a house on Ransom street; Mr. Dock Hartley putting up a dwelling near the Reformed Church on the Goforth Road, other construction work to be done in the near future by our popular builders, Messrs E.B. Ward, John Benfield, Joseph White, LeRoy Bollinger and others.

Mr. LeRoy Bollinger, beside being scout master of our camp of Boy Scouts, organized the season by Mrs. W.W. Stringfellow, has instituted a much needed industry—the making of all kinds of furniture from our native woods—a business which Mr. A.G. Peoples has found profitable, having the honor of being Blowing Rock’s pioneer in that line, his father, for years having manufactured furniture and curios at Roan Mountain, Tenn., the work of Mr. J.L. Kincaid of Dearfield, this county, not to be overlooked, for, as Mr. Elliott Dangerfield testified, “Kincaid was an artist.”

The friends of Mrs. George E. Coffey, wife of our popular townsman and plumber, will be glad to know that she is recovering from a severe attack of illness, thanks to our good local medical adviser and Dr. Jones, consulting physician, who under the instruction of the Great Physician have helped bring her thus far on the road to recovery, thanks due mainly to the “giver of all good and perfect gifts,” health one among the greatest, the very greatest “charity.”

'Fast Time,' Which Is Helping Us Win the War, Ends Oct. 27, 1918

Daylight Savings Time in the United States began on Sunday, March 13 and will end on Sunday, Nov. 6, 2016. Daylight savings time was used in other countries before “fast time,” as it was called, went into effect during World War I. Making better use of daylight and conserving energy was considered patriotic. It was discontinued, except in Pittsburg, Boston and New York City, until President Franklin D. Roosevelt reinstituted “War Time,” which was in effect from Feb. 9, 1942, to Sept. 30, 1945. There were no uniform rules for daylight standard time in the United States from 1942 until 1966, when Congress established a Uniform Time Act with DST beginning the last Sunday of April and ending the last Sunday of October. Congress also extended DST to 10 months during the oil embargo in 1974 and 1975, which saved the energy equivalent of 10,000 barrels of oil each day, but people complained about it and the schedule has been revised a number of times. The current schedule—the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November—was introduced in 2007. For more information on Daylight Savings Time, see https://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/history.html.

Farmer Archie McLauchin Has Home-Grown Blankets, 1924

“Home-Grown Blankets” from the Friday, October 24, 1924, issue of The Pilot, Vass, N.C.

Archie McLauchin, on the old farm four or five miles out from Vass, raised wool from his own sheep and sent the wool to the mills up at Elkin and had Chatham Manufacturing Co. weave a lot of blankets. He is offering the blankets for sale, and in doing it is showing what a Moore county farm can do if the farmer wants to. He is also showing that the people who live in this section can have genuine all-wool home-made blankets if they want that sort. Both the farm and the wool project and the blankets are worth looking into.

Faced With Labor Shortage, Farmers Built Labor Camp and Imported Caribbean Workers, 1944

From the October 1944 issue of The Southern Planter

Smithsburg Farmers Provide Own Labor

If you are looking for a farming community that lost all of its labor to war plants; one where farm owners, not to be out-done, got together, organized a co-operative, bought 3 acres of land, built a labor camp with two dormitories, a dining room, laundry, bathhouse and clinic out of an old C.C.C. camp at a cost of $6,000, and imported 118 Jamaicans to work on their farms, go to Smithsburg, in the magnificent mountain country of Western Maryland, and see with your own eyes how 33 sturdy, thrifty farmers and fruit growers met and solved the worst sort of farm labor situation. The labor camp, now in its second year, is the finest illustration of self-help among farmers that has come to our attention.

To Mark Miller, Washington County’s young, capable county farm agent, must go credit for conceiving the idea of a community labor camp for Smithsburg, and to D.E. Rinehart, local farmer and fruit grower, praise for putting the project across with his neighbors.

“After meeting with our county farm labor advisory committee in Hagerstown and discussing the serious labor situation in our community with Mark Miller,” said Mr. Rinehart, “We called a farmers’ meeting at Smithburg. Mark was there. He outlined the gravity of the labor program—it was to get worse instead of better—and explained the help we could expect from the War Food Administration and the State Labor Office at the University of Maryland, College Park. We organized the Smithsburg Farmers’ and Fruit Growers’ Association with 33 members and set out to construct a labor camp and, with Government assistance, import workers. We raised $6,000 for the venture. This was in late July, 1943. By August 25, we had the buildings up and workers in them. The food we saved before freezes set in that fall, that otherwise would have been lost, more than paid us for the investment,” he went on.

We visited the camp the last of August this year, and talked with laborers, farmers and farm leaders. Lumber and fixture for the buildings were salvaged from an abandoned C.C.C. camp at Fredericksburg, Virginia. “The farmers, after an agreement with the Government, went to Fredericksburg with their trucks, took down the structures, hauled the materials to Smithsburg and erected the buildings. They employed the teacher of home economics at the Hagerstown High School to work out menus with balanced diets, employed cooks, set up a clinic and imported 118 Jamaicans—big, husky Negroes with British accents who want to work and prefer piece payment to work by the day. Piece work gives incentive.

The Jamaicans are paid 40 cents an hour for straight work but prefer to get 18 cents a bushel for picking apples, 8 cents for peaches, 2 ½ cents per quart for cherries, 12 cents for cutting a 96-hill shock of corn, and 15 cents for husking a shock.

The laborers pay the camp $1 a day for meals and 50 cents a week for lodging. A farmer is charged 75 cents a day per man by the camp to pay off the camp cost. Growers haul the laborers to and from their farms. The War Food Administration is assisting with trained personnel in the placement and importation of the workers. By the end of this year’s harvest the camp will be paid for.

And that is the story of one of the most remarkable pieces of farm co-operation to get a job done that  you will find in a day’s travel. Western Maryland people own their farms, and have owned them for generations. They don’t fold up when trouble strikes. They are not that kind of folks. Instead, they get together with their heads, their hearts and their hands—and that combination of farm people will always win. It was the combination that licked their farm labor shortage this time and enabled their food to fight for freedom.

News Briefs From Across the Old North State, 1921

“Condensed News from the Old North State” in the October 27, 1921 issue of the Watauga Democrat

Chapel Hill—Attendance records at the university are broken by this year’s registration: 1,583 students have been entered on the rolls.

Raleigh—Stealing an automobile which was parked along the roads on which they were working, Ernest Lilus and Dock Hendricks, white convicts, made their escape from a road force near Cary, eight miles west of here.

Wake Forest College—Being truly glad that they hail from Buncombe County and the mountains of western North Carolina, 18 young men met in Wingate Memorial Hall and organized a Buncombe County club.

Winston-Salem—Rev. J.F. McCuiston has accepted a call to the pastorate of Friedberg Church to succeed Rev. H.B. Johnson, who recently resigned, having accepted a call to Fries Memorial Church, in this city.

