Category: Uncategorized

NORTH MAIN STREET FROM ACADEMY TO JONES ON THE EAST SIDE

The most recent news change involves the area which ran from Academy to Jones as one travels South on Main. This is the potential site offered for multi-use development by the town in recent news broadcasts.

Our earliest pictures show the street scene believed to be during 1927 when Main Street was being paved the first time. Townspeople and school children came out to watch the big event.

The brick building located to the north of Planters Warehouse bearing the words ? Equipment and Manufacturing has not been further identified to date. We hope someone may be around who remembers this establishment. It was there when the street was paved. Donald Cotton remembers a grocery store in that vicinity but is not sure of the brick building.

Planter’s Warehouse occupied this area in the 1927 snow storm and is still there in the 1959 Dean aerial photo. There are two houses which we have not identified beyond the warehouse toward Academy Street on the left. We know Mr. & Mrs. Prince lived on the right in the house pictured here (it was later moved over near the Consolidated school.)

South of the warehouse, Louis Wade constructed the second Fuquay Theater following the fire which destroyed the original theater on South Main between the Bank of Fuquay and Proctor Barbour. We have records that this theater reopened in 1946, built the same year the fire destroyed the first Theater. Wade sold operation to several out-of-town firms over time.

This building was eventually closed as a theater and sold at auction. A picture of the building and bill of films exists in the museums display.

It is this area of N. Main Street which has completely vanished and is now “open for development’ that we focus on next. Parker’s Furniture moved from across the street into the old Wade’s Theater according to Charles Parker in the 1970’s. Parker constructed another metal building next door which housed their furniture business until they sold to the town.

Next door on the south side, Mitchell Chevrolet had a parking lot for their automobile business. During the Centennial Celebration, the Centennial Commission sought this corner desirous to commemorate the Centennial Year for the next 100 years. On that was built Centennial Square which has become a concert venue and parking lot. This planned commemoration of the centennial for the next 100 years may be short lived, the future uncertain to date.

On the site of the Planter’s Warehouse, a new post office was constructed in 1965. This was the last business constructed by A. Y. Hairr within the town. After the Post Office moved to Judd Parkway, the Post Office building was converted into the FV Police Station.

With the moving of town hall into the John Byrne Building (which was constructed by Bob Barker originally), the Police Station removed to Judd Parkway and the old Post Office became vacant until it was demolished by the town in 2024.

Next door, Hardees became the first fast food in town under Mayor Alfred Johnson. Last this site was the foot doctor’s domain until the town was able to purchase this lot. When the town completed purchase of this block the current open space was the result along N. Main. Today a developer is sought to construct a multi-use building upon most of the area according to the town’s advertisement.

The area to the north on Main was in 1927 open land. This became the Farmer’s warehouse, then Cornell Dubilier, then Bob Barker and a new owner today. This includes the two warehouses along Woodrow Street and Jones, now occupied by a church and other businesses. Barker added what is now the John Byrne Building on the corner of what was warehouse property. The was purchased and remodeled by the town to house municipal functions in 2022.

This east side block of North Main has thus shown multiple “faces” over time. What the future face might become is to be determined. Main Street is indeed “a changing.”

Many people who were not here some years ago are wondering just what Main Street might have looked like. Let’s look at what is here now and how it has changed over time! Let’s take a look at what used to be in some of the spots now empty.!

For some it will be a journey down “memory lane” and a good deal of nostalgia for the past. For others it will be “an amazing trip” a bird’s eye view of what has been here in our past. Unfortunately, some people just rejoice with change, all things “new” and forget the past. However; we can, our historians hope, both remember and preserve—- celebrating today while sincerely honoring those generations and achievements which made us what we are!

We begin with this: PART ONE

THE THOMPSON-HOWARD BUILDING: 1914

Our oldest pictures of Main Street show the Thompson Howard Building, better recognized by many as Elliott’s. Pharmacy. The awning covered buildings down to the “meat market” all have new occupants today and the street boasts parallel parking. Today the recent former “Elmo’s” part of the building has been refurbished with the exterior intact and a new interior for the Lighting Store and apartments. In the past, that upstairs was home to the Recorder’s Court and offices of mayors, lawyers or others, all of which evidence was removed for the new apartments. The former pharmacy right-half of the building known as “Elliotts” remains intact and unoccupied under a new owner. We hear rumors that someone in Ice cream may decide to preserve and save this historical site!!

Originally, the brick structure was home to three businesses on the street level in the building owned by A. W. Thompson and E. A. Howard. Upstairs was accessed by an entrance from Main Street and another from Depot Street with open access to the businesses, courtroom and offices over all the three downstairs establishments. The original 1914 building was rebuilt after the 1916 fire within the remaining brick walls.

We know of the 1914 occupants by the accounts of the 1916 fire. Three businesses housed on the street level were destroyed—-Fuquay Drug Company owned by A. G. Elliott; Deitz and Isaacson, general merchants; and Fuquay Hardware Company. Upstairs were Dr. C. E. Check, Dr. J. R. Edwards, dentist, and A. J. Fletcher, lawyer.

Though the years following the fire, upstairs businesses changed frequently. Some people went to their beautician, some their lawyer, and many remembered getting their polio shots in a big open area. Skinny Ashworth remembered going to a court session and Jewel Ballentine Stephens attended a meeting in the courtroom relative to hiring the publisher of the Independent, Todd Caldwell.

The Dec 7, 1939, Independent pictures Elliott’s Pharmacy with the new black front. At that point the other two stores seem to be occupied by Kress’s Five and Dime.

In 1954, when Hurricane Hazel paid her visit, the building was undergoing its transition to two establishments downstairs with a brick wall constructed to divide the upstairs storage for each. The court and all related town business had removed to the new municipal building on S. Fuquay Ave. in 1951. At this point there appears to have ended all other occupants besides the two owners from downstairs.

