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Historic Webster Vol. 1 No. 2

  • Historic 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.
  • a newsletter of t~e we6ster ~istorical societr VOLUME I NUMBER 2 Webster, North Carolina THE MOUNTAIN VIEW HOTEL IN WEBSTER 1885 Hotel Register 9s 9nteresting 9tem A remnant of the Webster Hotel in 1885 still exists in Jim Simpson's home in Webster. Here the hotel register for the years 1885 and 1886 is housed. The Webster Hotel was one of two hotels in the town at that time. The proprietor was F .A. Luck, who also owned the Penland House hotel in what is now Cantono The Webster Hotel stood in the lot between Court­house Square and the Methodist Church. It was later known as the Mountain View Hotel and the Leather­wood Hotel, and was run at different times by Virge Brown, the Leatherwoods and Joe and Lily Rhinehart until the fire of 1910 destroyed it. ' Jim Simpson obtained the hotel register from Tally Jones of Atlanta, a nephew of the late Miss Sadie Luck whose home stands in Sylva. The first date listed in the register, January 4, 1885, shows that two persons stayed in the hotel. These guests were O.B. Coward, Webster, and Lee Hooper, county. A total of 13 registered during Jan­uary, 1885, hailing from Charleston, N.C • (later B:yson City), Baltimore, Md., Atlanta, Knoxville, Rtchmond, Colorado, New York, Asheville, Marion and Franklin. These people came by rail and by horse, The railroad from Asheville to Murphy had been completed one year earlier, and though the railroad bypassed Webster, there was horse and buggy transportation from Sylva to Webster, Court was held in Webster twice a ye;u-, and most likely the majority of guests were in town torthis purpose. The Webster Hotel had a barn for keeping horses, and served three meals a day, I.n the "remarks" column of the register, there are numerous entries marked "horse." Another column.has entries marked ''D," ''S," and ''B," denoting which m~ls, dinner, supper or breakfast, the guests wanted. For instance, a Mr, Fowler of New York who registered June 10 1885, requested "B at 5 1/2 sharp." ' The guest list included persons from East LaPort Cullowhee, Caney Fork, Cashiers Valley, Hamburg: Sylva, Quallatown, Moses Creek, and many from Webster. Many of them were in the county seat on busi­':' ess, and. travel on horseback or wagon made stay­mg overnight at a hotel a necessity, When court was in session, it was common for the jury to stay overnight in the same hotel, so they would not discuss the cases with anyone. At the turn of the century the jury stayed regularly at the Nathan Coward House next door to the Webster (then Mt. View) Hotel, ac­cording to Jane Coward. Perhaps in 1885the jury stayed at the Webster Hotel. l.n some of the latter entries of the register, notations of charges are listed. At that time it ap­parently cost not more than 75¢ to stay overnight. There are many listings of 25¢ and 75¢, but the register does not show whether the figures denote meals or room or both. An Asheville man "and four" with driver and horse was charged $3, The last entry in the register is dated April 1~86, Alth.ough. some pages may be missing, the re• g>.ster begms m 1883, when it was used at the Pen­land House. l.n additon to being proprietor of the Penland House Webster Hotel, F .A. Luck was publisher of the TUCKASEIGEE DEMOCRAT, which began publication in 1888, and became the SYLVA SENTINEL in 1897 and the JACKSON COUNTY JOURNAL in 1903, The newspaper was published in Webster before being moved to Sylva, Simpson plans to donate the Webster Hotel register to the Webster museum and archives, Sixteen Committees From Which To Choose The Webster Historical Society has 16 committees with 80•plus members among them. They are w~rking hard to raise $200,000; to bring you the HISTORIC WEBSTER newsletter; to plan for the July 4th events; · to publish a cookbook. in the spring; to plan house tours of restored homes m Jackson County; to organize a th.eatr~ group; open a country store; to involve Young H1stor.ans all over Jackson County in gathering the County's history; and to keep you informed through th~ local news services, Some of the various com­mittees are long and others short on volunteers This project is alive and growing. Curious? Inter: ested? Concerned? Join! MARCH 1974 'Jirst Qeneral Meeting Attracts farge Crowd Ov.:er 300 persons attended the !irst general meet­ing of the Webster Historical Society on February 15. Held at the Webster School, the meeting included the election of officers, adoption of the by-laws, setting of the goals for fund-raising, and the approval of plans for the July 4 celebration. Preceding the meeting was a membership and fund raising dr_ive, in which 75 new charter mem­bers joined, donating a total of almost $1000. Then the Webster cloggers kicked off the business meeting with a display of their talents. A gOal of $ll3,500 . by July 10 