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.

• Contributor
  • Webster Historical Society (Webster, N.C.)
• Format
  • Newsletters
  • Periodicals
• Type
  • Text
• Date
  • Date original: 1974-04
  • Date digitized: 2017-01
• Extent
  • Dimension: 15" x 11"
  • Pages: 4 pages
• Subject - Topic
  • Jackson County (N.C.)
  • Webster (N.C.) -- History -- Periodicals
• Location
  • Jackson County (N.C.)
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Source Collection
  • Historic Webster
• Identifier
  • HistoricWebster1974_Vol01_No03
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library

'VOLUME I NUMBER 3 Cook6ook Will Be Ready 9n o lie :Jall A cookbook containing mouthwatering local recipes, pen and ink drawings of Webster, and "Growing Up in Webster" sketches will be on sale in the fall. Tho rocipe book1 which is being compiled by Flo­rence and Joe Parker Rhinehart , will have a hard cover with a color picture of Webster as the dust jacket. Joe Parker estimates that it will have ap­proximately 200 pages, The book will be printed in brown ink on off white paper, and will have a brown cloth cover with a sketch of the former Jackson County courthouse, Original sketches of people and places in Webster will be featured at the beginning of each of the II divisions of the book, as well a throughout the 250 odd recipes. A short history of the town accompanied by a sketch of the courthouse will begin the book, Then, in addition to the delicious recipes, the cookbook will feature character sketches of some of the donating cooks and several "growing Up in Webster" stories written by Webster women of different generations, Mildred Cowan, Mary Morris and other women who grew up in Webster will be contributing their accounts ~ The book will conclude with a feature menu for Christmas dinner with recipes, accompanied by a story about Old Webster at Christmastime, The recipes in the book were collected from cooks in the area by Joe's mother, Kate Rhinehart, Flo­rence Rhinehart will draw the pen and ink sketches. The price of the book has not yet been determined, but it is estimated at $5 or less, If you want to re­serve copies, please send a note to the Historical Society stating how many copies you would like, This will aid us in determining how many copes to print. The Rhineharts hope to have the cookbook com­pleted by October or November, The recipe book i s a fund raising project of the Webster Historical Society, Inc, Joe Parker Rhinehart, who grew up in Webster, and his wife Florence, who comes from George­town, Kentucky, now live and teach school in Bethesda, Maryland, They have worked with the historic pre­ser vation and restoration of Mur freesboro, N.C. where they are restoring a home .. Mustaches And Old Clothes Attention men! Don't forget to forget to shave tmmediately preceding July 41 And women! Dig out those o\~.-timey clothes or make new old clothes for the F ounh! The Fourth of July promises to hold big excite­ment for Webster, A big Independence Day cele­br ation is being planned by the Histroical Society, which will be held on the grounds of the Webster School J uly 1, 5, and 6, Every man attending the event must wear a mus­tache or beard, Every woman must come in a his­toric costume from the 19th centur y, Violators of this " law" will be fined $5 or be placed in a make­shift "jail" on the school grounds, . other harpenings at the July event will include board splitt'ng lessons, booths of all sorts, sales of cookies and cakes, old fashioned bonnets, a varied display of mountain cr afts, and of course entertain­ment. If you have suggestions for additional activities at the Independence Day fest, contact Paul and Linda Cowan, co-chairmen of the Special Events. and Pro­jects Comm ;:tee, Webster, North Carolina EDD DOUGLAS DAVIS olie :Jirst Sheriff of ~ackson County Edd Doug Davis, known as Doog Davis, became in 1853 the first sheriff of Jackson County, With the exce~ti.on of the period he lived, while sheriff, in the Jail at Webster, he spent his adult life on his large farm located between Webster and Cullowhee Today this area is called Rolling Green, ' Sher iff ~Alvi s and his wife Nancy Allen, daughter of Nathan Allen of Webster, were the parents of seve~ sons and two daughters" Mro Davis, who died at h~s home August 25, 1911, is buried in the family P!ot m Webster Cemetery along with his sife, two of his sons, Nathan