Mus
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& A rchi o ves f king h am WE NT Cou WO nty RT H
MARC NEWS
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February 2011
Vol. 1, No. 1 Publisher: Rebecca Cipriani
TEL (336 EPHO N ) 39 4-49 E 65
Challenge Grant Goal Met! The Rockingham County Historical Society Museum and Archives is pleased to report that we have met the 2010 Leadership Challenge Grant goal for 2010. Thanks to your generosity, we received payments and pledges exceeding the $25,000 goal. The Leadership Challenge is named after Lillian M. Coleman whose work on behalf of preserving Rockingham County history through the acquisition and development of Wright Tavern as a museum and her interest in preserving cemeteries was a life’s ambition. Her energy, drive and enthusiasm affected all who served with her during her presidency of the society. In recognition of Lillian M. Coleman’s leadership, commitment and interest, her family, through Dan and Beth Mosca, have issued this matching challenge which continues for the next several years. The purpose is to insure that a professional staff is in place to take RCHSMA into a secure future and to honor the legacy of Lillian M. Coleman and her vision of a vibrant future for this organization, preserving our history and serving our community. This challenge will continue for the next four years and it is an opportunity for all of us to contribute to the sustainability of our organization. We are but the beginning. To enable future success we will need to reach out to family and friends to match the challenge annually. On behalf of the entire board and the staff of RCHSMA, we thank those who have already contributed and look forward to another successful year which will sustain us into the future.
Creative Giving Makes A Difference By Kim Proctor
Left to Right: Grady Wise ,John Burton
Even in tough economic times people find ways to contribute to causes they hold dear. And when they do, they often make a difference in ways they don’t expect. Grady Wise, a local friend of the museum, is one of those people. RCHSMA president, John Burton, had occasion to talk to Mr. Wise about donating to our challenge grant fund in December. Instead of cash, Wise offered his 1993 Oldsmobile Cutlass for Burton to sell, with the proceeds going to the museum. He explained that at ninety-six years old, he didn’t have any use for it anymore. During a Christmas gathering at the Burton house, John’s son heard the story of Mr. Wise’s generosity. He knew of a family with six children (three of them in college) who needed a nice, reliable, and inexpensive vehicle. They came by to see the car and purchased the Cutlass on the spot. The proceeds were donated toward the challenge grant. Grady Wise’s donation made a difference to us! That he expected - but to know that his gift helped a local family, just when they needed it most - was unexpected. On behalf of all that benefited for your creative giving - thank you Mr. Wise.
Rockingham County Historical Society Museum & Archives, P. O. Box 84, Wentworth, NC 27375 | (336) 394-4965 |
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News from the Tavern The Wright Tavern
Ja nu a r y 1 s t h a s p a s s e d , t h e Rockingham County Museum & Archives and the Rockingham County Historical Society are one, and I am officially your new executive director. I’m happy to be here. I have enjoyed meeting and working with so many of you; and for those who I have not met, I look forward to meeting you in the near future. In the meantime, if you are an internet user, please shoot us an e-mail at rchsmamembership@gmail.com and let us know that you’re out there. We plan to make the newsletter available on-line soon. When we can communicate with you this way, we save on printing cost, do our part to protect the environment, and can keep you up-to-date on what’s happening at the Tavern, so you don’t miss the exciting events we have lined up. One opportunity for us to meet is just around the cor ner. T he Prog rams Committee has planned a wonderful fieldtrip to South Boston, The Prizery, and Boyd’s Ferry Saturday, February 19th at 8:30 a.m. (see the Society Program Announcement in this issue of the
newsletter). Don’t forget to send in your registration slip and payment to Berryman Green Chapter of the SAR. The deadline is February 14th. If you haven’t already, mark your calendars. Inventory Fridays continue at the Tavern. We have had a wonderful response to our request for volunteers and we invite you to join us between 10am-2pm each Friday. Inventory is moving along nicely. In fact, the first floor and the family quarters upstairs are complete. We have five more rooms upstairs, the attic, the Morehead Kitchen, and the Humphries Law Office to finish before the end of April. Since the weather’s improving, we’ve planned two Saturday afternoons (February 26th and March 5th) to inventory the outside kitchen in preparation for a new exhibit. If you’re free, I hope you’ll join us. Our work with the Rockingham County Government is progressing nicely. We just acquired storage facilities in the 1910 Jail and are working on a lease for the entire building with them, now. The museum complex is surely growing! continued on page 6
Kim Proctor Executive Director
Rockingham County Historical Society Museum & Archives, P. O. Box 84, Wentworth, NC 27375 | (336) 394-4965 |
