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Historic Webster Vol. 1 No. 3
No full textHistoric Webster is a newsletter of the Webster Historical Society, Inc., created at the Society’s founding in 1974. The publication helped to serve the Society's mission of collecting and preserving the history of Webster, North Carolina. Webster, established in 1851, was the original county seat for Jackson County.'VOLUME I NUMBER 3
Cook6ook Will Be
Ready 9n o lie :Jall
A cookbook containing mouthwatering local recipes,
pen and ink drawings of Webster, and "Growing Up
in Webster" sketches will be on sale in the fall.
Tho rocipe book1 which is being compiled by Florence
and Joe Parker Rhinehart , will have a hard
cover with a color picture of Webster as the dust
jacket. Joe Parker estimates that it will have approximately
200 pages, The book will be printed
in brown ink on off white paper, and will have a brown
cloth cover with a sketch of the former Jackson County
courthouse,
Original sketches of people and places in Webster
will be featured at the beginning of each of the II
divisions of the book, as well a throughout the 250
odd recipes.
A short history of the town accompanied by a
sketch of the courthouse will begin the book, Then,
in addition to the delicious recipes, the cookbook will
feature character sketches of some of the donating
cooks and several "growing Up in Webster" stories
written by Webster women of different generations,
Mildred Cowan, Mary Morris and other women who
grew up in Webster will be contributing their accounts ~
The book will conclude with a feature menu for
Christmas dinner with recipes, accompanied by a
story about Old Webster at Christmastime,
The recipes in the book were collected from cooks
in the area by Joe's mother, Kate Rhinehart, Florence
Rhinehart will draw the pen and ink sketches.
The price of the book has not yet been determined,
but it is estimated at 5 or be placed in a makeshift
"jail" on the school grounds, .
other harpenings at the July event will include
board splitt'ng lessons, booths of all sorts, sales of
cookies and cakes, old fashioned bonnets, a varied
display of mountain cr afts, and of course entertainment.
If you have suggestions for additional activities at
the Independence Day fest, contact Paul and Linda
Cowan, co-chairmen of the Special Events. and Projects
Comm ;:tee,
Webster, North Carolina
EDD DOUGLAS DAVIS
olie :Jirst Sheriff
of ~ackson County
Edd Doug Davis, known as Doog Davis, became in
1853 the first sheriff of Jackson County, With the
exce~ti.on of the period he lived, while sheriff, in
the Jail at Webster, he spent his adult life on his
large farm located between Webster and Cullowhee
Today this area is called Rolling Green, '
Sher iff ~Alvi s and his wife Nancy Allen, daughter
of Nathan Allen of Webster, were the parents of
seve~ sons and two daughters" Mro Davis, who died
at h~s home August 25, 1911, is buried in the family
P!ot m Webster Cemetery along with his sife, two of
his sons, Nathan A, and Joe W, and other members
of later generations of llivises,
The copy of the JACKSON COUNTY JOURNAL
from which the article is reprinted, and the tin-type
picture of Mr , ~Alvis reproduced here ar e are owned
by Cather ine ~Alvis of Big Ridge, Catherine is a
granddaughter of Sheriff Doug ~Alvis,
The following article was taken from THE JACKSON
COUNTY JOURNAL dated January 29 1906 - Webster
N,C, - Mr, E, D, ~Alvis ' '
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
The author of this article was born in Buncombe
County <now Transylvania) Sept, 4, 1827, My father
lived where the late George C, Neil lived to the time
of his death, on what was then known as Lamb's Cr rek
which was a tributary of Fr ench Broad river, It~
head waters were near where llividson's river has
its source, with which it ran parallel, but being much
smaller, It was then known as Ben llividson's river
but of late years the "Ben" has been dropped,
Ther e has been a postoffice at this place for more
than seventy years" Davidson's River postmaster,
Ben .lli vidson, was my great-grandfather.
When I attended school the course embraced
reading, writing, and arithmetic, My teachers were
Turn to page four , , , •
~ ·'We6ster 9s ~ackson County's Hometown"
April 1974
A fetter
:Jrom the President
Dear Friends,
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with one
step" and that step in compiling and collecting the
history of Jackson County has resulted in 5,000 copies
each of three newsletters of the Webster Historic
Society; nearly 300 members and ll3,500 to the Jackson County Board of Education
for the old Webster Elementary School because an
an idea whose time has come can't help but succeed.
The school will become the Jackson County Museum
of Living History. The fund-raising committee needs
your help with the Webster idea. If you know wher e
money is a·.11ilable - from individuals, corporations
foundations, etc. - tell us - we'll contact theU.:'
Many grants have already been applied for from foundations
and other sour ces such as the Bicentennial
Commission in N.C. and the America the Beautiful
Fund,
We are hopeful that the County budget for the
1974-75 fiscal year will include a generous donation
toward the effort to preserve Jackson County's History,
But for many of these potential grants we need
non-federal matching funds, '
Th.e next newsletter will be sent only to the membership
of the Webster Historical Society, If you
have not joined but are "infected by the contagious
~n?'usiasm" as the honorable Hamilton Hayes wrote,
JOm. no:v, Send 5.00 yearly
Associate (outside Western N.C.): 10.00 yearly
Supporting: 30.00 yearly
Life: 1.00 a day to begin with) for her little family,
During the thirty-four years that mother was postmaster
the Post Office was in three locations: first,
in a little building where Mr. Baker's shop and apartment
are now located; next in the old Masonic build·
ing between our place and the home of Mrs, Nancy
Ensley Potts; then back to the Baker Upholstery Shop
location; and last to the little building in the corner
of her yard across the lane from the Monteith home.
Because of the necessity of having the office convieniently
close to our home, the location changed as we
moved, The family moved from our old home (built
by Dr. C.Z. Candler's father at about the time of
the civil war) to Uncle Andy's house , then to the
Aunt Hicks Wilson house <now owned by the Potts)
later to the old jail <Mrs, Margie Penland's place)
which was the principal's home when my sister ,
Mrs. Ruth Allison Morris, was principal of Webster
High School, and finally to mother 's new home, built
after the old Candler house was torn down , on the
same lot which she had owned since my father's
dea.th,
When my mother was postmaster she loved her
work (though it did get aggravating at times she said)
and it enable her to make a living in her own yard
for the most part. She could keep an eye on Ruth,
Uln and me as we grew up, and grandpa too when
he was sick, while she looked after the post office
which was the social, as well as news center for the
community. Sometimes when we all gathered to watch
little Oscar Coward buck dance in the post office
vestibule things would get too noisy and we would
all be sent outside so my mother could do her work,
She wrote and read letters and orders for a few of
the patrons who could neither r ead nor write, and in
emergencies would open up the post offic e at night
and on holidays to better ser ve the community, Service,
honesty, integrity and independence wer e virtues of
great value to her, as they had been to her Godfearing
pioneering ancestors,
During the thirty-four years that my mother
was postmaster she was assisted to some extent
by the following : George Self, grandpa Moor e, my
sister Ruth, Mrs, Margie Penland, Mrs, Evelyn McKee,
Mr. Dan Cowan. When I became old enough I was
officially made assistant, or r eplacement, so I could
substitute occasionally when she was sick or away,
Dear to all of our hearts was the mail carrier, Arthur
Allman, who was always kind, cheerful, accomodating
and generous with rides to and fr om Sylva in his
truck for all of us.
HISTORIC WEJ~STER April 1974 Page 3
The Webster "Mail Box"
Some people have called the Webster Post Office
the "Mail Box" and frequently someone laughingly
remarks that it is surely the smallest post office
in the United States, They seem disappointed when we
tell them there are other smaller. We enjoy our
rather unique building, However, the size of the
building does not designate the size of the Post Office
housed therein.
The Webster Post Office is the oldest office in Jackson
County, It was established as Scott's Creek
(Haywood County) April 5, 1828. Jackson County
had not been established at that time, The Haywood
County and Macon County line was at that time the
Tuckaseigee River at Webster, The first postmaster
was Ulniel Brisson, appointed April 5, 1828, He
was succeeded by Samuel B, -Bragg December 17,
1828, The office was later discontinued for a brief
time and reestablished May 24, 1832 as Scott's Creek.
At that time William Thomas was installed as
postmaster serving till January 27, 1843, Thomas
was succeded by Allan Fisher.
When Mr. Fisher took the office he had a store
in Lovesfield, said to have been located near the
intersection of what is now highway 107 and ll6,
Presumable the post office was operated in his store,
The name of the post office was changed to Webster
on November 28, 1857 while Mr, Fisher was still
postmaster, He ser ved the office for 22 years which
was the longest time any postmaster served until
Mr s, Eugenia M. Allison was the postmaster in later
years. The second court held in Jackson County
was held also in this store. A great-grandson of his,
Mr. Allen Bergin Fisher, Sr .. , now lives in Addie
Community, Route I, Sylva, N, C.
On September 21, 1865 a Mr. George w. Stake
became postmaster and served until April 15, 1873,
Postmaster Cannon was the father of the late Lewis
Cannon of Webster . He was the grandfather of James
~ann?n of Cannon Brothers Gas and Oil Company
m Dillsboro and other descendents of Dillsboro and
the state of Washington,
Succeeding Mr, Cannon was Martin H. Lovelady
who ser ved thre
Historic Webster Vol. 12 No. 2
No full textHistoric Webster is a newsletter of the Webster Historical Society, Inc., created at the Society’s founding in 1974. The publication helped to serve the Society's mission of collecting and preserving the history of Webster, North Carolina. Webster, established in 1851, was the original county seat for Jackson County.HISTORIC
WEBSTER
Vol. 12, Issue 2 Summer 1987
Features
3
From Blue Horses to
Spencer Clark
In December 1986, the Webster
Historical Society honored the
Spencer Clark Trio for its production
of the cassette, "Summer
Evening in Webster." The author
remembers his early days with a
radio.
by Gary Carden
4
A Special Trio
The "Summer Evening in Webster"
cassette continues the village's
affair with the arts. The story
is told in a Sylva Herald story.
by Angela Griffin
6
Freedom is a Dream
Webster celebrated an old-fashioned
Fourth at "Miss Lucy's.
A speech makes us proud.
by John E. Fobes
8
A Tribute to Woodford
Davis
A friend remembers his childhood
days with Wood Davis
by Dale Coward
The Cover:
The Spencer Clark Trio, Spencer and Mary
Clark and Hoyte Roberson, Jr. have issued
a cassette of their summer performances
for the society.
SPEAKING EDITORIALLY
HISTORIC
WEBSTER
President
Midred Cowan
Box 186
Webster, NC 28788
Vice President
Dale Coward
Norton Road
Cashiers, NC 28717
Secretary-Treasurer
Margaret and Jim Simpson
Box 126
Webster, NC 28788
Membership Chairman
Kate M. Rhinehart
Box 145
Webster, NC 28788
Editor
Joe P. Rhinehart
Box 356
Webster, NC 28788
The Webster Historical Society, Incorporated,
is a non-profit organization founded
in 1974 to study and preserve the history
and culture of the area. The annual
membership fee is 5.00 paid to the membership
chairman, Box 145, Webster, NC 28788.
The society publishes Historic Webster
quarterly, and it is mailed to the members.
The editor welcomes material for publication
and will give consideration to any submitted
articles.
It's Summer Time In Webster And The Town Is Celebrating -The W ebeter ru.t.orical Society
Pre.stntJ
111111111 DDIIID WDiftl
~._t:
Ella Richardt and Robert Lee Maddon
JWy , , l2, 19,U
~o'dodl
ThoW ...... U.u.iM.doodiMCh• ldl
W.t.m-,Nonhc..n.un..
It's summer in Webster, and it couldn't be a more exciting time to be here.
We are in the middle of our fifth season of "Summer Evening in Webster." We have been royally entertained
by tenor Patrick McGuire and his son Logan with a beautiful varied concert of his favorite music;
actress Sue Monroe who performed professionally in her husband, Ben Glawsons play "Bunny Tracks; "
and Mary Clark, pianist, returned for her second solo show as she honored George Gershwin. And we still
have the final concert to look forward to. It will, as always, be done by our own Spencer Clark Trio. Spencer
has picked a program that presents George Gershwin and his friends. The church has been packed every
week, and the July 26 concert will, as usual, be standing room only.
Jeff Ginn has done his second painting for the society, "Summer Evening in Webster, II." His first print,
given by the society to its summer performers, has been exhausted . The print can be had only by perform-
~--~-· ing for the society and its guests. The painting hangs in some of the area's final artists' homes.
f~~~~;:g A good crowd joined Carol and Gerald Karcher on the lawn of the Hedden House for the society's annual
--:::.:::::::•- . .::....,___ "Miss Lucy's Picnic." It was Webster's usual Fourth of July tribute, and we were pleased to hear Jack Fobes.
NMMM¥M!!!I'!W'Iil!~ He and his wife, Hazel, are former owners of Hedden House. Jack is a former director of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization 8.50. It features the best of the past four Clark concerts. It will
bring back those wonderful summer memories. You can also get copies of the society's prize winning publication, The Poems of Robert
Lee Madison. The book was named North Carolina's best 1986 book of poetry. The cost is 14.00. The tape and the book may be ordered
from Box 145, Webster, NC 28788- both prices include postage and handling.
2 Historical Webster Summer 1987 ~-
From Blue Horses
to Spencer Clark
"For a moment, it all comes rushing back ... the movies, the dances, the songs,
and the glowing light of my pink radio
When I was eight years old, I bought a Blue
Horse notebook. For those of you who are not
familiar with this school accessory of the 40's,
the company that manufactured Blue Horse
notebooks and tablets gave away marvelous
prizes. All you had to do was save the Blue
Horses ... cut them out and save them I did! I
begged them from school mates, bought them,
swapped for them and went through garbage
cans searching for them. You couldn't stick
them in a book like Green Stamps, so I packet
them, 50 to a stack in shoe boxes until I had
enough to send in. What came back changed
my life.
It was a radio ... or to be more specific, it was
a pink " table-model" cheap radio, and I had
dubious motives for wanting it. The situation
was like this: At the age of six, two years before
I started hoarding Blue Horses, I had become
a radio junkie. Beginning at 3:30 each afternoon,
I would camp in front of the big Silvertone
radio in the living room and launch a nonstop
listen-in that would last through dinner (or
supper, as we called it) and well into the night.
I listened to Jack Armstrong, Captain Midnight,
Sargent Preston of the Royal Mounties,
Dick Tracy and The Lone Ranger. Things went
well until I decided to initate my own story hour
at school. Each day at recess, I would recount
all of the stories from the previous afternoon
for my classmates, complete with cliff-hanger
endings. When my second-grade teacher heard
about my little recitals, she asked me a lot of
strange questions .. .like, "Is it true you act out
all the people in the story?" Oh, yes indeed, I
did that. "You do realize that these are radio
programs ... just a lot of people talking over
microphones?" No, I did not realize that and
did not want to realize it. So, my second-grade
teacher came for a visit, and told my grandparents
that they should not allow me to listen
to the radio since the line between the real
world and make-believe had become somewhat
blurred for me. My second-grade teacher told
my horrified grandparents that I could become
unable to tell the difference between the real
and the unreal. She was wrong there, of course.
by Gary Carden
I knew the difference very well. It was just a
matter of preference. In addition to curtailing
my radio listening, my teacher also suggested
something should be done about my addiction
to Saturday westerns and comic books ... two
other factors that contributed to disorienting
my youthful mind.
So, I lost a goodly part of my radio listening
privileges. No more long sessions in front of the
old Silvertone. That is why I went after the Blue
Horses. And I acquired a pink radio. And that
is how I become a secret, nocturnal radio
junkie. Alone in my bedroom after my grandparents
were asleep, I would turn on my pink
radio which lit up the whole room like a
surprise-pink night light, and I would listen. Of
course, this was a different kind of radio. No
Lone Ranger. No Jack Armstrong. Indeed it
was late-night music. I heard things like,
'' ... And now, for your listening enjoyment, Jack
Teagarden from the Roosevelt Ballroom in
downtown New Orleans." I heard Lanny Ross
singing "Moonlight and Roses," and Rose Murphy
the "Chee-Chee" girl singing "Mean to
Me." I heard Lionel Hampton and Fred Waring.
