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Historic Webster Vol. 1 No. 5
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.WCU's Founders Day Celebration
Of Special Interest To Webster
Western Carolina University's
Founders Day Celebration and
Inauguration of Dr. Harold F.
Robinson as Chancellor on October
26 promises to be an important
event for Webster as well as
the university. The all day celebration,
which marks WCU's
eighty-fi[th birthday, is planned
to be a tribute to the men and
women who built the past, and
many of those to be recognized
had strong ties with Webster .
Websterite Robert Lee Madison
, founder and first president of
the institute in Cullowhee, will be
the focal point of a pageant
entitled ''Dream A Long Shadow,"
to be performed at 2:30
p.m . in Memorial Stadium. The
dramatization depicts the growth
of WCU from an Indian valley to
the present university with an
e~rollment of 6,000. The empha SIS
of the pageant is on the early
days of the institution with Professor
Madison as the most
col?rful character. The pageant ,
wh1ch was written by Lillian
Wyatt Hirt , public relations director
at Southwestern Technical
Institute, will be narrated by two
WCV ):!r~dUdles, David and Betty
Iiin. Approximately fifty persons
":ill be involved in the acting,
d•rected by WCU English faculty
member William Paulk.
The theme for the day-long
celebration will be "The Progress
Of An Idea ," a phrase
taken from the title of a history of
the university written by Presi dent
Emeritus W. E. Bird. The
phrase was employed in earlier
times by Professor Madison to
capture the spirit of how and why
the institution was begun.
The Inauguration and Founders
Day Steering Committee is
chaired by Dr. Marilyn Jody,
WCU English faculty member
and vice president of the Webster
Histo rical Society. Under her
direction, committees have been
working on the celebration since
last spring.
The formal inauguration of Dr.
Harold F. "Cotton" Robinson as
WCU's new chancellor will take
place at 10:30 at Reid Health
and Physical Education Building.
The new chancellor is himself a
mounta in man. A native of
Bandana in Mitchell County , Dr.
Robinson is interested in fostering
an appreciation of the culture
and hi story of the region and the
university .
Delegates from colleges and
universities throughout the country
are being invited to the
formal inauguration. Dr. William
Friday, president of the University
of North Carolina, will
preside at the inauguration and
conduct the formal installation of
Dr. Robinson .
Governor Jim Holshouser is
scheduled to attend, bringing the
official greetings of the state to
the new chancellor. Delivering
the inaugural address will be
Clifford R. Hardin, former U. S.
Secretary of Agriculture and now
chairman of the board of Ralston-
Purina Company.
Special greetings to the chancellor
will be brought by Clifford
Lovjn , the vice chairman of the
Faculty-Administration Senate ;
Donna Clemer, president of the
Student Body ; Keith R. Hundley
of Washington , D. C., president of
the WCU Alumni Association;
James H. Glenn, chairman of the
board of trustees and William A.
Dees, Jr., of Goldsboro, chairman
of the board of governors.
A formal academic procession ,
in which all visiting delegates
and the Western Carolina faculty
will take part will be a part of the
ina uguration . All university students
are invited to the inauguration
and have been urged by
Dr. Jody to attend. Special
invitations have been sent to
honor students , and they will
receive recognition after the
procession.
An inaugural luncheon will be
held in Dodson Cafeteria for
visiting delegates and special
guests including retired faculty
and staff members and members
of the families of the founders.
Because of limited seating, the
luncheon will be by invitation.
Congressman Roy A. Taylor will
be the luncheon speaker.
At noor. , the " Hallways of
Time," an exhibition of historical
artifacts, pictures and other displays
depicting the growth and
development of the institution
will open in Belk Building. The
exhibition will remain opened
until 2:00 and then will reopen
from 3:00 until 10:00 p.m.
" Hallways of Time" will present
a capsule history of WCU. On
hand ~viii be displays consisting
of artifacts and memorabilia of
Western's four founders, Robert
L, Madison , Alonzo C. Reynolds,
H1ram T. Hunter and William E.
Bird. A portrait of Madison
painted by his wife, and Mrs.
Madison's portrait will be displayed
along with those of the
other early founders. " Hallways
of Time" will be concluded with a
sound-film strip which will offer a
more detailed history of the
university. The exhibition is free
to all students, faculty , members
of the university community and
guests . Refreshments will be
served in the foyer of Belk
Building at the conclusion of each
show.
At2:30 p.m. , the Founders Day
program will open in Memorial
Stadium, with Frank H. Brown,
Jr ., vice chancellor for development
and extended services, presiding
. All "oldtimers" and founders
and members of their families
will be given special recognition
and President Emeritus
Paul A. Reid will speak. At this
time, the pageant, "Dream 6
Long Shadow" will be presented.
fr!t 6tg·~ii,a:~~td~~r ~e~~~~cu:t
Whitmire Stadium , followed by
entertainment by Lula Belle and
Scotty Wiseman of country music
fame, the Marc Pruett Band, and
the Bill Nichols Family Cloggers.
Exhibition square dancing and
square dancing for all who want
to join in has been planned.
The " Hallways of Time" will
reopen at 4 p.m. and remain open
until 10 p.m . Campus bus tours
for visitors are being arranged
by the Student Government Association.
Many persons planning to attend
the_ festivities are planning
to dress m clothes reminiscent of
the turn of the century.
Historic W ehster Huge Success
Historic Webster Week, sponsored
by the Webster Historical
Society and occurring July 4
through July 7 at the former
Webster School was by all accounts
a huge success. Excellent
organization , careful planning,
and enthusiastic implementation
of the plans resulted in a celebration
unequaled in form er July
Fourths in Jackson County.
Crowds thronged the grounds,
halls and rooms . Food, entertainment
and games abounded. It
was a time for renewing acquain·
lances and visiting with old
friends , for many had planned
their vacation trips to Jackson
County to coincide with the
week 's festivities .
Days of hard work were necessary
to clean a nd put into usable
shape the grounds and the building
for the week 's events. Spencer
Clark aided by community
helpers, accomplished this with
great dispatch .
Paul and Linda c- • ., overall
chairmer., ..vorked tirelessly in
planning , assigning responsibilities
, and assisting in the implementation
of the Special Events.
The celebration began at five
o'clock Thursday , July 4, with a
delicious dinner catered by Canterbury
Inn and served in the
auditorium by Webster women.
At seven were the flag raising
ceremonies by Boy Scout Troop
No. 903 of Webster. With Roy
Baker, Mayor of Webster , serving
as Master of Ceremonies, Mr.
Arthur Allman and Mrs. Lillie
Rhinehart were introduced as
Mr. and Mrs. Historic Webster.
Belly Price, President of the
Webster Historical Society, presented
the two with beautifully
inscribed scrolls made by Elizabeth
Keyes of Sylva.
At eight o'clock in the auditorium
, eight students , the " University
Players," from the Department
of Speech and Theatre
Arts of Western Carolina University,
gave an hour's program of
readings and music in keeping
with the Fourth of July theme.
Their director was Dr. Kathleen
Carr of the drama department of
the university.
A precision smooth performance
by the Webster Cloggers,
country music and square dancing
rounded out the evening.
Friday, July 5, brought the
opening of the Arts and Crafts
booths to which the crowds
flocked. Much interest was
evinced in the quilting , weaving
and wood carving. Many attractive
handmade articles were for
sale by the Junior Homemakers
Club . Linda Perry, with her
dulcimer, entertained the visi·
tors.
On the school grounds, games
and contests supervised by
James Roper, delighted young
and old.
A buffet dinner, catered by
Canterbury Inn , was followed at
7:30 by the WCU production
"The World of Carl Sandburg."'
The Arts and Crafts booths
were again open on Saturday.
Martha Willis of Appalachian
Shop presented in a room , set
aside for that purpose, continuous
s~owings of films on Appalachian
culture. Bingo in ano·
ther room provided entertainment
for the foot weary.
On the school grounds in the
afternoon, the Horse Show drew a
large attendance. The mouth
watering aroma of barbecued
pork and chicken, cooked in an
open pit , filled the air. Later, this
meat provided the main item in
the dinner served in the auditorium
by the Jaycees.
A second performance at 7:30
p.m. of "The World of Carl
Sandburg" was the highlight of
the evening. Country music and
square dancing concluded the
day's events.
Sunday, July 7 at 1:00 p.m . was
Continued On Page 3
l\lr. Arthur Allman receiving his scroll from Betty Price.
--+X+---+>0< ....... ..-•e• - ~+- ,- .~.00.-+)0..~¢
Buy A Cookbook
it is st ill nvlrc than two months until Christmas and
already your mailboxes a rc filling up with catalogues
frnm a ll rJV er the country with a mi lliQn suggestions fQr
gift s. Christmas shopping should really not. be a chm·e this
year. For each family Qn your Chri stmas gift list, there
shf)uld be a t least nne CQpy of The Webster Cookbook.
It can a lmost be guaranteed that Christmas will be
merrier if The Webster Cookbook is found under the tree.
But dnn"t wai t until that mQrning to open. If you do delay.
it may be toQ late to cook the special holiday dinner that is
described in the bnQk. It tells how to prepare an Qld
fashioned western North Carolina dinner from sillabub to
rQast tu rkey to fresh cocQnut cake.
There is llQ dQubt that The Webster Cookbook wi ll be the
most ptJpular present opened that morning. Not only will
you enjQy reading the favori te recipes Qf your friends and
neighbors. but alsiJ you just won 't be able to keep from
smiling l)r giving a sigh when you read Dorothy Moore's
recollection of a snQwy Christmas day in early twentieth
century Webste r. The snQW, the candlelight, the carols
drifting up the road from the Methodist Church, the table
groaning under its weight of holiday foQd . It all still
sounds like Webster.
\'Qu'll want to tarry Qver Florence Rhinehart's
sketches--t he court house , the old school , the Hedden
Hnuse. the MQQre House--and remember the fun there. If
you have 111f)VCd away, you will wish you were there ; and
if you still live in Webster, you'll be glad.