and $200,000 by Dec­ember 31 was approved by the group. ThQ $ll3 500 will be used to pay for the Webster School and the additional $65,000 is to cover other Historicai Society activities, including building maintenance and a museum in the school building, Off~cers for the society were reelected by a vote of ~onf1dence. . They are Betty Price, president; Marilyn Jody, VICe president; Mary Morris, secretary· and Jim Simpson, treasurer, On the board of direc~ tors are Roy Baker, Joe Rhinehart, Spencer Clark Richard lobst and John Parris. ' Plans for the July 4th celebration were approved by the group, A mustache and beard growing con­test for men and a costume contest for women will be one of the most interesting events. Under a motion made by Jim Simpson, men and women will be fined $5 or be placed in "jail" for not wearing a mustache or turn-of-the-century costume to the July 4th event. The society's by-laws, previously approved by the Board of Directors, were approved and accepted by the general meeting. Honorary memberships were voted for Alice Harrill, editor of the HISTORIC WEBSTER news· letter and Mack Sarvis, director of a video tape documentary and a slide -sound narration of Webster Following the business session, the meeting ad: journed to old fashioned refreshments and a showing oi the video tape show on Webster made by students at Camp Laboratory School. An oral history slide show of western North Carolina by Bill Weaver was shown, and bluegrass music was presented by Eric Olsen and Bill Mcintyre, Audiovisual Shows To Be Available A slide-sound narrative of Webster's history will soon be available to schools, clubs and organiza­tions for viewing, Compiled by Mack Sarvis, a grad• uate student at WCU, the show will feature old and ne~ slides o~ Webster and Jackson County with nar• ratiOn by residents who recall its history, Under. Sarvis' direction, students at Camp Lab­oratory High School have made a video tape documen• ~ry of ~ebster, including a tour of homes, and inter• views With three of the oldest residents • Arthur Allman, Lily Rhinehart, and Lucy Morgan. · Those involved in the high school television pro­duction include Barbie Arney, Dawn Davis Larry Arney, Manda Litchiord,KathyPeterson, DanF~xworth, Meg Stuart, Robert Brown, Jeff Wilson D:>n.na Kiser and stephanie Robinson. ' The video tape program has been shown to classes at the school, the Camp Lab PTA the Kiwanis Club and the Historical Society general m'eeting on February 15, . . The sli~e show and the video tape documentary !"ill be. available for showings to clubs and schools m April. Those wishing to borrow either of these programs should write Dr. Marilyn Jody, Drawer W, Webster, N,C.~ Page 2 lllSTORIC WEBSTER March 1974 R. L. Madison: A Pedagogue Comes To The Highlands When the subject of the growth of education in western North Carolina arises, invariably comes with it the name Robert L. Madison. The founder of what is now Western Ca;·olina University and a resident of Webster, Madison probably did more toward edu­cating the mountain people than did any other one person in the late nineteenth and early twentieth cen­turies. Robert Lee Madison was born in Lexington, Vir­ginia, in 1867, and spent his childhood days on the campuses of Washington and Lee University and Vir­ginia Military Institution. As a small boy, he was bounced upon the knee of General Robert E. Lee. His father, Colonel R. L. Madison, was General Lee's personal physician and school surgeon for VMI. · Madison first came to North Carolina at the urging of his older brother, who had become captivated by the N.C. mountains and people. Referring to western North Carolina as the "Land of Promise," Monro Madison prevailed uoon his younger brother to come and assume his position at QuallaSchoolwithProfessor William A, LOng. So Robert Madison arrived in Quallatown in 1885, just after completing a three month teaching appren­ticeship in Tennessee. Fifty years later, when he was writing his biography, "EXPeriences of a Pedagogue in the Carolina Highlands," he referred to his com­ing to Qualla on "temporary assignment" as an ex­cellent example of one of those "seeming accidents" producing "determinative effects." Madison spent two years at Quallatown, teaching an average of forty students everything from basic writing and reading skills to algebra, grammar and Latin. At that time, most schools were only open for two or three months a year. Professor Madison saw that these schools would never be able to attract and keep teachers. The pay, $15 a month for womon, and $20 to $25 for men, was certainly not appealing to young teachers, most of whom left to go to long , Charlotte Young Speaks of Webster Miss Charlotte Young, a long time teacher in western North Carolina, was principal of the Webster School and tau~ht there for three years beginning in the fall of 1914. 