Sil Austin and Carmen McRae. Margaret
Whiting and Oscar La vent. By the time I was
twelve, I could recognize hundreds of songs and
composers. I knew the lyrics to Gershwin, Gus
Kahn, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin and Hogie
Carmichael. I never knew why I did this, and
I don't know to this day. It was as though I
thought that somebody ... God, the President or
my English teacher would give me a test. They
would say, "Who wrote 'Old Buttermilk Sky'?"
and I would say, ''Hogie Carmichael.' ' Or they
would say, "What was Buddy Hackett's theme
song?" and I would say, "Embracable You."
I memorized song lyrics as though they were
sacred writ; as though I could ward off sickness
or evil by quoting them like charms. To this
day, when people quote philosophers or
Shakespeare, I have a tendency to answer with
lyrics by Jerome Kern or Hammerstein. "That
government is best that governs least," they
(Continued on page 7) Historic Webster Summer 1987 3
HISTORIC
WEBSTER
SUMMER 1987
LOVELY SOUNDS FROM
A SPECIAL
TRIO
Spencer and Mary Clark
The Clarks have spent 38
years sharing music
together. Music actually
brought them together in
1948 and they have been
perfectly compatible since.
4 Historic Webster Summer 1987
1 ,
The historical society
is trying to recapture
the leisurely fellowship
of friends and neighbors
coming together
by Angela Griffin
Combining the mellow, easy listening music of the Spencer
Clark Trio with the cool and quiet summer evenings of Webster
was a brilliant, and successful, idea of the Webster Historical
Society. Not everyone has had the opportunity to attend one of
the Summer Evening in Webster series where the Trio, for the
last four years, has given the finale performance of a series of
performing arts featuring local artists with ties to the area.
Summer Evenings in Webster are evenings in July set aside
to enjoy the arts. The events are held outside unless it rains (then
things are moved inside the Methodist Church). A crowd of as
many as 200 have been known to gather in a local meadow for
one of these events. The Spencer Clark Trio - a trio made up of
well-known musician Spencer Clark on the tenor saxophone, Mary
Clark on piano and Hoyte Roberson, Jr., on drums- play, with
very little electronic assistance, a wide-range of musical selections.
These multi-talented musicians play for the love of it and
as they play, their sounds are recorded on tape.
When people began to request recordings from the group,
Webster Historical Society member Joe Parker Rhinehart
asked Spencer to edit some of the music recorded on site over the
last four years into one full cassette tape. It took Spencer two full
weeks to go through all the old tapes and select the pieces with
the best sound.
Mary Clark said the whole idea of producing a Spencer Clark
Trio tape came from requests from the people attending the Summer
Evening in Webster series.
"Every year, people would ask for tapes," said Mary.
"Everyone seems to like what we play. We were too busy playing
to worry with the tapes, so out of four years, we got enough
to fill one tape."
The result is a very pleasing selection of 35 of some of the world's
favorite songs. The tape has been presented in the limited edition
of 250 copies which sell for 8 each. Some of the selections
come from a solo performance done by Mary.
The tape begins with the theme song for A Summer Evening
in Webster with lyrics written by well-known local writer Sue Ellen
Bridgers, music by Spencer Clark and sung by Boyd Sossamon,
Jr.
Spencer said the theme song was derived from a request by
Rhinehart. But Spencer is not a lyricist so he engaged the
assistance of Sue Ellen who came up with "lovely lyrics" which
Spencer says "captures the whole meaning of this thing."
"Once I heard the lyrics," said Spencer, who plays almost any
instrument entirely by ear, "I could hear the music coming and
I sat down and wrote the music."
The lyrics convey what the Historical Society is trying to recapture
and that is the leisurely fellowship of friends and neighbors
coming together to share their heritage. Such evenings were once
shared by the beloved Professor Robert Lee Madison who frequently
entertained the village of Webster with his front porch
concerts on his flute. Mrs. Madison was the town music teacher.
And although it is one small town's attempts to preserve their
heritage, the series has drawn attention from counties all around.
The Clarks have spent 38 years sharing music together. Music
actually brought them together in 1948 and they have been perfectly
compatible since. Spencer may be best known for his abilities
on the bass saxophone, a standard instrument of bands of the
1920's and 30's better known as the "Jazz Age."
As a member of the Lud Gluskin Orchestra for two years,
Spencer Clark did a lot of recording. He later recorded some solo
jazz albums such as "Spencer Clark - Master of the Bass Saxophone,"
and "Spencer Clark and His Bass Sax Play Sweet and
Hot." He says he has probably appeared on some 20 jazz recorders
since his retirement in 1971 when he moved to Webster.
Area folks picked up right away on the talents of Spencer and
Mary. Forming a trio, they began to play dinner music at such
places as the Courthill Inn and the Maggie Valley Country Club.
Their first trio drummer was Tom Jenkins, a talented local who
was majoring in music at Western Carolina University. When Tom
moved on, the Clarks used various talented drummers from the
area until they met up with Hoyt. Hoyt shared the Clarks' love
of music and the three hit it off right away and have been together
for several years now playing at wedding receptions and private
parties on a part-time basis.
The Clarks do not wish to book the Trio too heavily. But they
have a love for music and enjoy sharing that love with others
through a broad selection of songs.
"We like a lot of types of music and that is probably why
people like us so much," said Mary. "We play selections a lot of
people like to hear and we aim our selections to the age of the
audience. We're fortunate in liking so many types of music."
Spencer noted that on the newly released tape, a variety of selections
can be heard. Each year the Evening in Webster series is
given a specific theme and the music is geared toward that theme.
In 1987, the theme will be based on music by George Gershwin.
The Clarks have enjoyed music since their childhood. Mary had
formal training in piano since age 10. But Spencer, although he
had no formal trining except some music in high school, has just
picked the music up "naturally." But he also taught himself to
read music.
"He reads very well, but his ear is so good, he doesn't bother,"
said mary, only a tiny bit enviously.
Spencer explains his ability as being based on mathematics.
He says he can hear the music and find the relationship of notes
mathematically, in intervals. It is like using a type of singing
called "solfeggio."
Mary can understand exactly how Spencer does this.
Every scale is do-re-me or 1-2-3, no matter what the key," she
says. "Most musicians use numbers so it doesn't matter what key
the music is in."
A program to announce the issue of "A Summer Evening in
Webster," a cassette recording by the Spencer Clark Trio, was
held recently at Western Carolina University. Jim Simpson,
"Hoyt shared
the Clark's
love of music
and the three
hit it off right
away and have
been together
for several
years now. ''
Hoyte Roberson, Jr.
mayor of Webster, made the opening remarks. Julian Hirt
commended the Trio on the sound, which they accomplis with
almost no electronic equipment. Spencer says the Trio does not
need electronics to get the sound they desire. It is pure music flowing
out to the ears of an audience seated in a green meadow in
a lovely mountain town. It is music which does not call for
loudness. It is sweet and mellow and soothing to the ears.
It is the music of the Trio that people wish to capture on tape
to listen to while relaxing at home. It is the coziness of the music
that brings to mind the lyrics written by Sue Ellen - It's Summetime
in Webster, and we are home again.
Tapes can be purchased at Riverwood Craft Shop in Dillsboro
or at Jim Simpson's The Christian Shop.
Historic Webster Summer 1987 5
Our Declaration of Independence started a vast movement on
this planet. American independence became the sign, the symbol,
the standard, a dream which has spread around the world.
I have been fortunate to work
and travel in other countries and
to spend time with, listen to and
learn from thoughtful persons in
all parts of the world- persons
who are sensitive to problems, to
feelings, to commonalities of life
on this planet. They are individuals
who are seeking meaning
to life, who actively search
for solutions to the world's
predicament.
From these experiences, I
have tried to distill thoughts appropriate
to our coming together
on this Independence Day. I have
put them in the form of an old
fashioned Fourth of July oration
which can make us feel proud,
yet humble; local, yet part of all
humankind; strong, but not complacent;
ready to accept and
meet challenges of the future.
Please try to imagine that I am
speaking from a village bandstand
bedecked with red and blue
banners.
We are celebrating Independence
Day of 1987 with friends and
neighbors. It is well to record
that our Declaration of Independence
of 21 years ago
started a vast movement on this
planet. "American independence"
became the sign, the symbol,
the standard, a dream which
has spread around the world.
Only 42 years ago, at the end
of a terrible war, that dream was
re-invigorated and reflected in
the United Nations Charter, signed
at San Francisco. That document
took its inspiration .from
the Four Freedoms of Franklin
D. Roosevelt, from the Atlantic
Charter of Roosevelt and
Winston Churchill, from a 1943
Declaration of the nations
fighting fascism. I've just been
reading the unpublished letters
of one of my professors, written
while he served at the San Francisco
Conference which adopted
the UN Charter. On the spot, he
recorded the inspired spirit of
that gathering of 50 nations.
Reading his letters was a
valuable reminder of recent
history. They brought to mind
the statement of a young aviator
who died in the war. He wrote:
"Civilization does not rest on the
6 Historic Webster Summer 1987
enjoyment of its inventions but
solely upon the fervor which goes
into the winning of them." There
was inspration and fervor at San
Francisco.
Since 1945, more than 100
peoples have declared themselves
to be nations and have
claimed their independence. The
message that I bring here today
is that they are still striving to be
free of dependence in its many
forms. In fact, we are all thus
striving, looking for more selfreliance
in what has become an
interdependent world. It is well
to recall that we, the industrialized,
developed, privileged countries
of the North and West gave
the world the flame of independence.
But we also helped to
create the interdependent world
through our inventions - expecially
the electronic ones of the
computer, the satellite and
television.
In fact, of course, the planet
and all the peoples on it have
always been one. We only made
it more so. We created new
forms of dependence by projecting
a particular image of that
oneness - full of ideas of liberty,
yes - but also colored with impossible
picture of affluence and
waste.
We are in a global mess. What
should we do? The answers are
in Webster and in every local
community. The answers are in
America. The answers are
everywhere and they are many
and diverse. That is what my
friends around the world are telling
me. Let me explain.
The image and dream which
America evoked are in our
history. -The Declaration of In-
Freedom
is a Dream
by John E. Fobes
dependence is part of that story.
Our Constitution - 200 years old
this year - has been used as a
model by many. But the true
greatness of America came from
a combination of factors which it
is well to remember on this day
of celebration. Those factors
include:
• The natural resources of a continent
for which we should be
grateful and more respectful;
• The challenge of the frontier of
the 18th and 19th centuries, accepted
in the spirit of that young
aviator- " the fervor which goes
into the winning of inventions";
• The vigor of small communities
based on trust;
• The diversity and richness of
the peoples who came to our
shores; never before nor since
has the world seen a greater
diversity of talents in one nation.
Conscious of these strengths,
what shall we do now? I think
that we need a new frontier. Not
the frontier of more ease and
more products on the shelves of
the supermarkets and the discount
stores. Perhaps our very
un-ease, and that of the whole
world, points to a new I old frontier.
The frontier is the search for
human dignity and human rights
for all on this planet. It demands
that all men and women can
walk upright and free. How can
they do so in an increasingly
crowded world? How can they do
so without basic human needs of
food, water, housing, health,
education? I believe that it is by
working together, by mutual
assistance, by allowing for a
great diversity in this striving
and by helping to build local
self-reliance.
You may have heard the
phrase, "Thinking globally, acting
locally.' This slogan may
have greater meaning than is
generally realized. Thinking
holistically, of all, globally, is
what America has tried to do.
Acting locally is a hallmark of
the American tradition.
Here I must recall the words of
a philosopher-poet-religious
thinker: "Home should be the
center but not the circumference
of the affections." Have we not
America has a great responsiblity as a leader and a servant of
humanity. It would re-dedicate itself on this Fourth of July to the
frontier, the challenge of the 21st century.
ofter seen the outpouring of those
affections toward others by an
America which treasured the importance
of home and wanted to
help others to preserve or re
Historic Webster Vol. 2 No. 2
No full textHistoric Webster is a newsletter of the Webster Historical Society, Inc., created at the Society’s founding in 1974. The publication helped to serve the Society's mission of collecting and preserving the history of Webster, North Carolina. Webster, established in 1851, was the original county seat for Jackson County.IICII!IHIIL IIIli
Dear Webster Historical Society Members:
Beginning now, Jackson County will be alive with
American Revolution Bicentennial activities which are
part of those being planned nationwide to "strengthen
the approaching third century of American
independence." The Bicentennial commemoration will
preserve the past and promote the future through the
action areas of HERITAGE, HORIZONS and
FESTIVALS. Jackson County, Webster, Sylva and
Western Carolina University are eligible to official
designation as Bicentennial communities. This means
that each of these communities will be planning special
projects and programs within the areas of
HERITAGE, HORIZONS and FESTIVALS.
The master plan for the North Carolina American
Revolution Bicentennial celebration is divided into
four phases:
Phase I --Overture, 1972-1976
Phase 11--Year of Declarations, 1976
Phase III --Competition 200, 1976-1989
Phase IV-··Finale, 1989
The Jackson County American Revolution
Bicentennial Celebration will be planned by a steering
committee and a community council composed of
representatives from all organizations in the county.
The committee and council, appointed by the county
commissioners, will be announced soon. The Webster
Historical Society's past efforts have been a
meaningful beginning to J ackson County's celebration
of the Bicentennial and will be a significant part of the
exciting years to come. The Webster J uly 4th
celebration of 1975 will include the county's
designation ceremony and will be the first event in a
series of bicentennial celebrations county-wide.
"BE A PART OF SOMETHING GREAT."
Betty Price, Chairperson,
Jackson County American Revolution
Bicentennial Commission
President, Webster Historical Society
:;:;:::::::::::::;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;::;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:
Webster Cookbook Is Selling Well
Requests for copies of lhe Webster Cookbook are far
exceeding expectations. Thanks go to the many Webster
Historical Society members and cooperative businesses who are
participating in these sales. In truth , the cookbook is selling
itself as fr iends of friends and even strangers catch sight of it.
The publishers, Edw.ards and Broughton of Raleigh , North
Carolina have placed full page advertisements in State
Magazine, the Tar Heel Ba nker. and North Carolina Education.
These have already brought favorable response. WMSJ of
:::: generously adding the cause. Great credit goes lo the local sales ::::
:::: chairman, Joe and Kate Rhinehart of Webster who house the :;::
:::: cookbooks, do the bookkeeping, and sell, deliver, package, and ::::
::;: mail copies on request. ::;:
:::: In addition to the Rhineharts, copies of the Webster Cookbook ::::
:::: may be obtained from any of the following individuals or places ::::
::::of business: Betty Price and Marilyn Jody, Webster; Mildred ::::
·:::: Cowan, Webster; Archie and Ruth Crawford, Webster ; and ::::
::::: Mary Morris, Library WCU, Cullowhee; Mrs. Vernon Stroupe, ::::
::::: Sr., Asheville; Joe Parker and Florence Rhinehart, Bethesda, ::;:
::::: Maryland; Anne-Margaret Cloth Shop, Highlands Road, ::::
::::: Franklin, North Carolina; Cheddar Box Cheese and Gourmet ::::
::::: Shop, Dillsboro, North Carolina, Scotties Discount Store, ::::
::::: Simpson Chevrolet, Continental Beauty Shop, all of Sylva, North ::::
:~1:~:;:~:~~:;::::~::;::~;::~:;:::~;~::;:::~:~:::~;:~::;:~;:::~;::~:;::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::~~~~
WEilSTEH. :\OHTH CAROLINA
First Jackson County
Court Formed In 1853
Asheville Citizen
May 22, 1932
The first court was organized
by Judge John W. Ellis, afterwards
governor of the State, at
the residence of Daniel Bryson,
Sr. on Scott's Creek, Monday,
March 3, 1853.