There is just tQO much to describe, but it is a book fQr all
seasQns. You can as easily plan a summer dinner with
Dottie Thornburg's grapefruit salad as you can a fall
supper with lea ther britches beans and cornbread. If you
~rc looking for adventures in cooking, cooking the old
lime way, you will wan t to try Florence Fisher's recipes
fnr wild game. Even if you don't have the meat to cook
"her way" you wi ll enjoy reading the way she did it.
The first editiQn of The Webster Cookbook. a hard back
book with a colored dust jacket of the village from
Riverwood Hill , will be off the press in November. If
orders con tinue tQ come in as t_hey are coming now , the
books may be sold out by the lime they arrive from the
publishe,·. If you have ordered your copy, remember to
get one fm a holiday present for a friend or relative. If you
don't use your order blank oass it on to ::i friend who mav
not have seen it. We guarantee it as a book you will be
proud to own and have on your book shelf.
Joe Parker Rhinehart
-~¢(~:•. "1!'-+-.,.e, --.}¢(-.-~...-.,-.,_.-,_.:_~.:,;;:._~;:~_;-+::;:) +-'""'·~·~~<!f~
Page 2 HISTORIC WEBSTER FALL !974
Country Store
An old·fashioned Country Store
materialized in a former classroom
for Historic Webster Days.
Gray, barn, time weathered
boards on loan from Dr. Ralph
Morgan provided a folksy backdrop
to tables of home baked
breads , cakes, cookies, fresh and
home canned produce and handmade
crafts.
The old timey feeling was
enhanced by the loan of many
treasured fam ily heirlooms from
Webster folks . Many people were
drawn to the store by all these
relics from the past. The young
people couldn 't even guess what
most of them were. They included
a handcrank corn sheller, a
large iron wash pot and a butter
press lent by Hattie and Dan
Cowan ; and many small kitchen
items including an iron , cabbage
shredder, leather britches and
dried herbs belonging to Marilyn
Jody and Betty Price. The baked
goods were displayed in old cases
from Roy Baker's shop, which
were donated by him to the
Webster Historical Society.
The scale from the old Webster
sto re, sti ll in good working order,
was on loan to the Country Store
from Helen Cowan. Barbara
Mann lent her extensive tool and
utensil collection. This was
Another news brief: Our Society
President has been appointed
Director of Jackson County's
Bi-Centennial celebration in 1976
which promises to be an exciting
year nationwide . Your ideas are
solicited.
:l!t:::;:::::;::::::::::~:::::::'fili
Staff
EDITORS
Mrs. Louise Davis
Ms. Alice Harri ll
Dr. Marilyn Jody
TYPISTS
Mrs. Sara Barret
Mrs. Jennie Lou Hunter
CONTRIBUTORS
Mrs. Isabel Carlton
Mrs. Elizabeth Keys
Mr. James A. Madison
Mrs. Diane Nicholson
;:;: Mr. Joe Parker Rhinehart ;:;:-
;t:::;:;:;:;:~f~:::?::~:~~:~~::~~:~~~~:;::::::::~?
~ounted on one wall and provided
many a visitor with lots of
good fun , remembering and
guesswork . An heirloom calico
ta ble cloth belonging to Mildred
Cowan covered the craft table. A
beehive string holder from the
post office provided package
wrapping material.
The Flower Garden Quilt was
won by Ethel Buchanan, a Webster
resident. Southwestern
Technical Institute, Extension
Division donated their work on
the quilt.
Special demonstrations
brought crowds into the Country
Store on Friday and Saturday
afternoons. Hattie Cowan demonstrated
butter churning, with
the eager assistance of several
onlookers. The delicious results
were sold before the demonstration
was fini shed.
Susan Morgan demonstrated
spinning and Martha Fraker
showed backstrap weaving. Arlene
Stewart set up her broom
making equipment and compl eted
two brooms.
Judging by the overflow crowd
and many questions to a talk and
di splay of herbal medicine by
Marina Shebitz, there is a widespread
renewal of interest in the
medicine used by our forefathers.
Mrs. Shebitz did a brisk business
with her golden seal and myrrh ,
and comfrey sa lves.
A store feature enjoyed by the
young people was a checkerboard
and a coupl e of old nail kegs for
sitting on and just whiling away
time in a fri endly game or two .
The Country Store was officially
open from 10-6 Friday and
Saturday. It was so popular that
plans are to open evenings too
next year.
One of Webster 's oldest residents,
Miss Lucy Hedden, hon·
ored the store with her enthusiastic
help. Other storekeepers in
old fashioned attire incluried
Judy Bacon, Laura Coffey , Judy
Coyle, Ann McFadden, Lois Powers,
Lolly Safford , Gracia Slater
, Gail Wilson and Carol Wood.
The Country Store sold all the
homemade breads, brownies,
cookies and goodies we could
bake or borrow . In addit ion , by
actual count, we sold 274 five cent
candy sticks, canned goods ,
Cherokee Sheltered Workshop
beads, brooms, patchwork pillows,
corn shuck dolls, and other
crafts.
Submitted by: Gracia Slater
World Of Carl Sandburg
" rhe World of Car l Sandburg" was presented at the
1/\ebs fer School on July 5 and 6 preceded by dinner each
evening. The presentation by the players was fantastic
and enJoyed by all who attended.
rhe play was compi led and adapted by Norman
C.orw in and covered the works ot Car l Sa ndburg tram
lhe crad le to the grave. It was a compilation ot song,
prose, and poetry displaying Mr. Sandburg's sense ot
humor, sen se of beauty and sense of t ragedy.
r he players were Nancy Hammill ot Brevard, James
[ ichling of Pumpkin Town, and Robert Zipperer of
Ra leigh. Dr. Kathleen Ca rr ot the Department ot Speech
and rheatre Arts at Western Carolina Uni vers ity was
the director.
The Webster Cookbook
Drawer W
Webster, North Carolina 28788
Or der Form
From The
Scrapbook
(From the Jackson
County Journal)
Dr. A. S. Nichols and Miss Rosa
Cole were very nearly going
down the Tuckaseigee without
the aid of a boat. Not supposing
the river to be so full , they drove
their buggy into the stream and
in the middle of it the mule
refused to go on . The water was
running over the top of the buggy.
It looked as if Miss Cole would be
drowned, but just at the right
time a dar key on a mule went into
the river and rescued Miss Rosa
first and afterwards the Dr.
<From the Jackson
County Journal>
Webster is still in the lead . One
of her progressive children , 0 . B.
Coward, has put down the first
piece of paved side walk ever
seen in Jackson County. He has
finished up about 40 ft. in front of
his store and it looks so pretty
that Mr. Joe Rhinehart just
across the street is almost ready
to put the cement on the walk in
front of his store. If our good
people will keep this work up, the
people of Jackson county will yet
be proud of Webster. Who will
follow th e example set?
Wild-Gribble
<From the J ackson
County Journal)
A pretty home wedding was
celebrated at the home of Mr.
Rufus Gribble, in Savannah
township, at eleven o'clock on
Wednesday morning, June 7. The
contracting parties were Mr.
Charlie Wild, of Webster, and
Miss Effie Gribble, rl a u {l:~' :·r oi
Mr. Rufus Gr ibble. .~. 11 ..: bridesmaids
·.; ere Misses Carrie Bumgarner
and Julie Frizell. The
groomsmen were Messrs . J . T.
Gribble and John Stewart. Miss
Bumgarner was maid of honor.
The ceremony was performed by
the writer in the presence of a
large number of relatives and
friends, all of whom joined in
wishing th e young couple a happy
and prosperous life .
Immedia tely after the ceremony
the bridal party left for the
home of the groom where a large
number were gathered to receive
and welcome the bride and
groom. Soon aft er the arrival the
guests were invited into the
dining room where a bountiful
dinner was served , which was
very much enjoyed by the large
number present. Then, after an
hour 's pleasant conversation,
about the house and on the lawn,
the guests departed to their
homes, all expressing good wishes
for the happy young couple.
May God 's richest blessings
ever attend their pathway.
V. L. Marsh
(Mr. V. L. Marsh was Webster
circuit preacher in 1903·1905.)
Enclosed isS------:---- Send .""!e-----c.opies of THE WEBSTER COOKBOOK a t
S6.00 plus .75 fo ~ wrappmg and ma tltng . North Carolina residents add .2-4 sales ta x. Indicate on
~e parate ~ h ~e t _ d books are to be mailed to other than person making order . Gift cards will be
tncluded .1 f tnd tcaled.
NAME
ADDRE SS
CITY -------- STATE------ ZIP---
Additional Members Of The
Webster Historical Society
Omitted rrom the First Charter List
Barrett, Dr. A. L.
Cannon , Mrs. Lewis
Leonard, Mr. and Mrs. Raymond
Potts, Mr. and Mrs. Hubert
Simpson, Mr. and Mrs. Ray
Sutton, Mrs. Fred
North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina
Additional Charter Members
Allman , Aian
Ashe, Zeb
Allison , Hannah
Allison , Roy
Brown, David Hall
Brown, Frank H.
Brown, Sara Cowan
Bryson , Mr. and Mrs. J . S.
Buchanan, Ruth
Bumgarner, Ernest
Burrell, Conrad
Byer, Katherine S.
Cagle, Harry
Chester, Lawrence M.
Cogdill , Bonnie
Cogdiii , Pat
Cowan, Frank
Cowan, Dr. and Mrs. William J.
Coward, Mr. and Mrs. Ray
Cross , Mrs. Mary
Crowe, Mrs. Dewey
Davis, Chris
Davis, Robert
Dewees, Mrs. Mary E .
Evans, Mr. and Mrs. Jim
Gauzens, Mr. and Mrs. T. 0 .
Hager, Mrs. Sue
Hall , Robert C.