A, and Joe W, and other members of later generations of llivises, The copy of the JACKSON COUNTY JOURNAL from which the article is reprinted, and the tin-type picture of Mr , ~Alvis reproduced here ar e are owned by Cather ine ~Alvis of Big Ridge, Catherine is a granddaughter of Sheriff Doug ~Alvis, The following article was taken from THE JACKSON COUNTY JOURNAL dated January 29 1906 - Webster N,C, - Mr, E, D, ~Alvis ' ' AUTOBIOGRAPHY The author of this article was born in Buncombe County <now Transylvania) Sept, 4, 1827, My father lived where the late George C, Neil lived to the time of his death, on what was then known as Lamb's Cr rek which was a tributary of Fr ench Broad river, It~ head waters were near where llividson's river has its source, with which it ran parallel, but being much smaller, It was then known as Ben llividson's river but of late years the "Ben" has been dropped, Ther e has been a postoffice at this place for more than seventy years" Davidson's River postmaster, Ben .lli vidson, was my great-grandfather. When I attended school the course embraced reading, writing, and arithmetic, My teachers were Turn to page four , , , • ~ ·'We6ster 9s ~ackson County's Hometown" April 1974 A fetter :Jrom the President Dear Friends, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step" and that step in compiling and collecting the history of Jackson County has resulted in 5,000 copies each of three newsletters of the Webster Historic Society; nearly 300 members and $4,000 in mem­bership funds; countless interviews; donations of items to the Museum for Jackson County's history, A big thanks is due Marilyn Jody and Alice Harrill. Marilyn initiated the proposal for and re­ceived a grant through Western Carolina University from the Appalachian Consortium to publish the news­letter, establish a museum and archives, and produce a slide-sound narrative program. Alice Harrill under the Community Internship program at Western Caro­lina University received full academic credit for the winter quarter as editor of the Historic Webster news­letter. She and Marilyn are largely responsible for spreading a very contagious disease called enthusiasm. They have spent hundreds of hours on the road, on the telephone, in the newspaper layout o!tices, gather­ing material and putting many Jackson County resi­dents to work. The grant is spent; the Webster project is on its own, The committees continue gathering oral history, giving programs for civic clubs and schools and perpetuating the idea that NOW is the time to set down the history of Jackson County - and where better than Webster, which is Jackson County's home­town. On July lOth the Historical Society will pay $ll3,500 to the Jackson County Board of Education for the old Webster Elementary School because an an idea whose time has come can't help but succeed. The school will become the Jackson County Museum of Living History. The fund-raising committee needs your help with the Webster idea. If you know wher e money is a·.11ilable - from individuals, corporations foundations, etc. - tell us - we'll contact theU.:' Many grants have already been applied for from foun­dations and other sour ces such as the Bicentennial Commission in N.C. and the America the Beautiful Fund, We are hopeful that the County budget for the 1974-75 fiscal year will include a generous donation toward the effort to preserve Jackson County's His­tory, But for many of these potential grants we need non-federal matching funds, ' Th.e next newsletter will be sent only to the mem­bership of the Webster Historical Society, If you have not joined but are "infected by the contagious ~n?'usiasm" as the honorable Hamilton Hayes wrote, JOm. no:v, Send $5,00 and continue receiving this publication, Then send a generous donation toward the purchase of the Webster school, where we can house the history of Jackson County and enhance the future of this mountain world we call home Thanking you in advance ' Cordially, Betty Price Become a Charter Member You can help to make Historic Webster a reality by joining the Webster Historical Society before July I, 1974, and becoming a charter member, The classes of membership and dues for each are as follows: Active <resident of Western N.C.): $5.00 yearly Associate (outside Western N.C.): $5.00 yearly Contr ibuting: $10.00 yearly Supporting: $20,00 yearly Sustaining: $30.00 yearly Life: $100.00 All contributions are income tax deductible. Page 2 HISTORIC WEBSTER April 1974 The Town of Webster: Then· And Now For one hundred dollars the town site of what later became Webster, the county seat of Jackson, was bought in April , 1853, The· indentures were made by the county with Nathan Allen who lived on the eighteen acre tract desired. About five years later, an act to incorporate the town of Webster was passed by the General Assembly, Below is a facsimile of this act as it appears in the Session Laws of 1858-1859, SECTION I. