Coffey Wagon Company Out of Business, 1911

From the Lenoir News, September, 1911

The stockholders of the Coffey Wagon Company, which went out of business a year or so ago, held a meeting here yesterday looking to the final winding up of the affairs of the old company. The valuable property a mile north of the town, which was used as the factory, is still unoccupied, but it is not likely that it will remain so much longer. The gentlemen who now own it are progressive business men and it is possible that they will establish some kind of manufacturing plant there in the near future.

Social News, Elizabeth City, Sept. 12, 1901

“Local and Personal” from Fisherman and Farmer, Elizabeth City, Thursday, Sept. 12, 1901

Mr. Hal Shaw spent Monday in the city.

Miss Ida J. Flora has returned to St. Mary’s in Raleigh.

Mr. Willis N. Gregory spent several days in Norfolk this week.

Mr. George Scott spent several days in Shawboro this week with Mr. Hal Shaw.

The Editor is spending the week near Belvidere assisting in a protracted meeting.

Mr. Ray Winder, who has been on a pleasure trip to Roanoke Island, returned Saturday.

Misses Lepine Reid and Jessie Jennings left for Louisburg Female College last week.

Mr. Guy Brockett, who has been spending the season at Nag’s Head, returned Monday.

Miss Gussie Kramer left Monday for Durham, where she will continue her course at Trinity.

The Misses Weeks are visiting northern points of interest, including the Buffalo Exposition.

Mrs. S.E. Speight who has been quite sick at her home on Fearing street is improving, we are glad to state.

Miss Rida, the charming daughter of Mr. G.F. Derrickson, left Monday to enter Greensboro Female College.

Miss Harry Arundell of Berkley, who has been on a visit to Miss Pattie Sanderlin, returned to her home last Saturday.

Rev. P.S.C. Davis will conduct prayer meeting service at Riverside Chapel Thursday night in the absence of the pastor.

Mr. Blucher Ehringhaus left last Thursday for Chapel Hill, where he will pursue a post-graduate course at the University.

Dr. Erskine Ehringhaus returned Thursday to Baltimore where he will further pursue his course at the Baltimore Dental College.

Mr. S. Oren Garrison of Belle Haven, Va., has arrived and taken charge of the mechanical department of the Fisherman & Farmer.

Mrs. Hattie Phelps and daughter, Mrs. Basnight of Plymouth, who have been on a visit to relatives in the city, have returned home.

Mr. and Mrs. M.L. Sanderlin and Max Jr. have returned from an extended trip through Canada, taking in a number of our northern cities.

Rev. W.A. Ayers of Hertford, N.C., occupied the pulpit of the Baptist church Sunday morning and fairly captured the audience with his excellent sermon.

Mr. W.E. McCoy and daughter, Miss Florence, and little son Eddie of South Mills were welcome visitors here Thursday. While here they made us a very pleasant call.

Mrs. A.S. Neal has gone north to purchase her stock of fall millinery. She was accompanied by Misses Martha Sykes, Genevra Bell and Margaret Williams. The party will do the Pan-American before their return.

Miss Emma Willis and Mrs. Frank Willis went away Monday, the former to enter Greensboro Female Colle. Mr. Willis goes as principal of the graded schools in Washington this year.

Messrs Wood and Lister have purchased the entire stock of W.W. Morrisette & Co. for about $2,000 and will continue business at the present stand. They have ordered a lot of new goods and will sell for the very lowest prices. Watch for their “ad” next week.

Mr. Marvin Lister was a visitor in the city Monday.

Quite a crowd arrived Tuesday morning on steamer Neuse.

Miss Linda Spence is visiting relatives and friends in Norfolk.

Mr. Frank Eason of South Mills spent Friday here on business.

Mr. Luther Taylor of New Berne arrived on the steamer Neuse Tuesday morning.

Mr. Chas. R. Bell has returned from Baltimore and will open the oyster packing house Oct. 1^st.

Messrs Joe Burgess and Clyde Crawford will leave soon for Asheboro to enter school at that place.

Mrs. Mae Guirkin who has been on a visit to her sister in Newport News, Va., returned home Tuesday.

Mr. Creighton Burgess, who has been confined to his home several days by sickness, is out again, we are glad to state.

Mrs. Nannie Dawson and daughter, Miss Fannie, who have spent the season at Nag’s Head, have returned home.

Miss Kate Leary, one of Edenton’s most charming young ladies, is in the city, the guest of Miss Gertrude Greenleaf.