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Past President’s Letter Dear fellow RCHSMA members, I send my warmest greetings to you all. As we enter a new era in the organization and start a new newsletter series, it seems appropriate to me that we look back and reflect on how we got here. I know that it is for you as it is for me—a pleasure to remember and relish our history and place ourselves in the context of the past. To facilitate that, I would like to share Lillian M. Coleman’s President’s Letter from the October 1984 issue (Series II, #36) of the Rockingham County Historical Society’s newsletter. She writes, “Dear members, … In 1954 a group of interested citizens organized the Rockingham County Historical Society for the general purpose of preserving the history of the county. This is being done by restoring and preserving old buildings like Wright Tavern, and through the publication of our “Journal of Rockingham County History and Genealogy” (first published in April, 1976). Society members are continually researching genealogical and historical records for material of interest to Rockingham County. There are m a ny fo rg o t t e n f a m i l y re c o rd s t o b e rediscovered, including Bible records, deeds, documents, etc. Efforts are being made to encourage a public awareness of these valuable pieces of history. On August 3, 1967 the society was incorporated mainly for the purpose of buying and restoring the old Wright Tavern which is located in Wentworth, the county seat of Rockingham, and the smallest county seat in the state. Wentworth is situated in the center of the county with larger towns in outlying areas. The Tavern has been restored and its maintenance is a continuing project of the society. Here is
where the society office is housed. The building is of early architectural Dog-Run plan, and is the only existing example in the state, thus its special historical value. There is a detailed and interesting brochure of the village of Wentworth and the Wright Tavern in the September 1981 Newsletter. For daily maintenance the Tavern is rented to the U.S. Post Office, and also for meetings to outside groups. Our society holds monthly meetings here also. Our society functions with all volunteer help from members and friends. Our officers and board members live in all areas of the county. Many projects have been accomplished in the past, but there are more to challenge our best efforts and I am trying to inform you of the status of these through our Newsletter. One such project is the Morehead building preservation process, which I have previously written about.
MEETING SCHEDULE WHAT
Board of Directors’ Meeting
WHEN
Thursday March 31 6:30 p.m.
WHERE
Wentworth Town Hall
The society is grateful for the first contribution to the Morehead Building Program, which was received from Mrs. Eleanor Manning of Greensboro; and also to our other members who have made donations to our General Fund. We also appreciate the thoughtfulness of those who remember that a memorial to the Historical Society is an appropriate expression of sympathy.” …Sincerely, Lillian Coleman, President” I find comfort in the many similarities between the society then and the society now. I know that what we do in the future to further our mission will do justice to all of you who have worked so hard to get us here and those who are no longer with us that contributed so much to the cause. My best to each of you, Kim Proctor
Rockingham County Historical Society Museum & Archives, P. O. Box 84, Wentworth, NC 27375 | (336) 394-4965 |
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SOCIETY PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT Quarterly Meeting of the Rockingham County Historical Society Museum & Archives, to be held February 19, 2011 The first quarterly meeting of the new Rockingham County Historical Society Museum & Archives organization will be held on Saturday, February 19, 2011 at 10:00 a.m., in South Boston, Virginia. The event will be held at The Prizery—Halifax County Community Arts Center at 700 Bruce Street. The program is the 230th Anniversary Commemoration of American General Nathaniel Greene and his troops crossing the Dan River at Boyd’s Ferry to distance themselves from the British forces led by General Charles Cornwallis. The museum exhibits in the Prizery chronicle the journey of General Greene across North Carolina into Virginia to safety from the British Army. This program includes presentation of wreaths by the Sons of the American Revolution and Daughters of the American Revolution, followed by an address by Dr. John W. Hall (Associate Professor of U.S. Military History at the University of Wisconsin—Madison) entitled Patriots and Partisans: The Ambiguous Role of Irregular Warfare in the Revolution. A catered Bar-b-que lunch in the Banquet Hall at the Prizery will follow the morning program. The cost of the meal is $12, by paid reservation. (See form below) The afternoon program is a walk to the actual Boyd’s Ferry crossing site. Directions to The Prizery from Danville are: Follow U.S. 58 east out of Danville 30 miles to South Boston, turn left onto U.S. 501, cross Dan River to Bruce Street, and the Prizery is the second large brick building. Members are encouraged to car pool by meeting at 8:30 a.m. on the east side of the Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse of Reidsville on Freeway Drive at the intersection of U.S. 158 and N.C. 14. For more information, go to www.prizery.com/Crossing/Celebration.htm or call Anne Raab at (434) 470-1350. !