High Point—E.C. Grissom, one of the oldest and most highly esteemed men in this section of the county, died at his home, two miles east of High Point. His death followed an illness of three weeks. Mr. Grissom was nearly 95 years of age.

Danville, Va.—B. Frank Mebane, a well-known resident of Spray, N.C., is at Edmunds Hospital, where he was brought suffering from a badly wounded arm, the injury being sustained when a double-barrelled shotgun he was using exploded.

Mooresville—Mrs. Anne Freeze, widow of the last Jacob Freeze, died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. John T. McNeely, with whom she had made her home for a number of years. Had she lived until next Thursday, October 20, she would have been 91 years old.

Wadesboro—H.B. Allen, a prominent and progressive business man of this city, is erecting a big roller mill. The mill, when completed, will cost about $35,000.

Winston-Salem—Fred Easter, while visiting a girl friend in Surry County, was shot and killed and a cousin also named Easter is being held by the police in connection with the killing, police announced.

Wilson—Joe Deans’ general store, near Contentnea Church, Old Fields township, was destroyed by fire. The store and stock was a total loss with no insurance. The supposition is that the store was robbed and then burned.

Greensboro—A large number of good roads fans from all parts of the state were on hand to be in attendance at the first session of the annual convention of the North Carolina Good Roads Association.

Lillington—The Harnett County Republican Executive Committee met here and received the resignation of John Allen McLeod, who is moving to Gastonia where he will continue the practice of law.

Rocky Mount—Fire of undetermined origin destroyed the cotton gin on the farm of T. Perry Jenkens, near Tarboro, Edgecombe County, together with more than 50 bales of cotton and a quantity of seed stored there. The loss is estimated at $1,200.

Middlesex—For convenience, safety and utility Middlesex is soon to have the best school building in Nash County. The plans are along a new type of school house construction which has recently come into popularity.

Davidson—It is with deep sorrow that the news has been received here of the death of E.E. Ratchford of Carlisle, S.C., who was killed when a train struck an automobile in which he was riding at a dangerous grade crossing near his home.

Kinston—That many mild cases of influenza are occurring in this part of the country, reported from a number of localities, is admitted by medical men. No alarm has been occasioned, and few cases have been of a serious nature.

Wadesboro—Mr. C.L. Cates, superintendent of the Wadesboro Public Schools, does not favor the plan which has been suggested of having members of North Carolina Colleges inspect the state high school. “We protest,” he says in a letter to Professor J. Henry Highsmith, state inspector of high schools, “that this plan, while it may satisfy the ambitions of some of the colleges, will not promote the best interest of the high schools.

Matt Lynch is Paroled

The judge and the solicitor both expressing doubt as to the defendant’s guilt, and the jury petitioning Governor Morrison, paroled Matt Lynch of Rutherford County, who has served two years of a 10-year sentence for second degree murder.

Lynch was convicted in October, 1919.

Judge James L. Webb, who sentenced him, has written the governor that he now doubts and defendant’s guilt, which opinion, in part, influenced the governor’s action.

Labor Has Right To Organize and Employers Have Right to Fire Them for Organizing, 1919

From the editorial page of the Oct. 16, 1919, issue of the Rockingham Post-Dispatch

Judge Thomas J. Shaw is considered the ablest jurist on the bench. Read what he had to say in his charge to the Mecklenburg county grand jury at Charlotte Monday:

“As I stated to you before, gentlemen, there is no question of the right of labor to organize for its own good. It has that right, both legally and morally. It has the right to organize for the purpose of bargaining collectively, but it has no right to contravene the law and to adopt violence as a means of redressing real or fancied grievances.

“Alongside the right of labor to organize and bargain collectively is the right of the employer to hire or discharge anyone he pleases without consulting any organization or group of men. He has both the moral and legal right to do that and the person so employed or discharged has no right to question why he was discharged.

“This freedom of action and of choice for both employe and employer is fundamental and is guaranteed by the constitution. Because an act is done by a body of men such as an organized group of laborers or by an organized group of employers does not affect either its legality or its morality. The law specifies the fundamental of each and guarantees that those rights shall not be abridged and it is your province to see whether those rights have been abridged here in your community."

On the Honor Roll at Jackson Springs High School, 1924

“Honor Roll Jackson Springs High School,” from the Friday, October 31, 1924, issue of The Pilot, Vass, N.C.

The following is the honor roll from Jackson Springs High School for the first month:

First Grade—Percy Lineberry, Louise Wilkes, Floyd Richardson, Franklin Bennett, Mae McInnis, Nita McInnis, Nelson Hurley.

Second Grade—Ella Mae Clark, Edna Ruth Bruton, Luanna Lineberry.

Third Grade—Grier Lineberry, Ennice Woodley.

Fourth Grade—George Ross, Jeannette Bruton, Martha Gray Wilson, Lottie Pearl Wilkes, Berniece Richardson, Ruth Reece, Myrtle Long.

Ninth Grade—Mary Black Buie, Jean Currie.

Tenth Grade—Dorothy VonCanon, Walter Frye.

Caswell Dairy, Owned and Operated by E.O. Foster, 1940

Pasteurizing and bottling milk at the Caswell Dairy owned and operated by E.O. Foster. His son, wearing the billed cap, is shown working with him. The photos were publicity pictures taken by WPA worker Marion Post Wolcott in October, 1940. Wolcott was working for the U.S. Farm Security Administration and Foster was an FSA borrower in a program that allowed tenant farmers to become farm owners.  The photo is part of the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.

Vote for a Congressman Who Will Support President and Keep Us Out of War, 1914

From the editorial page of the Watauga Democrat, Boone, N.C., October 22, 1914, R.C. Rivers, Proprietor. The United States entered World War I on April 6, 1917.

The manufacturers and merchants of the United States have received orders for over $100 million worth of goods from England and France within the past 10 days, and of course the orders will continue to come in at a tremendous rate. This great amount must be paid in gold before these goods leave our shore, therefore it is easy for any one to see that we have to keep in office a President who is keeping us at peace with all the world so that we can benefit from conditions. Our financial condition is stronger than ever before, and the fact cannot be denied by any fair-minded citizen. Let every patriotic man, whether he be a Democrat or Republican, vote for a Congressman who will uphold the hands of the greatest President that has ever presided over the destinies of our beloved country since the days of Washington and Jefferson. To your tents, oh, Israel! Now see to thine own house.

Social and Church News from Vass, N.C., 1924

“Vass and Community” from the Friday, October 24, 1924, issue of The Pilot, Vass, N.C.

Mr. W.D. Smith was a Carthage visitor Friday.

Mr. D.C. McGill of Asheville spent the week-end with his family here.

Mr. and Mrs. A.M. Gaster visited relatives at Tramway Sunday.

Dr. and Mrs. R.G. Rosser and little son John Harrington went to Sanford Tuesday.

Mr. T.J. Brooks of Sanford was a visitor in town Sunday.

Messrs. Tom McKeithen and Jim Blue of Raeford were here Saturday.

Miss Margaret McLean of Cameron visited her cousin Miss Marian Cameron Saturday and Sunday.

