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On Sept. 17, 1960, John F. Kennedy stopped at Farmers Warehouse, where thousands had gathered to see him. After a mock tobacco auction led by Ray Oglesby, Arthur Tripp presented JFK with a farm program plaque. Kennedy enjoyed the warehouse stop greatly, and some of the tobacco went with the motorcade to ECC College Stadium where the main rally was held. After Kennedy was killed, a memorial service was held at Farmer’s.
the newspaper, Miss Ella Monterio of Greenville was said to be the most beautiful woman that attended President Cleveland’s reception. Miss Monterio (1866-1937) was later married to Harry Skinner (1855-1929), a prominent lawyer in Greenville. In May 1893, former Governor Thomas J. Jarvis and Major Louis C. Latham were appointed to the committee to act as escort of the remains of Jefferson Davis as it passed through N.C. Former Confederate President Jefferson Davis died on Dec. 6, 1889 in New Orleans and was buried in the Metairie Cemetery. Several years later Mrs. Davis decided to have the president’s remains moved and reinterred in at a location that could accommodate the entire Davis family. After listening to several options, Mrs. Davis decided that Richmond, Va., which had been the
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capital of the confederacy, would be the final resting place of the Davis Family. On May 31, 1893, with full Confederate Military Honors, President Jefferson Davis was reinterred in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond. According to the schedule, on May 28 Davis’ body was removed from a vault in Metairie Cemetery, and the funeral train left New Orleans with the body. Davis’s daughter was on the train, which made a stop at Beauvoir, his former home, before continuing eastward. On May 29, the body lay in state at the Alabama capitol and Georgia capitol. On May 30, the body lay in state at the capitol in Raleigh for three hours. On May 31, the train reached Richmond, where Mrs. Varina Davis, widow of Jefferson Davis, met up with her daughter. It was estimated that 75,000 people witnessed the procession to Hollywood Cemetery.
Davis’ body was reinterred to a 21gun salute. Greenville lawyer Edmund Hoover Taft (1912-1992) was in law school at Duke University in 1936 with Richard Milhous Nixon. Taft saw Nixon several times over the years. Taft visited Nixon in his Vice Presidential Office during President Eisenhower’s time in office. Mr. and Mrs. Taft and son Tommy attended Nixon’s Presidential Inauguration Ball at the Smithsonian, where Hoover talked to Nixon for a few minutes. The next known connection occurred on Nov. 17, 1941, when Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt and her personal secretary visited Greenville. After almost going to Greenville, S.C. due to a miscommunication, Mrs. Roosevelt came by train to Wilson, and an entourage of Greenville citizens in their automobiles went to meet her at the train. There is a funny