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Rockingham County Historical Society Museum & Archives, P. O. Box 84, Wentworth, NC 27375 | (336) 394-4965 |
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Mr. History’s Highlights from the Past Bob Carter, County Historian
MADISON TO THE FRONT A Write-Up of the Citizens and Resources of a Leading Town of Rockingham Madison, Sept. 18. – Brick kilns are burning at edge of town, and the new era of building Madison is evident in the center thereof, where Vaughn & Webster are causing the erection of a two story brick double store. West Busick is adding progress with a two story general merchant building and G.W. Martin is building likewise. Dr. C.R. McAnaly has ordered some of the material for a two story brick structure and all those buildings will be substantial and commodious. The J.A. Pratt planning mill is busy and the capacity will be greatly increased and the admirably constructed box factory owned by Ben M. Cahill is receiving additional machinery for chair manufacture. The two tobacco houses are open and have commenced business for the season. The Bank of Madison has a satisfactory increase of deposits and the railways bear out the fact that Madison is on the up grade commercially. Madison has two railroads, the N. & W. main line, and the Madison & Greensboro branch of the Southern system. By the N. & W. go about 20 car loads of lumber per month, also furniture which is hauled here from Shelton, 15 miles away, and stocks are shipped to Winston, also tobacco, and groceries go to small stations from the Madison wholesale houses. By the Southern 500 to 600 car
loads of shale are shipped annually to Pomona and yarns hauled here from Avalon and Madison are forwarded, and tobacco goes chiefly to Durham, Danville and Reidsville. Madison has ten stores and merchandise comes by car loads and by local freight. M. W. Gant, the agent for the Southern, is also express agent and possesses 15 years railway experience. He was born 7 miles from here at Rocky Spring and it would be difficult to find a more popular man in business. He is cheery with everybody and not afraid to take hold. Mr. Gant was married at Stokesdale where he was agent for 8 years and will build a cottage in Madison. T. J. Teague, agent for the N. & W. has been at his post here for fifteen years with the exception of a few days taken to recuperate. Mr. Teague is also manager of the Western Union and punctilious to duty. The Madison postoffice is a busy one receiving 5 daily mails by rail and 4 R.F.D. and two star routes and it has a first class postmaster in P.A. Peatross, who for 14 years was connected with “The Art Preservative.” He was proof reader when Stuart Bros. had the State printing and he edited the Madison News and other papers and has been successful in insurance business and he is an able man and cultured gentleman. R. L. and W.T. Ledbetter, Bros. have put a five horse-power gasoline engine in their blacksmith shop, which measures 75 x 75 feet and have added planer, band saw, rip saw, and turning lathe, for the manufacture of building material. The Ledbetter Bros. are young men who own farms and other property in Mayodan, where they formerly sounded the anvil chorus.