J. Newton Bryson was appointed
clerk of the court, and Allen
Fisher, c lerk and master in
equity . •
The sureties of these officials
were such men as W. H. Bryson,
John B. Allison, R. V. Welch,
John W. Dav is, Thaddeus D.
Bryson, and E. D. Brendle.
The second Superior Court was
opened Monday, September 19,
1953, at Allen Fisher's store
house, with Judge Dav id F.
Caldwell presiding. (Judge Caldwell
was the grandfather of Fred
C. Fisher, of Swain county, and
Miss Frances Fisher, author of
"The Land of the Sky"). E. D.
Davis was sheriff and J. Newton
Bryson, clerk of the court.
First Jury System
The first grand and petit juries
were composed of such familiar
pioneer names as Keener, Con·
' ley , Queen, Bryson, Brown,
Hooper, Dills , Alley, Allison,
Gibson, Wilson, Smith, Wood ,
Zachary, Hall, Norton, Shelton,
Hedden, Monteith, Sutton, Sherrill
, Henson, Allen, Buchanan,
Farley, Watson , Wike, Enloe,
Owne, Ensley, Ashe, Long, Dillard,
Davis , Parker, Parris,
Painter, Coward, Rogers, Hyatt,
Henderson, Moss , Middleton,
Potts, Parks, Shular, and Gunter.
The first case was placed on
docket for trial in the Superior
Court was State versus Adam
Mathis. The second was John B.
Allison and Woodford Zachary
versus Elisha Holden. The nature
of neither case is stated in the
record.
David Rogers, among the
youngest of these first county
officials, 40 years younger than
some of them was the last to pass
away. He died in the late Twenties
at his home in Cullowhee. At
the age of 94 he was as young and
sprightly in spirit as he was on
that autumnal morning in 1855
when he moved into the new
courthouse at Webster, as the
county's first clerk of the court.
The first State cOurts were six in
number and the judges and
lawyers proceeded from one to
another on horseback. For several
years prior to 1778 there
were no courts in North Carolina
unles they were single magistra·
cies which had jurisdiction of
petty offense and civil actions.
In 1868 these time-honored
though somewhat antiquated
courts were abolished and a
different procedure was adopted
by the state. Jackson county now
has the Superior court, and the
courts of the justices of the peace.
SPRING, 1975
Ottis Self ,
A Distinguished Citizen
By Mildred Cowan
Rubert Ottis Self, eldest child of Dr. William and Octavie Cowan
Self, was a distinguished citizen of Webster, of Jackson County, and
the entire stale of North Carolina. He was born at Franklin, North
Carolina in 1884. His parents returned to live at Webster where Ottis
attended public school. He was later a student at Cullowhee Normal
School, now Western Carolina University, and finished in the class of
1904.
He taught in the public schools of Jackson County in 1005; was
principal of Wakelon High School, Zebulon, North Carolina, in 1906;
and taught at Calvert in Transylvania County in 1907. He was
superintendent of public schools in Jackson County in 1908 and 1909.
During 1910 he was southern representative for the American Book
Company.
In 1911 Mr. Self became Clerk of the North Carolina Senate in
which office he served u,ntil19l9. During this period and until1940, he
held a number of Important positions in civil life and state
governments. He was active in the Kiwanis Club 'the Masonic
Knights of Pythias, and Odd Fellows Orders. Mr. Self's life and
career are further reviewed in a letter written by his daughter, Mrs.
Lura Self Tally, to me, her father's cousin.
Mrs. Tally is presently serving in the North Carolina Legislature
as 20th District Representative from Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Her letter follows:
North Carolina General Assembly
House of Representatives
State Legislative Building
Raleigh, 77611
Lura S. Tally March 18, 1975
20th District
Home Address: 3100 Tallywood Drive, Fayetteville, N. C. 28303
Miss Mildred Cowan
PO Box 116
Webster, North Carolina 28788
Dear Mildred:
Thank you very much for writing to me about my precious father.
shall try to write down a list of information for you.
Continued on Page 3
Historic Webster, Spring 1975, Page 2
Probable Date, the late Eighties
By Eliza beth Keys
Miss Margaret Anne Hunter,
our good neighbor on Caney Fork
Creek, is indeed an extraordinary
lady of 94 years <come May 3) ;
much kin d ness and a lov ing
heart. Also, Miss Mag twinkles
with bright wit in recounti ng
marvelous stories which are fond
a nd wonderful memories to her .
For ma ny, many yea rs, Miss
Mag has been a Special Person to
this writ er , but last week was our
firs t li te r a ry e ncount er in a
formal interview, for the "Webster
Hi s toric a l Soc ie ty News·
letter. "
Miss Mag emanates s trength ,
integrity, and in telligence. Her
delightful sophis ticat ion did not
spring from a ttending the Wo·
mens' College of Greensboro. Her
own nat ura l intellectua l curiosity
has kept her current and cognizant
with day to day events
local a nd world wide. Also, she
was an aware and observing li tt le
girl. Her brown eyes da nced as
she said that she and her younger
brother . Ra lph. were not greatly
im pressed with Sylva upon their
a r r iva l from Texas. 80 plus yea rs
ago. Texas. even in those days.
was known as " Big Country". so
the Smoky Mounta in hollows may
The hot el. a t this time. was the home and to right a re the servants Major Wells and Aunt have seemed cramped at first
business of Felix and Annie Ca rt er Leatherwood. Zelia Wells. The next three men are unknown . arrival. " The old g ray ho rse
The latticed banni ste rs and supp.crt-!!'!g cc!~mns.-cf-- Sca-:iX! neao. tli·c--c-o-:umu ·~ .1r-s-:-f' :·i :.: ::.ea ih-er --h~:ch cd :an pas: :ocn; by. n;od r;-o:
the porches were typical. at that time. of a number wood. with daughter Ethel and Ellen on each s ide . many houses in Sy lva then---!"
of houses in the Webster area. Standing as a group are her three older daughters. sti ll last in ~e r me.mo r~.
This picture was published in an early edition of May. Lee. and Belle. Leaning aga inst a column is The beauuful white . f1 ve ga ~l e
llis to1·ic \\'c bs tt·,·. but we th ought it wor th daught er Annie.Seatedwithpropped up fee tis Dr. Hunter H ~ m es t ea d,. where M1ss
1·epubli s hing beca use of the information furn ished Will Tompkins. The ot her people on the porch Mag has lived dunng her years
about the occupants of the porches b~· Mrs. Vernon cannot be identified. here. sta rted as a one room
Strou pe, Sr. , grandd a ughter of the F . H. In close proximity. about twenty fee t away, and cabin. bu ilt before her Daddy
Leatherwood's. Mrs. St roupe says. from what her back of the picket fence on the r ight ca n be seen a went West. That one-hundred-mother
Mrs . Lee Potts told her. most of the people portion of the Coward Hotel. home of Nathan year old cabin , pegged door and
can be identifi ed. Coward and hi s family . Both hotels were a ll. is st ill intact to see as pa rt of
To the left on the ups ta irs porch are Mr. and destroyed in the 19 10 disastrous fire which the Big House w ~ ich was .later
Mrs. Schreiber. On horseback. ha lf hidden by the originated in the Mount a in View. added by the builder , En cson
fence. is Joe Sher rill. On the lower porch from left Lovedahl from Sweden . Some of
:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:::::::;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::=:::::=::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::=::::::::;:;:;:
Robert lee Madison
Education in Western
North Carolina,
Nineteenth Century
By .Joe Parker Rhin eha rt
Educa tion 101 A
December t2. 1 !)5~
At Sylva, a Mr. Page from
Ma ine ta ught the first part of the
t887-1888 year and Mr. Madison
took over at the mid-term . A
sudden and serious illness prevented
hs fini s hi ng the year.
After a recovery trip to Alabama
a nd Tennessee, he returned to
SUi f
Editors :
Mrs. Louise Davis
Ms. Alice Harrill
Dr. Marilyn Jody
Circulation
Mana ger :
Mrs. J ennie Lou Hunter
Typists:
Mrs. Sar ah Barrell
Mrs. Jennie Lou Hunter
Contr ibutors:
Mrs. Elizabeth Keys
Mr. Claude Cowan
Dr . Richard W. Jobst
Miss Mildred Cowan
Mrs. Vernon Stroupe , Sr.
Ms. Belly Price
Sylva in time to teach the
t888-t889 term.
The public money of the distr ict
had been spent on patent desks,
(the first in Jackson county), so
the school operated as a subscri
ption school.
Here Professor Madison had
forty pupils, ages 6 to 23, in
classes ranging from ABC's to
F'rench.
The grading system was different
from present day methods.
A one merit card was issued to
each student for being present, on
time, good behavior, good lessons,
and abstention from dis·
turbing others. Five one-merit
cards were exchanged for a
five-merit card ; five five-merit
cards were swapped for a twenty
five-merit card; a nd four twenty
five-marit cards were traded for
a hundred merit certifica te. A
student could acquire a hundr edmer
it cer tificate every month if
his record was excellent every
day of the four school weeks.
After Mr. Madison assumed
duties as editorr of the Tucka·
seigee D emocrat~. in January 9,
1889, he divided his day between
classroom and newspaper duties .
All nights except Friday were
spent in school work . Friday
nights were given to the literary
society at the public hall.
Al the beginning of the fa ll of
1888, Madison had subscribed to
several leading educational jour·
nals. including Sc hool Journa l
and the Teac her's Inst it ute. and
had several leading educa tor 's
writings. Before the fa ll term was
over he had organized a group of
practice teachers. " As fa r as I
know th is was the first attempt
ever made to practice teaching in
this county." It was on a sma ll
scale and participa tion was voluntary
.
Madison stayed at Sylva, but
with an intention of starting a
public school. Here he became
impressed with the needs of a
perm a ne nt in s t it ution for this
mountainous section. The inst i tu~
tion would not only give the young
people better pre pa r at ion or
foundation for their future voca·
tions , but would a nswer the acute
need for preparing teachers for
the county and village schools.
"Fortunately fo r me and for
the educationa l future of th is
region , the genera l assem bl y of
t889 had abo lished the then
existing eight normal schools and
had provided in their stead the
money previously set apar t for
them should be expended for
teacher's ins titutes to be held
annua lly for the duration of a
week or more in each county in
the state.
The teacher 's insti tute lead to
the turning point in Professor
Madison's li fe.
the sta tely trees. as well as the
immense silo, were vict ims of
high wi nds in the past. There is
litt le need now for the ca ttle
fee ding s tation as Miss Mag no
longer continues Ra lph Hunter 's
registered Hereford herds since
his demise two yea rs ago. Ra lph
Hunter was the greatest a uthori
ty on Hereford cattl e and blood
lines in th is region. His da ta and
papers would be a prime acquisition
for the Western Carolina
University Archi ves.
Miss Mag knows so ma ny
things; such as, it is a fact tha t
Caney Fork Creek was so named
because the Master-Cra ftsman
Basket Weavers of the Cherokee
preferred the Caney r vi'k canes
above a ll others for their art
work. The superio rity of these
canes lies in the clim ate of the
Ca ney Fork Valley which is a
therma l pocket tha t protects the
canes from becoming brittle with
heavy freezes. Th us the ca nes
respond in flex ibili ty in working
into the exquis ite des igns and
techniques of basketry of the
Cherokee.
Miss Mag's Daddy, Mr . J ohn
Hunter , was the fi r st Caney Fork
resident to pay for posta l delivery
to his home. Then, the mai l came
by way of the new ra ilroad to
Sylva , was waggoned to Cull owhee
and East LaPorte , and
forwa rded by horseback up Caney
Fork, John 's Creek, and the
Rich Mounta in Section.
Earlier , John Hunte r had removed
to Texas a fter four year s '
active duty with the Confederate
Army . With his young wife ,
Minerva Brown Hunter , he esta·
blished his home is Sage, Texas,
where their three children were
born. The cat tle bus iness prospered
and all was well until Miss
Minerva came down with " Deser
t Feve r ". So, her hu s ba nd
brought her home, with their
little ones, to the beautiful Blue
Ridge to recover. For Minerva , it
was too late , but her three
children flouri shed - . the two
daughters pa ssed 90 years each,
a nd the son, Ra lph, atta ined 86.
Miss Mag reca lls her Grandmother
Brown's food preserving
from those ea r ly years. Little
gray, glazed ceramic jars were
the con ta iners. Hot cooked food
was poured into the hot. scalded
jars . and sea led with tissue pa per
soa ked in hot bees wax . This was
snugged down ta ut ov er the
mouth of the ja r with a str ing
winding a round the wa xed paper
overha nd at the top of each jar .
Sounds delicious. doesn't it ?
Miss Mag has greeted me so
oft en a t he r ever- hos pit ab le
home. I ca nnot count the times. It
is mostly the summer season
though. when I ride horseback up
that \Vav a nd vis it with my
wonderflil fri end. But. never unt il
our recent int erview. had Miss
I\ lag shown me the anc ient. hand
appliqued quilt. a fam ily heirloom.
It so im pressed me tha t I
inq uired about it at the Tryon
Pa lace Sympos ium which I re-
•ti a-ii cnded i11 '~c ' Be .
Nor tli Ca rolina . The discussions
of the Sympos ium we re con cerned
with Eighteenth Cent ury
deco r a ti ve Art s in the Early
Ame ri can Homes . T he Celebrated
a utho rity on Eight eenth
and Nineteenth Century Text iles.
Miss Mil dred B. Lan.icr of the
\Vill iamsburg Hcst orat ion Staff.
gave marvelous lec tures on Textiles
in the Southern Homes in the
sevent eenth and eighteen th centuries.
As I descr ibed as fully as
possi ble 1\liss Mag's qui lt. Miss
La nier and the class were very
much interested . Miss La nier .
without hav ing seen it. could give
only an educat ed guess rega rding
the. qui lt. However. it seems to be
one of the priceless sur vivors of
the age when glazed cott on chintz
was sti ll being imported from
Engla nd . The Rose Madder. and
brown India P rints were pre-cut
for quilting and a lso expor ted to
Ame ri ca f rom England. Miss
Mag's quil t is enha nced in value
on account of the hand woven
linen back ing. the " Mint Condition"
(a ter m meaning extremely
va luable J and " Made in Amer ica"
. A conservat ive guess would
place the quilt as t20 to t30 yea rs
old. Perhaps Webster Histo rica l
Society can help us to further
identify this ma rvelous treasure.
a nd oth ers which a re tucked
away in brides ' chests from long
ago. We need photographs in
detai l to submit for appraisa l.
We are certa in ly indebted to
MisS Mag for the interview---.
maybe there will be more.
Hlsloric Webster, Spring 1975, P age 3
The North Carolina Senate Is Pictured In Session in 1917. The inset is Robert OHis Self.
The Felix H. Leatherwood Family at Webster, North Carolina
September, 1891
Left to right and standing: Mrs. F. H.
Leatherwood, who before her ma rriage was Annie
Lavenia Cartsr ; da ughter Laura Belle, (Mrs.
Marcellus Buchana n, Sr. ), daughter F lorence
May (Mr s . J . E. Divelbiss, Sr .), daughter Lillian
Lee <Mrs. R. P . Potts. Sr. ), seated : daughter
Ellen Elvira (Mrs. G. C. Picklesimer), daughter
Ethel La vinia <Mrs . Coleman Cowan ), daughter
Anna Carter <Mrs . M. Donaldson Cowan ). In
front : only son, Roy F . Leatherwood.
Absent from the picture is the husband and
father, Felix Ha rrison Leatherwood, who was a
tra veling salesman for Sanford, Chambers, and
Alber s, drug wholesalers of Knoxville, Tennessee.
This family group picture, evidently made by a
traveling photographer (quite common in that
era) was taken just below the Mountain View
Hotel, home of Felix and Annie Carter Leatherwood.
In the background and enclosed with a fence
is the rose garden of Mrs. Leatherwood. On the
opposite side of the street is the home of Dr. W. C.
Tompkins, and above it is the Spake house, later
occupied by Garey and Ellen Picklesimer. and
still later by the Andy Allisons.