'There's nothing I'd prefer to talk about more than Webster," she says. "Of all my long years of experience as a teacher, my three years spent there were the happiest teaching years of my life.,'' "Webster was the most delightful town that I ever lived in. The people were a little sad and dis• appointed over the loss of Webster as the county seat. The railroad had come through, and by some strange circumstance it was routed over to Sylva and then it was easy to get Sylva as the county seat. Well, there stood the courthouse and the people be­wa! led the fact that they were no more the county seat, which they had been from time immemorial, almost. "One person who worked_so hard to keep_ Webster as the county seat was Professor Robert L, Madison. He came home on vaction from a government job in Washington be had at the time so he could fight the movement to make Sylva the county seat. With all his wonderful characteristics, he was a scholar, a gentleman and a Christian Q - time would slip up on him sometimes, and he was so interested in working for Webster that he overstayed his vacation and lost his job in Washington. And so there was a short while there that he was out of a job. "Anyway, the second year I was there, Baxter Jones, the other high school teacher, ran for state legislature and was elected, so when they met in January, Mr. Jones had to go and we were lucky enough to get Professor Madison for a little while as substitute, So I had the marvelously beautiful eXPerience of teaching with Professor Madison that spring until Mr. Jones came back. He was a marvelous teacher, a Christian gentleman and it was a delight to work with him. "His wife, Ella Richards Madison, also taught there, which made six teachers for the entire school. She taught music and art rather on her own, but we considered her a member of the faculty. Largely due to her efforts, Webster High School won second prize in a contest of all the high schools in western North Carolina, because the booklets and drawings that were exhibited had been made beautiful by her students. "The real matriarch of the . town was Aunt Hattie Allison. She and her husband Uncle Andy lived in the cottage next to the Tomkins home, "She had her own peculiarities. I first met her as I was walking along the street and someone said, term schools out of western North Carolina. The need for a long term school in the area which would be supported by more than just public taxes seemed to Madison to be not only logical but urgent. Madison's crusade for better schools began in the spring of 1886 in the Qualla community but progress was slow and Madison left in early 1888 to go to Sylva. In Sylva, Madison worked as a teacher in the village school and as editor of the county paper, the TUCKASEIGEE DEMOCRAT. Hedividedhisdaybetween classroom and newspaper duties. All nights except Friday were spent in school work. Friday nights were given to the literary society at the public hall. At the beginning of the fall of 1888, Madison had subscribed to several leading educational journals, and before the fall term was over he had organized a group of practice teachers. "As far as I know this was the first attempt ever made to do practice teach­ing in this country," he wrote. It was on a small scale and participation was voluntary. Madison stayed at Sylva, with but one intention - that of starting a public school. Here he became impressed with the need for a permanent institution in this mountainous section, an institution which would not only give · the young people a better foundation for their future vocations, but would also answer the acute need for preparing teachers for county and village schools. The N.C. General Assembly of 1889 had abolished the then existing eight normal schools and had pro­vided instead for teacher's institutes to be held annually in each county. The teacher's institute in Webster in 1889 led to the turning point in Professor Madi­son's lifeo Under the direction of Coleman Cowan of Web­ster, thirty teachers considered practical matters of methods, organization and discipline. While attending the institute, Madison won the close friendship and admiration of Professor Edward P, Moses, super­intendent of the Raleigh schools. At the close of the workshop Madison was invited to teach with him as an assistant in Raleigh. Madison wished to remain in the mountains and start a permanent school in Webster or Cullowhee, but since there were no immediate openings at the time, he decided to go to Raleigh. He was writing his acceptance letter, to be put on the east bound train in a matter of minutes, when Lewis J. Smith of Cullowhee entered his office and asked him to come to Cullowhee, meet the people and decide on opening a school there. At Cullowhee, arrangements were made at once for him to begin teaching the following week. "Accordingly, in an unfinished, unpainted frame building, unfurnished except for some rude benches and a blackboard, I began what is now Western Caro­lina Teacher's