Harding , Mr. and Mrs. Robert
Hooker , Robert
Hughes, Glenn
Jakes, Mr. and Mrs. Robert
Kneedler, Mr. and Mrs. Jay
Kennedy , Mrs. F . R.
Kinsland , Mr. and Mrs. Tommy
McCoy, Padgett
McCray, Mrs. Jane
McDonald, Mrs. M. F.
Mabry, Mr. and Mrs. Malcom
Massie, Mr. and Mrs. Harvey
Miller, Mr. and Mrs. Donald
Morgan, Dr. and Mrs. Ralph
Nichols, Mrs. Mary B.
Painter , Mr. and Mrs. Eldridge
Pangle, Jr ., Mr . and Mrs. Henry D.
Parris, Mr. and Mrs. John
Peacock, Richard
Perry, Mr. and Mrs. Dwain
Phillips, Charles H.
Purser , Sara B.
Rathbun , Mrs. A. A.
Roper , Mr. and Mrs. John
Rowlson , Mrs. Hannah Lou
Searcy, James
Shore, Miriam Y.
Sitten, David D.
Smith, Reverend Joe
Smith, June T.
Sumner, Florence
Walker, Mrs. W. Queally
Widman, Mr. and Mrs . F. W.
Williams, Max R.
Wilson , Mr. and Mrs. Bobby
Woodard, Jr ., Charles D.
Wright, Mrs. C. C.
Tennessee
North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina
Australia
North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina
California
North Carolina
North Carolina
Nor th Carolina
Nor th Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina
Georgia
North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina
Tennessee
North Carolina
North Carolina
Florida
North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina
Florida
North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina
Nor th Carolina
Florida
NQrth Carolina
North Carolina
Nor th Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina
California
Virginia
Florida
North Carolina
Maryland
U.S. Army
North Carolina
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North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina
Florida
Members After July 10, 1974
Allison , Jack
Cargill, Laurie
Coward, James 0 .
Davis, Th
Historic Webster Vol. 6 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.newsletter of the Webster Historical Society, Inc.
• p
VOLUME VI, NUMBER 2 WEBSTER, NORTH CAROLINA SPRING, 1979
On the Scene
with
Lawrence C. Frizzell
''Entertainment''
Entertainments around Webster
in my day were few and far
between, but when the Ingle
Sisters put on a show in the
courtroom everybody turned ot
and enjoyed it to the limit. The
three sisters played violins (fiddles)
with a flair that brought
down the house. There was also
a tight wire act that was pretty
good, and several other things
to round out the show. Afterward
a number of fiddles appeared
in the community and
music was heard over the countryside.
Some of us stretched
wires or ropes between posts
and tried to imitate the tight
rope artists, with scant success.
Social activity was rather
limited in those days. Occasionally
there would be a dance,
or something called a "candy
pullingn to vary the monotomy.
the "candy" was molasses mixed
with a little flour to help
thicken it and boiled until it was
quite thick. When it had cooled
somewhat, a boy and a girl
would grease their palms with
butter, take a big gob of the
mollasses in their hands , and,
facing each other, stretch the
candy between them in loops
and pull it back and forth until it
was smooth, firm , and a little
creamy. It was then placed on
plates and was eaten with much
appreciation.
"Court Week", held twice a
year, also varied the monotomy
a little. " Week" was not quite
accurate, because court usuaJly
lasted two weeks, and brought a
lot of people in to town for the
litigation. In addition to the
jurors and litiga nts , lawyers
from adjoining counties usually
were in attendance. The local
lawyers included Walter E.
Moore, Felix Alley, Will Sherril,
and Coleman Cowan. mr. Moore
usually put on quite a show with
his impassioned speeches in defense
of his clients. Mr. Cowan
occupied an office on the north
side of the courthouse, and his
light, which was visible from
our house above the cemetery,
was almost always shining until
late at night. He later built
himself an office between Mr.
Oscar Coward's store and Captain
Terrill's house where his
secretary , Miss Ethel Leatherwood,
held forth. He later
married her as I remember.
She was able to take shorthand,
which was an unusual accomplishment
in Webster . He met
an untimely death in the early
twenties when his car ran over
him as he was opening a gate up
on Locust Creek. He and his
brother Napoleon, the minister,
were among the most outstanding
of the old residents of
Webster. Another of the outstanding
and brilliant attorneys
was Frank Ray of Franklin.
At that time there were two
hotels , or boarding houses, in
Webster ; the Mountain View
Hotel, owned and operated by
Mr. F. H. Leatherwood, and the
Coward House, owned operated
Continued On Page 3
Mrs. Allison was daughter
of early WNC family
Eugenia Johnston Moore
was 19 years old when
this photograph was
taken. This is a copy of a
tintype.
By Eugenia Johnston Moore Allison
I, was born September 10, 1878 at Brasstown, North Carolina,
Clay County. My parents, Daniel Killian Moore of Buncombe
County, North Carolina , and Matilda Caroline Dickey of Cherokee
County, North Carlina were married October 28, 1868. To this union
five children were born: Fred, Blanche, Harriet, Lucinda
Margaret and I, the youngest. My parents were well educated for
their day and taught us to love reading and other educational
things. I was about six years old when I started to school in a one
room school house with logs for fuel and one teacher and the school
lasted three months with two weeks out for "fodder pulling".
I grew up on a farm where we always had horses, cows, hogs,
sheep, and chickens to supply good food for a growing family.
My father , a son of colonel Charles Moore, was born where Enka
now stands and grew to manhood there, being educated in Sand Hill
Academy. He was born on October 23, 1845. Many of the citizens of
his day were educated there.
My mother, born May 13, 1846, after attending school near her
home went to school at Franklin and boarded with "Uncle Jack"
Johnston and wife, who was cousin Eugenia Siler Johnston. My
mother named me for this very prominent couple of Franklin,
Macon County, North Carolina. My grandmother, Harriet Lowery
Siler, a daughter of Esther Siler, is where we trace our relationship
to the Silers in Macon County.
My grandfather Moore was married twice, first to a Miss
Penland, and to this union was born a son, Hamilton, cousin Walter
Moore's father, and a daug-hter A valine, who married Jack Alvin
Candler, Charlie Candler's grandfather . .In later years he married
Lucinda Killian and there were six children; one daughter,
Margaret Eliza, who married Julius Alexander, and five sons,
including my father,· who was a Confederate veteran ~nd lieutenant.
David was in the Confederate army and was killed and
buried in Richmond, Virginia. J ames was a doctor and a bachelor,
who went to Arkansas and practiced there. Robert was also in the
Confederate army and a captain. Samuel was the youngest and he
went a lso the Arkansas, where he married, lived and died, leavmg
two daughters there. Of the five sons, three of them had o~e son
each and each one made a lawyer and later m hfe each Judge:
Hamilton, cousin Walter 's fath er ; Robert, cousin Charlie's father ;
and Daniel, my father , who was Fred's father was elected the
youngest judge in North Carolina. He died in 1908 a the age of 38.
Continued On Page 2
Webster meant school, church, friends
By Anne Morgan Sea lor
When my father and mother,
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Morgan,
bought the F . H. Lea therwood
house, on Webster's
Main Street about 1919, and we
moved from Sylva to Webster, I
was six years old. I remember
how excited we children were
about living right in the middle
of Webster, close to school and
church. We did not have to go by
buggy into "Town" anymore,
although that was a big thrill
too.
We enjoyed getting acquainted
with all the new neighbors.
On one side lived Mrs. Eugenia
Allison , who was also the post
master and a marvelous neighbor.
On the other side lived, first
Mr. and Mrs. Swanger and later
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Woody,
and farther up the street, Mrs.
Mattie McKee and just across
the street Mr. and Mrs. Joe
Hoyle. Needless to say they all
had good sized familie.s. which
meant a lot of children to play
with.
There was great excitement
about being able to walk to
school and come home at lunch
time, which we did except in
very bad weather. My first trip
to the school house was with my
older brother, and he timed the
walk to see just how long it took
us. We had instructions for "no
stopping" along the way.
My first visit to Mr. Lewis
Broyles' store was with my
father. I was duly impressed
with him , as he gave me a piece
of candy in the shape and of the
color of a peach. My father probably
paid him for it, but I do
not remember that part of the
story. I think everyone in Webster
loved Mr. Broyles. He was
never in a hurry nor did he loose
patience with any customer.
During the hot summer months,
almost every week-end there
was an ice cream supper in the
natural park in front of his
store. I remember my mother
helping with the arrangements,
and my older brothers were
very good at truning the handles
on the ice cream machines.
Our house was an "L shape"
There was an outside door for
every room, far too many for
my mother to worry about, so
my father tore down two of the
rooms. We had the deepest well
around, about 110 feet I think.
When it came to drawing water
from it I thought it was a mile.
Most of the people who gathered
at the post office twice a day for
their mail , would draw water
from the well, because it was
very cold. We always had a
social time just before "mail
time" and a lot of people would
s it on our front porch waiting
for Mr. Authur Allman, who
carried the mail from Sylva to
Webster for a ll the years I was
in Webster. We enjoyed the
news Mr. Allman brought, and
of course the tales he used to tell
about his experiences, even his
Continued On Page 4 Mr. and Mrs. William H. Morgan, about 1919.
Page 2, HISTORIC WEBSTER, Spring, 1979
Mrs. Eugenia Moore Allison was Webster's
Continued From Page I
My gra ndfather Moore, of Scot Irish descent, left Scotland on
account of religious persecution and went to Ireland. He came to
American and settled in Buncome County. The brother who came
with him settled in South Carolina. I remember my grandfather
and grandmother Dickey very distinctly as I grew up in about a
mile from where they lived and often visited them : My grandfather
was a farmer and businessman and prominent in state and county
affairs and represented Cherokee County in the legislature. After
he died 1 often spent nights with grandma and helped her work
when she had no one to help her about her housekeeping.