Curtis Holleman took over Elliotts Pharmacy after “growing up” with the establishment. His was the last pharmacy to occupy the right side of the store. When Elliott first opened A. G. Elliott, Sr. merged several older drug stores under Fuquay Pharmacy. The public loved the lunch counter for a generation—pimento cheese sandwiches and orangeades.

The upstairs building in 2009 was very much vacant except for storage. During this Centennial Year, pictures were taken recording the state of the upstairs so we could partially preserve the past. The museums feature a picture of the courtroom at that point along with what we presume to be one of the benches of the courtroom. From the Elliotts side, we have preserved one of the interior doors from upstairs.

The last two older businesses in the Howard Thompson Building were Elmo’s and Elliott’s. Elliotts’ closed in 2013 after 99 years and has been vacant since. Elmo’s left the building and gave place to the Lighting Store in 2022-23. Originally A. N. Johnsons, the Elmo Company actually began in 1911 next door to the Thompson Building.

Today the Howard Thompson Building still remains on the corner of Main and Depot—one of our earlier structures still intact, with much history to remember. Let’s hope this old structure will remain with us under these new owners.

Opal, better known as “Trixie,” Porter was born in Martin, Tennessee in 1913. She developed an interest in art at an early age according to her daughter, Cheryl McConnell. Her first known oil painting at the age of 11 years was a winter snow scene done on the back of a poster. She was still painting at the age of 90 years or almost until her death on October 5, 2004.

Trixie met a Kentucky tobacconist named Vernon “Jack” Porter whom she married in 1933. The couple were blessed with two daughters, Beverly and Cheryl . Fuquay-Varina’s long connection with tobacco sales brought the couple to North Carolina in 1949. Jack was in the employee of North State Tobacco Company, a redrying plant here then.

The tobacco markets, two daughters, and many adventures later she had made a career for herself with work well renowned in our town. Head of residential design for Standard Homes Plan Service on Sunset Lake Road, she was responsible for many home designs in the area all found in their plan books during her 25 year career there.

Trixie was noted for her exuberance. One such incident involved her volunteering as a “sidewalk artist” for the Jr/Sr prom at Fuquay Springs High in 1963. She dressed the part for their “Evening in Paris” theme that year.

The wardrobes of many gentlemen in town may still possess one of her hand-painted neckties. Her daughter says she sold about 1,000 to individuals and men’s shops. Jack would model one on the various tobacco markets and come home with numbers of orders, even some from other countries. Eleanor Howard told us of one tie in J. E. Howard’s collection. Many other individuals have one or more of her original art miniatures which she sold out at the “Two Flags Over Fuquay” festivals every year. Cheryl has recreated copies of these in “My Mama’s Art.”

One of her most recognized paintings, “The Tobacco Man,” hangs in the Fuquay-Varina Woman’s Club Clubhouse. Trixie was Chair of the Arts Department in the Fuquay-Varina Woman’s Club, Woman of the Year 1953, and donor of the original painting to the club. The Art Department framed the painting and hung it over the fireplace during the 1956-57 administration when they completed the new brick facade over the chimney.

Joanna Johnson Proctor (from the Standard Homes family) picked one of Trixie’s originals, a depiction of the spring house over the Fuquay Mineral Spring, to represent the Fuquay Springs Quester Chapter 1034. Chapters designate an historic name when formed.

Cheryl has made a collection of her mother’s works and allowed the Fuquay-Varina Museums to realize some of the profit from sales. The museums still have a number of miniatures, Christmas ornaments, and even a package of notecards. Cheryl has access to many reproduction pieces. Trixie’s subjects ranged from tobacco life here to scenes at the beach and things in between. We are not sure of the subject or category of her First Prize entries into the GFWC Arts Festival but she brought fame to the club those years.

The Friends of the Museums are happy to recognize Trixie Porter for her contributions to our town’s history and her extensive work in all mediums from pastels to oil.

Shirley Simmons
Sources: FV Woman’s Club archives, Fuquay Springs Quester archives, Cheryl McConnell’s contributions of pictures and material.

by Shirley Simmons

Miss Ellie Grayson Nicolson taught, according to Mrs. Edith Parker, for 30 years in the Cardenas and Fuquay Springs School. The earliest picture of her class was that of 1915 when she taught grades 1-3 at Cardenas. The students in grade one at Cardenas continued there several years when the Fuquay Springs School opened in 1918. Our belief is that Miss Ellie transferred to Fuquay Springs when Cardenas finally closed and remained there until she retired. The search for her retirement year is on-going.

The 1915 picture has the identifies of students at the time. Betsy Gunter, also, identified her father as one of Miss Ellie’s students at some point. We have found graduates of Fuquay Springs School who were proud pupils of Miss Ellie in the first grade. There may be others who can be uncovered.

Shirley Mudge (deceased), Donald Cotton Jimmie Wagstaff, Betsy Johnson (Gunter), Charles Parker

All of those years she was a boarder in the home of Dr. and Mrs. J. M. Judd. Proof of her residence there comes from Dr. Judd’s grandson, Charles Parker, who actually was “piloted” to Fuquay Springs School (Miss Ellie’s word for riding with her in her car.) Further evidence can be found in the 1930 and 1940 Federal census records which list her as a boarder in the Judd home.

Since the school year at the early Cardenas School would have not run the same as the Fuquay Springs School did later, Miss Ellie was listed as living with her parents in the 1920 census but was teaching here. Back in Macon again in the 1950 Census, she was head of the household and still listed as a teacher at age 71.