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, that the town of Webster in the county of Jackson, be and the same is hereby incorporated by the name and style of the "Town of Webster," and shall be subject to all the provisions contained in the one hundred and eleventh chapter of the Revised Code, SEC. 2, Be it further enacted, that the corporate limits of said town shall be as follows, viz: Beg- , inning at the mouth of Love's mill creek, thence up said creek to Love's mill, thence north one half mile to a stake, thence west to Tuckasegee river, thence up the meanders of said r iver to the beginning point. SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, that this act shall be in force from and after its ratification. (Rati­fied the 16th day of February, 1859,) From the original square mile corporate limits, the boundaries, over the years, were somewhat changed. Then in March 1913, the General Assembly adopted an act to amend the corporate limits of the Town of Webster. It is as follows: "Section I. That section two of chapter six of the Private Laws of the Extra Session of 1908 be and the same is hereby repealed, and there shall be inserted in lieu therof the following: "Beginning at ·the mouth of Mingus' Mill Creel at the southeast corner of James Dillard's farm and runs with his beast line to J.W. Lavis' east line, the corner of the county home farm; thence with the county home farm and the J. W. Lavis' line to the bend of the road at a small branch near the town of Webster and between the town of Webster and the town of Sylva, thence up said branch to a bridge on the Sherrill and Gribble lands; thence a ·northwest course to the forks of the road below Tyler Buchanan's house thence with the wagon road to LUn Frizzell and Laurence Buchanan's road to the point of the ridge below Laurence Buchanan's barn; thence to F .H. Leatherwood's back line to A. W. Lavis' line' thence with A. w. Lavis' back line to the Tuckasegee River; thence up the said river with its meanders to the · beginning. "Section 2. That the order of the Board of Com­missioners of the town of Webster, made and entered at a meeting held in the town of Webster the 23rd day of March, 1912, established the above boundary as to the corporate limits of the said town of Webster, 1 to be held, and held on the first Saturday in May, 1912, within said boundary, the tax levy made in pursuance of said election, and all other acts done and committed by the said Board of Commissioners in pursuance thereof, be and the same are hereby declared to be legal and valid. "Section 3. That this act shall be in force from and after its ratification. "~a ratified_ March 5, 1913. (This boundary information has become available through research efforts of J.D. McRorie,) These boundaries are still followed as Webster's corporate limits. The Historic Webster bannerhead was designed and drawn by Karen Moscowitz, a sophomore art student at Western Carolina University. Students in Professor Ray Menze's two-dimensional drawing classes took the newsletter bannerhead as ·a class project, using as an emblem a house marker with a little boy on a horse at the well, designed by Mrs, Martha Taylor of Layton, Ohio. Mrs, Taylor made a sketch of the boy at the well, which was cut out of metal by her father and mounted on wood. Ac­cording to many Webster residents, this well very much resembled the one in the center of Webster _Using Mrs • . Taylor:s house marker as a .guide, • M1ss Moscow1tz des1gned the winning bannerhead. Members of the Historical Society Executive Committee chose Karen's work out of approximately 30 entries. Karen, who comes from Leona, New Jersey has been awarded five dollars by the Historical So~iety for her efforts. After the county seat was removed to Sylva in 1913, Webster became a quiet residential community with only a school, a post office, two small grocery stores, and