My grandmother was a most lovable old lady and lived to a ripe
old age. My father and mother begged her many times in her
declining years to break up housekeeping and come and live with
us , but she wanted to stay in her own home and died there. After
learning as much as it seemed I could, I attended Hayesville High
School a while and went to Aunt Myra Slagles and went to school
there one session ; then later on , when I was almost grown, I lived
at my brother Fred's and went to Asheville Normal School for more
than a year until I went to see the Ringling Circus with my brother,
who introduced a friend of his, a rather attractive and charming
bachelor, who fe ll in love with me at first sight, he a lways said , ahd
he "kinder swept me off my feet". So in one year we ~ot Jllarried.
We lived a good and happy life and had four precious. children ;
Ruth Rebecca , Thomas Brag, Jr ., Daniel Moore, and Isabella
Josephine. Right here I failed to say th is charming bachelor was
the late Thomas Bragg Allison of Webster, Jackson County, North
Carolina . He was a wonderful husband and father and I had never
known a sorrow until he sickened and died with Isabel was six
months old.
At almost 28 years I was left to train , educated and provide for a
growing family with help fro both our good families and relatives.
In the year 1908 after my husband's death in 1906, my mother and
brother Fred died with the terrible typhoid fever and my precious
little Tom sickened and died a few months later.
After my husband 's death I moved to my father 's at Brasstown,
Clay County, and lived there until December, 1908. After my
mother's death , my father decided to move back with me to my
home in Webster, where my ch ildren could haVe the advantage of a
good school, nearby church, and be near cousin Walter Moore and
our good Allison relatives and friends. My father lived with me
until his death in February, 1920. He was a wonderful "Old
Southern Gentleman" and was so much help to me in advising,
controlling and guilding the children (and financially , too l. When
Isa bel was 8 years old I was appointed postmaster at Webster and
served the public to the best of my ability until! was 70 years of age
and was automaticlly retired. My annuity check has been a great
help and comfort to me all these years and enabled me to live in my
own home.
After my children were all married , and in their own homes, my
oldest daughter Ruth, who had married John H. Morris and lived a
happy life, was stricken with cancer and died November 13, 1942,
leaving three precious children , John H. Morris, Jr ., age 10 years,
Thomas Allison Morris, age 7 years and Mary Eugenia Morris, age
5 years. John was a wonderful father for them and he, Florence
Fisher, the faithful colored woman who had lived with them since
John H. Jr. , was born, and I did our best to look after and guide
these precious children until John was married again.
<Editor's Note : Mrs. Eugenia Allison was Webster's postma ster
for thirty-four years. She wrote this biography years after she
retired from her work . "Aunt Gene" was modest in her writing. She
did not say that her grandfather was William Moore, who built the
first house west of the Blue Ridge, that her husband was the first
white child born in Webster. and that she was a mainstay in the
Webster Community. She served on the offic ial board of the
Webster United Methodist Church: she was a Eastern Star
member: and she was a leader of theW. A. Enloe Daughters of the
When Mrs. Allison passed away on Ocotber 17, 1970, at age 92, she
was a great lady, who had the admiration and respect and love of
her family . friends , and neighbors .)
A wedding
Last Wednesday at high noon
the marariage ceremony of
Miss Eugenia Moore and Mr. T.
B. Allison, of Webster , was
solemnized by Rev. J. T. Stover
at the country home of the
bride's parents, Mr. and Mrs.
D. K. Moore, on Brasstown , 7
miles south of Murphy.
The occasion was characterized
by a lithe quiet happiness of
a home wedding. The bride
wore a becoming dress of li~ht
grey. She is a beautiful girl of
many admirable and attractive
qualities.
The groom stands high in
Jackson county as a business
man and possesses personal
traits that wins friends wherever
he goes.
Following the ceremony a
delicious luncheon was served,
after which the bride and
groom , accompanied by several
friends , left for their future
home at Webster.
On Wednesday night a reception
was given the bridal party
by Mrs. Nettie Dickey at Drummers'
Home, and those who
know that house, so famous for
clever entertaining and unstinted
de licacies, know how that
table was furnished. After supper
the company was entertained
by Col. Walter Moore and
Capt. J. E. Smith with violin
and piano accompaniment by
Miss Mamie Moore. The SCOUT
wishes them much happiness in
their future life.
Miss Maggie Moore accompanied
the bridal party Thursday
morning to Webster.
- From THE CHEROKEE
SCOUT, December 18, 1899.
Row I (L-Rl L 1921 Mrs. Allison on 1
Moore, Dan Allison, Isabel Allison, 1\
Allison and her children were living i
Bragg Allison , Jr., and Isabella Jose[
Hicks Wilson House. The building on
Morris, are in front of the post office
Mrs. Allison and children ( L-R) Rul
Webster home. 4. 1954 Mrs. Allison a
Caroline Matilda Dickey Moore. 2. t
Eugenia Moore Allison.
, post master for 35 years
he steps ol her home (built 1850 by Dr. C.Z. Candler's lather). In the photograph are (L-R) Enloe
:rs. Fred (Lela) Moore, Dan Moore, and Mrs. Allison. 2. 1908 This photograph was taken when Mrs.
n Brasstown, North Carolina. Children (L-R) Daniel Moore Allison, Ruth Rebecca Allison, Thomas
1hine Allison. 3. 1924 Mrs. Allison is in front of her house known as the Gribble House. It was also the
the right was the Masonic Hall. Row 2. t. 1939 Mrs. Allison and her granddaughter, Mary Eugenia
located in the corner of her yard. The mail bags are ready to be picked up by Arthur Allman. 2. 1916
11, Isabel, and Dan are on the porch of their house in Webster. 3. 1958 Mrs. Allison in yard of her
td her sister, Mrs. Blanche Allison. Row 3. I. 1900 Mrs. Allison's parents, Daniel Killian Moore and
()2 Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Bragg Allison and their daughter Ruth Rebecca in Webster. 3. 1958 Mrs.
HISTORIC WEBSTER, Spring, 1979, Page 3,
Recollections
by
Janice Monteith Blanton
"Mrs. Eugenia Allison"
I remember the winter I
stayed at night with Mrs. Allison,
londly relerred by many
as "Aunt Gene," for a remark·
able "salary" ol 50 cents a
week! She usually spent the
winter in Florida with her
daughter, Isabel Carleton , but
for some reason she chose to
spend this particular winter in
Webster, with me, a teenager,
recruited as her nightly "guardian.
" We lived next door, and I
would go over to Mrs. Allison's
each night around eight o'clock.
Mrs. Allison, a d!gnified southern
lady, was remarkable in
many ways. Rather ta ll , she
was usually dressed in a cotton
dress which always looked
freshly pressed. Her snow white
hair was very carefully pinned
up on her head in a becoming
style. constantly whistling and
singing, Mrs. Allison was consistently
happy. She always
greeted me cheerlully, and we
would sit together by the lireplace
and chat or listen to
records. One ol the hit records I
particularly enjoyed on these
evenings was " Mockingbird
Hill." In r eflection, I am amazed
at how contentedly she, an
elderly lady in her eighties,
shared my musical interests
and seemed so sincerely interested
in my teenage involvements
that we discussed during
these nightly visits.
Each night when we were
ready for bed, Mrs. Allison
would take two old-fashioned
irons sitting by the fireplace
and carelully wrap each with a
heavy towel or cloth. Our
bedrooms were unheated and
Col. Frizzell
often icy cold in winter. When
we went uostairs to bed. the last
thing Mrs. Allison did each
nigh-t was to open the two double
windows in our rooms four to
five inches wide- no matter
what the temperature was outside-
and place one of the carefully
wrapped warm irons at my
feet. She would then cheerlully
bid me " Good Night" and take
the other iron to her room to
use.
Each morning , I awaken to
the cheery sound of her voice,
calling me to breakfast. Shivering,
I would rush downstairs to
the warm kitchen, heated primarily
by a small, portable oil
heater, to enjoy a hot breaklast
or bacon , eggs, and the best
toast I've ever eaten, made on
an old toaster which " pressed"
the bread tightly.
I suppose the heated iron was
a forerunner of the electric
blanket; however, at the time, I
remember thinking that opening
windows in the dead of
winter was a terrible idea. But,
looking back on the experience,
I realize that that winter was
one of the healthiest of my lile 1
Certainly, the nightly companionship
of such a line lady made
it one of my most memorable.
Who knows , perhaps that cool,
fresh night air was one of Mrs.
Allison 's secrets for living such
a long and healthy lile?
Janice Monteith Blanton will
continue to write a feature for
lollowing issues ol HISTORIC
WEBSTER. Mrs. Blanton grew
up in Webster. She will report
on people in the village whom
she remembers.
Court Week Fun
Continued From Page I
by Mr. Nathan and Mrs. Sophia
Coward. She was known by
everybody as "Aunt Soph"
(Both these houses burned in
the 1910 lire). The two hotels
were totally inadequate to handle
all the court week visitors,
so they spread out into the
country wherever they could
find accommodations. We barely
had room for all the members
of our family , but during court
week we had many guests,
lriends or my father throughout
the county. My mother would
make "pallets" on the floor for
these guests, and they seemed
happy with the primitive arrangements.
Colonel Lawrence C. Frizzell,
a son of W. D. and Ellen Long
Frizzell. was born in Webster
November 25, 1891. After school
in Webster and college at North
Georgia, he was given a commission
in the army in 1917. He
retired in 1946 and he and his
wife now live in Fort Myers,
Florida.
Colonel Frizzell's column now
is a re_gular l'eature in HISTORIC
WEBSTER and in the
next issue he will write about
"Preachers."
AJIIIIJ!MIIIMlD. ~HISTORIC~
't'1 I'i ·;-\i~ WEBSTE! newsletler ol the Webster Historical Society, Inc.