Charles believes that his grandfather secured Miss Ellie to teach at Cardenas (Dr. Judd was on the school committee for several early schools in Fuquay Springs.) but we could not confirm when her first year might have been. Since she was listed in the 1928 Yearbook (the first one edited by Fuquay Springs High School) we can document her tenure further. The next yearbook for the school in 1948 does not find her on the staff so she left sometime between 1942-1948. Possibly the terms 1915-1945 would have been the 30 years stated by Mrs. Parker but we can not be certain.

Miss Ellie was described as an excellent teacher by Charles. His favorite story was how she confiscated any marbles finding their way into her classroom and dropped them into her aquarium. At the end of each year, when she removed the fish, Charles became recipient of the marbles. He had great “marble trading stock.” he recalls. Betsy and Donald remember marbles as being dropped into a hole in the window sill in the “old red building” never to be seen again! Donald recalls her kindness as a teacher. (The museum has a jar of marbles rescued from the old red building when it was demolished.)

Miss Ellie always maintained her family connections in Macon, NC or actually their home at Sixpound, in Warren County. Charles expressed great appreciation for her loyalty in that when engaged to her boyfriend who was killed in World War I, Miss Ellie never considered marriage to another.

At the time of her death she was survived by two nephews and one niece. Interestingly one of those nephews, Pryor Goode Nicholson, had followed her to Fuquay Springs where he married Delma Cotton (the sister of all the Cotton boys) who worked at Cotton’s Furniture in Varina. Pryor was recorded in the census as a bookkeeper in Varina and was buried at Wake Chapel Cemetery in 1979.

The daughter of John H and Elizabeth Shearin Nicholson, she was one of 3 girls and 3 boys. Born on October 8, 1879, she lived until her 91st year. Her burial was at the Nicholson Family Cemetery in Macon. NC. following her July 18, 1971 death.

The Greenhouse Picker Sisters have been interested in our “Miss Ellie” in connection with their new business to open in the old Cardenas School House in Fuquay-Varina. Our research is open for any further memories or details of “Miss Ellie” should anyone be able to provide this.

Shirley Simmons
September, 2024

(Shirley Simmons, Volunteer Director)

Two family descendants of the Fuquay Family have submitted research to the Fuquay-Varina Museums which shares additional information they have concluded in their Genealogy studies. We add this here for informational purposes, for public interest and for others who might be researching.

John V. Fuquay has deposited two copies of his notebook work on the Fuquay Family, pictures, charts and history. John’s compilation is a work with references to Jones, Hobby, Rowe, Spivey, Steele, Combs and many other lines in his extended family.

A descendent from David Crockett Fuquay’s son, Benjamin Holden Fuquay and Clara Augusta Jones, John lists nine children born to David Crockett and Louisa Partin.

In order he records the children as follows:
– Nathan ira b. 1849, David Henry b. 1851, Civil Elizabeth b 1852 (died 1853).
– Stephen Sampson b. 1854, James Warren b. 1856, John Lewis b. 1857, (died 1858)
– Juan b. 1859 (died 1860) Aldridge Partin by 1861, Benjamin Holden b. 1864.

(This includes those children who died in infancy or early childhood and is the fundamental difference between his and earlier records in the collection.)

A generation before John lists 10 children born to Stephen Sampson and Sarah Ausley. He does not have birth dates and thus order of birth for all these children. Here we are giving his details:

– William (Billy) b. 1808 married to Frances Byrd d. 1899 or 1900
– Charity b 1822 married to Everett Branch
– Sarah (no birthdate; married 1841 to John Wilbon
– David Crockett b. 1816 married to Louisa Partin d. 1885
– Cynthia (Cinthy) b. 1820 married D. Hinton Wilbon d. 1918
– Nancy b. 1817 married __ Pearson
– Mary (Polly) b. either 1812 or 1830 married James Matthews in 1859
– Ishum or Isham (never married)
– Cybil (no data)
– Elizabeth b. 1842 married Wiley J. Mill or Mills

(This includes some children not listed in earlier records in our collection.)

Another correspondant to the museums, Valerie Rushing informed us that she is a direct descendant from John Wilbon and Sarah (Sallie) Fuquay. Their daughter Charity
Elizabeth Wilbon, she lists as her great great great grandmother and the wife of Wiley J. Mills. She lists Sarah and Cynthia as sisters married to brothers John Wilbon and Hinton Wilbon. Interestingly, Alsey Holland, of the Fuquay Springs Holland clan, was a witness on both marriage records.

We do not have the lineage between Rushing’s great great great grandmother down to her generation but she has corresponded with the museums and others in the past to inquire about our records. The work of John Fuquay supports the work of Ms. Rushing with daughters now listed as children of Stephen and Sarah which previous records given us did not include.

Ms. Rushing traces her line from a daughter of Wiley J. Mllls and Charity Elizabeth named Annie. She points out the connection of John A. Mills, (also a child of this couple) with Fuquay’s railroad history.

Moses N Amis (1913) is quoted in Ruth Johnson’s Concerning Our Ancestors as stating that John Allison Mills, was the eldest of eleven children of Wiley J. Mills and Charity Wilburn Mills of Fuquay Springs. (The names Wilbon or Wilburn are assumed only differences in spelling. ) Mills organized the Mills Manufacturing Company and was President of the Mills Railroad which became the Raleigh and Cape Fear and then the Raleigh and Southport. The line was owned by Norfolk Southern and/or Southern since 1911 until purchased by R. J. Corman recently. Mills contribution to the history of the Fuquay-Varina community is known but his connection to our Fuquay name had not been touted.