two churches, There was no functioning municipal government. · In 1954, a group of Webster citizens realized that the town, with an active municipal board, could provide the townspeople with water and other facilities. This group asked state Senator LUvid Hall, Jr., then residing in Webster, to introduce into the legislature a bill reactivating the town's charter. This bill would also provide for the appointment of municipal officials who would serve until their successors were elected and qualified. The act was duly ratified April 4, 1955. (Session Laws, Chapter 423, 1955). · Ernest Penland, Sr. was appointed mayor of Web­ster, and Joe Rhinehart, D, Doug Lavis, Goldman Mon­teith, Lewis Cannon, and Claude Cowan were appointed commissioners. In March, 1957, the Act of 1955 was amended to extend the offices of the municipal officials to 1968. The amendment also provided for successors to those officials to be elected every two years at the state's regular election period, (Chapter 60, Session Laws, 1957). At the death of Ernest Penland, Sr., Doug Lavis became mayor and Margie Penland took his place A T 0 N A L as commissioner. Lavis served as mayor until he was succeeded by Roy Baker in 1966. Because of a change in the state's election laws, municipal elections are now held in "off-year" periods, Webster's most recent was November, 1973, At that time Roy Baker was chosen mayor and Claude Cowan, Louise Lavis, Goldman Monteith, Margie Penland, and Joe Rhinehart, commissioners. All were incumbents. Irene Queen remained town clerk, The population of the town of Webster was 166 at the last count. Approximately 104 of these are eligible to vote in municipal affairs. No taxes are levied and no salaries are paid in Webster. Street lights have been provided for some years and the water system has recently been vastly improved. The school, through consolidation, has been removed and the stores disappeared several years ago, But the post office, recently made third class, has remained. It and the Methodist and the Baptist Churches are the focal points of community life, However, in the past few months, a third locale for interest in Webster and beyond has materialized. The empty Webster Elementary School building has become the headquarters (permanently, aspire its founders) of the Webster Historical Society, Inc. There on occasion, things-reatJy· f 0 R E S · . ._, •. ss • l Postmaster For 34 Years EUGENIA MOORE ALLISON by Esabel Allison Carlton When I was eight years old and my mother was thirty-five, there was a great deal of discussion at our house between my mother <Mrs, Eugenia Moor e Allison ) and my grandfather, Ulniel Killian Moore, about the upcoming civil service examination in Way­nesville, a prerequisite for those aspiring to secure the .appointment as postmaster at Webster, N,C, They dec1ded that she should confer with my Uncle Andy (Andrew Bascomb Allison) regarding this matter. So as usual, I was trailing along with her when sh~ walked down to the Andy Allison home (presently owned by the J . W. Simpsons) wher e the matter was thoroughly discussed and agreed upon, and I promised to help her if she got the appointment. Mother went by buggy to Sylva and from there by train to Waynesville where she visited in the home of cousin Mamie Gr eenwood, sister of cousin Walter E, Moore and the wife of a medical doctor, Mother stayed there while she was to take the examination. My grandfather kept Ruth, Uln and me, and great was our disappointment when cousin Mamie called to Wal­ter Moore home ( which had the only telephone in Webster at that time) to say that due to an extensive buggy ride sight seeing in the Waynesville area, my mother had missed the train and would be ther e an extra night. This was her longest time away from her little brood since my father died when I was six months old, Anyway, there was great r ejoicing when she r eturned home and even mor e so when we heard that she had pas sed the examination with the highest grade, outdoing men in the group, Her time in school (including Asheville Female College while she lived in the home of her brother, Judge Fred Moor e) plus her natural ability had paid off and she started making a living ($1.00 a day to begin with) for her little family, During the thirty-four years that mother was post­master the Post Office was in three locations: first, in a little building where Mr. Baker's shop and