Picture and information furnished by Mrs.
Vernon Stroup, Sr. of Asheville, North Carolina.
Mrs. Stroup is a granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. F.
H. Leatherwood.
Ottis Self, cont.
-Continued irom page I
As you probably know, after his father died, my father taught in
the one-room school house there in Webster. - He received his
education from Western Carolina, during which lime he often ta ught
since a school master was needed; and he, evidently. was a most
alert and intelligent young man.
He later worked with the Wachovia Bank in Wilmington, often
commuting on weekends back to his beloved mountains and to his
widowed mother. A little later, he served with Wachovia Bank in
Statesville, North Carolina where he mel my mother , Sarah Cowles,
who was the local teacher of music. They were ma rried on the
Cowles family farm in the summer of 1918. During this lime, my
father was also serving in the Nor th Carolina Stale Senate as chief
clerk.(! have his gold cane). I am now having a picture copied which
included him in the legislative body of 1917. He was chairman for the
entire Stale for the sale of Liberty Bonds from 1917 through the end of
the war. Aboull920, he and my mother came to Raleigh. He, to begin
his career with the old North Carolina Corpora tion Commission
Oa ter, the North C~"oli na Utili ties Commission) with which he
stayed 30 years.
He and my mother had five children, of which four a re living. My
older brother, Bobby, died in infa ncy. My s ister s a r e Eleanor Self
McCall (Mrs. J. A. McCall) of Stone Mountain, Geor gi a and Mrs.
Nancy Self Stanley (Mrs. Lester Stanley) of Smithfi eld , North
Carolina, my brother is Capt. USN William Cowles Self, of Panama
Canal Zone and, of course, me, Lura Self Ta lly, from Fayetteville,
North Carolina. There are 14 grandchildren a
Sentimental and humourous essays, [electronic resource] : conducive to economy and happiness. Drawn from common sayings and subjects, which are full of Common Sense, the best Sense in the World. By Noah Webster, Author of the Effects of slavery, &c.
No full textSkeel, Emily E. F. 'A bibliography of the writings of Noah Webster', New York, 1958,Electronic reproduction.English Short Title Catalog,Reproduction of original from Bodleian Library (Oxford)
Historic Webster Vol. 6 No. 3
No full textHistoric Webster is a newsletter of the Webster Historical Society, Inc., created at the Society’s founding in 1974. The publication helped to serve the Society's mission of collecting and preserving the history of Webster, North Carolina. Webster, established in 1851, was the original county seat for Jackson County.~HISTORIC~
WEBSTB:R newsletter of the Webster Historica l Society, Inc.
VOLUME VI, NUMBER 3 WEBSTER, NORTH CAROLINA SUMMER, 1979
On the
Scene
with
Lawrence C.
Frizzell
"Preachers"
We had " Preachers" not Ministers,
in those days, and their
lot was a ra ther hard one. Their
pay , if you could call it that, was
pract ically nil, and the collections
at the services amounted
to very little, most of which had
to be forwarded to the higher
echelons of the church. The
members of the congregations·
helped out with food, clothing ,
and anything else that was seriously
needed. Thinking of their
plight in these enlightened
times makes me shudder. but at
that they weren't much worse
off than the rest of us.
It is interes ting to recall some
of these preachers at the Webster
Methodist Church. One was
named Cordell (my middle
name came from hirri ), but he
was before my time. Then we
had one named Richards, or
Pritchard, or something like
that, who rode a high spirited
gray horse. He frequently rode
to our house to spend the night
with us. I admired him very
much because he had the cou·
rage to ride a horse that always
seemed about to toss him over
his head. Then there was Mr.
John Peeler, who, like nearly
everybody else, chewed tobac·
co. His favorite was "Brown 's
Mule" , which he pronounced
"Brown's Mu·el". His wife was
on of the most cultured persons
in the area , who liked to quote
poetry and other famous sayings
. Mr. Clyde, a graduate of
Furman University, liked to
organize the boys of his congre·
galion, and hold prayer meet·
ings with them in the barn back
of the parsonage. Why he held
them there instead of the
church escapes me. He prea·
ched some very eloquent ser·
mons, and combined some of
them with acrobatics. On one
occasion, to emphasize a point,
he leaped to the top of the railing
around the pulpit and balan·
ced himself there briefl y. On
another occasion his sermon
was based on a text about the
care of th flock, or congre·
galion, and the refrain through·
out the sermon was "Fee my
Sheep". His two daughters,
Mabel and Helen, come vividly
to my mind to this day. They
and Stella Broyles, Edith
Moore, Florence Rhinehart,
Jessie Stillwell , Lucy and Myr·
tie Hedden, Lena Cowan, and
Gertrude and Ina Brown for med
a very interesting group
at the school.
ColorH"I F r izzdl 's ~..:o lumn now
is a re_gular l·ea ture in I-llS·
TORIC WEBSTER and in the
next issue he will write about
"Preachers.··
Gertrude Dills McKee
N.C.'s first woman senator
This oil portrait of the late Mrs. Gertrude Dills
McKee was placed in the North Carolina headquarters
of the General Women's Clubs in Raleigh as
a memorial to Mrs. McKee. Mrs. McKee served the
state in many ways-social, political and religious.
By Joe P. Rhinehart
Part one in a series or 3
"As the mo.untains stand graceful and sturdy in the clear mountain
air of autumn, so stood Gertrude Dills McKee," began an
Asheville Citizen editorial on the death of Mrs. McKee.
"Her charm was a compound of womanly gentleness, warmth of
spirit and unselfish interest in the welfare of friends and ru:quaintances.
Her smile won over the shy person and fairly infected all
those who came in contact with her. Her loyalty was firm and
unswerving, whether to friend or to principal which she considered
worthy.
"These attributes and a keen informed sense of social responsibility
were heavily invested in the progress of North Carolina.
Mrs. McKee received many honors. But they were more than earned.
"She was the first woman to sit in the Senate of North Carolina
and would have served a fourth term in that body had she lived.
Education and so.cial legislation were her particular. fields of interest.
Laws .which she sponsored or supported became model
statutes-which is a fair test of legislative ability .and accomplishment.
In the best .sense of the phrase, Mrs. McKee was a
typical 'woman in politics .'
"To club work she gave generously of her time and abilities. Her
efforts helped to put and keep the General Federation of Women's
Clubs in the forefront of North Carolina's progress. She was no less
devoted to the forwarding of public education-in the schools of
North Carolina, as a member of the State Board of Education ; in
the Greater Univ_ersity, as a member of the Commission on Consolidation;
in the colleges of North Carolina as a trustee of three in·
stitutions, and especially as a long friend and patron of Western
Carolina College (University). There at Cullowhee a building was
named in her honor, and several years ago the Women's College of
the University of North Carolina Cnow UNC at Greensboro) confer red
upon her an honorary doctor of laws degree.
"But as much as Mrs .. McKee was devoted to the people of her
region and state, her grace and charm found full expression in the
home as wife and mother. She was a winning hostess. Young people
were attracted to her and found her keenly alive to their interests.
She had a capacious sense of humor and the humanness. which goes
with it. She was unfailingly generous, and always without obstentation.
"The stamp of the mountains was upon Gertrude Dills McKee.
And the region which she loved happily is left with a deep impress
of her loyalty, kindliness, and good works."
continued on Page 4
Early Webster was a busy place
By JOHN Pi\KKIS
July 4- Gleanings from the
horse-and-buggy era , or who
remembers back when this
hi ll·top vi llage was called Webster-
On-The-Bridge?
For a stroll down memory
lane, come along and browse
through the musty, dusty files of
The Tuckaseigee Democrat.
ITEM: Folks got mighty ex·
cite<:t around here in July of
1879.
Frank Carter had struck it
rich and Webster was destined
to mushroom into an oil town.
Workmen bormg a water-well
at the Carter residence struck
oil at a depth of 65 feet.
"For a couple days," wrote
Editor Tompkins, "the exhala tions
were as pronounced as
ever issued from any oil can.
During the same time a bubbling
noise as of escaping gas
could be distinctly heard.
.Water drawn up had oil floating
on its surface ... But as the hole
deepened the noise ceased and
evidences of oil disappeared."
ITEM: There was no stopping
a girl of 13 from getting married
back '89, particularly if her
father happened to be the
county register of deeds.
" Quite a romantic affair occured
at Webster last Tuesday
night," wrote Tompkins.
"There was a festival at the
Methodist Church, and a pretty
miss of 13 and her lover were
present.
"The festivit ies broke up
about midnight, and the young
couple left for home, as was
supposed , in a buggy. But
instead of going home they went
to Sylva, where they were
married.
"The young lady is a daughter
of the Register of Deeds of
J ackson County, and had previously
gone into her father's
office and filled out a marriage
license, which was used at the
marriage ceremony. ' '
Tompkins reported that this
"genuine runaway marriage is
the latest sensation in Web-continued
on Page 4 Mrs. Emma Long Coward
Page 2, HISTORIC WEBSTER, Summer, 1979
Pages from a Webster scrapbook PhotographsfromlsabeiAI
itil'>:;i ' ~·If~ ~~.J-h,..,... c,,."' .._.,. ,'~ ....,..K~ C.,.,o-~_,
~·~~~t..~tj ,AYM<ofl.,..e.) w~.;~_, .. '"""'" <V,\..~
'0~ -A ,l"\.~ ;fo'O ..........
I
lison q:arlton, Annie Louise Madison Reed, and Kate Rhinehart
C "-""\ ftillwcJJ ~':J ~""...:'~ ~.~'f"~
if~"
HISTORIC WEBSTER, Summer, 1979, Page 3
;:....._). ~~1lo"e. _,""'Ff.,.ef
~.,.,J.A...1,"~"'e._.~"-1
~0~
Page 4, HISTORIC WEBSTER, SUMMER 1979
Mc:Kee was early leader
continued rrom P~ ge t
Gertrude Dills was born in
1886 in the little mountain
village of Dillsboro in Jackson
County. She was the daughter of
William Dills, legislator from
Jackson in 1889 and founder of
the town of Dillsboro. Her
mother was Alice Enloe Dills.
Mr. Dills was a business man of
unusual ability. Having three
daughters and no sons, there
seemed little likelihood that
there would be a successor to
his service. In his day there was
little or nothing known of the
possibilities of women's talents.
It would have warmed his heart
and the heart of every pioneer
worker for the women's movement
to have s.een the enthusiam
with which. his second
daughter was elected the first
woman state senator in North
Carolina.
At Peace College in Raleigh
Miss Gertrude Dills was president
nf her class and sorority.
In the class of 1905 she was graduated
with highest honors.
From her graduation until
her marriage to Ernest Lyndon
A worker
in the women's
movement
McKee, a pioneer industrialist
in Jackson County, on August
19, 1913, Miss Dills taught
school.
Mrs. McKee began her first
organization work during World
War I, when she began to attract
statewide attention for the
effective work she did for the
Salvation Army, Liberty Loans,
and savings stamp drives.
Mrs. McKee's first state office
came in .May of 1925 when
she was elected president of
North Carolina Federation of
Women's Clubs. She campaigned
for a survey of women in industry.
Although the survey
was never made, she did pursuade
Governor A. W. McLean
to order it, after he had decided
against it. However, it was finally
called off when a controyersy
_ arose over who should
conduct the investigation.
The women of North Carolina
were_ well represented when
they chose Mrs. McKee as their
leader. No matter where she
went she was fighting for the
rights of her fellow women.
At a convention in Asheville,
she told the Carolina women
that the ballot was the strongest
weapon of their sex. It was time
for them to start going to conventions
and primaries .and in
this way began to discharge
their responsibilities as citizens.
Mrs. McKee said that she saw
ation. At Charleston she was
chosen president by unanimous
vote.
Mrs. Eugene Davis of Wilson,
North Carolina, said, " If North
Carolina Club women could
have seen Mrs. McKee and
heard her address at the closing
session when she was presented
in her new role, they would have
thrilled with pride as the two
North Carolina representatives
did."
On her last day in Charleston
she reviewed the troops at Fort
Moultrie. " I know one thmg, 1
was thrilled," said Mrs. Mc.Kee,
who served as state and council
president at the same time.
In October of 1928 the North
Carolina division of the United
Daughter's of the Confederacy
<UDC) called her to duty as president.
At a meeting of this organization
in Asheville, Mrs. McKee
said, "We are filled with thankfulness
that we have lived to see
the day when the. South is the
best and safest place in which to
live." She predicted. that the
New South would eclipse all
other sections of the nation
since the foundation had been
laid by men of such sterling
quality.
Continued Fall. 1979
"The Merry Widow"waltz
A Webster Favorite:
continued from Page 1
ster," and elsewhere reported
the ceremony and named the
groom as Oscar B. Coward of
Sylva and the bride as Miss
Emma Long.
ITEM : Editor Tompkins believed
in using the pages of his
newspaper as a medium for
special ' 'bread-and-butter ''
courtesies.
To illustrate: "Mrs. Editress
Tompkins tenders Mrs. Capt.
Leatherwood her thanks for a
nice roll of Golden Drop butter,
the product of her Jersey cow. It
was nice. "
ITEM : By 1903 the young
folks had gone wild over Johann
Strauss' "The Merry Widow
Waltz. " It was all the rage. So
much so that Editor Tompkins
turned poet and aired his feelings.
It's The Merry Widow this
And The Merry Widow that;
It's The Merry Widow kiss,
And The Merry Widow hat.
" It's The Merry Widow craze,
And The Merry Widow dance;
It's The Merry Widow plays,
And The Merry Widow glance.
" It's The Merry Widow dinner,
And The Merry Widow waltz;
It's The Merry Widow sinner,
With The Merry Widow fau lts.
" It's a merry Widow wife,
And a Merry Widow brat;
I've a Merry widow knife,
And a Merry Widow cat.
''And if I die tomorrow,
Why let them play real loud,
The Merry Widow waltz song
For The Merry Widow crowd."
ITEM: J ust around the corner
a sorry fate , was waiting for
Webster. Folks over in Sylva
and down at Dillsboro were
getting ready to gang up and
move the county seat.
But in 1907, Webster was
going its merry way and mighty
proud of its progress.
to Miss Mamie Moore, later
Mrs. Eugene Bearden of Asheville,
for her portrayal of Marion
Warrington, writing that she
"shined out in all the grace and
loveliness of a daughter of the
Old Time South."
"Perhaps one of the best hits
of the even in~. " he said "was
'The Homespun Dress' sung by
Mrs. Holmes Bryson (later of
Asheville) "
ITEM: In '84, Editor Tompkins
announced to his readers
that he had a cow worth 1,000 for his horse," the editor
explained. "Felix Leatherwood
here in Webster has a yoke of
oxen which he wouln't begin to
give for Kope's horse.
"Cole Hall (grandfather of
former Congressman David M
Hall) won't give his dog, Car:
low , for Felix's oxen. Dr. Jim
Candler (grandfather of Dr.
Charles Candler of Asheville)
won't swap dogs with Cole, and
Y?Ur correspondent won't give
h1s red cow for the doctor's dog.
Ergo, the cow is worth greatly
over 7.00, and the
price of dry cleaning, I bought an $85.00 wedding dress. Somehow,
Miss Nan learned of my purchase and she apparently viewed the
situation differently. I later was told that while I walked proudly
down the aisle wearing what I felt to be a very practical,
economical, and beautiful dress, Miss Nan was sitting in the
audience in horror of the whole thing, feeling sorry for me and
lamenting over " what a shame it was that I was getting married in
a 'bargain dress'." Such was the closeness of our one big Webster
fami ly! Continued Next Issue
. , , . ~HISTORIC~
;~~r/' WEBSTEi newsletter ol lheWebsler Historical Society. Inc.
Summer. 1979 Webster, North Carolina 28788
Editor Joe P. Rhinehart
Contributors: Janice Monteith Blanton. Lawrence C. Frizzell.