Miss Ruth details John A. Mills’ marriage to Miss Julia Isabella Johnson of Cardenas, daughter of W. W. Johnson and Rhoda Ann Jones Johnson. Since her work is largely a compilation of the Johnson’s kin, she does not trace Mills’ genealogy but does speak highly of his career and character. Her book details much of his accomplishments. Mr. Amis does say that Mills was the eldest of eleven, five of whom were girls. The four living sisters he names were: Mrs. J. L. Rowland, Mrs. D. T. Adams, Mrs. H H Utley, and Mrs. D. A. McPhail.

This connection of the Fuquay family with the Johnson family and others of Fuquay’s families is certainly one of the many advantages of genealogy research and the value of an archive such as that of the Fuquay-Varina Museums. We are delighted to note the research of both John Fuquay and Valerie Rushing as part of the materials which might be studied in our archive.

Further acknowledgment is given to the notation by John Fuquay that, while he can trace the Fuquay name back to French ancestry, he has “found more than one historical listing for a William (Guillaume) Fouquet in American History—-perhaps as many as a dozen” so that he believes further research might be needed to connect the correct Guilllaume to our William Fuquay.

Conversely, Martha Fuquay Cummings of the Huguenot Society of Virginia feels certain that she has connected with the correct Guiillaume Fouquet in her research. Thus, again, another reason for the Fuquay-Varina Museum archive and added research by interested persons.

Professor Dudley Marchi at North Carolina State University reported to the museums that he was compiling a history of Huguenot Families known to be in North Carolina. We do not have his work but know it has been completed. He did note the Fuquay lineage as being of interest when he visited our museum. ( His work, FraNCe: The French Heritage of North Carolina.)

Please help the Friends of the Museums continue in their efforts to establish this archive in our museum as vital to the history of Fuquay-Varina. Families and genealogy records are always solicited from any and all who might wish to add these to our collection. Kindly add these to our collection for future researchers.

PRESERVATION OR ERASURE
Shirley Simmons

Too many times our corporations, governments and citizens seem to opt for erasure of our past instead of preservation, presenting their decisions as necessary to “Progress or Growth.” Another instance of such a possibility was called to the attention of the Friends of the Museums recently in a plan to destroy a portion of our Tobacco Barn Mini Park on Purfoy Road. Mike Matthews, the Facility Manager of T.E.Connectivity, and Don Anderson, formerly of Raychem Corporation, have worked to give us the facts of this park. The North Carolina State Preservation Office Review Coordinator, Renee Gledhill-Earley and Gary Roth of Capital Area Preservation have provided information and suggestions on these historic structures. Both support the effort to preserve these treasures while it can still be possible.

The Fuquay Springs Quester Chapter # 1134 joined with the Friends to try to prevent this crisis for our TOBACCO BARN MINI PARK. We share this story with you believing the interests of the general public, when informed of the facts, would favor preservation.

An industry named Raychem, for which Don Anderson was Facilities Project Manager , purchased 118 acres on Purfoy Road in 1981. At that time the farm was worked by a renter or tenant family who lived on the property which included the barns and machinery in question today. Julius Baker Reality was the agent delivering the sale of the farm acreage to Raychem.

Raychem enlisted the expertise of Al Honeycutt from the Restoration Branch of North Carolina State Historic Preservation (Archives and History Department) to validate and produce the information regarding the barns. Out of his report came the information that these six tobacco barns were not only a rarity in Fuquay-Varina but an almost unheard of treasure within the state or nation. “You would have to drive all over the State of North Carolina to even manage to find barns built 10-15 years apart and here they are all on one farm,” is the way Don Anderson remembers the treasure of structures.

Generally a farmer built a barn, used it or had it suffer a fire calamity, and then constructed a replacement barn. However, on this farm, there were six barns, all determined to be of different time frames manifesting different construction methods and materials and even using different aspects of curing tobacco, the current money crop of that time.

Raychem determined to work to preserve this Tobacco Barn Mini Park on its property leading to a very special dedication on May 10, 1982. Prominent among the attendees was then Governor James Hunt whose remarks included this historic statement, “ A lot of industry leaders would have seen as their first job to knock down the old barns and make way for new buildings.” He continued in his recognition of how the Raychem leaders exhibited “ respect for one another” and that is “what makes North Carolina great.” (Fuquay Independent, May 12, 1982)

Plaques were unveiled that day as placed upon each barn. One plaque dates the barn and its structure; the second details the practices of tobacco farming. Among the six barns, Raychem also placed machinery, all found upon the farm at that time as attested by Don Anderson. The barns were determined to have been constructed between 1924-1948, first used in wood curing, then converted to gas.

The site subsequently received outstanding recognition. “Two that are of the greatest significance are the Triangle Development Award which was won in 1983 and the National Landscape Award, which was presented at the White House by Nancy Reagan in 1986,” Anderson shared a scrapbook of materials with the museums containing recognition by the American Association of Nurseryman, Inc. 1986, the Tobacco Institute, Washington, DC 1982, The Planning Department of Wake County 1982, and the Governor’s Business Award 1983.

All six barns have been preserved as the property owners became Tyco Electronics Corporation in 2006 and T E Connectivity Corporation in 2018. Anderson and Matthews agree that when T E Connectivity management agreed to sell 32 acres of the property to the Town of Fuquay-Varina which proposed to create an industrial mini park on the town’s portion, there was to be preservation of the Tobacco Mini Barn Park structures.

A town official told the Friends of the Museums that the three barns on their portion were offered to any takers but no one came forward to move them. Subsequently, when the Town of Fuquay-Varina sold the entire property to one industry, CCL Label, Inc. the plan became “demolish” the three old barns as part of an entrance to the site. Currently, CCL Label has a plant under construction and has been approached as a “good citizen” of our town to save the barns on the site rather than tear them down via a letter from the Friends of the Museums.