apart­ment are now located; next in the old Masonic build· ing between our place and the home of Mrs, Nancy Ensley Potts; then back to the Baker Upholstery Shop location; and last to the little building in the corner of her yard across the lane from the Monteith home. Because of the necessity of having the office convien­iently close to our home, the location changed as we moved, The family moved from our old home (built by Dr. C.Z. Candler's father at about the time of the civil war) to Uncle Andy's house , then to the Aunt Hicks Wilson house <now owned by the Potts) later to the old jail <Mrs, Margie Penland's place) which was the principal's home when my sister , Mrs. Ruth Allison Morris, was principal of Webster High School, and finally to mother 's new home, built after the old Candler house was torn down , on the same lot which she had owned since my father's dea.th, When my mother was postmaster she loved her work (though it did get aggravating at times she said) and it enable her to make a living in her own yard for the most part. She could keep an eye on Ruth, Uln and me as we grew up, and grandpa too when he was sick, while she looked after the post office which was the social, as well as news center for the community. Sometimes when we all gathered to watch little Oscar Coward buck dance in the post office vestibule things would get too noisy and we would all be sent outside so my mother could do her work, She wrote and read letters and orders for a few of the patrons who could neither r ead nor write, and in emergencies would open up the post offic e at night and on holidays to better ser ve the community, Service, honesty, integrity and independence wer e virtues of great value to her, as they had been to her God­fearing pioneering ancestors, During the thirty-four years that my mother was postmaster she was assisted to some extent by the following : George Self, grandpa Moor e, my sister Ruth, Mrs, Margie Penland, Mrs, Evelyn McKee, Mr. Dan Cowan. When I became old enough I was officially made assistant, or r eplacement, so I could substitute occasionally when she was sick or away, Dear to all of our hearts was the mail carrier, Arthur Allman, who was always kind, cheerful, accomodating and generous with rides to and fr om Sylva in his truck for all of us. HISTORIC WEJ~STER April 1974 Page 3 The Webster "Mail Box" Some people have called the Webster Post Office the "Mail Box" and frequently someone laughingly remarks that it is surely the smallest post office in the United States, They seem disappointed when we tell them there are other smaller. We enjoy our rather unique building, However, the size of the building does not designate the size of the Post Of­fice housed therein. The Webster Post Office is the oldest office in Jack­son County, It was established as Scott's Creek (Haywood County) April 5, 1828. Jackson County had not been established at that time, The Haywood County and Macon County line was at that time the Tuckaseigee River at Webster, The first postmaster was Ulniel Brisson, appointed April 5, 1828, He was succeeded by Samuel B, -Bragg December 17, 1828, The office was later discontinued for a brief time and reestablished May 24, 1832 as Scott's Cre­ek. At that time William Thomas was installed as postmaster serving till January 27, 1843, Thomas was succeded by Allan Fisher. When Mr. Fisher took the office he had a store in Lovesfield, said to have been located near the intersection of what is now highway 107 and ll6, Presumable the post office was operated in his store, The name of the post office was changed to Webster on November 28, 1857 while Mr, Fisher was still postmaster, He ser ved the office for 22 years which was the longest time any postmaster served until Mr s, Eugenia M. Allison was the postmaster in later years. The second court held in Jackson County was held also in this store. A great-grandson of his, Mr. Allen Bergin Fisher, Sr .. , now lives in Addie Community, Route I, Sylva, N, C. On September 21, 1865 a Mr. George w. Stake became postmaster and served until April 15, 1873, Postmaster Cannon was the father of the late Lewis Cannon of Webster . He was the grandfather of James ~ann?n of Cannon Brothers Gas and Oil Company m Dillsboro and other descendents of Dillsboro and the state of Washington, Succeeding Mr, Cannon was Martin H. Lovelady who ser ved three months, The next postmaster was ~oin tfie