Misses Sadie and Laura Phillips of Cameron were in town an evening of last week.

Mr. R.P. Beasley of Apex was a visitor here the first of the week.

Mr. and Mrs. D.A. McLauchlin made a short visit to Raeford last week.

Miss Allie Byrd Walker and Miss Ruth Beeks spend the week-end at Miss Walker’s home in Fayetteville.

Miss Lecta Richardson spent the week-end at her home near Apex.

Misses Emma Wilson and Eoline McMillan spent Sunday in Manley.

Mr. R.L. Young made a business trip to Laurinburg Saturday.

Mrs. G.H. Simpson had as her guests from Saturday until Tuesday her father, Mr. Pratt, and her sister, Miss Marguerite Pratt of Madison.

Mr. and Mrs. P.W. Joyner and Mr. and Mrs. W.E. York went to Southern Pines Sunday to see Mrs. N.M. McKeithen.

Mrs. Mag Cameron, Misses Sallie and Bessie Cameron and Mrs. W.H. Keith visited Mrs. D.B. Cameron Jr. in Southern Pines Saturday.

Mr. and Mrs. J.M. Norton and little son Zane Gray spent Saturday night and Sunday with Mr. and Mrs. J.W. Smith and Mr. and Mrs. A.A. McGill near Vass.

Mrs. A.G. Edwards and sons A.G. Jr. and Wilbur visited relatives in Raleigh the last of the week.

John Laubscher came home from Farmville to spend Sunday with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. G.B. Laubscher.

Mr. and Mrs. James Young of Greensboro spent the week-end with Mr. and Mrs. D.G. Ridenhour.

Messrs. E.L. McNeill and Henry A. Matthews motored to Raeford Saturday afternoon. McNeill says “never stop when Henry Matthews shines a ‘possum’s eyes.”

Billie McGill, Neill Smith, Robert Leslie, Gordon Thomas and Frank Byrd, State College boys, spent the later part of last week with home folks.

Mrs. Fred Edwards and little daughter Wilma Frances returned Wednesday to their home in Greensboro after an extended visit to relatives here.

Mrs. W.J. Cameron spent Wednesday and Thursday in Sanford with her sister, Mrs. T.R. Moffitt.

Mr. W.D. McCraney and family motored to Sanford Saturday.

C.L. Tyson, Albert Graham Alton Chappell and Julian Leslie attended the football game in Raleigh last Thursday.

Fred Taylor, Wake Forest freshman writes, “Please send me five dollars, dad, I need a haircut.” We wonder what the style is in Wake Forest.

Mr. and Mrs. J.H. Oldham visited her sister in the White Hill community Sunday.

Rev. Clarke of Carthage is conducting a meeting at Lakeview. Mr. J.M. Tyson is leading the singing.

Mr. D.K. Blue of Raeford was in town Saturday.

Mrs. Janie Muse and Mr. John C. Muse of Cameron were in town Monday.

Mr. G.H. Simpson came home from Wilson to spend Sunday with his family.

Mr. and Mrs. S.R. Smith visited Mrs. D.B. Cameron Jr. in Southern Pines and Mr. and Mrs. Ben Morgan of Niagara Sunday afternoon.

Mr. W.B. Graham made a business trip to Columbia, S.C., the first of the week.

Mr. E.L. McNeill, Ernest McNeill, Mr. and Mrs. C.D. Davidson and Mr. and Mrs. J.M. Thompson attended the State Fair Thursday.

Mr. and Mrs. L.C. Wallace of Carthage visited Mr. and Mrs. J.M. Tyson Sunday.

Mrs. Leroy Harrington and Mrs. W.F. Thompson were in Southern Pines Saturday afternoon.

Mr. and Mrs. W.M. Pugh of Sanford visited relatives here the first of the week.

Mrs. D.G. Ridenhour and baby Montrose Parrish are visiting in Smithfield.

Mr. J.T. Smith made a business trip to Raeford Wednesday.

D.B. Cameron Jr. of Durham was in town Thursday.

Mrs. C.J. Carter and Mrs. Steward of Niagara were shopping in Vass Tuesday.

Mrs. Frank Buchan and Mrs. Herbert Cameron of Southern Pines were in town Tuesday.

Mrs. W.M. Parker of Cameron visited here Friday.

Mrs. A. Auman went to Greensboro Tuesday to visit her daughter.

Rev. McWhorter, pastor of the Methodist church, was accompanied Sunday morning by the Rev. Ed. G. Caldwell, evangelist, who preached to a large and appreciative congregation. Mr. Caldwell is conducting a series of meetings in Aberdeen, and the Vass people were so favorably impressed with his Sunday morning sermon that a number of them have been to Aberdeen to hear him.

Miss Jewell Edwards and two girl friends from Guilford College spent Sunday with Mr. and Mrs. G.S. Edwards.

Mrs. A.M. Cameron was hostess to Circle two of the Methodist Missionary society at her home here Tuesday night. An hour was spent discussing plans for the Circle, and each member took a lively interest in the discussion. The circle deeply regretted the loss of a very helpful member, one who was ever ready to do her part and more, Mrs. A. Auman, who has recently removed from town. A letter was written to Mrs. Auman. During the social hour two contests furnished amusement. Mrs. C.J. Temple and Miss Martha McKay won first honors in the first contest and Mrs. W.J. Cameron and Mrs. W.C. Leslie in the second. Dainty prizes were given. Delicious candy was passed by little Miss Marian, the attractive daughter of the hostess. Radio music was enjoyed throughout the evening. The guests were invited into the dining room where sandwiches and cocoa were served. The table was beautiful with its handsome cover, and centerpiece of cut flowers. Mrs. Cameron was assisted in entertaining by her sister, Miss Martha McKay, and the two proved charming hostesses. Mrs. Byrd and Mrs. Ridenhour invited the circle to hold its November meeting with them at the latter’s home.

Mrs. Bertie Matthews most graciously entertained circle number one of the Methodist Auxiliary at the regular monthly meeting at her home Tuesday evening. The attendance was unusually good, there being 15 members present. A very helpful devotional period was led by the chairman, followed by the usual business session, at which time much thought was given to home missionary work to be carried on during the winter months. After the transaction of all business a delightful social hour was given. A novel game “progressive word building” was played at four tables, which was very instructive and entertaining. After scores were totaled from neatly arranged missionary score cards it was found that Mrs. William F. Thompson held high score; she received a lovely linen handkerchief. Two players tied for the lowest, Mrs. W.H. Keith accepting the hint and Mrs. Paul Geschwind a bottle of “catch-up,” (catsup). Mrs. W.F. Wood was a guest of the circle. Mrs. Matthews was assisted by Mrs. Kate Brooks in serving delicious banana salad with wafers and hot coffee. Prior to departure an invitation was received from Mrs. D.G. Ridenhour and Mrs. V. Byrd to meet with their circle No. 2 at the home of Mrs. Ridenhour for the November meeting, which was highly appreciated and accepted with great pleasure.