Interestingly, where Raychem won the Landscaping Award for preservation, not just of the barns alone, but of the pecan grove (one of a number which used to be found in our area) and of the four 200 year old oak trees, currently when land is sold companies and towns clear cut and everything is removed for “progress.” In 1986, the Raychem site was one of 18 projects chosen from 108 entries for this award. Noted in the article were its value for employee recreation, as an educational resource for public schools and preservation of environmental harmony.

Richard Bell, distinguished North Carolina Landscape architect and preservationist, who drew the landscape plan said of Raychem, “They’re very good people. They wanted to fit into the community.”

John Scott of Wake County Planning Department in a letter of April 1, 1982 stated that Raychem, “…went that extra mile at much extra cost’ and gave a showplace. “Now this is the right way to do things.”

Mike Matthews of TE Connectivity confirms that their employees use the mini park for special occasions. They play volleyball, pitch horse shoes and enjoy picnicking there. He states that he has arranged to keep the barns in repair with period wood and tin using expertise of carpentry and will continue to do that. He, too, is contacting the officials of CCL Label, his new neighbor, and suggesting that the two firms can share this site and make it a mutual project.

Fuquay Springs Quester Chapter 1134 visited the site with Mike Matthews for their November meeting. Pictures of all the barns, equipment and the site in general were part of the study by the Friends of the Museums and the Questers. Demolishing three of the barns would be tragic for the entirety of the park, cutting right across it. EVEN MORE tragic, is the discovery that that part of the site also includes an historic environmental treasure. A Long Leaf Pine of unknown years, bearing the scoring for collection of sap, still LIVES. This is indeed a RARE find. Preservation by cementing the damages has saved this old species. This representative of our Navel Stores Industry of North Carolina must be saved! The property also has another stump and portion of a tree, long dead, but an example of collecting sap to make turpentine, a valuable part of the history of our area and the state. Matthews is interested in how this can also be preserved.

Raychem, Tyco, and TE Connectivity have all three exhibited the kind of RESPECT which Governor Hunt boasted for North Carolina. Our hope is that CCL, Label will also understand and become a partner in PRESERVING rather than ERASING our Tobacco Barn Mini Park treasures. We believe the citizens of Fuquay-Varina will appreciate and validate such a preservation! Should we be able to convince both landowners to agree, Wake County Historic Preservation Commission might designate the Tobacco Barn Mini Park as a local landmark which has some property tax advantages. Whatever route, let’s PRESERVE not ERASE our history.

Sources:

Friends of the Museums, Letter to David Leverde and Mike Matthews, July 26, 2023
“First Lady Honors Raychem,” Independent, June 11, 1986.
“Raychem Plant Dedication,” Independent, May 12, 1982
Wake County Real Estate Data
“Raychem Company Tobacco Barn Exhibit,” Survey notes 1969, 2007, 2015, 2023
NC State Historic Preservation Office.
Photos by Gail Woolard, State Quester President and Friend of the Museum, 2023
Photos by Betty Vaughan, Fuquay Springs Quester Chapter and Friend of the Museums, 2023
Interview and Tour by Mike Matthews, November 9, 2023 with Fuquay Springs Quester Chapter #1134
Interview Don Anderson, November 20, 2023 with Shirley Simmons, Volunteer Director, Friends of the Museums
“Raychem plans to preserve aging tobacco barns,” Independent, July 28, 1981.
“Raychem Site Incorporated History,” Independent, April 8, 1981.
Scrapbook materials copied for the archives by Friends of the Museums from donor, Don Anders

Shirley Simmons & James Stephens

The Varina Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized in the very southern part of Wake County and met in the very northern part of Harnett County in the years 1895-96. The church was the result of Elders William H. Ingham and Joseph A. Jorgensen, who were both missionaries from the Southern States Mission assigned to the North Carolina Conference (specifically Wake and Harnett County) as a field of labor. The church records detailed accounts of missionaries and their assignments during this era.

The other half of the story comes from the life of Durham Hall Smith. One of eleven children of William Smith and Susannah Hall, he was born October 22, 1829. Smith was a Confederate Veteran who had enlisted in the North Carolina Thirty-first Regiment, (one source says Company D; another source says Company C of Andrew Betts known as “the Chalybeate Guards”) Born in Orange County, he was then married and residing in Wake County. In 1861 he took his brother Thomas’ place leaving the younger brother to run the family grist mill and care for their mother.

Smith married Mary Winifred Whittington, daughter of Allen Whittington and Elizabeth Smith in Cumberland County. In 1895, they lived and farmed in the area off Wagstaff Road where they raised their eleven children.

Durham Hall Smith “ had had a dream in which he saw two men coming up the path to his house bringing a book with them,” according to the church history. When Ingham and Jorgensen arrived that day, Smith recognized them as from his dream. They invited him to a meeting that evening in the local school house which some members of the family identify as the Rawls School. The elder Smiths, in their 60’s, walked to the meeting and home again that night. Smith told his wife this was what he had been waiting for from his dream.

According to church history, Smith dug out the little creek which flows under Wagstaff Road and members of his family were baptized there on September 15, 1895. The record also says that several hundred people witnessed the baptism out of curiosity about the new religion.

The Elders confirmed them as members of the Church. Other members were added to the Church. There was heavy persecution of this new religious group as they met in the schoolhouse, other places, and ultimately in the corn crib. As a result, John Gardner of the Rawls Community, whose daughter had married into the Smith family, donated an acre of land for a building in 1896.

Timber was cut by the Smiths on their farm and hauled to the Harnett County site to construct the building which housed 90 people. D. H. Smith served as Elder there until he died in 1899. He carved the podium which the family donated in the 1990’s to the church. His daughter-in-law, Corenna Smith, wife of Vivian Smith, donated an organ and served as organist. The family made a quilt to raise money to purchase hymnbooks.