Spring. 1979 Webster. North Carolina 28788
Editor Joe P. Rhinehart
Contributors : Janice Montieth Blanton, Lawrence C. Frizzell.
Isabel Allison Carlton. Mary Morris, Anne Morgan
Seal or
Published quarterly by the Webster Historical Society and
printed by the Hera ld Publishing Company, Sylva, North
Carolina
Page 4, HISTORIC WEBSTER, Spring, 1979
Morgans had stamina of the pioneer family
Continued From Page 1
hearty laugh, always left everyone
in a good mood.
My father, who was a carpenter
by trade, worked away
from home a great deal of time.
frantic when I returned. I was
so frightened after it was all
over, I cried.
My father loved horses and
kept at least one for many years
after he bought a car. In his
almost two weeks later. He had
a wild time picking the feathers
off the chickens to make chicken
broth. A cook he was not, but
he really tried, and the people
did survive. We laughed many
Anne Morgan Sealor remembers the Leatherwood House as looking like this when
the Morgan family moved there in 1919. -
I recall he worked on a lot of
dams being built in Georgia and
Tennessee. Tullulah Falls was a
early one, then Alcoa , Calderwood,
Tennessee Valley, and
Chickamauga. I'm sure there
were others, but I do not
remember them. He traveled on
horseback for a long time, and
then he bought a Model-T Ford.
When he brought it home all the
older children got to drive it
alone down to the school house
and back. I had never been
under a steering wheel, but my
father said the only way to learn
to drive was just like swimming;
in other words, we were
tossed into the water. I made
my trip fine , but my mother was
James, 1944
What has become of the six
Morgan children?
James (1009·1976 ~ joined the
navy in 1927. After working in
the Akron, Ohio, rubber fac·
tories, he worked for thirty
years at the Western Carolina
Sanatorium in Black Mountain.
l-Ie married Margaret Alcox
earlier life he had depended on
his "team" for a livelihood. He
hauled lumber from Caney
Fork to Sylva when he and my
mother were first married, on
November 24, 1907. After they
moved to the "hollow" he kept a
couple of horses for the grandchildren
to ride, but my mother
used to say, he fooled no one
with that story. He just loved
having the animals around.
I vividly recall one very bad
winter, about 1920, when everyone
in the town had influenza
and my dad was the only one
who did not. He tried to take
care of everyone. He went for a
doctor, but he was so busy he
could not come
Historic Webster Vol. 7 No. 2 (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.newsletter of the Webster Historical Society, Inc.
VOLUME VII, NUMBER 2 WEBSTER, NORTH CAROLINA SPRING, 1981
1940 Flood Brings Disbelief, Disaster
By Dale Coward
Tuckasegee was named for
the Cherokee Indian town
which stood beside the river,
Tsiksitsi, which means
"crawling terrapin," named
after the sluggish movement
of the water. "Tuckasegee" is
a lso a poem by Kathryn Stripling
Byer and I am sure there
is river water still flowing in
the blood streams of all of us
who grew up at Webster in
those days so long ago.
About the same time that
war clouds were gathering
over Europe and the
mysterious Far East, storm
clouds were moving over the
Western Carolina mountains,
that were to bring disbelief
and disaster that would go
down in mountain history as
the worst flood to ever hit
Western North Carolina.
"There is no school today.
You might as well go on back
home. Everything is washed
away." These were the words
that Edna Rogers spoke to me
as I met her coming down
Cemetery Road that August
morning forty years ago. The
power had been off for some
time and Tanyard Branch was
roaring louder than usual in
heavy rains, but we were
unaware of the disasterous
... .. ... > <(_ -<' --·~ ~ • • .:r
~ 1..-; ·' ;...!r, \1:~ 11- . . '~--~~
~~~·'4:1l~~'ii;::~"' » _ ,.,
conditions that prevailed just
over the ridge that separated
us from the river. This was
great news to a six-year-old
boy, a few days into the first
grade and still skeptical about
school. I turned and ran back
down the gravel road, almost
dropping my tin lunch box,
grinning all the way.
After telling the news to my
folks, my father grabbed the
Kodak camera and we climbed
into our 1927 Buick sedan
and started out to see wha i
was going on. Our first stop
was near the school at the top
of Town Hill. We could see the
water up near the Cowan
houses on the opposite side of
the river. People were observing
the water from several different
points up and down the
river. There was a large group
down where the bridge had
been standing only a few hours
before. Years later, parts of
the steel from the bridge could
be seen in the Hall Turn where
it had come to rest in a watery
grave. We then made pictures
of the scene before us , and
<Continued on page 2)
The Webster Baptist Church is isolated by the 1940 flood which washed out th£' Webstt"r BridgE" and all otht"r Jackson Co unt~' bridges.
Tht' washed-out road ends at tht> flooded river's t•dge.
Page 2. HISTORICAL WEBSTER, Spring, 1981
Webster Remembers 1940 Fh
The Tuckasegee River rages out of its banks and isolates the Webster Baptist Church. Photo taken from School House I-I ill. (All
photographs were taken by Roger Coward and the cutlines are the information written by Coward on the back of th£'
photographs. l
(Continued from page I)
then roae out to Sylva and on
to Dillsboro.
Only two weeks before,
there had been a much
smaller flood that had caused
only minor damage, and my
father and I had driven down
to check on our good friend,
Aunt Samantha Bumgarner,
who lived just above the river
at the mouth of Big Savannah
Creek. The damage to her
place was minor this time.
The morning of August 29, was
a different story; we could not
get to Aunt Samantha's
because every bridge from
Glenville to Bryson City was
gone. Aunt Samantha's house
had been washed off its foundation
and the churning
waters had carried it down
stream to disappear from
sight, forever.
When the water starting rising,
it rose six feet in fifty
minutes. Seven lives were
lost. Hundreds of livestock
were carried to their death in
the strong current. Property
damage was astronomical.
But with the true mountain
spirit and a willingness to get
things going again, our county
was soon back in business with
our eyes to the future, even if
that future was going to bring
us into World War II fifteen
months later.
The following quotations are
the results of interviews with
persons who lived along the
river at that time:
MILDRED COWAN
I can't imagine sleeping
through that, but we did!
About four in the morning
someone came and woke us
up. We went out on the porch
and there was the most eerie
glow of light on the water that
you have ever seen. I don 't
know what a feeling that it did
give us. There was so many
people; there was a highway
patrolman watching the
bridge just down from our
house. We were on the porch
watching various things go
down, and one thing that impressed
me was this fourroom
house floating down with
a lamp still burning on the
table. Mama and I thought
there was someone crying.
Papa said, "Wait a minute,
girls, that is a cat on the roof."
Whether he told us that to ease
our minds or not I don't know,
but probably it was. Then
when the bridge finally went
out after being hit with boxcars
and debris, this man
hollered, " It's gone! That's
it!"
This happened on the night
of my father's birthday ,
August 29, and I could never
forget it for that reason for it
was his birthday. The water
Tuckasegee River floo
Will Wooten house ;.md b
came up to the edge of our
yard.
I was working in Sylva at
the time for Dr. Chapman, and
of course I couldn 't get to work
the next day or the next. They
came over to the other side of
the river and hollered across
to me. On Sunday I drove my
little Plymouth seventy-two
miles to get it on the other side
of the river. Roy Cowan went
with me and we drove through
Franklin and down by Alarka
and up through Bryson City
and drove a
Bridge and 1
other side of t
from the house
brought us a t
the tern porar
built. The Wil<
Dan lived, wa1
the water was 1
feet of the ceil
floor. The pian•
turned over an
the downstair
guess the only
it from goi:
Tuckasegee River Flood. August :JO. 1940. Tuckasege(' Hiver flood ed August :m. l!t40. Allman farm foreground. llall farm bal·k.
HISTORICAL WEBSTER, Spring, 1981 Page 3
lod With Shock And Disbelief
tl. Arthur Allman house in repair foreground. The D. H. Hall house straight across river partly hidden by trees.
arn gone. Water had r eceded eight feet when taken. August :m. IH40.
cross the Ela
)arked on the
he river across
. The Red Cross
oat to use until
y bridge was
le home, where
; two-story and
1p to within two
ing on the first
>floated up and
I it ruined all of
l furniture. I
thing that kept
1g were the
chimneys on each end. There
was a lot of debris backed up
against it. That was a bad experience
for people to go
through.
LILLIE ALLMAN
The water came up to the
trees in our yard and left logs.
The corn fields were all under
water between us and the
river. The water was up in our
barn , and our cows stall was
all planked up, and the water
got so high that she floated out
over the top between the loft
and the stall. She had to swim
up past the house and she went
all the way to Webster.
JOE RHINEHART
I was driving a Trailways
bus at the time, and I had been
driving in hard rain all day. As
I was coming down the
Franklin highway past Cabe
Hill I could see that the river
was rising fast. As I passed
the Leatherwood cabins just
above the river, I could see
people carrying things out of
the cabins to safer ground. As
I crossed the Dillsboro bridge
and drove down into Dillsboro,
there were two men standing
there. I stopped and one of the
men was Lenore Wilson. He
said, "Boy, we've had it
around here tonight! " The
water was up to the door of the
bus. I went on up to Veil's Cafe
to get me some coffee and
something to eat before going
on home. I was probably the
last one to cross the bridge
before she went out.
CLAUDE QUEEN
(Manager of the Dillsboro and
Sylva Electric
Light Company)
In August of 1940 there was
nine inches of rain, and it really
washed everything away at
the power house except where
that new little machine was.
Dill Jones was staying in the
power house at the time. He
lived in there and even died
there a few years later. The
water came up to my lot. It
came within one hundred feet
of Charlie Snyder's store. It
got in the Snyder house below
me and in the cabins across
the street. My son, Tommy,
and Chunk Morgan's two boys
were swimming through the
cabins in all that muddy water
and all.