Miss Clara Bond, one of Edenton’s most fascinating and charming daughters, returned to her home last week after a few weeks visit to Miss Gertie Greenleaf.

Oyster Supper at the Park

Miss Hallie Waters will give an Oyster Supper next Friday at the park (Capt. Sam Waters). The entertainment is kindly given for the benefit of the Baptist Chapel, and we hope will be liberally patronized.

Frank Jeter Thanks Chambers of Commerce and Civic Clubs for Their Support of Agriculture, 1949

Fayetteville Observer, Sept. 20, 1949

This newspaper and others have replied in editorial theory to Governor Scott’s contention that Chambers of Commerce and civic clubs in North Carolina did little or nothing to aid agriculture.

But it remained for Frank H. Jeter, agricultural editor of North Carolina State College, to give the factual answer.

This answer he gave yesterday at the annual meeting of North Carolina Chamber of Commerce executives at Wilson. It was not a theoretical answer based on his belief. It was a factual answer based on a questionnaire he had sent to farm agents and others in a position to know in practically every North Carolina county.

They told Mr. Jeter that the assistance rendered farmers by Chambers of Commerce and civic clubs in North Carolina amounted to thousands of dollars annually. They told him that this money was not used entirely for contest prizes but that much of it was used for the actual improvement of farms and for livestock.

In view of Mr. Jeter’s factual replay, we get the impression that Governor Scott’s blast at the agricultural work done by Chambers of Commerce and civic clubs was based on Governor Scott’s personal theory, maybe on his personal prejudice.

Farm Editor Frank Jeter is not a man of prejudices, unless it be that he is prejudiced in favor of the farmers of North Carolina and prejudiced in favor of better farming in North Carolina.

He is a man who has devoted his life to transplanting the facts about better farming into interesting newspaper and magazine articles calculated to stimulate interest in better farming.

We hope sincerely that he is able to retain his job at N.C. State College.

Census Holds Surprise: Negroes Aren't Dying Out, 1901

Washington Letter…From Our Regular Correspondent, from the Fisherman and Farmer, Elizabeth City, Thursday, Sept. 19, 1901. Ethnology is a branch of anthropology.

Washington, Sept. 16^th, 1901—The Census bulletins grouping the population of the states by nativity, race, etc., have been made public and contain some rather interesting information on the race question. The negro population of the country is 11.7 per cent of the total, practically the same as in 1890. The white population has increased, undoubtedly, by several millions of immigrants. This indicates that the negro is not dying out as some ethnologists have claimed, but is holding his own and perhaps a little more.

Billie Baskerville Killed by Train Near Henderson Cotton Mills, 1905

“Billie Baskerville Killed by Train,” from the Gold Leaf, Henderson, N.C., Thursday, Sept. 21, 1905

Billie Baskerville, a well known colored man of this town, was found dead by the side of the railroad track near the Henderson Cotton Mills Sunday morning. He had been struck by a passing train some time during the night and killed. Saturday afternoon he was drinking and when seen after dark he was considerably under the influence of liquor. He did not go home that night and it is not known just how or what time he was killed. The condition of the body indicated that he was struck and knocked from the track while in a sitting or standing position instead of being run over. Seven ribs on the left side were broken as was the shoulder. The neck bone just at the juncture of the skull was broken and there were a number of cuts and bruises on the head.

Billie Baskerville was an honest, industrious man and had a great many friends among white as well as colored people. He was good natured, kind hearted and accommodating, and his death under the tragic circumstances makes his taking off all the sadder. His weakness was an over indulgence in strong drink at times, but even while drinking he was polite, respectful and inoffensive and all who knew him liked him. The funeral was held Tuesday afternoon at 3 o’clock and was largely attended.

Mourning the Death of President McKinley, 1901

From the Sept. 26, 1901, issue of Fisherman & Farmer, Elizabeth City, N.C., "Washington Letter…From Our Regular Correspondent"

Washington, Sept. 16^th, 1901—The sudden change in the bulletins concerning President McKinley and the news of his death have caused an atmosphere of subdued and undemonstrative, but genuine sorrow, to pervade Washington. Everywhere one sees the colors draped with black framing pictures of the dead President. The people in charge of the “Oldroyd Collection of Lincoln Relics,” which fills the house in which Lincoln died, opposite Ford’s theatre, have hung the whole front of the house with crape and flags, surrounding portraits of Lincoln and McKinley. Yet, with all this, it seems hardly possible to believe that the genial, kindly-faced man will never again stroll along the streets or through the White House grounds, greeting everyone with his accustomed unostentatious courtesy. Washington has suffered a personal bereavement.