Vivian I. Smith, the seventh child, married Corenna Alvin Baughcom of Raleigh. He and his bride moved home in 1907 (the town was incorporated as Fuquay Springs in 1909). Vivian was a building contractor, well known in the area, who retired and operated a jewelry store with clock and watch repair over what was Elliott’s Pharmacy for some years.

Meantime out at Rawls, “The little building became the central headquarters of the state” for a time, according to their church history. When membership declined, the church missionaries would use the home of Durham’s son, Vivian, as a meeting place. Located at 301 Depot Street in Fuquay Springs, the missionaries received mail there and often they say 15-18 persons spent the night sleeping on the floor when the family did not have enough beds for the visitors.

Eventually, the family of Vivian Smith comprised the total membership in the Varina Branch and more members lived in Raleigh, so church activity was moved to Raleigh, circa 1939. On November, 25, 1942 the Varina Branch building was sold for $95. The land reverted to the Gardner family in Rawls and the church at Salt Lake held the money for a future permanent meeting house. The small building, located adjacent to the then Rawls Community Club, was used for storage until a developer demolished it for a new housing project in 2009. Mattie Rawls and others of the community remembered services when the church met there.

The home of Vivian and Corenna Smith was demolished on Depot Street in 2004. Members of the Smith family, especially Blanche Smith Keith, donated many records, pictures and family and church history to the Fuquay-Varina Museums.

The Fuquay Independent of 1980’s recorded some of this history. Especially noted were the difficult experiences of the family members because of their beliefs. However, the little church, called the first LDS Church in Wake County, was actually located in Harnett County for most of its history.

In the 1890s, the Varina Branch was the only LDS congregation in all of Wake and Harnett counties. As of 2023, there are now 29 congregations meeting within 11 meetinghouses. Since 2011, the church has built two new meetinghouses in Fuquay Varina, with one being on Johnson Pond Road and the other on Highway # 55 West towards Holly Springs. These meetinghouses currently host five congregations (Fuquay-Varina Ward, Sunset Lake Ward, Lake Benson YSA Branch, Swift Creek Ward, and Holly Springs Ward).

Sources: Scrapbook of Smith Family in Fuquay-Varina Museums Collection
Alan M. Smith, “Durham Hall Smith’s Conversion and the Missionaries That Baptized Him and His Family,” database, FamilySearch, Durham Hall Smith (29CP-QB5), Memories.
Alan M. Smith, “Durham Hall Smith’s Experience in the Civil War,” (printed copy from family research)
James Stephens, a Church Historian for the Raleigh South Stake.
Fuquay Independent, 1980’s article without author,
Notes: Fuquay-Varina History from Mattie Rawls, Gardner family, Rawls Community Club, et al.

Pictures courtesy Blanche Keith and family to the Fuquay-Varina Museums collection.
Current Church Pictures: Courtesy Gail A. Woolard

Shirley Simmons

Fuquay Mineral Springs now has an old hotel sporting new paint and trim, shining and bright as she never was! This, the Barham Hotel, was said to have been built around 1904 but some sources say maybe as early as 1900. When the hotels catering to the Fuquay Mineral Spring visitors became a thing of the past, this building became an apartment house in 1925.

The great great grandson, Dr. Donnie Lane, is restoring the property and is just now giving it new life. While the hotel is not being restored per original, the structure is being saved as one of our two remaining hotel buildings.

The first Barham House, located on Spring Street, became derelict and was demolished in 1984. That first boarding house had as an early tenant, Lexie McLean’s grandfather, who ran the hackney which brought passengers from the depot into the town. The Barhams were originally from North Hampton County according to Margaret Lane (Lizzie and Joe Ballentine’s daughter) She recalled some of the history for the Independent in 1984.

Romulus Barham, a railroad man with wife Adriana, first turned their home into a boarding house and then built this grand hotel across the street from the mineral spring. The Barhams hired several hotel managers one of whom, Mrs. Champion, was advertised as operating the “finest hotel.” The last hotel operators were the Monroe Bullock Family who came to Fuquay Springs because they believed the mineral waters would help Mrs. Bullock’s arthritis. She was known to get about in a rolling chair when she arrived. Many testimonials from customers declare that the waters cured stomach problems and relieved rheumatism.

Mattie Bullock and nine children ran the hotel while Monroe helped the Barham daughter, Lizzie. and her husband, Joe Ballentine, who ran Varina Mercantile. Because of their long operation tenure, the hotel generally was known as the Bullock Hotel in its latter years. After it closed, Mrs. Bullock resided there in one of the apartments. The report was that she drank the waters every day as long as she lived.

The original hotel boasted 16 rooms, with bowls and pitchers of spring water delivered to each daily. According to Sue Bullock Fuller guests usually stayed about two weeks and guests were able to walk down the muddy street to “take the waters at the spring.” Mrs. Bullock and her oldest daughter ran the kitchen and dining hall located in the hotel basement while others of the Bullock children ran up and down three floors tending the guests.

Sue Fuller recalled that guests “converged upon the spring hill so that there was not even walking space.” Early photographs in the museums verify this appearance. Fourth of July and Easter Monday were the largest events and usually required extra police forces from the town. All the hotels were reputed to have served numbers of guests.

This wonderful old hotel should re-open soon as an apartment building affording many tenants outside entry, a balcony and modern living conditions. Truly she appears a “lady in her new spring outfit.”

Source: The History of Fuquay-Varina, The Independent, January 18, 1984. Information from Sue Bullock Fuller and the Lane Family., The Independent 1995 interview of Sue Fuller.