After the water went down,
me and Lenore Wilson went up
the river to look at the
damage. There wasn 't any
power in Webster for two
weeks. We walked up through
there and the old Aunt Zedie
Wells house was still standing.
This man was running up and
down the road in his underwear
drinking and cussing.
The law finally had to take
him to jail. That flood was
really something.
They had just started the
Thorpe development and was
pouring the footings for the
power house and were working
on the power dam and tunnel.
After the flood, it took
about a year to get it all
started again. We switched
over to Nantahala. They had a
line into the papermill. We
switched over that morning
about daylight and got power
back down to here.
Everything toward Barkers
Creek and Webster was out,
but Scotts Creek wasn 't
bothered. The line to
Cullowhee was out, but Nantahala
furnished Cullowhee at
the time. It went out about the
Ashe Bridge.
We had one big line truck
and and pickup at the time.
The new bridge here at
Dillsboro had been started
about six months before ; they
had the steel on it. After the
flood, they put lumber on the
lower section and made a
walkway so you could walk
across. They done that in
about a day. The Cullowhee
bridge was right new and of
course it was destroyed. That
flood caused a lot of damage.
BOYD BROWN
The water destroyed my
silage field right here in front
of my house between the
highway and the river. When
the Leatherwood cabins washed
away, they passed the
house here like a convoy of
ships and when they washed
over the power dam, the side
ditches were full of fish. You
could just go out there and dip
them up. The water come up
to the edge of my yard, and all
of the highway was under
water.
POLK ALLMAN
It had rained for about three
days and nights. The night
that the flood came it was a
constant roar , just like so
many jets coming. Maude was
canning pears that night, and
me and Jimmy had made us a
bed on the kitchen floor and
went to sleep. Maude got
through canning the pears
about midnight and got us up
and we went and looked out. In
the East and South we could
hear this racket. We figured it
was a cloudburst coming from
(Continued on page 4)
Dillsboro Power Plant and Ice Plant destroyed by flood. Iron Bridge swept orr pilla•·s and straightened with river. Water receded nine or
trn f<"et when takt·n. August :10. 1940.
PAGE 4, HISTORIC WEBSTER Spring, 1981
Recollections
by
Janice Monteith Blanton
Periodically, as I act or think in certain ways or
remember how I learned to do a particular thing, I am
reminded of one or more of my former Webster neighbors
who may have influenced or taught me. Recently , as I was
trying to teach my six year old son to "tell time," I
thought of the time I had learned and who had
· ~nfluenced " the learning. I'm afraid I was older than my
son- eight years old, in fact. I'll never forget: I was in
the third grade at Webster School. Mrs. Mary Cowan, my
teacher, sent me to the principal's office after school to
see what time it was. I entered the office and asked the
principal the time; he said, "You tell me," and I replied,
" I can't." That was the beginning of my first lesson in
time because I was sent back to Mrs. Cowan to learn to tell
time be lore I left school that very same afternoon! Well,
needless to say, I wanted to go home and eat and naturally,
Mrs. Cowan wasn't excited about staying into the
night, so we cooperated in a very positive way and, as a
result, I did learn to " tell time" that day! That principal
was Mr. Ernest Penland who remained principal at the
school through my graduation and until consolidation in
1961.
As I reminisced about Mr. Penland and the time-telling
experience, it was easy to recol1ect many other situations,
where he influenced, contributed to, and supported my
and other Webster youths' personal development. Come to
think of it, there is a whole passel of Penlands whose
memory I retain fondly for a variety of reasons . There
were, and are, Penlands here, there, and everywhere- in
the store, in the church, in the school, in the neighborhood ,
and all around.
When I was growing up, Mr. Ernest Penland, Sr., was
one of two local store proprietors, a competent tiller of the
soil, a good family man, and a respected Christian. He and
his son, George, were responsible for several of Webster's
finest gardens and gave me my first insight into "farming."
I do believe the care and apparent pleasure they exhibited
in tending God's " little Webster acres" must have
had some influence on my appreciation of nature and love
for getting my hands dirty . I don't think that either Mr.
Penland or George would be too unhappy with us for applying
this love to flowers rather than vegetables. In fact,
maybe Mrs. Margie Penland is responsible for this since
she could always boast some of Webster 's most beautiful
flowers. Mrs. Penland always seemed to be either " putting
up" the harvest of the male Penlands' efforts in the
vegetable gardens or diligently caring for the lovely
flowers.
Ah, that reminds me of Aunt Dess Allison, Mrs.
Penland's sister who lived with the Penlands for as long as
I can remember. Both she and Mrs. Penland were, and
Mrs. Penland still is, strikingly beautiful ladies with lovely
white hair. Aunt Dess is one of the Webster ladies I have
to thank for "aJlowing" me to learn to roll hair and give
permanents. She was willing to be a "guinea pig" permit·
ling me to be her beautician, by rolling her hair each week
and periodically giving her permanents. It was enjoyable
to visit and chat with these devoted sisters; they influenced
the community in a very positive way through both
their home and church.
When my son, Samuel, begs me, "Read some more,
Mom," I am reminded of Mrs. Pauline Cowan, daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Penland, Sr. Mrs. Cowan was my
sixth grade teacher; she devoted a portion of the afternoons
to reading to her classes. The usual resounding,
"Please, Mrs. Cowan, read another chapter!" was
testimony to her ability to make books "come alive" for
her students. I thank her for the many hours she devoted
to this important aspect of learning and my resulting love
of reading.
Yes, it was a fortunate day for Webster when Mr. and
Mrs. Penland moved into the "old jail." Their contributions
to Webster's fine heritage both personally and
through the admirable family will be felt in the lives of
Webster folks for many years to come. We're all thankful
that Penl ands were, and are, here, there, and
everywhere. I have tremendous respect for the Penland
family; "time will tell" just how important the several
Penlands are to Webster 's history.
"Blow The Tannery W~istle"
By Gary Neil Carden
Remember the tannery
whistle?
If you're over thirty-five and
a Jackson County native, it
probably affected your life in
some way. That long, mournful
wail carried a long way: to
Beta, Dillsboro, and Webster.
It blew for morning shifts at
the plant, proclaimed 12
o'clock, and announc.ed " quittin'
time." Housewives synchronized
clocks and prepared
meals by that whistle; it closed
the stores on Main Street
and awaked the "graveyard
shift."
Sometimes it announced
special events: New Year's
Day and the Fourth of July. It
blew for Pearl Harbor on
December 7, 1941, and it blew
for V -J Day. And once, in a
best-forgotten, late-night incident
, when a psychedelic northern
lights display frightened
the tarrery 's graveyard shift,
it blew to announce the end of
the world. Some anxious
husbands forded Scott's Creek
in an attempt to beat Gabriel 's
horn.
That whistle even influenced
language in Jackson County.
If you wanted to express
extreme awe, disbelief, or admiration,
you simply said,
" Well , blow the tannery
whistle.! " When the local
drunk went up to the
mourner's bench, when a worthless
relative showed up looking
prosperous, when the
spinster aunt got married , you
always reverently muttered,
" Well , blow the tannery
whistle."
I was raised by a grandfather
who worried about his
·"quare" grandson. I showed
definite signs of being worthless.
I was left-handed, read
" funny-books," and hung out
at the Ritz Theatre on Satur-day.
Nevertheless, he invested
in my dubious future, and I attended
Western Carolina
University. Il took me five
years to graduate. But , on my
belated graduation day,
despite the fact that he had a
malignant cancer that had
reduced him to the weight and
stature of a small boy, my
grandfather came. While I
was standing in front or Hoey
auditorium , complete with
mortar-board, gown , and
diploma, and spoke in a barely
audible whisper. " Well, blow
the tannery whistle! " he said.
A native or Jackson County,
Gary Carden has returned to a
home high on the Sylva side or
King's Mountain where he
could hear the tannery whistle
i£ it still blew. He works with
Southwestern North Carolina
Planning and Economic
Development Commission in
Bryson City.
Flood Brings Disaster
<Continued £rom page :n
up the river. We had never
seen rain like this.
I had bought a new Dodge
truck on Monday and it wasn't
raining that day. I went to
Sam Buchanan's and got the
timbers to build the bed with
that I was fixing up for my
rolling store business. I backed
it under the barn shed and I
worked all of the day that the
flood come that night. The
rain never let up through the
day. It was almost solid water.
The next morning we slept
late and didn't know anything
was goin on till Howard
Allman, Uncle Frank's boy,
came around the hill above
their big house and come out
to our house. He said, " Polk,
get up and look out." I got up
and looked out the window. I
had a big hog pen right below
the bridge setting on locust
posts . It was three stalls and
had five or six hogs in it, and
the horse lot going down !rom
the barn was plank about five
feet high. My hog pen was
down at our bridge there in
that little bottom floa ting
around like a ship. I didn 't
know where the hogs were ;
they wasn't in it. They had
floated out to safety. The hog
pen floated upright where we
crossed the branch and floated
around for awhile that morning.
When the water started
down, it went right on down
and crossed both fences and
went back to almost its foun dation.
I looked over there toward
the barn shed, and there was
the goat hood ornament on my
pickup sticking out of the
water looking at me. The rest
ol the truck was under water.
That evening we got out and
started walking to see the
damage. We got with Eva Mae
Davis and her children. You
see, Don was night watching
up at the Glenville Dam and
they hadn 't heard !rom him
and didn't know if he got washed
away or not. We were
across from the Lawrence
Cowan place and I know Eva
Mae said to her younguns,
"Now look in these puddles
along up through here and see
if you can see Don." Now that
flood was something else. I'll
never forget that.