College, with eighteen students," he wrote in 1938. In October, 1889, his sister was called to instruct the primary children. By the end of the first term the enrollment had risen to one hundred students. In July, 1890, in response to Madison's call, teachers of western North Carolina met in Waynes­ville and formed the Western North Carolina Teacher's Association. The 1890-1891 school term opened with a staff of tl\ree - Madison as priiiC!pai, Miss Ella v. Richards as instructor in music and art, and Miss May Bell Cooper as primary teacher. Miss Richards, of Gal­veston, Texas, and Madison were married in November, 1891. In 1891 the state chartered the school as Cul­lowhee High School and in 1893 the bill was amended. Thus the normal department was put under state care. After Cullowhee became state supported, it pros­pered as had not been possible with only local support. It advanced from a high school to a junior college, to a four-year teacher's college, to Western Caro­lina College, and now is a university - all because of the initial efforts of Robert L. Madison. THE WEBSTER SCHOOL AROUND 1905 'I want to meet you Miss Young,' And after I spoke to her she said, 'You'll have to excuse me, Miss Young, I can't come out to the sidewalk because I'm afraid of worms. • At a certain season of the year, caterpillars were all around the place searching for a place to weave a cocoon, and she was allergic to these 'worms.' That made her more interesting to me. "She. was one of the best backers I ever had for school, Whatever Aunt Hattie said, went for all her nieces and nephews and great nieces and great nephews and all the other young people in town. Aunt Hattie's word was a bond, and it was a command though she said it so gently. She backed me up and advertised me to the schoolchildren. And discipline was no problem whatever in that school. ''I never used corporal punishment but one time and that was just a pretense. One little boy said, 'Miss Young I'd like to get off this Friday afternoon, You know I live with my grandfather and he wants me to come pul: fodder.' I wonder if anyone who reads this will ren.ember pulling fodder, Old schools used to stop while they pulled fodder, that is, pulled the leaves off the corn stalks before the frost to feed to the cattle and horses in the winter. I said, 'I'll tell you, Kimsey, one thing, are you telling me the truth?' 'Yes 1IDo1 I said, 'One thing's sure, I promise you a little switching if you're telling me a story, and I'll find out.' 'No m'am, Miss Young, it's so; he wants me/ "Well, sure enough I found out from his grandpa, who said, 'No , he ran away. I never told him.' Well, he came back Monday, and he looked at me, I looked at him, and when I got a chance of quiet time, I said, 'Kinsey, do you remember what I told you, that I promised you a whipping?' I said, 'I haven't had to whip anyone here; I haven'thadto punish anyone, but I am going to have to do it because you told me a story..' He said, 'Yes'rn, I told you a story/ "I got a little switch about 2 feet long, and went through the motion of touching his coat with it a little bit but that was the only corporal punishment or really severe punishment. "I didn't have to discipline those people. They did what I said. And I said it kindly and friendly, If there ever was a school that gave the teacher heaven on earth it was there, Webster High School. "As the old mountain saying goes: them was the days. Now I don't bemoan the good old days that have passed, but I do believe in honoring what was good then, and I would put up Webster School and (TURN TO PAGE FOUR) A Jack of All Trades Amos Jack Hoyle, blacksmith, logger, board splitter and yarn-spinner grew up on Blanton Branch, in the Ochre Hill section of Jackson County, Going strong since 1892, Mr. Hoyle is one of the most entertaining story-tellers around. At the Webster Historical Society meeting on February 15, Mr. Hoyle was asked to tell his story about the Missouri cabbages. To the delight of those attending, Mr. Hoyle .told the following tall tale: "A drummer from Missouri came through the Willets section once and stopped his team under the shade of a tree and saw John Sanford hoeing his cab­bages. The drummer told him it didn't look like his cabbages would make anything--that back in Mis­souri they grew cabbages so big you could drive a team under a leaf to get out of a storm. Uncle John Sanford told him it was just a hobby--that he spent most of his life in a foundry. He got the drummer's mind off the cabbages and told him that in the foundry they poured a pot that when they put the handles on it you couldn't hear them hammer from one side to the other. The drummer said, 'What on earth did they build a pot that big for?' John Sanford told him it was to cook those Missouri cabbages in." "They had a trial at morning recess, to try to find out who did it, you see. There was two grown women there-there's one of them living