J. A. Pratt has been turning wood building material here for 10 years and will [illegible] to double the capacity, although he has two planers, moulding and matching machinery, turning lathes and numerous saws. Mr. Pratt owns also a grist mill (four foot burr) good residence, four tenant houses, stock in tobacco warehouses and a farm of 150 acres and he is an indefatible worker and enterprising [illegible] citizen. Ben M. Cahill is putting the machinery in place for chair manufacture capacity 300 chairs per day. At the plant by R.R. track he owns 17 acres and his main factory building is 111 x 60 feet, two stories wherein are chair and box [illegible] machinery from McKnight, Thomasville and from New York and other states, specially chosen or made for himself. He, being a fine machinist and practical wood worker. With engine of 50 and boiler of 80 horse power, the machinery will soon be in motion and many families will have work at home during all kinds of weather, bottoming the chairs. Mr. Cahill has invested about [$ illegible] in buildings and machinery and stock, and he gets the cut from many mills and he will make the Cahill chair from the log to the finish. Madison should have furniture factories; it has the material shipped out and brick and tile factories should burn here as shown in nearly two car loads of shale a day going away. It is evidently, however, that Madison’s Rip Van Winkle-like sleep is over, and energy with pull together will make a live and prosperous community. James Cardwell (Danbury Reporter, August 5, 1905)
Rockingham County Historical Society Museum & Archives, P. O. Box 84, Wentworth, NC 27375 | (336) 394-4965 |
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CANADIAN HISTORIC SITE HONORS ROCKINGHAM
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MARC your calendars!
By Charles Rodenbough
In 1846, Daniel Wall, on his deathbed, manumitted his slave, John, with the name John Freeman Walls and instructed him to take his family, his wife and four children, as his own and care for them. Later that year, John fled from his home on Troublesome Creek in Rockingham County along with the widow, Jane King Wall, her four children, and the house servant, Corliss. T hey made their way, with many adventures, to Indiana where they were befriended by a Quaker family. They were still pursued by patrollers from North Carolina and so they continued until they crossed into Canada. Still pursued, they continued until they found land in the small community of Puce, in Ontario Province, near Windsor. In Canada, the farmstead they built in 1846 remains today as an Historic Site and the buildings are restored as the John Freeman Walls Historic Site, a well visited tourist attraction which tells the story of the family and the history of the Underground Railroad. RCHSMA has made contact with Dr. Bryan E. Walls, who teaches Multiculturalism and Diversity at Niagara University, Niagara Falls, NY and is the great-great grandson of John Freeman Walls. He is also the author of The Road That Led to Somewhere,.” The second chapter of that book begins, “Troublesome Creek wound through Rockingham County, North Carolina.” RCHSMA is now in touch with Dr. Walls and the John Freeman Walls Historic Site and discussion will soon begin to build a stronger bond with this vital story as it relates to our county.
continued from Page 2 We have a new administrative assistant/bookkeeper, Sandra Apple. We’re setting up routines, organizing records, and working on an audit. Come by or call and meet Sandra when you have a chance. This week we submitted a grant application to Z Smith Reynolds requesting funds to convert the Law Office at the Tavern into a dedicated visitor’s center. It’s an exciting project that involves building and grounds restoration and improvements. Part of the project is the creation of videos that introduce the various municipalities in the county for future visitors to enjoy. We will be working with these communities to create those videos. The new committee chairs and cochairs have been wonderful to work with and their leadership qualities are excellent. They’ve made an impressive start to this year’s work. Members of the Presentation, Preservation, Programs, and Publicity Committees have been hard at work. Check out what each committee is doing on page 7.
Our special thanks to Kitty Williams who opened her home and hosted the RCHSMA Christmas program in December. It was a warm and wonderful afternoon. The place was alive with friends and laughter. Well over thirty people attended. Everyone brought tasty dishes and the spread was impressive. Touring the house and learning its history was a real treat, too.
2/14 Deadline for lunch reservations for the 230th Anniversary of the Crossing of the Dan 2/27 Morehead Kitchen Inventory 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. 3/5 Morehead Kitchen Inventory 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. 3/31 Board of Directors’ Meeting at Wentworth Town Hall at 6:30 p.m.
Free on Fridays? Join us at the Tavern for Inventory Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Genealogy Folks, get ready! We have big plans in the works and we’ll need your e x p e r t i s e. I f yo u a r e interested in helping and/ or have things to offer our genealogy program, let us know. Drop us a line at rchsmamembership@gmail . c o m o r P O B ox 8 4 , Wentworth, NC 27375.