Our interest in this family came from a request from Eleanor Howard who wanted to know what we could research about a “Jake” Siegfried and wife. Betsy Gunter, one of our docents, remarked that she had heard her parents mention the name but did not know what Jake did unless he was a handyman around town. While in the process of searching, Dan Turner and Donald Cotton mentioned knowing the gentlemen. Thus, we submit what we have been able to research about an interesting family from our past.

According to an interview done by Frances Walls in the June 25, 1953 Independent, “Jake” shared his story to that point. At that time, he appears to be living in the caretaker’s house at the American Legion building on Johnson Pond Road.

“Jake” was named John Jacob Siegfried when born in Mainz, Germany in 1883. He completed eight years of school but found himself an orphan in 1897. At fifteen, the young man began as a apprentice seaman, paid $5 per month on a ship sailing from Hamburg, Germany to Sidney, Australia. Injured by a broken cable, he endured 3 weeks before medical attention could be obtained, resulting in 22 weeks in a Hamburg hospital to recover.

Returning to the sea, Jake made 18 trips across the Atlantic, seeing the United States first in 1902. He deserted the German oil tanker in 1905 to board a U. S. freighter hoping that the American sailors had better food. He was quoted as saying, “I soon found out that the American ship was the hungriest ship I had ever been on.” That trip he went to Puerto Rico to pick up molasses. “We went into a hurricane and the molasses broke loose. So for three days we pumped molasses out of the hold of the ship. I know there was a trail of molasses four miles long trailing in our wake.”

Disillusioned with this career, Jake quit the sea in 1908. In Petersburg, Va. he became captain of the William Penn dredge on a channel around Petersburg. From there he moved to the Norfolk and Portsmouth area working in shipyards.

Enter a lady from Varina, North Carolina. Floy R. Neal, the daughter of Atlas Neal, was born May 11, 1882. Floy was living with her brother and sister-in-law in Raleigh in the 1900 U. S. Census and was employed at 18 years of age as a cotton mill winder. The 1910 U. S. Census lists her as married to Jacob Siegfried and live in Norfolk, Va. That record lists them as having had one child born but not living.

There is a marriage record from Warren County, NC of Floy R. Neal and Fabio Siegfried with a date of June 5, 1916 which appears to be theirs; however, the name and date do not quite appear correct as transcribed. In his interview, Jake clearly says that he married Floy Neal of Wake County. (Mrs. Siegfried was alive and living with him at the 1953 interview time.)

Jake related that they came to Fuquay Springs in 1918 where he opened a bicycle shop. He had learned sign painting is Norfolk and stated that he put up a lot of signs in Fuquay Springs. Jake was also an artist and won first prize at the fair for a landscape painted on cardboard in 1922. He was fond of Indian motorcycles and told of riding with A. G. Elliott through Eastern North Carolina. At one point he said he rode his motorcycle to Niagara Falls.

The Siegfrieds were living in Fuquay at the time of the census in 1930 and again in 1940. Eleanor Howard remembered that the Siegfrieds lived on the street behind the Howards when Beth Howard was killed. She recalled Mrs. Siegfried coming to visit her and their sharing the grief of the loss of a child. Eleanor did not share further details of the Siegfried child.

Jake’s interview continued with their moving to Fort Bragg in 1941 and subsequently to Camp Davis in Wilmington. The are residents of Wilmington, North Carolina in the 1950 U.S. Census. Jake had opened a sign painting business there and stated that he had served in the U. S. Coast Guard. Without more specific data, we have not accessed his records. Mrs. Siegfried does appear to have a nephew, James Milton Sandy, age 50, in their household that year. Sandy appears to have been born in Holly Springs, married and divorced. At one point he is listed as employed by K. B. Johnson and Sons of Fuquay Springs. His family were residents of Wilmington where he is buried. He died in S. C. in 1962.

In December of 1951, the Siegfrieds moved back to Fuquay Springs at the request of American Legion Post 116. He served as caretaker of the clubhouse known as the Beale Johnson Mansion located on the Johnson Pond in 1953. We have asked the Legion for any data they might find. Donald Cotton, a member of Post 116, recalls Siegfried.

Floy Siegfried died on April 30, 1963 and was buried at Wake Chapel Memorial Gardens in Fuquay-Varina. Jake lived until 1970 and is buried beside Floy.

During one of our Board meetings for the museums, Dan Turner mentioned that he remembered Jake. Jake did talk about his sign painting business in his interview which Dan remembers vividly. When asked to tell us what he recalled of Siegfried, Dan submitted the following article which we have decided to attach here exactly as he penned the material. Dan states the purpose of our “Historically Speaking“ collection so well.

JAKE SIEGFRIED RECOLLECTION
by Dan Turner
April 29, 2023

I recall vividly riding along with my father in 1958 to go and see Mr. Jake Siegfried. He owned a circa 1920s gas station building on Old Highway 15A – just north of Five Points. The rectangular brick building had a hip-roof with a portico extending from the main block of the station. The roof of the portico was supported by two square brick columns facing south. On the right and left of the front door were two tall rectangular glass windows. This gas station design can be found all across the South and now has become almost extinct.

Mr. Siegfried was a slightly stout man of average height, and sported a well-kept beard. Having a beard in 1958 was an usual thing for the times. Possibly that may be what made me remember that fact. Mr. Seigfried was of German descent. He spoke with a slight accent and seemed to have a pleasant nature. My father found him to be an interesting character. Mr. Siegfried always had an interesting story to tell about his growing up years and life experiences. I have always wondered how he came to live near Fuquay-Varina. Nowadays, I think of questions I should have asked earlier in my life. For example, when did Mr. Siegfried’s family come to the United States from Germany? I only wish I could have listened more intently to his stories. As a child I thought he was an “old man.” I knew he was much older than my father by far and that was “old” to my eight-year-old eyes.