yet, Bill Sutton's mother, Ethyl Snyder at that time-and Etta Robinson. They was grown women and they said it lay between . me and Ransom Blanton, They was telling the truth, but how they knowed it I don't know. "But they had no evidence you know. Uncle Ben said it couldn't have possibly been. He said he whupped us out of the creek right off from the school house and brought us to school. But he said if he found out who done it, he'd lick them if it was the last day of school. "And they had a little entertainment the last night of the school and I hollered and told him. I got in the door where I could run, you know, and I told him who done it. I knew he wouldn't be back the next year. And then I went home and my daddy beat the dickens out of me!" It was Mr. Hoyle's tales of Jackson County--its countryside and its peo­ple- and the building of their log cabin that led Betty and Marilyn to start thinking about ways to preserve the history they had learned, especially the skills that had helped to build Jackson County. And now that the project Is underway, one dream is already coming true. Mr. Hoyle is teaching his skills to another member of- the younger-generation~ Gene Thornburg is apprenticing in blacksmithing and will soon start helping Mr. Hoyle split boards with the froe he had made, the mall Mr. Hoyle gave him, and the anvil his Daddy, Lacy, got for him down the country. The board-break and blacksmith shop will be set up on the school grounds at Webster. HISTORIC WEBSTER March 1974 Page 3 JACK HOYLE WITH BOARD BOLT AND FROE Mr. Hoyle and his stories and jokes have been an important part of the lives of two newcomers to Jack­son County--Betty Price and Mar ilyn Jody, When these two "good old girls," as Mr. Hoyle fondly calls them, decided to move the 130-year old Bill Tom Deitz log cabin from up East Fork to a hillside up river from the Webster Baptist Church, it was Jack Hoyle who made the project possible. In fact, Betty and Marilyn call their cabin "the house that Jack built." From the beginning Mr. Hoyle told them he wanted to teach them "how to make a living from the land and to be self-sufficient." Mr. Hoyle is truly a "Jack of all trades," He taught the two "city girls" how to lay blocks for the foundation and rock face them with native stone; how to notch the logs so they'd stay in place; how to split board shingles with a froe and a mall from white oak board timber; how to put in a garden, harvest it and preserve it (telling them when the okra started to come up it would look like baby possum's ears); and even how to make butter milk biscuits. Many a story of the mountains has been told around his kit• chen table while the three friends ate Mr. Hoyle's biscuits, cookies, and blackberry or apple jelly·~ always with a cup of coffee. The Hall Farm And Tannery One of the stories tells of Mr. Hoyle's mischiev­ous boyhood at the Ochre Hill School around the turn­of- the-century. As he tells it: "Well we used to have to walk a mile and ahalf to school and there was three girls who lived on across the mountain a mile further than we lived, and come through by our house. And the teacher was boarding at their house with his sister, In fact he was their uncle, His sister was the mother of these girls, you see, and every­thing that happened on the road, why she'd tell, and these girls would have us to get a licking. '.'And they sat on the back seat in the school­house, There was just one room and there was a big crowd in the school. These girls would sit with their heads agin the wall along on the back seat. "Well me and my cousin left home one morning just practically daylight and we went away doWn al- ----'"~'o st to the- schoolhouse and crossed over then to an old field and got some rosin out of an old pine tree that had been chipped, you know, and took it down to the schoolhouse and rubbed it along the back wall, right where those girls put their heads. "Then we went back across the hill to the next creek along the road where this teacher and those girls come along and built us a pond to go swim• ming in. The teacher made us come out and go on to school. And books hadn't been took up fifteen minutes before every one of their heads was caught agin the wall. The following articles were written by Mrs, Grace Hall Brown (Mrs. Dl vid H.), who grew up at the Hall Farm in Webster, now the Lacy Thornburg home. Her father, L. C. Hall, ran a tannery with branches in Webster and Sylva. Mr. Hall, an ingenious man who designed and installed for his family the first indoor bathroom facilities in Jackson County, was an important businessman in Webster. Mrs. Brown now lives in Cullowhee, Here are her accounts of the tannery and her childhood on the Hall Farm, THE HALL TANNERY L, C. Hall (Coleman Sr ,) was born in 184 7 on the edge of the village of Webster and never left Jackson County, He and Hannah McKee were married Oct. 29, 1883 and started house keeping in a small 5 room