Dr. Thompson Struck and Killed by Car; With Cars Everywhere, Use Utmost Caution Crossing Streets, 1922

Editorial from the Rockingham Post-Dispatch, October 5, 1922

Dr. Neill A. Thompson, aged 50 and head of the Thompson hospital at Lumberton, was knocked down by an automobile on the main street of Fayetteville Thursday night and killed. The street was crowded with cars of people coming to attend the show “Mary”; he tried to cross the street, and in dodging one car, stepped directly in front of another car, and was knocked down; death resulted 40 minutes later.

With the increasing number of automobiles everywhere, it behooves our people to use the utmost caution in crossing streets, whether it is in Fayetteville, Rockingham or the smallest village. Stop and look.

Green Tomato Pickle Recipe From Jane S. McKimmon, 1922

Sliced Green Tomato  Pickle recipe from Jane S. McKimmon, State Home Demonstration Agent, N.C. State College, Raleigh, from the Rockingham Post-Dispatch, October 5, 1922

Sliced green tomato pickles, chow chow, and Dixie relish do not require long brining before pickling as do cucumbers, and for that reason are much easier for the busy housewife unless she gets her cucumbers already brined. They also make an excellent relish with meats and are an adjunct to any table.

Green tomatoes are easily found at this time of the year and can be made into an appetizing product by the following recipe.

Sliced Green Tomato Pickle

1/2 gallon sliced green tomatoes

1 pint onions, sliced

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 small red pepper

3 teaspoons white mustard seed

2 tablespoons celery seed

1 pound brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 tablespoon cloves

1/2 cup salt

1 ½ pints good vinegar

All measure level

Sprinkle the sliced tomatoes and sliced onion with salt. Let them stand 4 hours in separate bowls, and then place each in a thin muslin bag and squeeze gently until the juice is removed.

When the ingredients are prepared, place them in a porcelain kettle, mixing with them the mustard and celery seed, sugar and pepper. Cover with good vinegar 1 ½ pints, to which the spices tied in a bag have been added.

Boil this mixture slowly until quite soft and tender. The pickle is not good if removed from the fire before the tomatoes are tender.

After cooking pour into jars and seal while hot.

Cameron Woman's Club Curb Market Raising Money to Furnish New School, 1924

“Curb Market at Cameron Open Every Saturday Afternoon,” from the Friday, October 31, 1924, issue of The Pilot, Vass, N.C.

The curb market will be open again to the public next Saturday afternoon, November the first. A speciality of home-made candies and cakes. The curb market is run under the auspices of the Woman’s Club for the benefit of furnishing the new school building. The club now has 30 members. All members of the club, and patrons of the school, and all who are interested in the school, and even Cameron community are urged to donate to this curb market. Show your patriotism to the town, school, and community. Send your donations any time thru the week or early on Saturday morning to Mrs. J.D. McLean and Miss Minnie Muse. Donations are as follows: clothes, notions, eggs, butter, chickens, fruits and vegetables, fresh or canned, pickles, preserves, jellies, cakes, candies, salads, etc. Now all who read the above need have no further trouble as to what the donations asked for.

Man Who Killed Wife, Tried to Burn Down Hotel, Declared Insane, 1919

“Nance Insanity Trial” from the Oct. 16, 1919, issue of the Rockingham Post-Dispatch

A Review of the Famous George S. Nance Insanity Case Tried in 1913 in Rockingham. Nance Now a Raving Maniac.

In connection with the Foster Parsons case tried here at Rockingham last week, and as a result of which Parsons was committed to the criminal insane department of the penitentiary a brief review of the famous Nance case might be of interest to the Post-Dispatch readers.

In the summer of 1913 a man named George S. Nance of Tennessee killed his wife with a beer bottle in the Seaboard hotel at Hamlet and then set fire to the room with the intention of thereby covering up the crime. The smoke was observed, however, and the fire extinguished. Nance was placed in jail, and when his trial came up his attorneys entered the plea of mental incapacity to answer the bill of indictment. His attorneys were L.D. Robinson, W.S. Thomas, John P. Cameron and T.L. Caudle. The foreman of the grand jury that found a true bill against him was J. LeGrand Everett.

Few people in Rockingham believed him to be insane. It was generally thought he killed his wife in order to get possession of a lot of money that was in various banks in their joint name. When court convened in September, 1913, with Judge W.J. Adams presiding and A.M. Stack prosecuting, it was decided to have him examined by a commission of 12 doctors. On this commission was Dr. James M. Taylor of Morganton and Dr. Albert Anderson of Raleigh (these two alienists testified in the Parsons trial last week), Dr. McCampbell of Morganton, Dr. Faison of Goldsboro, and other doctors. They examined Nance for an entire day, and then submitted a written report to the Court stating that it was the unanimous opinion of the 12 doctors that the man was insane.

This report was given as evidence to the jury; there was no speech-making or examination of witnesses by the jury, they simply accepting the report of this expert commission, and they rendered their verdict that he was insane. The jury was composed of John Monroe, Jim McDonald, G.J. Green, Joe Smith, Jim Lowe, John Dobbins, J.P. Maurice, J.B. Melton, J.A. Sullivan, Jim Reilly Covington, E.C. Caudle, J.O. Huggins.

And so Nance, whom public sentiment in Richmond county, thought was sane regardless of the expert commission, was placed in the State Asylum.

Last fall Mr. Stack was in Raleigh and taking occasion to visit the Asylum inquired as to the condition of a man named Nance. He was informed that the man was a raving maniac, one of the craziest men in that institution. And so time had vindicated the expert judgment of this commission.

Richmond County Jury Declares Foster Parsons Insane, 1919

“Insane, Says Jury,” from the front page of the Oct. 16, 1919, issue of the Rockingham Post-Dispatch

Foster Parsons Declared Insane Last Friday Night by Jury Following Five Days’ Inquiry as to His Sanity. Carried an Hour Later to Aberdeen and Boarded Train There for Insane Asylum at Raleigh. Review of Trial. Also Review on Page 6 of the Famous George Nance Trial in 1913. Nance Now Raving Maniac.

The trial of Foster Parsons came to a close on Friday afternoon of last week at 7 o’clock with the verdict of the jury that he is insane. He was an hour or so later carried by auto to Aberdeen where the midnight train for Raleigh was boarded, and Sheriff McDonald placed him in the department for the criminal insane at the State Asylum a few hours later.

And so has ended what is probably the biggest criminal trial ever held in Richmond county. Every bit of testimony and every inch of ground was stubbornly contested by the State and the defense.

When the Post-Dispatch went to press last Thursday afternoon, the evidence was all in and three speeches had been delivered. On Friday morning Mr. Gibbons and Solicitor Brock spoke for the State, and the case was concluded by the speech of A.M. Stack for the defense. Court then recessed for dinner. Reconvening at 2:30 the jurors were given the charge and instructions by Judge Stacy, and this 25-minute presentation of the facts was very clear and forcible. It was taken down in short-hand by Mr. Jones, the Court stenographer, and we are publishing this in full elsewhere in this issue.