There is some speculation inevitably as to the possible and probable course of the new Executive. While Pres. Roosevelt is not so well known here, personally, as was McKinley, he is a national figure and every one is familiar with his eventful career. As the most careful observers of public affairs agree, it is not possible to foretell with any certainty what he will do in the next three years. His occupancy of the same ticket with President McKinley is another proof of the old trouble that politics make strange bed-fellows, for there never were two men more unlike. Curiously enough however, they held much the same views on most public questions. McKinley was wise, sagacious, thoughtful; he avoided making enemies whenever possible. Roosevelt is entirely careless on this point, and many of his enemies have been made, not so much by his policy as by his way of carrying it out. He has often appeared to seek dramatic effect, simply because he was not thinking about effect of any kind and did not avoid making one.

He is the youngest man, by five years, who ever held the office of President, being not yet 43; and when it is remembered that he was prominent in state and even national politics at an age when most men are scarcely beginning their careers, some of the popular impressions of this character may be better understood. The great responsibilities now laid upon him will inevitably test his qualities as an administrator, and the country will certainly know him far better a year from now than it does today. He is not a man to be guided. He will do what he thinks is best and remains to be seen whether those in both parties who wish to oppose him will be able to do so effectually.

It is thought that there will be some very important changes in the Cabinet before very long, though their nature depends on the plans the new President may have for 1904. Secretary Hay is said to be much broken in health since the death of his son and may resign at an early date, in which case the selection of a new Secretary of State will be a matter of the moment. The name of Lodge is suggested in this connection. He, like Roosevelt, has gone into politics under the conviction and for the love of it, and the two would probably agree. Walcott is another of the same sort, but he comes from Colorado, and there is an unwritten political law which is against the selection of a Secretary of State from the far West. The name of Depew has also been mentioned, but this would make rather too much Excelsior in the Cabinet for political purposes, for Depew is also a New Yorker. Besides, Depew is a humorist, and the joker does not always win in the game of office seeking. Secretary Long, while personally a friend of the President, might be forced out by the clamour of political opponents if the Schley-Sampson case develops in a way to warrant it.

Senator Wellington has been expelled from the Union League Club of Maryland, and he says he is glad of it, as the members thereof are his enemies. After his comments on the character of McKInley at the time of his assassination, it is likely that most of Maryland came under that category. Southern papers are urging that he be put out of the Senate.

President McKinley Assassinated, 1901

From the Sept. 26, 1901, issue of Fisherman & Farmer, Elizabeth City, N.C., editorial page of Fisherman & Farmer, W.J. Crowson, editor and proprietor

McKinley Dead

The American nation stands bereft of her President. At 2:15 o’clock Saturday morning Sept. 14^th, 1901, William McKinley, the universally beloved president of this nation, and possibly the most popular of any public man in the history of the country, died from the effect of the wounds inflicted by the assassin’s bullets on the same day a week before.

It seems hardly possible that such a tragic event could take place—that in a crowd an assassin could so easily escape detection and assault unto death the Chief Magistrate of a great country.

Whether as a man or as the President, Mr. McKinley leaves as the heritage of the American people a record of a life of remarkable purity and sweetness. The embodiment of gentleness it seems so strange that he should fall a victim to violence.

The 19^th day of September has been set apart by President Roosevelt as a day of fasting and prayer and the entire nation asked to unite in its observance.

In sackcloth and ashes of humility let this Nation bow before the great God whose wisdom is inscrutable and His ways past finding out.

President Roosevelt

President McKinley died at 2:15 o’clock a.m. At 3:30 o’clock p.m. Vice President Roosevelt took the oath of office prescribed for the President of these United States.

The great hand of the Nation falls but another rises to take his place.

President Roosevelt brings with him great popularity as a leader. We trust God may give him wisdom and discretion to meet the great tasks his high position calls him.

God bless the President of the United States.

The Assassin

During the time when it was thought that the President would recover, it was found by Solicitor General Richards, who looked the question of the possible punishment of Czolgosz, that by making use of some legal technicalities, the assassin could have been sentenced to 50 years in prison. While 10 years is the limit of the punishment for assault, he could have been tried for assault not only on the president but on the two detectives and on Parker, the negro who knocked him down.