house on the Hall farm inherited from his father, David Fonsey, In 1891-92 the small house was taken in as the back rooms of the house you now see, owned by Judge Lacy Thornburg, Years before his marriage to my mother, he had established a tannery which was a lucrative busi­ness for many years. Some hides were bought locally and some were shipped in, They were tanned to per­fection by hand and shipped to an Eastern market. I believe it was Baltimore, Md, After going through vats of lime solution to re­move the hair, they were carried by wheelbarrow to the big overshot wheel where they were thoroughly washed and made ready for immersion in vats filled with homemade tanooze derived from chestnut oak bark ground in a mill which was powered by the big water wheel which was used for many other purposes, James Manahale from the state of Indiana, an expert tanner for that day and time, was in charge of the work for many years and lived on the place ~oin tfie Historical Society 'Godayl 00 creo , "' The mailing list has been compiled from the Webster township tax listings, the Sylva Herald out-of-county sub­scription list, a list of Jackson County public school teachers, the Western North Carolina Historical Society membership list, WCU faculty and staff directory; the Appalachian Consortium Board of Directors list and per­sonal lists from members of the Webster Historical Society. If you know of anyone who would like to receive the newsletter, please send thenameandaddresstoDrawer W Webster, North Carolina, 28788• ' The first three issues of HISTORIC WEBSTER will be sent free to anyone interested in receiving them, Further issues of the newsletter will be sent to all members of the Webster Historical Society at no cost other than membership dues. 0 D D u c I want to be a Charter Member ~ My dues are enclosed $5 $10 $20 $30 $100 Active or Associate Contributing Supporting Sustaining Life I am sending a donation Amount ~"' 3: i both before and after my father's death. The tanning enterJ;lrise was profitable until more advanced methods were mtroduced, run by improved machinery and tanned by a chemical extract made from chestnut oak barK and also from chestnut oak wood. After this enter­prise became history, Mr, Manahale accepted work with the Hans-Reece Tanning Co. in Sylva where he worked as a foreman until he passed away suddenly from a heart attack. At one time there was a shoe shop run in con­nection with the tannery and the shoes were sold locally. Jack Ledford, the shoemaker, was also a good "fiddler" and it was he who first introduced us to " Arkansas Traveler" and other songs of like nature, He kept house in the third story of the tan­nery building, All this added a little bit to Webster's economy 75 .years ago; but a small amount then meant more than you can possibly realize now. All this I clearly remember and much more. THE OLD HOMESTEAD As a very small child I remember fishing in a pond my father had dammed up from one of the six springs on the place, It was across the hill from the house and was veritably a place for recrea­tion where we swung high and wide on grapevine swings, gathered 'possum grapes, and coasted down a steep pine-needle hill on wide boards, which did the job as comp:etely as modern sleds with steel runners. Som~times when we had friends visiting us, as we usually did, we took our lunch and spent the day in this attractive place. In summer time we boated on the river, swam and fished in it and picnicked on the bank, especially at the "big rock". In the fall we gathered chest­nuts, as the hills were covered then with trees that have long since gone by way of the blight. In winter time we cracked walnuts, popped corn by the open fire, skated on the river and coasted down the steep snow-covered hill above the road leading to the house. And there was no let up of fun in the springtime. We always had horses to ride, and there were cows, chickens and sometimes ducks to interest us as w~ll as dogs and cats galore. Also there was a billy goat to add to the hazards of guns and 'possum hunt­ing of the boys. This goat slept in the barn loft and at the approach of intruders he met them half way down the stairs, and one was lucky to reach the top safe and sound. Vastly more lovable was "Old Kate," the mule that was bought the week our parents were married, and lived till we children reached adulthood. She was kind, gentle, but most stubborn as she would not pass without stopping at the church and other places we were in the habit of visiting, In a very substantial way she helped to bring us up. Threshing of wheat and the making of molasses were a delight to us children and our friends, who (TURN TO PAGE FOUR) • Page 4 HISTORIC WEBSTER March 1974 1905 and 19711 Years of School Purchase Buying the Webster School is not a new issue in Jackson County. In 1905, the people of Webster were trying to raise three thousand dollars to buy land and build a schoolhouse