The jury took the case at 2:50, with the following issue submitted to them:

“Is the defendant, Foster L. Parsons, by reason of his insanity at the present time, incapacitated to plead to the indictment and stand trial?”

Shortly after four o’clock they reported they stood 7 to 5. At six o’clock they filed into the Court room again and requested Judge Stacy to inform them as to what would happen to Parsons were they to find him insane and he later should regain his sanity. The Judge told them that if they find he is insane, he would be committed to the State Insane Asylum; that if later he should regain his sanity, he would be brought back to the county and be placed on trial for the two murders with which he is charged. One of the jurors, Mr. John W. Stubbs, then asked His Honor if a shorter and simpler issue could not be submitted so the Judge tore up the first issue and in its place gave the jury the following:

“Is Foster L. Parsons insane at the present time?”

The jury again retired, but reappeared at 6:50 with their verdict, the issue being answered: “Yes.”

Immediately Solicitor Brock arose and addressing the Court asked that the verdict be set aside as being incompatible with the greater weight of evidence. Attorneys Stack and Jones replied for the defense, urging that the verdict of insanity be allowed to stand as rendered by the jury of 12 citizens.

Judge Stacy then made a very clear-cut statement. He said he would not set the verdict aside, and yet at the same time he felt very strongly that the defendant was sane and that if he himself had been on the jury he would have rendered his decision that the prisoner was sane and possessed of sufficient mind to stand trial. However, went the Judge, the jury of 12 men have decided that the man is insane and though he differed with their decision, yet he would let it stand. Therefore Foster L. Parsons stands committed to the State Asylum, there to remain until such time as his reason may be restored.

Court then adjourned, 7:15 Friday afternoon and as stated above, Sheriff McDonald a few minutes later carried the prisoner through the country to Aberdeen, caught No. 2 for Raleigh and had Parsons in the Asylum before the night was over.

Now that Parsons is in the State Asylum, and adjudged insane, the question one hears frequently is “what will be done with him should he at some future time regain his mind?” In event his reason is restored he would be brought back to Rockingham and placed on trial for two murders. He would doubtless plead insanity as his excuse for the murders, and if the jury should then find him as having been insane when he COMMITED the murders, the matter would end and he would be freed. If the jury should find he was not insane when he committed the crimes, he would be sentenced probably to the electric chair.

Some folks have likely confused the hearing as to his sanity last week with an actual trial for the murders. Instead of a trial, it was a hearing by jury to determine whether he is sane or insane AT THE PRESENT TIME, and to see whether he has mental capacity enough to plead to the murder charge and make a defense for his life. The jury decided that he is insane and so is incapable of answering a murder charge AT THE PRESENT TIME.

Review of Parsons’ Trial
For the information of any readers who may not have seen last week’s Post-Dispatch and so are not familiar with the trial as given therein, we here briefly outline the case:

On August 1^st Foster L. Parsons, a white man aged 23 of Richmond county, hired a Negro jitney driver at Hamlet to take him toward Hoffman. Before reaching that place Parsons shot the man through the head, hid the body in the woods, and carried the car to Durham where he sold it for $250.

Three weeks later, on August 20^th, he again came to Hamlet, spent the night at Terminal hotel, next morning drove in a car to near Entwistle mill, where he bought $8 worth of gin, returning to Hamlet, hired a Negro jitney driver, Joe Wilson, to take him towards Aberdeen and when near Keyser he shot the man through the head and hid the body, as in the first case, in the woods. Buzzards later ate all the flesh from the bone excepting a bit in one shoe. He then went to Durham, got his wife and wife’s sister, and on Saturday started for Rockingham. At Sanford late Saturday afternoon he was arrested by Chief Braswell. He was lodged in jail at Rockingham, and upon being confronted with the facts, confessed to Braswell to the two murders.

A special term of court was ordered by the Governor for the purpose of trying him. It convened Monday of last week, October 6^th, Judge W.P. Stacy of Wilmington presiding, and Solicitor W.E. Brock of Wadesboro prosecuting. Appearing for the defendant was W.R. Jones and Thomas & Phillips of Rockingham and A.M. Stack of Monroe. Assisting the State were L.P. Gibbons of Hamlet and H.F. Seawell of Carthage.

The Grand Jury, with C.H. Teague foreman, returned a true bill against him Monday afternoon and then the Solicitor began the trial by ordering Parsons to stand up and plead to his bill of indictment. At one his attorneys arose and requested the court to grant a preliminary hearing as to the defendant’s sanity, alleging their client was insane and therefore mentally incapable of conducting a defense. And so on this question the hearing was conducted, not as a trial for murder, but to find out whether he is insane AT THE PRESENT TIME.

Forty-four men were examined and excused from the jury box before a jury was finally selected; this was completed Tuesday morning, and about noon the defense opened the testimony by putting the mother of the man, Mrs. Allen Parsons, on the stand. She testified that when a baby he fell on his head and later had subsequent falls. She always thought him feeble-minded.

Others then testified as to his queer actions and inability to conduct a profitable business.

The star witness was Dr. J.K. Hall of Westbrook Sanatorium, Richmond, who testified that he spent two days in jail with Parsons, examined him, read up his family history that showed insanity in his family, and after all this gave it as his expert opinion that the man had DEMENTIA PRAECOX and is insane at the present time. Dr. Albert Anderson of the State Asylum, Raleigh, corroborated Dr. Hall’s opinion. Both of these experts wee agreed that the 23-year-old man, up until insanity developed this past winter, was possessed of the mind only of a 12-year-old boy.

Dr. James Taylor of Broadoaks, Morganton, on the other hand, testified for the State that he thought the man sane, though of an unusually low intellect and having the mind of a boy.

Dr. J.E.S. Davidson of Charlotte testified that in his opinion the man is sane. He examined him for 15 or 30 minutes in jail, and observed his demeanor in the court-room.

Other witnesses for the State testified as to their belief in his sanity.

The attorneys began arguing the case Thursday afternoon, W.R. Jones speaking first for 42 minutes, followed by H.F. Seawell for 40 minutes and Don Phillips for 30. When Court reconvened Friday morning, the other lawyers spoke, as detailed in the opening part of this recital, and after the Judge’s charge, the jury took the case and Friday afternoon at 6:45 reported their verdict of insanity.

Is Man Who Murdered Jitney Drivers So He Could Sell the Cars Insane? 1919

“W. Foster Parsons Confesses to Slaying of Joe Wilson. Special Term of Court Asked For to be Held Not Later Than First Monday in October. Is Parsons of Sound Mind?” from the front page of the Rockingham Post-Dispatch, Sept. 4, 1919

Solicitor Brock sent a request to the Governor’s office Wednesday asking that a special term of court be called for Richmond county not later than the first Monday in October for the purpose of trying W. Foster Parsons, charged in the death of Duck Phillips and Joe Wilson.