Spring, UIKI \\'t'h:-.tt·r . ,ur·th ( ";1 rolina ~:-\71-IX
1-:ditor .lo t' 1' . HhirH'hart
Contributors: Janice Monteith Blanton , Da le Coward. Jenny
Hunter , Gary Carden
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print ed h _, tht· ll t•ra ld Puhli:-.hing Com pan .'. Sy lva. :\orth
Caro lina
Teacher-apprentices RL (TARL): leveraging complex policy distribution through generative adversarial hypernetwork in reinforcement learning
No full textTypically, a Reinforcement Learning (RL) algorithm focuses in learning a single deployable policy as the end product. Depending on the initialization methods and seed randomization, learning a single policy could possibly leads to convergence to different local optima across different runs, especially when the algorithm is sensitive to hyper-parameter tuning. Motivated by the capability of Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) in learning complex data manifold, the adversarial training procedure could be utilized to learn a population of good-performing policies instead. We extend the teacher-student methodology observed in the Knowledge Distillation field in typical deep neural network prediction tasks to RL paradigm. Instead of learning a single compressed student network, an adversarially-trained generative model (hypernetwork) is learned to output network weights of a population of good-performing policy networks, representing a school of apprentices. Our proposed framework, named Teacher-Apprentices RL (TARL), is modular and could be used in conjunction with many existing RL algorithms. We illustrate the performance gain and improved robustness by combining TARL with various types of RL algorithms, including direct policy search Cross-Entropy Method, Q-learning, Actor-Critic, and policy gradient-based methods.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Interactive Intelligenc
Historic Webster Vol. 3 No. 4 (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.The Declaration Of Independence
It was July 4 1776 which the laws of Nature and tyrant, totally aggressive and brethren. We have warned. . publish and declare, that
R t t. f ' th · of Nature's God entitle them, unreasonable. In contrast, the . We have reminded. . . We these United Colonies are, and
th~~resen ~ lves ro: th e:; a decent respect to the colonists are described as have appealed. . .They too of right ought to be, free and
"een co orues we~ a er. opinions of Mankind requires exclusively patient and have been deaf. . . independent states. . . ."
~~.1 ~hfph· S~a~e 'd o~s~ ~ that they should declare the submissive. Jefferson knew, of We must therefore acquiesce What Jefferson had written
1 a e 'a ec!le w te er f causes which impel them to course, that the King was not in the necessity which was to become the lyric
take
1
.the ~at~~~ s ep t~ the separation." personally responsible for every denounces our separation. . . statement of man's right to
revo uh~n. h ~ m~n: e In declaring the causes for the act of aggression and repression " freedom in all ages. The signers
:wer 0 w : d was d c~m~ separation, Jefferson's task was against the colonies and that the The high seriousness of of the Declaration placed their
~wn . as ~ epen ence . a 1 to justify what had already colonists were not thoroughly Jefferson 's st:rle, the clarity of signatures below that perfectly
7a!ted ~mpah~ntl~ for a Sl~!I occurred. In April, North Caro- loyal subjects. But the contrast of the argument he presents, and balanced last line, the calm and
rom e pa rl? s a~e~ th !ina had been the first of the these two selective the persuasive effect of these powerful statement of faith and
belo1~· Th·~~olo~es w:~ e !gn ~ colonies to instruct its delegates characterizations was meant to contrasting characterizations dedication in which Jefferson
wor wal : : ~ ~: a to vote for independence. In June, provide the force of argument, lend a sense of inevitability to the defined for all time the
~.~e 1 ~ r:; the ghe t ll Virginia's. delegation, seconded not the particularity of history. concluding paragraph. Jefferson demanding conditions of total
th ~c a~~~ thY d ~ou t ou t!d by Massachusetts, had presented The list of '1:1 grievances against leads his readers, then and now, commitment under which
. e ~n do e t ~e~a es ded a resolution of independence to the King, real enough in fact, to the inescapable conclusion freedom is ever to be preserved:
Sign a cumen ~ s~un 'th the CQngress. Other delegations ends with a poignant portrait of upon which was based the action "And for the support of this
out liberty.m . wo~ds '::'r 7 0
had sent messengers to far-<lff anoppressedpeopleforcedatthe of the Continental Congress that Declaration, with a firm
~e ::;;~e rmgmgf ;:rete own w colonial assemblies asking for last extremity to the rightful and fourth of July in 1776: reliance on the protection of
u~'We ?~r~ho se ~~'J:~ to be instructions on how to vote. But regretful act of separation : " We, therefore, the Divine Providence, we
lfe ~ t ~ t all n are the document must also serve to " In every stage of these Representatives of the United mutually pledge to each other
se -eVI en • 1 ~h t :;:e are unify a confederacy of American oppressions we have States of America, in General our lives, our fortunes, and
cr:~~ ':;~~ir ~eat:~ with colonies! in support of war if need petitioned for redress in the Congress assembled . .. do, in our sacred honor."
en . Y . . be, agamst a world power to most humble terms. . . the name, and by the
~rttam unah~nable ng~~:· which they were bound by bonds Nor have we been wanting in Authority of the good People
n!rt amon~ th~se :s':ut 1 of of kinship, language, trade, and attention to our British of the Colonies solemnly
-Marilyn Jody
1 .Y' an , P government.
happmess. · · . The words of a Thomas Paine
The man who g~ve VOICe ~~ or a Patrick Henry might have I~ CONGRESS. 1l'LY4, IJJ6'.
form to . the A!"er1can colorues served to rouse the emotions and
declaration ofl~dependence was unify the colonists. But this
a young V~rgmla delegate wbo document would also have to
had seldom spoken more than a stand the test of world opinion. It
sentence or two m all the must convince a hostile world
agonizing assembly debates over that the Americans were not
separatwn from the mother rebels against rightfully
country. But the oth~r d~legates established authority but a free
knew the power of h1s mmd and 1 · · · 'th · God
pen what John Adams called his ~op e . mamt8l~mg elf -
.. • 1. f 1. 't f ss!'on , giVen r1ghts agamst the tyranny
pecu 1ar e !Cl y o expre . . of a despotic king.
And when the Co':'gress realized Jefferson had to begin by
the~ must proclaim ~nd defend defining what Americans meant ·
their act of rebellion m a by the rights of a free people in
docum.ent all the world might relation to their government. His
read, 1t ~as Thomas Jefferson main premise was clear :
whose skill they sought. "Governments are instituted
Tw'> other members of the among men deriving their
committee chosen to draft the just powers from the consent
document were more famous. of the governed ...
But . neither John Adams nor Whenever any form of
BenJamm Franklin cla1med the government becomes
graceful yet powerful style of destructive of these ends, it is
Jefferso.n, nor the sure grasp of the right of the people to alter
tone wh1ch could place the cause . . . .
f th bell. 1 · ·n its or to abolish 1t, and to mshtute
o e r~ to us co omes 1 new Government. . . ,,
proper light. What remained to be proved
Je~ferson knew • as all ~he was that the British government
patriots did, that a revol':'twn had in fact been destructive of
would be hard to defend m a . those "unalienable rights" that
w?rld accustomed to the rule of the document proclaimed. The
Kings. He knew that !"any of the genius of Jefferson's approach
colorusts were wavermg, loyal to was to avoid generalizations and
the crown and hopeful of all f th · ' f
reconciliation with England. The charge . 0 ~ grievances o
bl th t he wrote set the the colomsts agamst the person
pream e a f the King.
elevated tone of regretful o "The hi~tory of the present
necess1ty wh1ch alone could . . . .
establish the inevitability' the King of Great Brlta~n . IS. a
rightness of their action : history of ~epeated m~ur1~s
"When in the course of human "':'d usurpations! all haV!Dg m
events, it becomes necessary direct obJect the
for one People to dissolve the establishment of an absolute
l't' 1 b d h'ch have tyranny over these states. To
po ' lea an s w 1 prove this , let facts be
connected them w1th another, b 'tted t did ld "
and to assume among the su ml 0 a can wor ·
powers of the earth, the The list of grievances that
separate and equal station to follows creates a portrait of a
ctine lffilttthtto.tt~rcfll.rafiolt of!l). fbirlnn .... , 22.50 a month for
my services. I boarded with one
of the well·to-do families near the
school-house and had to pay the
··exorbitant" price of 100 would you be
satisfied if I just paid you $99 or
would you want the last penny of
the last dollar paiJ back to you?"
Bill naturally replied that he
wanted the debt paid in full.
"Well, then," continued the sage,
"you 've got to squeeze out every
day of the year 1900 to finish out
the century."
That seemed to satisfy everybody.
During the early part of December
. 1900, it was decided that
some kind of celebration should
be staged that would long be
remembered by those participating
in it. Most of the social
events at that time consisted of
quiltin ' parties and corn shuckin's.
Our proposed celebration ,
however , ought to be something
of an entirely different nature.
Some of the older hunters
suggested that everybody go to
the top of Painter Knob on the
night of December 31 so that a
good fox-race could be held. This
suggestion met with general approval.
The Knob was the highest
peak in that neighborhood , being
well over 4,000 feet. From its
summit, looking west, one could
see the Cowee Range, forming
the dividing line between Macon
and Jackson counties. Looking
eastward , one observed the Balsam
Range, separating Haywood
and Jackson . To the north the
Great Smokies stood out in bold
relief, forming the dividing line
between North Carolina and Tennessee.
From this point , too,
there were visible a number of
beautiful valleys stretching for
miles in different directions between
ridges and smaller mountains
which broke way from the
larger ranges.
Start ol the Climb
On the evening of the last day in
December . people began to as·
semble in our little community
and prepare for the arduous
climb. It was a wonderful evening,
the weather being very mild
for that time of year, and no
clouds in the sky.
People of al' ages participated.
There were old men and women,
walking with the aid of sticks,
and there were young ·boys and
girls , slipping and scrambling all
along the pathway. Boxes of food
were carried along. The hunters
also were in line with a large
number of hounds trotting along
behind.
After climbing steadily for
more than two hours, following
the course of a narrow sheep
tra il , the summit was reached. I
forgot to say that most of us
carried lanterns in order that we
might see where we were walking.