where the stone Webster school stands today. And they did it. Three thousand was a large amount for that day, but not too large to stop the people of Webster from buying a schooL Though. the price is considerably higher in 1974, the people of Webster and Jackson County are once again contributing toward the purchase of the site and school building. The building will no longer be used as a school because of a consolidation of several elementary schools in the county, but it promises to be as · important for Webster as the 1905 school was. The stone building with its nine acre lot is being sold to the Webster Town Council for $ll5,000. It will be used to house the Town Council offices, of­fices of the Webster Historical Society, a museum and archives, a community theater, as well as be a voting place and community center. On February 4, The Town of Webster signed an option with the Jackson County Board of Education to­ward the purchase of the Webster School. At that time a $1500 payment was made, leaving $ll3,500 to be paid by July 10. The option payment was in hand in less than a week after the board agreed to it in January. So far over $3000 has been collected toward the purchase, according to Historical Society treasurer Jim Simpson. This amount has been raised through paying memberships alone. At present there are 175 members of the Webster Historical Society. A goal of $ll3,500 by July 10 and $200,000 by December 31 has been set by the society. In addition to member• ships, the society will seek support in the form of grants from interested corporations and foundations. Response :Jrom Our Readers A wealth of information on Webster is arriving in Drawer W daily. The Historical Society appreciates the interest shown by the readers of the newsletter. Here are some excerpts from letters received during the ~~~~·E. Wood of Franklin writes, "I was so glad to receive the newsletter of the Historical Society. I am so glad you all could see the need of doing this, for too many of the old landmarks are torn awai{ and forgotten." He goes on to say that he had information on many persons who lived around Webster, including the Dills, the Hensons and the James Buchanan family. "I am anxious to see the many things you have planned, and wish you the best of luck in this work.'' Lester Wilson from Sylva, N.C. writes, "I would like very much to have the newsletter. I think a lot of Webster; that is where I finished high school. I recall of my father telling about when the-eounty seat was at Webster. Think you all are doing a won­derful job. And I wish you the best in every under­taking. (Signed) A friend of those who reside at Webster, Lester Wilson." Hamilton c. Horton, Jr., a 22nd district senator from Winston-Salem writes, "I received this morning the HISTORIC WEBSTER newsletter, readitfromcover to cover, and am infected by the same enthusiasm I'm sure all of the members of the society have.'' A relative of the Webster Leatherwoods, Jessie L. <Mrs. Verson S.) Stroupe of Asheville says, "I'm delighted to read of the Webster Historical Society's founding. The Leatherwoods were there from about 1868 or 1870 to 1912, my mother, Lillian Lee Leather­wood Potts <Mrs. R. P.) being the eldest daughter.'' Mrs. Wayne o. Woodard from Bryson City sends this information. "My father and mother, Clara Lou Norton and Jonathan H. Long, were married August 31, 1903, in Webster. My grandfather, William c. Norton, was sheriff of the county at that time.'' Arnold R. Denkert of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., soon to be of Webster, sends this note. "I believe you have embarked upon a project of far-reaching and worthwhile endeavor, and we feel honored in being invited to participate.'' Ernest Kewer from Sylva sent an excerpt from the N.C. Year Book and Business Directory for 1905, listing businesses iii ·webster. In addition, he also composed a poem about Webster. "Meaning no dis­respect to Oliver Goldsmith's memory, may I offer this piece of 'verse': Not Sweet Auburn! loveliest village of the plain, This lovelier village, amid its mountainous terrain." Omsurtium WiD Meet At Webster School .Representatives to the Appalachian Consortium will have a chance to see historic Webster when they meet at the old Webster School on March 15 for their spring meeting. Western Carolina University, host for the meeting, will provide lunch for the membership on the University campus. The meeting will then convene at 1:00 at the Webster School. Both the University and the Consortium have given strong endorsement to the Webster project, providing a joint grant to support the HISTORIC WEBSTER Newsletter, the archives and museum collection, a slide-sound narrative, and a video tape documentary on Webster. Donnte or Lend Historical Items The Historical Society is collecting old manuscripts, photographs and museum items pertinent to the history of Webster, Jackson County, and western North