John Parris, Annie Louise Madison Reed, Isabel Allison
Carlton, Kate Rhinehart, Jenny Hunter
P ~bli shed quarterly by the Webster Historical Society and
prmted by the Herald Publishing Company, Sylva, North
Ca rolina.
Women must be
interested in
politics
" Webster is still in the lead,"
Tompkins wrote. "One of her
progressive citizens, 0. B. Coward,
has put down the first piece
of paved sidewalk ever seen in
Jackson County. He has fin ished
up about 40 feet in front of
his store. "
Webster, North Carolina 28788
no reason for WDmen shying at
politics or politicians. " In these
days the woman who is not interested
in politics is neither an
intelligent_ or patriotic citizen.''
Mrs. McKee was chosen at
the biannual convention of the
Southeastern Co..uncil of
Women's Clubs which met in
Charleston, South Carolina in
1926, as the new president. The
chairmanship of the Council
was second only to the presidency
of the General Feder-
But now 50 years later there's
not a foot of paved sidewalk in
the town that died and only now
is coming back.
ITEM: Folks packed the auditorium
one night in 1908 to see
a cast of local talent present
"Under The Southern Cross", a
moonlight-and-roses epic of the
Civil War.
Editor-turned-drama critic
Tompkins tossed a big bouque
Historic Webster Vol. 4 No. 1
No full textHistoric Webster is a newsletter of the Webster Historical Society, Inc., created at the Society’s founding in 1974. The publication helped to serve the Society's mission of collecting and preserving the history of Webster, North Carolina. Webster, established in 1851, was the original county seat for Jackson County.WEBSTER, NORTH CAROLINA WINTER. 1977
Williant Holland Thontas
William Holland Thomas was a
man of many talents whose
interests lay in several areas. He
served as a storekeeper, eventu·
ally owning several stores
throughout Western North Carolina
. He became agent for the
North Carolina remnant of the
Cherokee Nation whose cause he
championed for over a generation
. He was elected, at the age of
43, to the North Carolina Stale
Senate where he championed the
building of roads and railroads
through the Southern Appalachian
Mountains. He was a very
sophi s ticated man who read
widely in the classics and associated
on intimate terms with
many of the prominent men and
women of his day ; yet he could
hold his own in a mountain
" horse trade" and enjoyed nightlong
parleys in the council houses
of the Cherokees. Although he did
not have the wit and style of Zeb
Vance, the dramatic flair of John
Sevier and Andrew Jackson, or
the vast legal knowledge of Marc
us Erwin and Augustus S.
Merriman , Thomas contributed
more to the development cf
Western North Carolina than any
of them . Yet. fe\v monuments
ex ist to this man and , up to this
time. no books have been written
about him , except for an occas
ional chapter in several histories
of the region. It is true there is
a modest stone monument on
Sulphur Springs Road in Waynesville
to mark the spot where
he surrendered the remnants of
his Legion to Federal troops at
the end of the Civil War; it is
equally true that the massive
ridge known as Thomas Divide,
named in his honor , stretches for
some ten miles south of the main
range of the Great Smokies, But
beyond these. his tombstone ,
marked by a bronze plaque, in
Green Hill Cemetery in Waynesville,
and North Carolina Stale
historica l highway marker near
the site of his home, Stekoih
Fields near Whittier in Jackson
Coun ty. there is no monume nt to
indicate his extensive contributions
to the development of North
Carolina's "Mountain Empire."
This is a pity, for Thomas, like
Zeb Vance , was a "man to match
our mountains ."
Thomas was born on February
5, 1805 at the Forks of Pigeon,
near the modern hamlet of Bethel
in Haywood County. His father,
Richard , who had come to North
Carolina from Virginia in 1803,
drown·ed shortly before Thomas'
birth , but he was raised and
educated by his mother, Temperance
Calvert Thomas. He was
distan.lly related to the Cal verts ,
Lords Proprietors of Maryland,
through his mother, and to President
Zachary Taylor through his
father . As a youth of sixteen
Thomas was employed as a clerk
in the store of Felix Walker, Jr .,
son of Congressman Felix Walker.
Jr .. at Quallatown on Shoal
A Man To Remember
Creek ncar the modern town of
Cherokee. Here Thomas traded
farming implements , tobacco.
and other items for deerskins and
gi nseng. even then a popular
medic ine in the Orient. His small
s ize and. some say. his loneliness.
att racted the attent ion of the
principal chief of the Middle
Towns Cherokees. Yonaguska or
Drowning Bear who is reputed to
ha\'C adopted him as a son. When
Yonaguska died in 1839 Thomas
succeeded him as chief.
After the Great Removal of
1838, Thomas spent much time in
Washington in a successful effort
to secure permission for those
Indi a ns who had evaded the
United States Army to remain in
Western North Carolina. In 1848
he won election as a Democrat to
the North Carolina State Senate,
remaining in that body until !862.
While in the State Senate, Thomas
served as chairman of the
important Committee on Internal
Improvements. In 1851 Thomas
helped to create Jackson County
from portions of Haywood and
Macon Count ies. In 1861 he was
elected a member of the North
Carolina Constitutional Convention
which . as its first order of
business. passed an ordinance of
secession on May 20 of that year.
In the spring of 1862 Thomas
resigned his positions in the State
Senate and the Constitutional
Convention to return to the
mountains where he raised a
"Legion" of infantry, artillery,
and cavalry for service in the
Confedera te Army. He remained
with this unit defending the
mountain passes from East Tennessee
into Western North Carolina
for the remainder of the war,
and did not surrender until May
6. 1865. the last unit east of the
Mississippi to capitulate.
After the war Thomas' health
became impaired . By the mid-
1870S he had retired from the
active administration of his affairs
. He died at the Morganton
home of his daughter and son-inlaw,
Justice and Mrs. Alphonso
Calhoun A very, on May 10, 1893,
at the advanced age of 88 years,
leaving, besides Mrs. Avery, two
sons, William Holland, Jr . and
James Robert. His wife, Sara J.
B. Love Thomas, whom he married
June 30. 1857. had died May
15, 1877.
These are the basic facts of
Thomas' life. It is certainly not
our purpose here to present his
complete biography, but to sim ply
illustrate the fundamental
aspects of his career before 1860
in an effort to learn more about
his techniques and his character.
The most important area of
Thomas' activities was his work
for the Cherokee Indians.
Much of the early history of the
United States is a sordid record of
how we mistreated the Indian
tribes we found here. Probably no
Indian tribe in America suffered
more at the hands of the whites
than did the Cherokees. From the
time of their defeat at the hands
of the British Army during the
Cherokee-South Carolina War of
1758-1761 until the signing of the
Treaty of New Echola on December
29, 1835 their history was
fi lled with one broken treaty after
another. By the terms of the
Treaty of New Echola the Cherokees
ceded a ll of their remaining
lands east of the Mississippi to
the United States in return for
S5,000,000 and the right to occupy
semi-arid lands in the Indian
Territory near those already occupied
by the Western Band of
Cherokees, even then called the
"Old Settlers."
In spite of strong protests by
John Ross, chief of the Cherokees
in Georgia , and other leaders, the
Indians were removed by United
States troops , assisted by Georgia.
Tennessee, and North Carolina
State militia , in the spring
and summer of 1838. The commander
of these troops was General
Winfield Scott, later famous
for his campaign against Mexico
City during the Mexican War.
Most of the Cherokees submitted
peacefully. and were sent to the
West either by steamboat down
the Tennessee River or along the
infamous "Trail of Tears." but
some of the North Carolina
Cherokees fled into the rugged
Nantahala. Balsam. and Great
Smoky Mountains. Among these
was a small group led by an aged
man named Tsali. This party had
killed two soldiers and wounded a
third who were mistreating Tsali's
wife. They fled to a cave in the
laurel thickets near the summit
of Clingman's Dome. General
Scott decided it would be impracticable
to capture the escaped
Indians before the winter of !838-
1839 set in . Moreover , his best
regiment. the Fourth United
States Infantry, was badly
needed on the frontier . Therefore.
he sent Thomas to urge
Tsali and his friends to surrender.
In a letter to an associate ,
Matthew Russel , Thomas de scribed
the incident;
Gen. Scott employed me to
assist in taking the Indians
who committed the late murders.
four <s ic) of the murderers
were taken and delivered
over. three of whom have
since been shot by the nantihala
Indians. The remaining
one Charley <Tsali )
was brought in yesterday by
some of the Indians lying out
on Nantihala by them tried
and shot near the big Bears
reserve on Tuckasega.
Thomas had been assisted in the
capture by some of the Occonaluftee
In dians who lived near
Quallatown, led by Euchella and
the Flying Squirrel. Indeed, Tsali
was executed by Euchella and
a nother Qua llatown Cherokee,
Wa-chu-cha , at noon on November
25, 1838. Thomas' ro le in the
affair was highly praised by
Colonel William S. Foster, commander
of the Fourth Infantry, in
a report to General Scott ;
I should do my feelings great
injustice were I to omit to represent
to you and through
you- to the Government , Mr.
Wm. If. Thomas, in the most
favourable light, & as an Individual
, deserving the confidence
& patronage of the
country, both for himself &
the Oco-nee-lufly Indians over
whom he appears to exercise,
unbounded influence, for good
purposes.
After the Great Removal, Thomas
went to Washington under a
power of attorney as the agent of
those Cherokees who remained in
North Carolina. His mission was
to secure the money due them
under the term~ of the Treaty of
New Echota and , ultimately, to
obtain permission for them to
remain in Western North Carolina.
His motives for this activity
were purely humanitarian . According
to his son, James, Thomas
had "an almost romantic
fondness for the Cherokee
Tribe.·· which ·'caused him to
devote many of the best years of
his life to their advancement
morally and materially ." Thomas
negotiated for years with
such prominent figures as T.
Hartley Crawford, Commissioner
of the Bureau of Indian Affairs;
Joel R. Poinsett, Secretary of
War, President Martin Van Buren,
Senator Willie P . Mangum of
North Carolina, and President
James Knox Polk. His efforts,
seemingly hopeless at times,
were ultimately successful when
treaties, signed at Washington in
August, 1846 and July , 1848,
permitted the Eastern Band of
Cherokees to remain in Western
North Carolina and allowed them
to participate fully in the claims
payments granted by the Treaty
of New Echola .
Thomas' efforts on behalf of the
Cherokees were equalled, if not
surpassed, by his enthusiasm for .
any internal improvements project
which might benefit Western
North Carolina. As a youth. wh1le
clerking in Quallatown, Thomas
saw the importance of transportation
and communication to
frontier settlements and businesses.
The very existence of frontier
life depended upon the mobility
of transport a llowed by its
transportation system. It was not
until he was elected to the State
Senate in 1848 that Thomas was
able to effectively influence the
development of internal improvements
in Western North Carolina,
but he noted the need long before
this. Due to the influence of
geography, isolation. the flow of
the rivers. and the existence of
only a few poor roads. most of the
trade from Western North Carolina
, before the coming of the
railroad, flowed through South
Carolina . Tennessee. Georgia.
and Virginia rather than through
the Piedmont to Eastern North
("ontinu£>d On l'agl' :~
William Holland Thomas. (From photograph of 1858 kindly loaned
by Capt. James W. Terrell>.
Pqe Z HISTORIC WEBSTER, Winter, 1977
Mrs. Hannah Hall at the home or her son, Coleman, in Webster.
The occasion was her ninetieth birthday, April 12, 1956.
Married: January 27, 1897 at
the home of the bride in Webster,
with the Rev. Elder Wagg officiating,
Mr. J. E. Divelbiss of
Biltmore and Miss Florence May
Leatherwood, daughter of Capt.
F. H. Leatherwood.
A goodly number of invited
guests were witnesses to the
ceremony. Immediately after the
ceremony, the happy pair and
attending couples took a carriage
to the railroad (Sylva) enroute to
Biltmore which will be their
future home.
The following is a list of
presents to the bride and groom :
Father and brother of bride -
cream pitcher, sugar bowl, spoon
holder, butter dish and water
pitcher.
Mother of bride - linen tablecloth.
Ethyl, sister of bride - linen
napkins.
Mr. and Mrs. J . L. Broylesberry
spoon.
Mrs. Hattie Painter - sugar
shell.
Mr. and Mrs. W. A. H. Schreiber
- napkins, salt and pepper
stand, dessert dishes, sugar shell.
Dr. McLain Rogers - china
berry set and cake plate.
W. W. Rhinehart -glass tumblers.
Mr. and Mrs. M. Buchananbedspread.
Mr. and Mrs. M. D. Cowan -
rocking chair.
J. J . Wild - silver mounted
comb and brush.
Mr. and Mrs. 0. B. Coward -
sugar shell and butter knife.
Marcellus Buchanan Jr. -
cream pitcher.
James Manahale - broom.
Mr. and Mrs. Walter E. Moore
- jelly spoon.
Mrs. Maggie Myers - waiter.
Mrs. J. C. Buchanan - covered
china dish.
Mr. and Mrs. J . W. Terrell -
napkin rings and collar buttons.
Mr. and Mrs. F. E. Alley -
spoons and towels.
Dr.andMrs. W. C. Tompkinstowels.
Mr. and Mrs. F. E. Haynes
(Clyde)- set of vases and box of
carnations.
Mr. and Mrs. E. P. Lewis -
sugar shell and butter knife.
Miss Nannie Mallonee - glass
pitcher.
Miss Rebecca Wilson - dessert
plates.
Miss Etta Walters - large
picture.
G. W. Bryson- salt and pepper
stand.
W. E. Tustin Jr. - silver butter
dish .
Jonah Dills - clock.
Mr. and Mrs. J . W. Divelbissmedallion.
Mr. and Mrs. T. B. Allison -
bowl and pitcher.
John Wild and Will Coward -
coffee mill.
Mrs. Florence Lusk (Cleveland,
Tenn.) -handkerchiefs.
Mrs. Ethyl McDaris (Cleveland,
Tenn.) -linen table cover.
Mrs. Hannah McKee Hall -
Cullowhee and Webster
By Lillian Hirt-1956
Next Thursday , April 12,
marks the 90th birthday of a
remarkable lady. First, it 's a
distinction to become a nonegarian.
But to reach this age and
retain an alert interest and
appreciation of what's going on in
the world is remarkable, indeed.
Mrs. Hannah McKee Hall was
born on April 12, 1866, in the
Sandy Mush section of Buncombe
County, one year after the surrender
of Confederate forces in
the War Between the States. Her
father, Robert F. McKee, had
served in the Confederate army
with the Commisary Department
in Gatlinburg, Tennessee . In
civilian life he was a merchant.
Naturally, Mrs. Hall heard a
great deal of discussion and
reminiscing about the war as she
grew into childhood. However,
she is not greatly concerned with
it now. "That's all past now, and
there's nothing we can do to
change it. The important thing is
to know the conditions of the
present age, and plan for the
future." This, coming from a
woman of ninety , is worthy of
note.
Mrs. Hall 's parents moved with
their family to Webster in 1867,
when she was two years old and
when Webster was the county
seat of Jackson County. She has
lived in th is area since that time
Snowing Again!
January 24, 1977
This is the fourth heavy snow
that has been dumped on Western
Carolina this month. Of course,
everyone is surprised, as we have
not had such severe weather for a
long time. But it could be worse,
much worse, as it was in the early
years of this century. It was so
cold the Tuckaseigee River froze
over to the extent that our
neighbor felled trees on the ice
and dragged them off with a team
of horses. Others crossed the
river with wagon teams. Children
played and skated in perfect
safety up and down the river
from the dam in front of my
home, the Hall farm, to the big
covered Webster Bridge. Even
our mother, Mrs. Hannah Hall ,
risked having a ride on a chair
pushed by my two brothers ,
David and Coleman, on the icy
highway. They had been given ice
skates which added much to the
speed of the ride.
You ask, did we suffer? Not as
we do now, with frozen water
pipes and dangerous highways.
Also our super·markets then con·
sisted in well fill ed pantries,
cellars, and backyard smokfhouses.
For water we had springs
and wells that did not freeze over.