Mr. Siegfried was a meticulous sign painter according to my father (Mr. L. E. Turner) . My father was a very particular man when it came to executing any project, no matter how small or large. He wanted every job to be executed at a professional level. I recall my father saying we were fortunate to have such an excellent sign painter was living near Fuquay Varina.

I do not know for sure if Mr. Siegfried lived inside the gas station building. However, I recall going inside the building during cold weather when my father was ordering additional signs. I just assumed this must be Mr. Siegfried’s living quarters since it looked like a cozy nest with a wood heater, chairs, tables, and so forth..

I spoke with my older brother, Thomas Turner, this afternoon to confirm his recollections of Mr. Siegfried. They are the same as mine. The Fuquay Varina area had so many interesting people – genuine characters – during my growing up years. I have often thought Charles Dickens would have enjoyed writing about these folks. During my growing up years, almost no one moved-in-and-out of the area. Families appeared to be stable and so many of the elders enjoyed telling stories about these most interesting people.

I can see Mr. Siegfried now in my mind and only wish we had photos of him along with more information about him. It is difficult for me to believe that I knew so many interesting characters born in the 19th and early 20th centuries… Now my generation are the ones who must strive to save these individual memories for posterity. That is the reason the Museums of Fuquay Varina are so important to the citizens of the town — past and present. Without the dedicated service of volunteers manning the Museums and volunteers working with local family members to secure artifacts and recollections of our citizens from the past, so much of our united history would be lost forever. So please consider checking any hidden gems from your family and share them with the Museums.

K. B. & Ethel

Five of the children of Kater Brown Booker and Ethel Louise Jones Booker shared their life and memories in a video dated 2018. Their father came, with his mother, back to the Holly Springs area from Johnson, South Carolina where he was born. Their mother’s family lived in the area. Both parents are buried among her family in the Jones-Turner Cemetery
on Sunset Lake Road.

K. B. and Ethel also had a brother and sister who married each other, so that their children grew up with double first cousins all about the same ages. They described themselves as a big happy family, who got along well together and still do. Evelyn characterized it as, “We are always here for each other.”

They teasingly called themselves “the magnificent seven” as children. All of them were born at home in Needmore. Actually, the couple had nine children; however, a set of twins, which none of them remembered, were lost at birth. Dorothy Booker (Killian) the eldest, spoke of being the family baby sitter. Ralph K. Booker is deceased. Elijah, Harold, Evelyn, and Lee all recorded their thoughts on their life, while Brenton preferred not to speak.

K. B. was described as an astute businessman, who bought two farms in the Needmore area and another in Apex. The children recalled the good white friend who helped their father, a black man who could not generally buy land, purchase his first farm. Thereafter, hard work enabled K. B. to teach them land was a valuable asset. Consequently, he was able to provide a piece of land for each of his children when they were grown.

Discovering a need for workers in the tobacco re-drying plant in Varina, K. B. extended the store and garage he owned into a cafe. All the Booker family pitched in to get the cafe ready to serve lunch to the workers. Dorothy came home from college to assist her mother with the cooking.

The importance of education was instilled by both parents. Ethel had only finished the 7th grade and K. B. the 3rd, yet every child got a college education. Dorothy and Harold described walking to Providence School, three miles there and three miles home. Sometimes they could stop off at the minister’s home to warm up on cold days. Once they were abused by some white boys. Elijah noted the respect given their father, who when he went to see the father of the white boys, was assured that that would never happen again. It did not.

The later children attended the Fuquay Consolidated School and all graduated from high school there. Dorothy graduated from Shaw University and taught school in Hickory, North Carolina. Ralph chose a degree in chemistry from A T & T in Greensboro and a career with the postal service. Elijah worked as a tobacco grader and a magistrate, but also taught math at Fuquay Consolidated and Cary. His alma mater was also A T & T. Harold graduated from NCSU and was an engineer for IBM. Evelyn Booker (Wicker) took her nursing degrees from the Lincoln School of Nursing at NCCU and a PHD from Duke University. Her career was as Director of the Hospital. Brenton got his education at Shaw University and Lee is a graduate of NCCU.

The Booker home was a Christian home. K. B. served as a deacon at New Providence and taught Sunday School. Ethel served her church as deaconess. Dorothy recalled that after Sunday lunch, her father. would talk to the family about the day’s sermon. All the children noted that having Christ was foremost in each of their lives.

Ethel was called “Queen of the House.” Quiet and unassuming, she was a “sharp lady” who supported her husband and put in time with her children. Dorothy described her as telling the best stories, from ghosts and haunts to Cinderella. She worked in the field, leaving to go prepare lunch for the family. She played the piano for family hymns and made sure the children memorized their poems or speeches for church and school. They recalled her saying “feel good, look good, and be good.”

Family time together was important. At lunch the children had an hour off to go swimming in the pond. Recreation was riding into the country to look at the fields or a Sunday drive to the Raleigh airport. On the way back from farming in Apex, K. B. would stop and buy honeybuns as a treat. Every activity involved being together and helping each other because family was important.

Their first home was more sparce but the home place which remains today gave them running water, an inside bathroom, and heat. While T.V. was not yet available they recalled being entertained by the radio show “Stella Dallas.”

Finally, the delightful recalling of memories summarized their father as a good husband, a good father, a good provider, and a role model for the community. He was termed God fearing, hardworking, loving, and kind. K. B. “made life better for everybody.”

These five siblings emphasized something every parent would envy. They expressed such pride in parents who did so much from a humble beginning. They are indeed “children who are the image of what they were taught.” as Elijah phrased it.

Source: Video disc of five Booker siblings, 2018; Interview Evelyn Smith Booker and Lee Booker, January, 2023. Pictures courtesy of Evelyn and Lee Booker.