The Post-Dispatch called the Governor’s office by long distance this (Thursday) afternoon at 4:30 o’clock to learn whether the request had been acted upon. The Governor is out West, but his Private Secretary, Mr. Sandford Martin, informed the editor that the letter containing the request had not at that hour been received, but that when it does reach his office, he will act upon it immediately. He stated that a special term will be called, provided a judge can be found who is not engaged.


As the Post-Dispatch went to press on Thursday afternoon of last week, the identification of the dead bones found near Keyser earlier in the day as being those of Joe Wilson, colored jitney driver of Hamlet, was made complete. It was intimidated in the paper that W. Foster Parsons, a white man aged 23, might be connected with the disappearance and death of Wilson. Since last Thursday developments followed rapidly, culminating with the confession by Parsons on Friday.

Parsons had been placed in jail on Rockingham Monday, Aug. 25^th, having been bound over to court by the Hamlet Recorder under $750 bond charged with larceny and receiving, at that time he being accused only of the theft of a car driven by Joe Wilson. Investigation during the next day or so tended to connect him with the theft of the Duck Phillips car on Aug. 1^st (when Phillips was killed) and then after the Joe Wilson bones were found on Thursday, the circumstantial evidence was made very strong. Confronted with the evidence in jail on last Friday morning, Parsons confessed, the substance of his confession as made to Sheriff McDonald and Jailor Bean being as follows:

He admitted killing Joe Wilson but denied killing Duck Phillips. He said that on the night of July 31^st, he and a white man named James Hammock came from Durham to Hamlet. That they hired a jitney driver, Duck Phillips, to drive them up the road; that when they got near Hoffman, Hammock, who was sitting on the front seat, suddenly reached over, pulled the driver to him and shot him through the back of the head; that Hammock then dragged the body to the woods, and shot him again, as he still showed signs of life. That Hammock then returned to the car, and the two proceeded on to Durham. That next morning he (Parsons) sold the car for $250 and later in the day met Hammock at the depot and gave him half, $125. That he has not seen Hammock since.

He (Parsons) says he later came to Hamlet Aug. 20^th, the next morning hired Joe Wilson and that when near Keyser he shot Wilson through the back of the head from the rear seat. He then dragged the body from the car, and driving on towards Aberdeen, stopped before reaching that town, beside the road, and went to sleep. That someone passed in the afternoon and woke him and that he then drove on to Durham.

He appears to remember only disconnectedly, and says he was drinking on both occasions. When asked why he did it, he simply replied, “I don’t know.”

The foregoing in brief covers his confession.

It is thought by many people that his mind must be impaired, for, reason many, surely no person in his right mind could perpetrate such crimes.

Parsons is a white man, the son of the late Allen Parsons, of Black Jack township, Richmond County. He was married to a Miss Thomas last Spring. More recently he has been working in Durham county, about 8 miles from Durham.

A detailed story of the two crimes, each interwoven with the other, makes intensely interesting reading. The Post-Dispatch in its constant endeavor to be “on the job” is giving this big story to the public in the form of an EXTRA, the special issue appearing this (Friday) afternoon on the streets at four o’clock—only a few hours after the confession.

Joe Wilson Killed
Boiled down, a history of the killing of Joe Wilson, colored, is as follows, as pieced together by Chief Braswell:

On Wednesday night a week ago, Aug. 20^th, Mr. Parsons came to Hamlet from Durham and registered at the Terminal hotel. Thursday morning it is said he hired Joe Wilson, a colored boy about 16 years old, to drive him to Childress store near Hannah Pickett. They returned to Hamlet about 10 o’clock, and then Parsons hired the boy to carry him to Cognac. At this juncture a boy named George Ross asked the boy to let him ride as far as Pine street, so he could deliver some clothes. This Wilson agreed to do; when Ross got out at Pine street, he remarked to Wilson that if he would wait till he delivered the clothes he would go with him to Cognac. So the boy delivered the clothes, but when he returned to the car, the driver told him that he couldn’t go as he would have a load coming back.

Evidently, Parsons had spoken to him in the meantime. A citizen of Hoffman saw the car with Wilson and Parsons in it pass that town about 11 or thereabouts. He identified Parsons by a fancy shirt he wore. That is the last seen of the two together.

On Thursday morning, Aug. 28^th, a young white man carrying a load of tobacco to Aberdeen, saw a big flock of buzzards hovering to the left of a short-cut road about a mile and a half from Keyser, and upon investigating they founds the bones of a human being. They have the alarm and officers from Hamlet and the Sheriff from Rockingham went there, as did also the officers of Moore county, the spot being about two miles within the Moore county line. All the flesh was eaten from the body, the bones picked clean and only a bit of flesh remained in the shoes, the buzzards making strenuous efforts to get event hat bit. The clothes were scattered about, blackened. Sheriff McDonald after viewing the bones, brought the clothes to Hamlet, and interviewed the mother of Joe Wilson with the view of connecting Joe with the dead body. The mother said he had a yellowish shirt, black pointed shoes which corresponded with the clothes found.

So much for the dead body.

On Friday morning of last week, Mr. Vernon Allen, manager for Hinson Bros., garage at Hamlet, informed Chief Braswell that the car driven by Joe Wilson had disappeared. Chief Braswell thereupon went to Aberdeen Friday hunting a trace of it. Saturday morning he got Mr. Allen and they decided to drive towards Raleigh in search of it. And just here is how remarkably events happened. They reached Sanford Saturday afternoon, and finding no trace, started on towards Moncure. When about a mile from Sanford, and traveling about 20 miles an hour, they met and passed another car containing a man and two women, the other car going about 25 miles. Allen in a glance recognized his car, as well as the numbers! Quickly Braswell stopped, turn around and sped back towards Sanford. By another streak of luck, a freight was standing across the street, and this held up the Parsons car, for such it turned out to be. Approaching Parsons, Chief asked where he got it. He said “in Durham” and that he paid $250. A Sanford officer then arrested him and he was lodged in jail.

This was about 5 o’clock Saturday afternoon. Chief quizzed him in jail, and then placing handcuffs on him told him he was going to carry him to Durham to find the man from whom he said he bought the car. Parsons thereupon told him he hadn’t told the truth, that for a face he and the negro Wilson had conspired to steal the car, that when they got to Durham he had given the negro $50 for his interest in the car and that the negro had then gone to Greensboro. Chief then brought Parsons to Hamlet where he remained in the lockup until a hearing was given him before Recorder Austin the 25^th. The Recorder bound him to Superior Court under a $750 bond, which he was unable to give, and he was lodged in jail. The charge against him was larceny and receiving.

On Thursday, the 28^th, Messrs L.W.P. Webb and E.A. Waddell came to Rockingham and arranged to give the required bond. Sheriff McDonald was about to release him, was within a few minutes of doing so, when he received the following telegram from Chief Braswell from Durham:
“Hold Parsons without bail. New and strong evidence developed.—J.S. Braswell.”

The wire of course kept Parsons in jail.