The biggest problem was keeping
warm, but any man that was
worth his salt saw to having a
well-filled woodhouse before the
winter storms set in . · If you
needed a doctor he came to your
home on horseback or in a buggy.
With our economy and social
setup as it is today we could not
keep going for long at a time
without our modern conveniences;
but for an emergency in
the early days, we had it made.
After several weeks of frigid
weather, springtime took over.
We then stood on the river bank
and looked and listened with awe,
veneration, and wonder at the
heaving , twisting, grinding , roar·
ing, fearsome icebreak as the
Tuckaseigee struggled to become
normal again.
Grace H. Brown
and has been a member of the
Webster Methodist Church since
childhood. She had three brothers
and one sister who lived to rna·
turity- E. L. McKee of Sylva, H.
C. McKee of Webster, James
McKee of Sylva, and Mrs. Joe
Collins of Clyde. Mrs. Hall is the
only survivor of this family .
This charming lady has a keen
intellect and a retentive memory.
She recalls the romantic details
of her courtship and marriage,
when she was seventeen and her
beau was thirty·five. Her parents
were opposed to the match
because of the disparity in age.
But, as she says, L. Coleman Hall
was a good man and she loved
him. He was her Sunday School
teacher, and she reminds one
now that he was a good man even
if he did steal a bride.
Widowed at twenty-six, Mrs.
Hall proved that a fragile body
can house a so ul of great
strength , for she gained the
admiration of all who knew her in
rearing her three children. They
are Rachel Gracie, who is now
Mrs. David H. Brown of Cullowhee;
L. Coleman Hall of Webster ,
who is married to the former
Stella Broyles of Webster ; and
the late David McKee Hall of
Sylva, who was married to Edith
Moore of Webster.
The family home still stands in
Webster, having been recently
renovated and occupied by her
grandson, former state Senator
David M. Hall , J r ., and his
family. Mrs. Hall now makes her
home with Mr. and Mrs. Brown in
Cullowhee, but visits with the
otl)er families from time to time.
She has eight grandchildren and
sixteen great-grandchildren.
In addition to rearing her own
family, she took several other
children into her heart and home
and mothered them. She says
they have all done well, but she is
particularly proud of Frank Waldroop,
whom she describes as a
successful Christian businessman
of Shreveport , Louisiana.
Compassion for homeless children
is one of her most outstanding
characteristics , and even in her
later years she is supporting a
child in the Methodist Orphanage
at Winston-Salem, and wishing
she might personally care for the
child.
Naturally, one wonders about
her present activities. When
asked if she ever does any sort of
handiwork now, she replied:
"Yes, I've always been pretty
good with the needle, and still do
a good deal of mending for
different ones in the family."
However, she has other interests,
too. She said she mainly wanted
to travel, but could not do this
until her children were all grown
and had established homes of
their own.
One of the most vivid recollections
from her European trip
is the Passion Play, performed
every ten years in Oberammergau,
Bavaria. She witnessed the
last performance before the play
was discontinued prior to World
War II.
Mrs. Hall said that the present
Biltmore Estate near Asheville
was at one time the estate of her
great-grandfather Patton , for
whose family Patton Avenue in
Asheville is named. Some of her
Palmer ancestors are buried in
the old Bath churchyard on North
Carolina's coast. One of those
was a counselor and surveyor of
the king.
Well , back to more recent
years. At the age of eighty-five,
when her son Coleman was living
in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Mrs.
Hall returned from a visit to him
by way of airplane. She remarked
at the time that now she
had ridden everything from an
oxwagon to a flying machine, and
there's nothing left for her but to
ride in a submarine. Knowing the
youthful proclivities of this delightful
person, you can almost
believe she may arrange that.
Mrs. Hall can look back on a
life filled with rich and exciting
experiences. But even now in the
evening of her life , she can look
forward , too. She has an optimistic
personality, and eagerly looks
forward, to each day's experiences.
Visitors are always welcome,
and it might be added that
most visitors go away from her
considerably refreshed by her wit
and her obvious pleasure at
seeing them. Her own mother
lived to be ninety-six , and she
says with the blessing of God she
may even surpass that. All who
know her sincerely hope so.
At the time I wrote about Mrs. Hall, I was Public In formation
Officer for Western Carolina College, now known as Western
Carolina University , and local correspondent for the CitizenTimes.
I worked with Bob Hall, Alumni Secreta ry and Recruiter
of prospective WCC students. From Bob, a grandson of Mrs.
Hall, his mother, Mrs. David Hall, and his aunt, Mrs. David
Brown, I heard many an interesting story about Mrs. Hannah
Hall. I became acquainted with her and enjoyed a number of
visits with her at Mrs. Brown's home where she was living.
Upon Mrs. Hall's death, January 31 , 1962, the family asked me
to write the obituary. It was printed on the first page of the
Asheville Citizen , and that, I think, indicates some of the esteem
with which she was held in the area.
In this obituary I repeated much of what I had sa id about her
in the feature article I had written on the occasion of her 90th
birthday. In addition to that were some facts about the funeral
plans. - Lillian Hirt
Mrs. Hannah Hall, 95, Dies
The day of the funeral has not been designated, but services
will be held in Cullowhee Methodist Church.
The Rev. M. V. Thumm of Asheville, the Rev. A. A. Ferguson
of Cullowhee, and the Rev. Roger Pearson of Webster will
officiate. Burial will be in Webster Cemetery. Pallbearers will
be Charles Rowlson , Robert C. Hall, Bruce Hall, Hal McKee
William McKee, Jim McKee, Mark Dowdle, and Frank Brown:
Jr.
The family has requested that flowers be omitted and
suggests that contributions be made to the Methodists'
Children's Home in Winston-Salem.
Surviving in addition to her daughter , Mrs. David Brown, are
a son, L. Coleman Hall of Webster, seven grandchildren, 15
great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.
William H. Thomas • • • Continued From Page 1
Carolina. The people of the
mountains frequently had closer
ties with these states than they
had with ot
Historic Webster Vol. 5 No. 3
No full textHistoric Webster is a newsletter of the Webster Historical Society, Inc., created at the Society’s founding in 1974. The publication helped to serve the Society's mission of collecting and preserving the history of Webster, North Carolina. Webster, established in 1851, was the original county seat for Jackson County.VOLUME V, NO. 3 WEBSTER, NORTH CAROLINA SUMMER, 1978
Captain Matt Ranso111 Co~ard
July s, I894 · January 27, I9SS
It seems that nothing in the
life of Matt Ransom Coward
was quite or.dinary. Even his
forebears were outstanding.
The early Cowards were pioneers
in this area. His father,
Oscar Boman Coward, was a
leader in the Webster Com·
munity, state senator, road
commissioner, and first mayor
of Sylva. And his mother,
Emma Long Coward, was the
central figure in a most romantic
love story. When she was
still a young girl (only fourteen )
and 0. B. Coward was already a
successful businessman, they
were secretly married. Emma
had procured the marriage
license from the desk of her
father, Jack Long, the register
of deeds of Jackson County and
living then in Webster, the
county seat.
The young wife bore her
husband four sons, Claude,
Burke, James Oscar, and Matt
Ransom. Only " Little Oscar",
as he is known , is living. The
mother of these four sons
contracted tuberculosis and
died soon after Ransom 's birth.
He was raised by his mother's
parents but was often with his
father and brothers, especially
after his father's marriage to
Nora Zachary.
When Ransom graduated
from high school in Webster at
sixteen he added a year to his
age in order to join the Navy. He
also had to drop the use of his
middle name and become Matt
or M. R. Coward. From the time
of his enlistment untiiliis death
in 1955 at age 60 he was almost
constantly involved with the sea
- in the Navy, the Merchant
Marine, or the Naval Reserve.
Even during that initial enlist·
ment he saw action, as he was
present at the surrender of Vera
Cruz in the almost forgotten
Mexican Campaign of 1913·14.
Discharged as an Electrician
2nd Class in 1914, with some
experience as an electrician,
the young man was persuaded
to follow his friend, Ramsey
Buchanan, and to enroll in the
Westinghouse engineering
school, Casino Tech, in Pittsburgh.
It was one of his few
times ashore and he undoub·
tedly would have become an
electrical engineer if World War
I had not changed his mind.
Feeling that he should make use
of his Navy training, he re·
enlisted in 1917 and within a
year was commissioned Ensign
at the age of 24.
At the end of the war a return
to school seemed unattractive,
By Elda (Mrs. R. M.) Coward
and the choice came down to a
continuing career in the Navy
or using the same background
experience in the merchant ser·
vice. Since Navy tradition made
it almost impossible to advance
to the highest ranks without an
Annapolis background, and
since Matt Coward was headed
for the top, he chose the merchant
service.
Sure enough , starting as
Third Mate in 1919, he had
become Master of his first ship
by 1925 at the age of 31, and for
the first time he was called
"Captain Coward." Two years
later he made headlines as " the
youthful captain of the S.S.
Westerner" when that ship was
featured in the magazine " Ma·
rine Engineering" and (of all
places! ) "Yachting", when the
Westerner was named " best of
her class out of any North
Atlantic port." Both publications
displayed many pictures
of the Westerner's yacht-like
appearance, showing the whole
ship sparkling with white paint
and polished brass fittings. Both
the captain and the chief en·
gineer were complimented on
the cooperative spirit throughout
the ship which had resulted
in officers and crew spending
spare time to outdo each other
in perfecting their particular
areas.
The Westerner was operated
by the Black Diamond Steam·
ship Corporation, with main
offices in New York City. Captain
Coward was to continue
th3t connection until his re·
tirement with the exception of
two and a half years with the
States Marine Corporation,
when he was in the U.S.
Maritime Service, beginning
with the tense time just before
we entered World War II.
During that period he wore
three caps: Captain in the Merchant
Marine, Lieutenant Commander
in the U.S. Naval Reserve,
and Commander in the
U.S. Maritime Service. He had
again faced the choice between
the Navy and the merchant
service and had again chosen
the merchant service. As a
Naval Reserve officer he could
expect to be appointed Exe·
cutive Officer on a Navy ship,
with a probable rapid advance
in rank . But he chafed at the
idea of taking great responsi·
bilities as Executive Officer
without having the authority of
the ship's Captain, who might
weB be a reserve officer with a
higher rank but with little sea
experience. In the Merchant
Marine he felt his experience
would be put to the best use,
even if with less glamor and
remuneration .
During this wartime period
there were a number of spec·
tacular stories from sources
other than the reticent Captain
M. R. Coward. Radio and news·
papers told of his exploits;
letters from the Secretary of the
Navy and the War Shipping Adminstration
commended him ;
but few details came from him .
As a matter of fact, due to war
restrictions on communica·
lions, there were many weeks
when nothing at a ll was heard of
him except from news reports.
When he did get a message
through , his information was
likely to be as exciting as a
postcard written from Panama:
"Going through the Canal.
Temp. 106 deg. in the shade .
Enjoying it. Love, Matt."
When he could be persuaded
to tell of some exploit, the result
was usually something like his
description of a mutiny. Some·
one had remarked that mutinies
were probably a thing of the
past. "Oh, no," he said. " Why?
Did you ever have one?" "Of
course." " Well , what happen·
ed?" "But you know what a
mutiny is! The men refused to
obey orders." " How did they
refuse? What did they do?"
" Well, they got ugly, said they
wouldn 't do what they were told
to do, and came on with some
weapons, some guns." "But
what did you do?" "Why, I had
a gun, too - so they did what I
said." (End of story!)
The strain of sailing in the
war zones was extreme even
before we entered the war.
Black Diamond ships were rna·
king trips to Rotterdam and
Antwerp, carrying every sort of
war material; and merchant
ships were being sunk by Ger·
man subutarines and by mines,
regardless of nationality. On
November 4, 1939, Captain Co·
ward's ship, the Black Gull , was
loaded "with almost everything
this government allows to be
shipped to Europe," and he was
determined to sail before Pre·
sident Roosevelt was scheduled
to sign a revised Neutrality Act
that would have forbidden U.S.
Merchant ships from entering
the War Zone. Wanting to stay
with him until the last possible
moment, his future wife jumped
into the taxi rushing him from
the last of his shore duties to the
Black Diamond pier in New
Jersey . Minutes later he dump·
ed her out unceremoniously in
the middle of Times Square,
raced for the pier, cast off just
before noon, and beat the Neu·
trality Act with no time to
spare. The German radio im·
mediately began broadcasting
bulletins saying that the Black
Gull was sailing at its own r isk.
Under the rule of radio silence,
these warnings were never
heard aboard the ship, while
everyone in the United States
knew of the threat, which was
dramatically publicized by
newspapers and radio. The
cargo was delivered!
It was this same Black Gull
that had crossed the English
Channel a month before during
the "week of terror" when
fifteen ships were blown up in
four days by the new German
magnetic mines. Captain Co·
ward had sighted eight of them,
two of them or "two within
ship's length," but he reported
that 'safety was just a case of
being alert. ' Just what " being
a lert" meant was illustrated
later when a crew member
came to Captain Coward's
apartment to ask whether he
was to be in command on the
next voyage, explaining that he
would not sail under any other
captain.
This same feeling of confidence
was expressed by one of
eleven refugee passengers of
the Black Gull being evacuated
from Holland. As he reported
his experience, there was a total
blackout on all decks, but he
thought it safe to light a cigarette
in an inside passageway.
Instantly a crew member
struck the lighted match from
his hand. The crewman apolo·
gized but said that Captain
Coward allowed no lights out·
side of the blacked-out cabins as
an extra mar gin of safety -
'and that was one reason why
Continued On Page 3
Commander Matt Ransom Coward
January, 1946
Page 2, HISTORIC WEBSTER, Summer 1978
Elda H. Coward, Smoky Mtns ..
1942, 1st Trip To Webster
Ransom Coward, 1st Trip To
Webster With Elda Hibbard
Coward, 1942
Oscar B. Coward, Father Of Ransom,
At His Senate Desk In Raleigh, 1917
Capt. M. R. Coward About 1942
The Coward Cabin At Norton As It Looks Today, l978
Mrs. Emma Long Coward, Mother of
Ransom, About 1888
Higdon Cabin, Norton,l948
Ransom As A Small Boy
Ensign Matt Ransom Coward
AtAge24
Captain Matt Ransom Coward
Continued From Page 1
Captain Coward had never had
his ship sunk.'
But Captain Coward had to
watch other ships sunk, some of
them under the command of
friends. Convoys were nervewracking
experiences. In 1942
he was commended by the Swedish
Military Attache and by the
War Shipping Administration
for standing by and rescuing the
entire forty-two member crew
of a Swedish ship which had just
been struck by a torpedo and
was sinking, with the subma-·
rine almost certainly still in the
area. The operation was .odescribed
as "a praiseworthy exhibition
of bravery and cOurage."
Later Captain Coward
was made Commodore of one of
these huge convoys: responstble
for every detail, including
the exact t1me for each ship to
cast off, the spacing of the ships
in the convoy, and decisions for
evasive actiOn against submarines.
There is a snapshot of
him at the end of that voyage,
looking like a wraith, his eyes
haunted , and his normally military
posture sagging. He must
never have slept.
Orleans had had to be called off
because his ship had been
forced to sail before the time
required for the publishing of
the banns as required in that
Catholic clly. His bride-to-havebeen
had to return to New York
to explain her week-end in New
Orleans to all the friends who
had seen her off with engagement
parties! Now it appeared
that the couple might have a
little time together. Then, true
to military tradition, every step
ior sailing took twice its allotted
time, as when the armorplate
on the gun crew's quarters had
to be re-planned and replaced
because it had raised the temperature
of the quarters inside
to over 100 degrees. Consequently,
the Coward's hotel room
gave place to a small apartment,
and Baltimore became a
temporary residence, while one
difficulty after another had to
be laboriously overcome and
the ship's captain had begun to
develop ulcers. Finally the John
W. Brown sailed, and Captain
M. R. Coward became the first
man to command an armed
cargo vessel as he had been the
last to sail an American cargo
ship into the war zone before the
United States entered the war.