Car­olina. Anyone in the area who has any historic items in the attic is invited to share them either by giving or lend· ing them to the society. The society will be glad to make copies of old photographs and documents and return the originals. Helen Cowan and Jim Allman, both of Webster have loaned photographs of their families to the Historical Society for duplication. - John B. Smith, who was born in the Canada com­munity and now lives in Hazelwood, has donated the Dillard Love surveyor's compass to the museum. The compass was used to survey much of Jackson County in the 1800's. Dr. and Mrs. John Fraker have recently donated a copy of SCRIBNERS magazine to the Webster Ar• chives. The journal, dated March, 1874, includes an article about a tour through western North Caro­lina. This is the first item to be donated to the Webster Archives. Archival and small museum items will be housed in the Western Carolina University Archives until an archival facility is set up in Webster. WCU archivist Richard Iobst has drawn up con• tracts for materials to be lent or donated to the Webster Historical Society through the WCU archives. Books, manuscripts, photographs and museum items may be donated or lent to the society . by contacting Betty Price, president, or Richard Iobst, University archivist. Gifts are tax deductible. Materials on loan will be returned on request on a thirty-day notice. Webster Exhibit On Display A display of documents, photographs and museum items from Webster is on exhibit outside the Western Carolina University Archives in the basement of Hunter Library. Compiled by Audrey Goddard of Sylva, the display contains an old telephone, a letter from a Webster lawyer, John Ramsey Dills, a ledger that belonged to J. R. Long who was Jackson County Register of Deeds, and several pictures from the late nineteenth century. Materials for Mrs. Goddard's exhibit came from old family records belonging to her and her brothers and sisters. Drawer W Webster, North Carolina 28788 Those attending the meeting will see the video tape and will hear a brief report on the progress of the project. They will be given a tour of the building and will be briefed on the Society's plans to use the property. Dr. J. Gerald Eller represents Western Carolina University on the Board of Directors of the Consortium. Dr. Aaron Hyatt serves as alternate Director and Dr. Yvonne Phillips is WCU's Projects Director. Dr. Marilyn Jody is director of the Webster Project for the University. Dr. Richard Iobst serves as archivist and Hen! Cason as assistant archivist for the Project. The following member institutions and organizations will be represented at the meeting in Webster: Western North Carolina Historical Association, Mars Hill Co!lege, East Tennessee State University, Ap­palachian State University, Lees-McCrae College, War­ren Wilson College, Blue Ridge Parkway, U. S. Forest Service, North Carolina Blue Ridge Development Co­oporation, Tennessee - Virginia Development Cor­poration, Ferrum College, and Western Carolina Uni­versity. The Old Homestead (CONTINUED FROM PAGE THREE) were always present at this time. Of course, that was hard on our mother, but she always had good help in the kitchen, and permitted us this pleasure. In course of time, we children married and left home. Then in 1940, the flood came and washed away the barn on the river. It also took the tool shed, crib and tennant house, which made it unprofitable for Mama to carry on. So the place was sold to Earl Stillwell about 1940, who later sold it to a Mr. Coates, and he in turn to Mr. Dillard, from whom my beloved nephew, the third Llavid Hali, bought that part of the farm on which the house stands. It is the same house which was built by my father in 1891-92, and at that time it was the finest and most complete one in Jackson County. In addition to in­staliing the first bathroom and toilet facilities, he also built a dairy house with running water, a wash house with stationary tubs, and a furnace with built­in wash pots, where as children we sometimes colored our Easter eggs. I could go on reminiscing indefinitely, but I will close by saying that no other life up to this time has been so intimately connected with the place as has mine; for I was born, grew up, and married there. In ali, I spent 37 years of my life on the Hall Farm. !),ring the last twelve years of this period, our three children were born, one of whom was buried there. So it will always be a hallowed spot to me. In my dreams, I am forever there. . Charlotte Young (CONTINUED FROM PAGE TWO) the way those children responded and the way they learned, and I could compare it with any school I know now, although some of them are doing excellent work. I'm taking pride in the new response to the need for education which was almost lost, it looked like, in the 50's and 60's. I think there's a resurgence of it. ''Hope springs eternal in the human breast, to coin a phrase. u