In the meantime after committing Parsons to jail Monday, Chief Braswell went to Greensboro in search of the negro, and then went to Durham. And here is where another remarkable part comes in. He was sitting in a car on Main street at noon Wednesday eating a lunch, when he noticed a Ford pass, and his trained eye observed that it had two new fenders with a new running board on the left side. This corresponded with the car stolen from Hamlet August 1^st (details of which appear further down, and for which Parsons was connected in the killing of Duck Phillips.)

Chief hastened after the car, but it had disappeared. He then went to R.E. Dillard’s garage, simply strolling about on the lookout, when by another strange chance a man drove up in an Oakland and told the garage people he wanted to swap for a Ford. The Dilliard people brought out the Sharpe Ford (Sharpe the owner in Hamlet from whom the first Ford was stolen) and as soon as Braswell saw it he called an officer and a trade was forbidden. Chief wire M.R. Sharpe at Hamlet to come at once to identify his car. This Sharpe did August 28^th, and for that reason Braswell wired Sheriff McDonald at once to hold Parsons without bail.

Braswell then came to Rockingham next day and upon interviewing Parsons in the jail cell, Parsons admitted killing Joe Wilson and taking the car. He denied killing the first negro, Duck Phillips, and says that a white man named James Hammock of Virginia and who he met in Durham did the actual killing of Phillips while he himself was seated on the rear seat and took no part. However, he says he sold the car next day for $250 and according to agreement divided half ($125) with Hammock. This, he claims, was the last he saw of Hammock. The next job, the Joe Wilson killing and car theft, was done entirely by himself, he said.

He said he had not planned the killing of Joe Wilson when he left Hamlet, that a notion simply came to him on the spur of the moment. He said he had had no words with the driver. He also said he was drinking.

Duck Phillips Killed
Now that Parsons has confessed, the mystery surrounding the death of Duck Phillips comes to light.

On the night of Friday, Aug. 1^st, Duck Phillips, a colored man aged about 33 who drives a jitney for M.R. Sharpe of Hamlet, carried Mr. Sharpe home about 8:30 o’clock. At nine o’clock a passenger, Parsons it now develops, hired him for a trip. Nothing further was seen of Duck until the following Monday morning when a section hand, stepping out into the bushes near the Gates farm, between Hoffman and Marston, discovered a terrible odor and following it found the dead body of Duck, about a hundred yards from the public road. A bullet hole was through the left side of the head and a hole in the chest. Signs showed the body had been dragged from the road to the spot, and a disturbance of the ground indicated that the man was not quite dead when dragged there, as the foot stirred up the earth as if in a death sporadic kick. A coroner’s inquest was held, the verdict being that he came to his death at the hands of unknown party or parties.

The car had disappeared, and no clue was available as to who killed Duck or what became of the car until Chief Braswell saw the car pass him in Durham Wednesday at noon.

And now for a history of that Duck Phillips car. It seems that after killing Duck, Parsons drove the car to Durham. Next morning, Saturday, Aug. 2^nd, a Mr. E.D. Woody, a contractor at Durham, was in Dillard’s garage and was approached about 9:30 by a stranger who remarked that he had a car to sell him about which he was speaking the week before. Woody replied that the man was mistaken, as he had never seen him. (Parsons was evidently mistaking Woody for O.D. Barber; they resemble.) The man, Parsons, then told him he had a car he wanted to sell, that it was given him by a farmer on a debt, and that it had no encumbrance etc. Parsons then carried Woody to Mangum street to see it, claiming that he could not drive a car himself. The upshot was that Woody bought the car for $250 and an hour later sold it to R.E. Dillard for $340. Woody paid Parsons $200 cash and a check for $50, with the bill of sale.

Trial
Parsons will be tired in Richmond county Superior Court for the killing of Duck Phillips and if tried for the Joe Wilson murder he would be tried at Carthage in Moore county, since Wilson was killed in Moore.

Men from Durham
E.D. Woody, to whom Parsons sold the first car, was in Rockingham last Friday and had Parsons sign a mortgage, securing him for the amount he had paid him for the car. It seems that R.E. Dillard of Durham has a first mortgage on Parsons’ two horses and five mules. These animals were shipped by Mr. Parsons to Yatesville, Ga., where he intended going last week to either saw-mill or grade.

Brunswick Stew Dinner Raises Money for Prospect Hill School, 1940

Parent Teachers Association of Prospect Hill selling Brunswick stew dinner in Mebane on the opening day of the tobacco market. They were raising money for a new gymnasium for the Prospect Hill Consolidated School in Caswell County. The photo was taken by WPA worker Marion Post Wolcott in October, 1940. Wolcott was working for the U.S. Farm Security Administration which was part of the Office of War Information. The photo is part of the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.

New Hemp Mill Promises to Keep Welfare of Entire Community in Mind, 1924

“Hemp Cotton Mill Will Soon Start” from the Friday, October 31, 1924, issue of The Pilot, Vass, N.C.

One of the Most Modern Plants…To Make Fine Goods

The new cotton mill at Hemp will be in shape to start by the beginning of the new year if not sooner. Machinery is rapidly getting into place, and finishing touches are put on here and there every day. In a short time one of the most modern plants of its kind will be in operation, and it will turn out a fine grade of woven goods.

The mill is about an acre in size on the floor, one story high. It will be a weaving mill, making the finer voiles and similar goods. It is setting in place 300 loams, and the necessary equipment to operate them. The building is in the form of a square, with lights from all sides and from the top. 

Automatic sprinkling arrangements in the latest pattern takes care of fire risk and other demand that may be made for water in any form or any quantity. Power comes from the lines of the Carolina Power Company, with the driving machinery of ample capacity. The design of the mill was to utilize the most efficient machinery and to get the best results.

 The looms are of the most modern pattern and are set in blocks in such a way that every facility for labor saving accomplishment is possible. Every time a pound of material moves from the receiving door of the factory it will be moving in a direction it should go until it is in the packing cases in the form of finished product ready to be loaded on the cars at the railroad siding by the door of the mill.

In building this mill the company has not only planned for an efficient and modern mill, but has considered the comfort of the operatives who will be employed. Health conditions have been regarded as much as productive capacity. A number of houses are built about the mill, and more will be built as the demand requires, and the houses are designed for the comfort and happiness of the mill force. Much work remains to be done in establishing the mill village, and much dependence necessarily will be placed on the accommodations afforded by the village of Hemp adjoining the mill property, for the cotton proposition is a community development as well as an industrial promotion. 

The mill will always keep in mind the welfare of the entire community, and carry on in a way that the original town and the new addition may be in harmony and mutually beneficial.

Lt. Maynard, 'Flying Parson' With North Carolina Ties, Winning Army Air Race, 1919

From the Oct. 16, 1919, issue of the Rockingham Post-Dispatch

Lt. Belvin W. Maynard, the ‘flying parson’, won the first coast to coast leg of the army air race last Saturday. The total elapsed time from Mineola Field, New York, to San Francisco, for the 2,701 miles, was 75 hours and 47 minutes, and his flying time was 24 hours and 58 minutes.