Rockingham County Historical Society Museum & Archives, P. O. Box 84, Wentworth, NC 27375 | (336) 394-4965 |
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Committee Reports Presentation Committee Update By Melissa Whitten On January 25, 2011, Si Rothrock and Melissa Whitten, co-chairs of the Presentation Committee, met with Kim Proctor, RCHSMA director. All facets of committee responsibilities were discussed. Among those items discussed were the ongoing general repairs, painting, and siding replacement at the Tavern. As of this writing, the upstairs heating system is not working. Parts have been ordered and the problem should be rectified shortly. A grant is being pursued to convert the Ira Humphrey’s law office (formerly used as the Wentworth Post Office and later the as the society office and storage space) into a Visitors’ Center. We have acquired the use of two cells in the 1910 Jail for storage space. Part of this process was the duplication of an historic key. The key is being duplicated by a gunsmith and friend of the museum. We also discussed areas of the courthouse that would be appropriate for the opening exhibit and we mapped out a proposed sequence for the pending "attack" on the committee's responsibilities. A committee meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, February 2. We look forward to offering more details once our committee has met.
Preservation (Accessions and Archives) Committee B:y Charles Rodenbough Since morning, a RCHSMA Tavern to accessioned
November, every Friday group of hardy members of have been meeting at the add to the List of Objects by RCHS since about 1970.
This has been a huge “catch-up task” and our volunteers represent the new enthusiasm that is present in RCHSMA. Come join us if you can! The committee chairs have actually begun functioning before meeting formally as a committee. A draft of a Collections/Archives Management Policy is being drawn up for the full committee to work with at our meeting, tentatively scheduled for February 8 at 4:00 pm at the Tavern. We hope to have that Policy ready for the approval of the Board on March 31st. T h e r e f o r e , a n u n o f fi c i a l moratorium has been placed on all accessions to the Collection/Archives until that policy is in place. The policy will be very thorough and will bring order and authenticity to the structuring of the RCHSMA Collection.
Programs Committee By Bob Carter & Kim Proctor The Programs Committee met January 26th. Every member of the committee was in attendance and three new potential members attended. The response was amazing and ideas flowed freely. First on the agenda, was the society program. We decided on a program that we think you’ll all enjoy and made plans. (see page 5). We discussed the archiving of previous journals and the publication of the 2010 and 2011 journals. And we talked in depth about ways to build a partnership with the public school system, the charter school, and home-schooling families in the community. We’ll be announcing “First Saturday Family Day” Events at the
Tavern, shortly. Get ready, Spring’s on the way and the place will be popping! Publicity (Marketing & Membership) Committee By Robbin Dodson
The Publicity Committee has begun work in several strategic areas. Membership organization is of primary importance as we update our lists of renewals and new members. Adding email addresses to our base to improve communication is another task we continue to address. Attracting new members is an on-going project and we hope to work with other committees to develop ideas that will appeal to many different sectors of our community. In addition, we hope to add new members to our committee and develop a plan to recruit and organize volunteers. A list of potential resource people in multiple fields is to be developed as well. Media strategy is critical to any organization and will be constantly updated. Kim Proctor is already at work developing a new website for RCHSMA. It will be easily accessed and offer interactive links. Kim will be preparing a newspaper column for area newspapers as well as utilizing area radio and television markets in the near future. Development of a logo is currently underway with completion
set for June. The RCHSMA Newsletter is also an important tool of this committee. We are setting up schedules and seeking ways to make it most effective. We will cooperate with all committees to communicate the organization’s focus on the history of Rockingham County.
Rockingham County Historical Society Museum & Archives, P. O. Box 84, Wentworth, NC 27375 | (336) 394-4965 |
TAVERN HOURS Thursday-Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. OFFICE HOURS Wednesday-Friday 9 :30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
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F RO C K IN R O M : GHAM C OUNTY H IS T O R IC M U S E U M A L S O C IE T Y & A RC H IV ES P. O. B O X 84 WENTW O RT H , N C 27375
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MARC NEWS February 2011
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