Page 3, HISTORIC WEBSTER, Summer 1978
• • •
One of the less dangerous but
terribly frustrating experiences
of the wartime period was the
story of the arming of the S.S.
John W. Brown. In the early fall
of 1942 Captain Coward was pul
in command of the first merchant
ship to be armed under a
new policy of self-protection.
The John W. Brown, just
launched at the Bethlehem
Shipyard in Baltimore, was to
be the prototype. This was just a
few months after his marriage.
In November, 1941, Captain
Coward had married Elda Hibbard
after years of waiting out
the Depression and then the
difficulties of a war-torn world.
One planned ceremony in New
It was earlier in 1942, while
waiting for the new ship to leave
the dockyard , that the Cowards
enjoyed a sort of delayed honeymoon
by managing, in spite
of wartime transportation difficulties
, to get to Webster for
Mrs. Coward's first visit.
Neighbors, friends and relatives
deluged the new bride with
descriptions of what "a cute,
bright little fellow Ransom
was" and how many girls he
had had. Somewhere the impression
was given that he and
Lawrence Frizzell had studied
Latin or math (or both) as
The Black Gull. under the command of Captain Coward, was a prime target of German submarines.
Captain M. R. Coward
1925- Age 31
First Regular Command
S.S. Westerner
vacation pastimes. And he had
gone into partnership with some
other boy and operated an old
mine while still in high school. A
recently unearthed scrapbook
picture of Ransom hoisting two
girls in a mine bucket seemed to
prove that story.
On that vacation trip the time
was divided between the old
home place in Webster and
fishing expeditions at the Warren
Alexander Camp in Whiteside
Cove with Rogers Coward,
a half-brother of whom both
Cowards were extremely fond.
Six years later and several
other mountain vacations, they
bought a fishing camp in Norton,
for which Rogers had
scouted the entire county. This
was later to become their home.
After the war Captain Coward
transferred to a shore job with
the Black Diamond Company,
and from 1943 to 1950 he was:
first, Port Captain and then
Marine Superintendent. Simply
stated, his duties were to take
charge of all Black Diamond
ships when they were in East
Coast ports. This required a
good deal of traveling, but at
least he was based at home. At
this point he made the astonishing
statement that he had
always wanted to paint! With
an apartment in the middle of
New York 's Greenwich Village,
it was easy to find a studio
nearby where art lessons were
available. Both he and his wife
enrolled, but he was the more
industrious and dedicated. He
spent many evenings at his
easel with a daylight lamp, and
the couple's favorite week-end
outings became sketching trips
to Central Park, Staten Island
or up the Hudson.
Captain Coward went on to
classes at the notable Salamagundi
Club on lower Fifth
Avenue and eventually exhibited
oil paintings at the National
Arts Club and the Village
Art Center. He always said that
he was most flattered when one
of his ship paintings was stolen
from a Village exhibit. Later,
hearing that the painting had
been seen as the chief decor-ation
in a bar, his pride increased!
He did some really
striking paintings of ships and
the sea, and one of the best is
of that armed merchant ship,
the John W. Brown, machine
gun and all. Another favorite is
a sun-filled painting of an African
village, based on scenes
he had enjoyed when he had
taken the S.S. Eldara up the
coast of Africa in 1936. He had
been fascinated by " Zululand"
and had uncharacteristically
brought home a great many
Mementoes: a heavy bow with
sharp hunting arrows, a lovely
carved ebony head, and a
spotted calfskin used in trade
and as clothing. But perhaps his
most successful painting is a
dark seascape with' moonlight
faintly outlining the silhouettes
of a distant convoy against the
horizon. While it is a peaceful
scene at first glance, it somehow
conveys a haunting sense of
danger.
In 1950 Captain Coward, at the
height of his career, unexpectedly
asked his wife, "What
would you say if I just quit
working now, without waiting
for retirement? We could spend
a year here in New York, just
enjoying it, and we could fix up
the Norton camp for a yearround
home. But if we should
run out of money before my
Navy retirement pay begins in
1954, you will have to get a jobbecause
all I know how to do is
run a ship!"
What a happy five years those
were! New York was savored as
by visitors, with walks through
Central Park and out-of-theway
sections of the city, trips to
points of interest, meals at
interesting restaurants, visits to
art galleries and exhibits, and
always sketching and painting.
Meanwhile the Norton camp
was being transformed into a
home, and the move was made
in 1951. Lieut. Commander Coward
had become Commander
Coward in the Naval Reserve
before leaving New York, and a
few months after moving to
Norton he helped to organize in
Sylva the U.S. Naval Reserve
Unit NRCC 6-36, which later
moved to Cullowhee. He served
as Commander of the unit until
the summer before his death,
fajthfully preparing for the
weekly drills and regularly
taking refresher courses at the
Charleston Naval Base. Members
of the unit served as pallbearers
when he was buried
from the family church, the
Methodist Church in Webster,
and was interred in the Coward
plot in the Webster Cemetery.
Besides the Navy, two other
organizations meant a great
deal to Captain Coward. In 1945
he had been made a member of
the Marine Society, founded in
1769 with a charter from George
III, and including in its membership
rolls such famous
names as both Alexander Hamilton
and Aaron Burr, as well as
some of the most illustrious
mariners in United States history.
Also, strangely, he was a
member of The Lambs. This
famous old actors' club had
once chartered a ship to sail
around the world. The members
had become so fond of the
captain of their ship that they
had admitted him to the club,
and from that date on there had
always been one sea captain on
their rolls. Captain Coward was
elected in 1936 upon the death of
the previous sea-going member,
and he took a great deal of
pleasure in their meetings and
the use of their clubhouse in the
center of the theatrical section
of New York. He would have
been pleased to know that at his
death they sent his widow a
memorial scroll signed by dozens
of members, including
Harry Hershfield, Eddie Foy,
Jack Sheehan and Dennis King .
Captain M. R. Coward was a
modest man and a quiet man.
Without making much fuss
about it, he loved his country
and he loved these mountains.
He did say that these years in
Norton had been the happiest of
his life. ••••••
Page 4, HISTORIC WEBSTER, Summer 1978
November, 1769, a company
of thirty-two persons assembled
in the long room of the Exchange,
then at the foot of
Broad Street in New York City,
to consult together about forming
themselves into a society for
the relief of distressed shipmasters,
or their widows and
children, and for the promotion
of maritime knowledge.
The meeting was organized
by Leonard Lispenard, Esq.,
who became the society's first
president. A committee was
appointed, and after several
meetings, articles were agreed
upon and presented for approval
by Capt. Thomas Randall,
The author of "Captain Matt
Ransom Coward" is Elda Hibbard
Coward, Captain Coward's
widow. The daughter of Eva
Belle Lacy Hibbard and Edwin
Lewis Hibbard, she was born in
Warren, Pennsylvania but grew
up in Jamestown, New York
near the Chatauqua Assembly
grounds. There she had th'
privilege of attending concerts
and lectures of that famous
organization.
Elda finished high school in
Jamestown in 1920, received her
l\ .B. degree from Mount Holyoke
College in 1925, and her
M.A. from New York University
in New York City.
Mter graduation from Mount
Holyoke, she became a private
secretary to F. W. Gurney of
Jamestown and Long Island.
Gurney was owner of the Gur-
THE MARINE SOCIETY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
the second president of the
Association. The rules were
adopted and were the basis of
the charter granted in 1770 by
George III. The Society flourished
and carried out its dual
purpose of charity and patriotism.
Many illustrious names are
found in its membership. Thomas
Truxton, who commanded
a privateer in the Revolution,
was the first captain appointed
by Washington in the regular
navy. Robert R. Livingston,
John Cruger, Phillip Livingston,
William Bayard, and Leonard
Lispenard were the five
delegates from New York to the
first Colonial Congress.
Aaron Burr, General Clinton,
an early governor of New York,
Alexander Hamilton and
George Washington were on the
Society's roll.
In 1788 the Society participated
in a public procession in
which a 32 gun frigate, manned
by 30 seamen, was drawn
through the streets to signify
the organization 's approval of
the proposed Constitution of the
United States.
The 13th day of April, 1789
was another red-letter day: for
the barge which conveyed
Washington from Elizabethtown
Point to New York, here to
be inaugurated as the first
President of the United States
was rowed by thirteen captains,
with Captain Randall
acting as coxswain.
During the first years of its
existence, the Society petitioned
for the erection of lighthouses
on our coasts and the placing of
buoys in our channels. Many
means of preserving ship timber
were tested. Widows and
orphans o! deceased members
were assisted financially.
The beginning of the Nineteenth
Century marked the
founding of "The Sailor's Snug
Harbor," now one of the most
efficient benevolent institutions
Elda Hibbard Coward
ney Ball Bearings, now the
Marlin Rockwell Corporation of
Long Island.
In New York City, Elda
became a secretary to Theresa
Mayer Durloch, founder of
World Peaceways and of the
private progressive Durloch
School (now Emerson School)
of New York City. Elda later
taught five years in that school.
The advertising departments
of two corporations, the Lipton
Tea Company and the Lightfoot
Schultz Soap Company, both of
Hoboken, New Jersey , furnished
Elda with two of the most
rewarding jobs of her career.
She was especially fond of the
Lightfoot Schultz Company
where she had congenial surroundings
and was fast learning
the advertising business. Unfortunately,
this job to which
she had commuted daily from
New York City folded because
of the Great Depression of the
'30's. While associated with
Hoboken, she became the membership
secretary of the Hoboken
Community Y. This organization
(not to be confused with
the YM or YWCA) had over a
thousand members and consisted
of both men and women.
After her marriage to Captain
Coward, Elda gave up full time
work. But considering the time,
World War II ;
The dramaturgy of the tragedies of John Webster and John Ford with special reference to their use of stage imagery.
No full textPhDThe imagery of the plays of John Webster and John
Ford is not only verbal: in staging as well as language
these dramas display strongly imagistic, symbolic elements.
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the seven extant
tragedies of Webster and Ford from the point of view of
their total dramatic nature - to examine the staging,
costumes, hand and large properties, movement and gestures
as well as the verbal imagery, and the interplay of these
verbal and visual elements. The original appearance, of
these plays in their contemporary theatre, and the
dramatist's intentions for performance, can only be surmised.
The original stage directions are examined for
hints of the original presentation: these stage directions
may not always be authorial, but, especially in the case of
Ford, they seem to reveal the playwright's hand. The dialogue,
too, frequently implies particular gestures,
grouping or stage placement.
The visual imagery, it is here suggested, is created
by the dramatist for several purposes: a moral or ironical
point may be silently established; a chain of related
visual motifs may bind various actions and characters into
an organic union; a visualization may appeal outward to
other works of art or theatrical or non-dramatic conventions,
enlarging the immediate significance by this shorthand
reference; visual ceremonies may make concrete the more
ephemeral words and feelings of the characters.
Each of the tragedies is studied in a separate chapter,
in the following order: Webster's The White Devil, The
Duchess of Malfi, and Appius and Virginia (the authorship
of which is disputed); John Ford's The Broken Heart,
Love's Sacrifice, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, and Perkin
Warbeck. A conclusion indicates the differences between
Webster's more overtly theatrical visualizations and Ford's
quiet tableaux.
The thesis is accompanied by illustrations which are
either explanatory or comparative
Historic Webster Vol. 4 No. 3
No full textHistoric Webster is a newsletter of the Webster Historical Society, Inc., created at the Society’s founding in 1974. The publication helped to serve the Society's mission of collecting and preserving the history of Webster, North Carolina. Webster, established in 1851, was the original county seat for Jackson County.WEBSTER, NORTH CAROLINA SUMMER, 1977
Judge Felix Eugene Alley
Felix E. Alley was born in
Whiteside Cove, Jackson County,
North Carolina on July 5, 1873. He
died in Waynesville, Haywood
County, North Carolina, January
6, 1957 at age 83, and is buried in
Green Hill Cemetery along with
his wife and other members of his
family.
On March 15, 1899, Judge Alley
was married to Mary Elvira
Hayes, a daughter of Alexander
Hamilton Hayes and Margaret
Leatherwood Hayes, of Whittier,
Jackson County, North Carolina.
Four children were born of the
marriage, three sons and one
daughter - Felix E. Alley, Jr,
J . Hayes Alley, Robert Cline
Alley, and Edna Louise Alley
(Mrs. J. W. Ray).
Judge Alley's father was Col.
John H. Alley, great-grandson of
Cedric Alley, remote ancestor of
the Alleys in the South, who came
from Liverpool, England some
years prior to the Revolutionary
War.
His mother was Sarah
Whiteside Norton, born August 8,
1828, and said to be the first white
child born in Whiteside Cove. She
was the daughter of B·arak
(Barackl Norton and Mary
Nicholson Norton.
Judge Alley received his
education by home study, in local
public schools and in Cullowhee
High School, later known as
Western Carolina Teachers
College. He was graduated in
1896, at the age of twenty-three.
In 1898, he was elected on the
Democratic ticket to the position
of clerk of the superior court of
Jackson County, and served one
term of four years, studying law
at home in the evenings.
In 1903, he was admitted to the
North Carolina Bar. Later, he
was admitted to practice in the
States of South Carolina ,
Georgia, Tennesse~ and Virginia,
as well as in North Carolina and
in the United States Supreme
Court.
In 1903, he opened a law office
in Webster, North Carolina, then
the county seat of Jackson
County. He remained in Webster
until January 1914, when he
moved to Waynesville, where he
resided and practiced law until
1933.
In 1905, during his practice in
Webster, he was nominated by
acclamation for the Legislature
on the Democratic ticket and was
elected.
During the term he served as
Representative in N. C. General
Assembly, he was influential in
getting increased appropriations
for the College at Cullowhee, and
its name changed to Cullowhee
Normal And Industrial School. At
that point it became a State
school for the training of teachers.
In 1910, Felix E. Alley was
elected Solicitor of the Twentieth
Judicial District composed of the
counties of Cherokee, Clay,
Graham , Haywood, Jackson,
Macon, Swain.
In January 1933, Governor J.
C. B. Ehringhaus appointed
Solicitor Alley Judge of the
Twentieth Judicial District to fill
a two-year vacancy caused by
the death of Judge Walter E.
Moore. In the June primary of
1934, Judge Alley was nominated
to succeed himself and was
elected in the November election
of that year. He served as a
Superior Court Judge for fifteen
years.
Judge Alley said of. his
family , in one of many
affectionate expressions, "My
wife has remained at home and
toiled incessantly in the rearing
of our children, so that I might go
out into the world and seek such
opportunities as were within my
reach. She and my hosts of
friends have made it possible for
me to achieve whatever of
success I have enjoyed. They
have made it possible for me to
give to my four children a better
chance in life than I have had -
the advantage of a college
education such as I yearned for
but could not have. They have
made it possible for me to give
my three sons their legal
education in the best law schools
in the State; and I have been
permitted to live to see them
enter the noble profession of the
law, which I love so much, with
success within their reach, and
waiting only for them to reach
out and grasp it. And so the dark
clouds pass ; but the blue sky
abides forever . I owe a debt to my
friends that can never be
repaid."
******
News release, May 11, 1952 -
Sunday, Ashevr.lle Citizen,
Cullowhee, N. C.
Two distinguished citizens of
North Carolina Judge Felix E.
Alley and D. Hi den Ramsey will
receive honorary doctorate
degrees from Western Carolina
Teachers College at the 59th
commencement program on May
26, 1952.
President Paul A. Reid
announced the granting of the
honorary degrees, the first in the
history of the institution.
Judge Alley, of Waynesville,
outstanding jurist and suthor,
will receive the degree of Doctor
Of Laws , while Ramsey , of
Asheville, newspaperman, civic
and education leader, will be the
recipient of the Doctor of Literature
degree.
Conferring of these degrees
will take place during the
graduation exercises on Monday
morning, May 26, 1952, at 10 a.m.
in Hoey Auditorium.
Final selection of the degrees
and recipients was made by the
Board of Trustees of the college,
which had considered candidates
suggested by a faculty
committee and approved by the
entire faculty."