I imagine those lights were
visible for many miles, and the
people who were not acquainted
with the nature ,1f the expedition
must have wondered what was
taking place on Painter Knob that
evening.
Just before we got to the top, a
fox was scented and immediately
dog after dog started the chase
which led them down through
deep gorges and across the tops
Continued On Page 3
~----~~~----~
River Hill School Group
Webster, Fall Of 1900
By Luetta Buchanan Wilson
This account is being written
largely about the life, particularly
the early life, of our brother
Corsey Candler Buchanan, but
first I want· to give a little of the
background of our family.
We were a family of four ,
Corsey, Bertha, Annie , and Luella
Buchanan living in the latter
part of the last quarter of the
nineteenth century with our parents
on a farm in the Little
Savannah Community about two
and a half miles from Webster.
Our father. William Osborne
Buchanan, born October 25, 1842,
was a Confederate veteran, who
at age seventeen had joined
Captain Julius Silver's company
E 6th Cavalry in Franklin, and
served for three years with that
detachment.
Our mother, who was born
February 20, 1855. was Harriet
Cordelia Allen Buchanan. She
was a niece of Nathan Allen who
at one time owned the greater
part of the land which later
became Webster. In fact, it was
from him the eighteen-acre tract
was bought for one hundred
dollars by the county to become
the site of Webster , Jackson
County's first county seat.
As I said earlier, our father
owned a farm in an area which
has been variously known as
Harris, Hog Rock , and Little
Savannah. This farm , which has
changed hands a number of times
since our family moved to Sylva
in December of 1899, is presently
owned by Bill Crawford who lives
in our old home. (Corsey Buchanan
speaks of this home in his
letter published in the Fall , 1975
issue of Historic Webster.) The
Little Savannah Baptist Church
and several other homes have
been built on part of what was at
one time our land.
As children on Little Savannah,
we attended a one-room one-tea-
In spite of stra ining memory and eyesight, not all of the people in this picture could be identified. We know for a certainty some of
them. Perhaps you can spot others.
Front row: The three large boys seated are Tom Moore, Arthur (Sid) Cowan, and David Hall . The three seated girls are Maggie
Rhinehart (Hunter), Luella Buchanan (Wilson) and Vera Self (Smith).
Second row: Lena Cowan <Moody) in white dress. Center of row , John Wilson and Mrs. Florence Long, teachers. Next to them ,
Charlotte Cabe (?),Amy Long <Fisher), Birdie Henson (McCracken). Standing, Grasie Hall <Brown), Nina Moore <Bryson).
Third Row: Frances Coward <G lenn), Myrtle Tallent <Pa rris), Rosa Nicholson (?),Annie Buchanan (Wilson).
Back of these: Sadie Stillwell (Sutton ), Bird Rogers (Banning). The boy in center of this row is Lewis Henson. Others in this area are
Rebecca Wilson <Hooper), Bertha Buchanan <Curtis), and Dosia Stillwell (Buchana n).
Back row: Luna Cowan <Kesterson) and Bragg Cowan, Tom Cannon, John Cowan, Sylvester Buchanan, and Jeff Henson are also in
this row.
cher school at River Hill near
Webster. Corsey, born Septem·
ber 21, 1882, and the oldest in our
family . obtained what was available
in education at this school
and then went on to a high school
in Cullowhee, three miles from
our home. This school was a
three-room three-teacher institution.
Prof. R. L. Madison was
principal and his two assistants
were Mr. Zeb Watson, and Mr.
Dallas Wike.
During the winter months when
the weather was bad and walking
was impossible, Corsey had to
stay in Cullowhee. He and Edgar
Stillwell , who years later taught
history at Cullowhee State Teacher's
College (WCU now) lived
and "hatched" in a one-room log
cabin located where the Town
House now stands. This "shacking-
up" of education-hungry students
was common in the days
before dormitories were built.
Our mother and Edgar's mother
would prepare the most of the
boys • food which they carried
back with them to their cabin
after a week-end at home. Our
father took them back in the
buggy on Sunday afternoon.
After finishing high school in
the spring of 1899, (his name
appears on the invitation published
in the Spring Issue, 1976 of
Historic Webster) Corsey taught
school at East Fork on Savannah.
He had planned to enter the
University of North Carolina the
fall of 1900, but that summer
there was an epidemic of typhoid
and Corsey suffered a severe
case of it.
Since he couldn 't enter college
that year. he taught school at
Qualla and entered U.N.C. the
following fall. On finishing three
years at the university. he got a
position as bookkeeper in the
office of the Harris Tannery
Company in Sylva. After three
years of this, he decided to study
law. Enrolling in Wake Forest
Law School, he finished his
course and passed the state bar in
August 1910.
When he returned home, he
joined Felix Alley 's law firm in
Webster, boarded at the Alley
home, and continued in this partnership
until Mr. Alley became a
judge. Corsey then l_Ilaintained
his private practice in Webster,
until the county seat's being
moved to Sylva forced him to also
mov~ there.
Meantime, our family had settled
down in Sylva and was active
in community life. Our father had
served as a member of the
County Board of Education which
had helped to establish the first
graded school at Webster. All of
the girls in our family had
married. Bertha had become
Mrs. Henry Curtis and Annie and
I had married brothers. She was
Mrs. Ernest Wilson and I, Mrs.
Tom Wilson.
When World War I came in
1917. Corsey. too old for the draft,
joined the YMCA and was stationed
at Camp Sevier until the
end of the war. The Ywas used by
our government as a link between
home and service for the U.S.
soldiers, and on every front its
huts were centers of amusement
and comfort to the boys.
When ships bringing returning
soldiers docked in U.S. ports, the
Y's representatives were there.
Corsey had the privilege of
meeting " The Radio Boys," a
Jackson County service unit
when its ship docked in CharlesContinued
On Page 3
At The Turn
Continued From Page 2
of ridges. The barking of the
hounds was in unison and made
an impressive sound on the still
night air.
An Enjoyable Party
A huge bonfire was lighted, and
a little later hot refreshments
were served from the glowing
embers. The older men stood
near the fire, chewing their
tobacco and swapping yarns. The
ladies were content to sit around
on logs and stumps, enjoying the
exchange of community gossip.
Most of the women-folk in those
days were dainty users of snuff.
It was about eleven o'clock
when the elusive fox slipped into
its hole and the dogs abandoned
the chase. At the sound of the
hunting horns , the animals meandered
their way up to the
lighted fire and lay down outside
the circle of people.
As the hour of midnight approached,
the conversation lagged
and there were periods of
silence. It was like being in
church, waiting for the services
to start. Not long before midnight,
bells from churches and
school-houses commenced to toll,
and the echoes from each of these
come floating distinctly through
the silent night. Some of our
people counted the bells and said
that there were fifteen. They
were being rung in all the valleys
and communities in the central
part of the county. As we sat
there and listened, not a word
was spoken. With the exception of
an occasional whine from one of
the dogs and the rustle of a soft
breeze through the trees , the only
sound that could be heard was the
tolling of the bells.
As the last minutes of the old
century approached, slower and
slower became the tones, until
finally, for a short period of time,
silence r eigned everywhere. The
bells had stopped.
Those of us who had been
seated, rose to our feet and stood
gazing into the night. There was a
solemnity about the occasion
which it is impossible for me to
describe.
Absolute silence. Even the dogs
were now quiet, and nothing
broke the stillness of the night.
Then, suddenly we heard a bell.
Corsey C ....
Continued From Page 2
ton, South Carolina. Each man
was given the most recent copy of
the local newspaper.
At the end of the war, Corsey
returned to Sylva and resumed
his law practice. On May 10, 1920,
he married Lillian Barker who
was teaching at the Sylva Collegiate
Institute, a Baptist school.
One son, John , was born to them.
Currently, John, an engineer with
Dow Chemical Company, lives at
Jackson Lake, Texas with his
wife Helen and their son Charles.
During World War II Corsey
worked out of the Raleigh office
with the Unemployment Compensation
Commission. When his
work with the Commission terminated
in 1944, he returned to
his law practice in Sylva. ·
Active in church and community
affairs, Corsey was also
prominent in Democratic politics
in county, region, and state. He
was making a very succesful bid
for Jackson County representative
to the state legislature when
his sudden death April 23, 1952 cut
short his long and useful career.
Page 3 HISTORIC WEBSTER SUMMER 1976
•••
Another one and still another.
Soon all of them were being rung
as rapidly as the ropes could be
pulled.lt was a joyous sound. The
tension that had been holding our
group was broken. We shouted
and sang and exchanged New
Year's greetings. After remaining
there only a few minutes
longer , the long walk homeward
was begun, and once more the
lanterns flickered along the side
of the mountain.
Jane Washington Thornton
Chapter DAC Organized
It was an occasion every detail
of which is as alive in my
memory today as it was more
that fifty years ago, and I am
sure this also is true with· others
who participated in that unique
celebration and are still living.
Webster
High School
Webster High School , during
the past year or 1916-17 has had a
faculty, interested and equipped
for good work. Miss Charlotte
Young, principal ; Mr. B. C.
Jones, assistant principal; Mr.
Ben Fisher, Miss Lillian Stillwell,
Miss Nannie Frizzell, and Mrs. R.
L. Madison. The men behind the
school, the committee for most of
the time, for twelve years consisted
of William Cowan, W. K
Moore and Joseph Davis, three
men of influence of determination
and of wisdom.
Three days of commencement
exercises featured the end of the
school year. Wednesday night the
primary department of the school
offered their exercises. Thursday
morning the commencement exercises
of the high school with
addresses by T. W. Chambliss of
The Asheville Times and Dr. J .
Y. Joyner, the state superintendent.
The principal, Miss Ch
BADDr: Bayes-Adaptive Deep Dropout RL for POMDPs
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Production and characterization of an orally immunogenic Plasmodium antigen in plants using a virus-based expression system RID F-7326-2010
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Introduction
Malaria is a major world health problem caused by species
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