He rested in San Francisco 3 days and started back on the return flight Tuesday.

Maynard is studying for the Baptist ministry at Wake Forest College, leaving there 18 months ago to join the air service in France. He is married, has two children, and is 27 years old. He is a nephew of Mrs. A.M. Flowers of Rockingham, and was born in Anson county where his father practiced medicine for 13 years until 1903, when the family moved to Sampson county.

Traveling Salesman Offers Goods to Caswell County Tobacco Farmers, 1940

From the Library of Congress' collection of historic photographs, which is available online. 

A traveling salesman offers his wares to farmers after they've sold their tobacco crop. Farmers tended to be cash-poor most of the year. This photo was taken in Caswell County in October, 1940.

Out on Road After Dark in Wagon or Buggy? Be Safe With Acetylene Lamps Front and Back, 1924

“Lights on Horse Vehicles,” from the editorial page of the Friday, October 31, 1924, issue of The Pilot, Vass, N.C.

W.H. McNeill of Lakeview said the other day that he would not have the courage to drive a wagon and horses along the country road at night these days without a light on his vehicle and he further ventured that any man driving a team on the road after dark would find it far more comforting to have a light on both front and rear of wagon or buggy than to take the chances of plumes and flowers on the carriage the day after.

Some day some influential farmer who drives occasionally at night will go into the store and ask for a couple of the little acetylene lamps that miners carry in their caps under the ground to furnish light while they work in the dark, and that farmer will put a bright light in front of his wagon, and a red light on the rear at the cost of a few dollars, and he will be safe from collision when he is out on the road. And when he sets the example others will follow, for to drive the roads with wagons without a light is next thing to suicide.

The wagon driver may think the automobile light is enough to make him safe, but it is not. The automobile driver certainly does not want to hit a wagon, for leaving out his unwillingness to hurt the wagon and its driver it is always a grave danger of harm to the automobile. Therefore the driver of the automobile is constantly looking into the dark ahead of him to make sure he is not approaching or overtaking a horse-drawn vehicle, and some times he is, and bumps it before his light is effective.

The wagon driver puts himself in the safety zone if he hangs out a light, and in no other way can he be safe. It is not conferring a favor on the automobile driver to carry a light, but it is making the wagon driver safe. Yet even if it did no more than to make the car driver safe a light on the wagon would be justified, for the car carries a light to help make the road safe for all other travelers and a wagon is no more justified in making the road dangerous than a car is. Small acetylene lamps that will burn several hours for two or three cents in fuel can be had at the supply stores, and ought to be on every wagon and buggy that travels the roads. Lamps are cheaper than funerals, and so much more enjoyable to the friends and relatives. Even an ordinary oil lamp hung on the front of the wagon is better than the crepe tied on the next day. Anybody who wants to can win the prize for starting this fashion. Go to it right now.

Rev. Irwin Convicted of Actions Unbecoming a Minister and Suspended for Bathing Suit Wedding, 1922

From the Rockingham Post-Dispatch, October 12, 1922

The conviction of Rev. T.J. Irwin of Lawton, Oklahoma, on charges unbecoming a minister, and his indefinite suspension from the ministry was upheld last week after a review of the findings of the El Reno Presbytery. He gave notice of appeal to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church, which meets next May in Indianapolis. One of the charges against him was that he put on a bathing suit and married a couple similarly clad in a bathing pool at a summer resort in Oklahoma last summer.

Stroke Takes Dr. Henry Whitaker, 55, 1917

From the Charlotte Medical Journal, 1917

Dr. Henry H. Whitaker of Hilliardston, N.C., a graduate of the School of Medicine of the University of Maryland, Baltimore, in 1883, and a member of the Medical Society of the State of North Carolina and the Nash County Medical Society, died at his home on October 12 from cerebral hemorrhage, aged 55 years.

Dr. Whitaker was a professional gentleman who was greatly respected and beloved in the community where he practiced for a number of years. His death is a loss to the community.

Families Under Quarantine in Rockingham County for Scarlet Fever, Typhoid Fever, Diphtheria, Chicken Pox, Whooping Cough, 1919

“September Health Report,” from the Oct. 16, 1919, issue of the Rockingham Post-Dispatch

Following are cases of contagious diseases as reported to quarantine officer J.M. Maness for September:

Scarlet Fever—Cye Wilson and Gertrude Miller, Cordova.

Chicken Pox—Mary Coppedge, Rockingham.

Typhoid Fever—Jane Batten and Homar Williams, Ellerbe Route 1.

Whooping Cough—Clara, Eva, Lillie, and Adam McQueen, colored, Ellerbe Route 1; Eva Page Bynum and T.L. Covington, Rockingham.

Diphtheria—Floro Quinn, Chapin Short, Molsie Murphy, J.M. Ledbetter Jr., Ruth Brigman, Rockingham; Roy Suggs, Ellerbe Route 1.

We Are Not Going to the Devil, No Matter Who Is Elected, Reminds Stacy Brewer, Vass, N.C., 1924

 “The Election of Tuesday” by Stacy Brewer, from the editorial page of the Friday, October 31, 1924, issue of The Pilot, Vass, N.C.

The Pilot has its opinions, but bless your soul, they are not infallible. For that reason it is not hard to look with complacency on the vote, whatever it may result in. We are not going to the devil, no matter who may be elected. Coolidge, Davis, LaFollette, or even Brother Charlie Bryan, with all the jokes flung at the heads of these two, cannot wreck this country, for the people have such a vast balance wheel of common sense that no man can lead us into chaos. The fact is that if a leader starts to lead us wrong so many of us being to see that we are heading in the wrong direction that we drop out and call for a different routing. We make mistakes and we pay for them, but we do rectify them in the end. That we will always do as long as we cannot see father into the future than is allotted to human vision. But we never let the mistakes prove fatal.

At the polls Tuesday remember this one thing, that every man there is actuated by sincere motives. If we do not all vote alike we all hope for the best from what ever follows, and if a certain proportion of us are as Sut Lovingood says, plumb darn fools, it is with the best intention. We are all working for what we think to be the best for the common good, and may be the man we may think is wrong is going to prove to be right. So however you vote don’t forget your neighbor. He is a pretty good sort of a human creature, and if he has a different opinion on this thing, and may be the right one, he will have the right opinion for sure if you need a little neighborly help a few days later. Folks are pretty good people if you just keep in mind that they are. Let us now all vote to suit ourselves, and give every fellow credit for honesty of purpose in doing it.

Caswell County Farmer Emery Hooper Shows Off New Tractor, Plow, 1940

Emery Hooper, a farmer near Prospect Hill in Caswell County, talks with Connie B. Gay, an FSA county supervisor, about his tractor and disc plow purchased with a FSA (Farm Security Administration) service loan. The photo was taken by Marion Post Wolcott in October, 1940. Wolcott was taking publicity pictures for the U.S. Farm Security Administration. The photo is part of the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.