Judge Alley, a native of
Jackson County, is an alumnus
of the college, having graduated
from Cullowhee High School,
from which Western Carolina
Teachers College developed.
Continued On Page 2
Lombard's Lodge (the Alley place> in 1800's. Whiteside Mountain in the background. Courtesy Frances
Baum ~arner Lombard.
Pa11e z HISTORIC WEBSTER, Sammer, 1177
Alley - C•t1118ed From Page I
He baa b-. an active public
speaker ill Western North CaroIIDa
and adjoining areas, addresline
political, religious and educational
groupe. In 1941, be was
tbe author of two published
boob "Random Thoughts And
the Musings of a Mountaineer,"
and " What Think Ye of ChristA
History."
Copy of news release In The
Allleville Citizen, Asheville, N.
C., Monday, January 7, 1957.
Waynesville - January 6, 1957.
Judge Felix E . Alley, a
Superior Court Judge for 15 years
and one of the best known
lawyers in Western North
Carolina, died in the Haywood
County Hospital January 6, 1957.
He was 83 years old.
Judge Alley was widely known
as an orator and author. He had
written two books as wen as
mountain ballads.
He was a seH-made man,
youngest in a family of ten
children. By working to earn
money and studying in his spare
time, Judge Alley became one of
the best educated and respected
jurists in the State of North
Carolina. He attended Cullowhee
High School, later Western
Carolina College, and the
University of North Carolina.
Survivinj! are the widow,
Mrs. Elvira Hayes Alley ; a
daughter, Mrs. J. Wilford Ray;
two sons, F . E . Alley, Jr., and J .
Hayes Alley, all of Waynesville,
N. C.; five grandchildren and
three great-grandchildren ; a son,
Robert C. Alley, <predeceased).
Funeral services were held for
Judge Alley, Monday at 3:00
p.m., in the First Methodist
Church of Waynesville. The
Reverend Earl H. Brendall
officiated, and burial was in the
Green Hill Cemetery.
Pallbearers were W. Roy
Francis, M. G. Stamey •. Alvin
Ward, Glenn Brown, James H.
Howell, Jr., and William Medford.
Honorary pallbearers were
members of the Bar of the 30th
Judicial District; Rufus Siler and
W. F. Swift. Crawford Funeral
Home was in charge of burial
arrangements.
As a jurist, Judge
wide recognition for
1111iform courtesy, impartiality
and fairness. In cases on appeal
from his court, he had a record of
93 per cent in affirmations in the
State Supreme Court.
A judge who believed in
tempering jtmtice with mercy, he
prided himself on the belief he
saved many men and women
from Jives of crime by giving
them a chance.
He was a devout Methodist, a
member of the First Methodist
Church of Waynesville, and
wrote extensively and delivered
many addressed on religious
themes.
Judge Alley was widely known
as a political campaign orator.
In the presidential election of
1932 he made 20 political
speeches in as many Western
North Carolina counties. He was
a delegate to the State
Democratic Convention and the
National Democratic Convention
that year and sup~,>orted
Roosevelt. In the 1916 elechon1 he
was a member of the Electoral
College and voted for Woodrow
Wilson."
Excerpt from article by Author
and Columnist John Parris, in his
July 7, 1957 Column In The
Asheville Citizen, "Roaming The
Mountains."
TO HIM, WESTERN NORTH
CAROLINA WAS HEAVEN
BY JOHN PARRIS
"WAYNESVll..LE - January
6, 1957 - Felix Alley was the
synonym
Mountaineer.
for Carolina
Nobody ever did more to give it
dignity and respect and none
ever wore the name more
proudly.
To him , Western North
Carolina was heaven and heaven
was his home, for the mountains
contained everything good and
big and wonderful in life - the
things that made people human.
Many will remember him
because he was their friend, their
neighbor , because he was
tolerant and just and kind and
humble, because he never forgot
his beginnings.
Felix Alley's story is really the
story of Western North Carolina
Colonel J . Heywood and Satah Whiteside Norton Alley, about 1870.
Judge Felix E. Alley's parents. Courtesy Frances B. Lombard
the origin, history,
characteristics, development,
and progress of the Carolina
Mountaineers.
No one will ever say h!' was a
man of distinction but all who
knew him will agree that he was
a distinguished gentleman.
Felix Alley was the synonym
.for Carolina Mountaineer.
From "Random Thoughts And
The Musings Of a Mountaineer-
1941, First Edition."
" When I was eight or nine
years of age, one of my brothers
made for me a banjo, using for
material a cheese hoop, a tanned
ground-hog skin, and wood that
he worked into shape with knife
and drawing knife , for the
banjo's neck. We made the
strings of " J . & P . Coat's Spool
Cotton," by twisting strands of
thread into the properly varying
sizes, and then waxing them with
homemade beeswax. When the
banjo was finished I soon learned
to play on it, not only hymns, but
ail the old mountain melodies
that I had ever heard; and for
years, being the only person in
that area who could play a banJO,
I made the music for the
mountain dances in my own
section and in the adjoining
counties, not only in North
Carolina, but on occasion, in
South Carolina and Georgia.
''There came a time when quite
a flood deluged our mountain
valleys. There were no bridges
spanning our streams .
Coincident with this disaster a
man by the name of Childs, and
his sister, both of New York City,
were waterbound at my father 's
home for several days. One day
this gentleman saw my banjo and
asked what it was, and I told hun,
it being the only banjo I had ever
seen up to that time. He asked me
to play for him. I told him I had a
broken string, but that I could
soon make another one. I asked
my mother for some thread from
her sewing basket, and then from
a spool of "J. & P. Coats" I made
and waxed a string and played
for the gentleman all the tunes I
knew. Wben I had finished he
asked to see the thread. He then
said: "I own the majority of the
stock in the Company that makes
this thread. I knew it was good
for many things, but did not know
before that it was good for
making banjo strings. When I
return to New York I shall send
you the best set of banjo strings
that I can find in the City." Upon
his return he sent me, not only
many sets of strings, but a very
expensive banjo, the best one m
fact that I have ever seen. It was
after this that I commenced
playing for the mountain dances.
At that time the "Trade-mark"
for this thread, which was seen
posted on the store fronts, trees,
and other public places, had on it
the picture of a barefooted hoy
standing on a brookside, fishing
with a line made of this thread.
Printed on the sign were the
words, "J & P . Coats' Spool
Cotton is strong." A few months
after my receiving the banjo
from Mr. Childs he wrote me that
he had induced his Board of
Directors to change the picture
on their advertisement, and soon
thereafter was seen posted on the
store fronts and other public
places the same advertisement
as before, but with the picture of
a barefooted boy playing a banjo
with strings made of J . & P .
Coats' Spool Cotton.
Legislator Alley
Receives Hero's
Welcome
Jackson County Journal, 1905 with several salutes, after which
they, in company with the other
Dear Editor ; representatives of the school ,
You ask if we have any news including two wagon-loads of
to write from Cullowhee? Most young ladies (that is to say about
assuredly, I must answer "yes". two tons of beauty) and a hack
Fortune has again visited us as a containing Prof. R. L. Madison.
school, and the great state of Mrs. Madison, and others, esNorth
Carolina, through the ef- corted Mr. Alley, who was acfo
rts of our worthy Representa- companied by Prof. J . N. W. In
tive, Mr. Alley. aided by Prof. front of the courthouse in WebRob!.
L. Madison, Hon. Walter E. ster, Prof. Madison gave public
Moore, Hon. C. C. Cowan, Prof. J . recognition to Mr. Alley's sueY.
Joiner, Prof. E. P. Moses and cessfullabors in behalf of Westothers,
has given us 1,000, in behalf of the faculty , the
student body and the entire
making, in all, from now on, an county and state, for his noble
annual appropriation of 3,500 special appropriation marks hy presenting Mr. Alley
is to furnish the new building with with a nice volume.
adequate furniture and to pay for Aiter a few brief, but hearty,
a heating plant. The furniture words of response from Mr.
has already been installed, but Alley, in which he paid a noble
has not been paid for yet. The tribute to Cullowhee High School
Legislature of No rth Carolina and its successfull leader , the
also changed the name of our entire party moved on down the
institution from "Cullowhee High street and halted in front of the
School" to "Cullowhee Normal residence of Mr. Alley. When he
and Industrial School"· Hence- had alighted and kissed his wife
forth, the work of the institution and little ones, the military
will be of a wider and more company again saluted him and
comprehensive nature. gave the school yell. In the mean-
On Tuesday, March 7, the time, our company had been
faculty and the la rger part of the increased by the presence of
students of Cullowhee High Judge D. D. Davies, Mrs. ThoSchool
met Mr. Alley, Repre- mas A. Cox and Miss Daisy
sentative from Jackson, at the Davies. After the ceremonies of
depot at Sylva , and escorted him the military company were over ,
to his home at Webster. The the party returned to the public
military company, under com- square and halted for lunch , after
mand of Mr. Thomas A. Cox, Jr ., which they all returned to Cul-j~~~
m~mmtiliijl~ij~~mffii~m~m~itl~illi~iliiiJt}}}}}}}}J
"Kidder Cole" From "Random Thoughts" ...
Now, in order to satisfy the
hundreds who are continually
writing me about it and asking
for copies of it, I will here tell the
story of my banjo ballad,
"Kidder Cole" It was composed
when I was sixteen years of age.
It was my first, last and only
attempt at poetry, and of course
there is not a line of poetry in it.
Except for the fact that Miss Cole
did not "change her name to
Alley," the ballad speaks for
itself, and adheres rather closely
to the facts as they occurred.
The ballad has been sung over
the radio from various stations
for many years. It is sung and
played with banjo accompaniment
wherever the mountam
melodies are used. The ballad
and various stories as to
its origin have often appeared in
many of the daily newspapers
and magazines, and the ballad
itself has been included in
several different editions of
"Folk Songs." Let it he here
understood, however, that all this
has been without my knowledge
or procurement. Like all songs
that are handed around by word
of mouth, many words, and
sometimes whole lines of the
ballad, have been changed. After
writing the ballad, I composed
(by earl the music or melody to
which the words are sung. When I
have heard it over the radio I
have observed no change in the
tune or melody, although some of
the words were slightly varied.
In its issue of October 10, 1936,
The State Magazine, of Raleigh,
North Carolina carried the story
and the correct version of my
ballad, the story having been
written by one of its reporters,
John A. Parris, Jr. , formerly of
Jackson County, and now a War
correspondent in Europe. Mr.
Parris published his article and
the ballad without my
knowledge. I here quote the lines
as they appear in the magazine:
"My name is Felix Eugene Alley,
My hest girl lives in Cashiers
Valley;
She's the joy of my soul
And her name is Kidder Cole.
I don 't know - it may have been
chance,
'Way last fall when I went to a
dance,
I planned to dance with Kidder
the livelong night
But I got my time beat by Charlie
Wright.
So, if I ever have to have a fight,
I hope it will be with Charlie
Wright,
For he was the ruin of my soul
When he beat my time with
Kidder Cole.
Wben the dance was over I went
away
To bide my time till another day,
When I could cause trouble and
pain and blight
To sadden the soul of Charlie
Wright.
I thought my race was almost run
When Kidder went off to Ander-
Sh~~ent to Anderson to go to
school,
And left me at home to act the
fool.
Page 3 HISTORIC WEBSTER, Summer, 1977
"Kidder Cole"
But she came back the following
spring,
And Oh, how I made my banjo
ring;
It helped me to get my spirit
right,
To beat the time of Charlie
Wright.
Kidder came home the first of
June,
And 1 sang my song and played
my tune;
I commenced trying with all my
might
To 'put one over' on Cbarlie
Wright.
I did not feel the least bit shv.
On the Fourth of the next JulY.,.
When at the head of a big dele-gation
I went to attend the big Celebration.
When the speaking was over we
had a dance,
And then and there I found my
chance
To make my peace with Kidder
Cole,
And beat Charlie Wright; confound
his soul!
Charlie came in an hour or so,
But when he saw me with Kidder
he turned te go
Back to his home with a saddened
soul,
For I'd beat his time with Kidder
Cole.
I've always heard the old folks
say
That every dog will have his day ;
And now all of Charlie's joy has
passed
For I've succeeded in beating
him at last.
Oh, my sweet little Kidder girl!
You make my head to spin and
whirl,
I am yours and you are mine,
As long as the sun and stars shall
shine.
Oh, yes, my Kidder Cole is sweet,
And it won't be long till we shall
meet ,
At her home in Cashiers Valley
Where she'll change her name to
Alley.
I like her family as a whole,
But I'm especially fond of George
M. Cole:
I believe I shall like to call him
'paw'
When I get to be his son-in-law.
Some of her folks I don't like so
well,
But I may some time, for who can
tell?
And after all between me and you
I'm not marrying the whole
dumed crew."
I will say here tbat Charlie
Wr ight whose name appears in
the foregoing lines is the same
man who performed the heroic
and miraculous feat of rescuing
Baty from the brink of a two
thousand foot pr ecipice on
Whiteside Mountain, a full
account of which appears in this
Volume, Chapter XXVI , at page
490, and following. (Ref. to book,
" Random Thoughts - . . . ",
(1941 )."
The material for the article on
J udge Alley was assembled by
Mrs. Edith Purcell Alley (Mrs.
Doyle Alley) of Maggie Valley.
E"cerpta from Address by Judge
Felb: E. Alley Accepttog New
Haywood County Courthouse -
September 19, 1932.
Judge Alley was selected by a
committee of the Haywood
County Bar Association to accept
the new Haywood County
Courthouse, on bebalf of the Bar
Association and the legal
profession of the Twentieth
Judicial District, September 19,
1932.
His address was a part of the
program in celebration of a day
and event memorable in the
history of Haywood County. The
audience was composed of
citizens from every section of
Western North Carolina,
including many state officials.
In speaking, he referred to the
new courthouse as "this Temple
of Justice," and congratulated
the architect who designed it, and
the artisans who constructed it.
He congratulated, individually
and collectively, the board of
commissioners who ordered it
and supervised it, and made of it
a courthouse designed to
accommodate the increasing
needs of a growing county.
He reminded his listeners that
as is ever the case in such an
undertaking like this, there were
those who opposed the
construction of any building at
all. And, there were others who
criticised the character of the
building during the course of its
construction, but, he said, "I
confidently believe that when
time has receded until we can
bave a perspective of events, the
universal verdict of our people
will be that our commissioners
have builded wisely and well,
because their work will endure."
"This courthouse is not the
result of the thought of any one
man or of the efforts of any one
man. It is the result of the
concensus of thought and the
combined efforts of all those who
believed that Haywood County
should keep step with modem
progress in this great State, and,
but for such cooperation, this
happy day would never have
dawned.
In the building of this
courthouse, as in everything
worth while in politics, in
religion , in business, and in civic
movements, success is achieved
only by unit of purpose, combined
effort, and concert of action."
"There are some features,
however, about this courthouse
which I did suggest, and which
were accepted by the architect
and the Commissioners; as, for
instance, the enlargement of this
room beyond the size
contemplated by the original
plans, and the installation of the
Judge Alley in his law office.
gallery. And there is another
feature which was my original
thought and suggestion , and
which was adopted by the
unanimous vote and approval of
the Commissioners , and for
which I am not only willing, but
pr
Combining entrepreneurial and scientific performance in academia: towards a compounded and reciprocal Matthew effect.
No full textThe increase of entrepreneurial activity within academia has raised concerns that the research orientation of universities might become 'contaminated' by the application-oriented needs of industry. Empirical evidence on this concern is scarce and ambiguous. We examine whether entrepreneurial and scientific performance in academia can be reconciled. Our empirical findings (K.U.Leuven, Belgium) suggest that both activities do not hamper each other; engagement in entrepreneurial activities coincides with increased publication outputs, without affecting the nature of the publications involved. As resources increase, this interaction becomes more significant, pointing towards a Matthew-effect. We finally suggest that balancing both activities further depends on the institutional policies deployed.Belgium; Industry; Innovation systems; Knowledge interactions; Performance; Policy; University;
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