He Came to Lenoir 24 Years Ago With 2 Cents; Leaving with Net Worth of $55,000, May 1, 1924

Started with Two Cents, Barber Now Has $55,000

Lenoir, April 26—Twenty-four years ago J.R. Wilson came to Lenoir with two cents. This week he leaves with approximately $55,000.

Rough Wilson, as he is usually called, has spent a life-time in the barber business. He entered the business in 1880 in Newton. He then traveled throughout the west, spending 20 years moving from one town to another. Twenty-four years ago he was in Asheville. That same year he came to Lenoir and established a shop. In a statement the other day, he said in coming to Lenoir he reached here with only cents in cash. At that time Mrs. Betty Nelson was operating a boarding house, and he went there with his wife to live. The past 24 years have been spent in operating a barber shop in Lenoir.

A few years ago, Mr. Wilson bought a valuable piece of property in Morganton. He is going there to live. He has been offered, he said, yesterday, $55,000 for this piece of property. He also owns a farm on Catawba river.

In mentioning the change that has taken place in his finances, Mr. Wilson emphasized the fact that he did not make his money in the barber business. He said that he had made several successful trades in real estate that accounted for the big bulk of it.

Page 2, The News Reporter, Whiteville, N.C., May 1, 1924. $55,000 in 1924 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $1,004,576.61 today, an increase of $949,576.61 over 100 years, according to The Inflation Calculator.