Historical Society "~""" "' "' D ~ I want to be a Charte r Member .: D fi My dues are enclosed .D. i"<' $5 Active or Associa te i $)0 Contributing "i"<' $20 Supporting e $30 Sustaining ".s' $100 Life ~ D I am sending a donation .a, c Amount "' .9< u Felix H, Leatherwood, installed July 28, 1873, Mr. Leatherwood, owner and operator of the Mountain View Hotel, served for two years and ten months. He spent his later years as a drug salesman for Alhers, Chamber lain and Sanford Drug Company of Knox­ville, Tennessee, He traveled by horse and buggy throughout western North Carolina, Mr, Leatherwood also served one term as legislator from Jackson Co­unty about the turn of the century or in the early 1900's. Some of Mr. Leatherwood's descendents now living in the area are Anne and Frank C. Cowan Leon and Felix Picklesimer of Sylva, Felix Pott; of Bryson City and Mrs. Jessie Stroupe of Ashe-ville. · Mr, Andrew J. Long, Jr, was appointed May 25 1876, followed by John W. Ferrell October 24, 1878: On October 18, 1880 the first woman postmaster ?f the Webster Post Office, Mary T. Coggins, was mstalled and served two months and 22 days, Pro­bably those who served only two or three months were acting postmaster until an appointment could be made, On January 6, 1881 Leula Ferrell became the post­master and served for almost eight years. It was then that Dr. William c. Tompkins, father of the late Uln Tompkins, received the appointment and served until May 22, 1893, a period of four years and one month. Mr. Dan Tompkins is remembered as the publisher of The Jackson County Journal and as a Jack­~ on County representative to the North Car olina leg­lslature. Andrew J. Long, Jr. was appointed to re­place Dr, Tompkins May 22, 1893 and served until June 16, 1897 at which time Dr. Tompkins again accepted the office and served another four years. On July 26, 1901 Evan H. Cagle received the appointment and served seven years, Mr. Cagle was the father of Mrs. Lilly c. Rhinehart <Nanniehart) who is at present Webster's oldest resident. Mrs Rhinehart was appointed as a clerk and worked with her ~ther. Her job was to separate, count and back-stamp all incoming first class mail, to make up route deleveries and write money orders. Mrs. Rhinehart states that at that time all Little Sav­annah (then known as Harris), Long Branch, Cul­lowhee and Cashiers mails came through the Web­ster Post Office. on February 18, 1908 Mr. Cagle was succeed by his son, Jessie C. Cagle who served until June 27, 1908. Attorney George w. Sutton was the appointed on June 27, .1908. He served two years and was suc­ceeded by his wife, Sadie J. Sutton who w'ls the post­master just six months, Mr. Sutton took it again on January 19, 19ll to serve until December 20, 1912, Mr. and Mrs. Sutton were the parents of Richard Sutton of Knoxville, Tennessee, Mrs, Charles Camp­bell, Mrs. Hattie Hilda Allison of Sylva and the late AI vin Sutton. Harrison G. Mashburn was appointed December 20 1912 and served until June 27, 1914. He was an unci~ of Mrs, Burke Buchanan of Webster Township and a brother of Mr. Weaver Mashburn of Dillsboro. Mr. and Mrs. Mashburn moved to Winston Salem some year s ago. He is now deceased two years • Following Mr, Mashburn, Mrs, Eugenia M. Allison Turn to page four • , , , Page 4 HISTORIC WEBSTER April 1974 Sntertainment 9n ofie Sarly 1900's Miss Lucy Hedden of Webster and Jane Coward of Sylva, first cousins, t ell some interesting stories about growing up in Webster. Entertainment in the early 1900's depended on the First Sheriff •••• Continued from page one David Hadden, Benj. D. Gullick, and James Patton. During the winter of 1839-40, I attended a school at an old Presbyterian camp ground, this school being taught by Charles McDowell Paxton, under the same conditions as the other teachers. In the spring of 1840 my father moved to Caney -Fork, (then Haywood County). I worked on the farm and attended several little schools taught by E. B. Erwin and B.B. Edmonston. My last school days were spent under the instruction of that whole-souled clever young man, J. Newton Bryson, in the year 1857. The old log school house stood near where the store house of Hen< m Brothers, of Painter(Cullowhee) now stands. (The st Jre house was at the northwest end of bridge.) This now brings us to the time when Jackson County was organized, the statue under which it was done providing that it be organized at the dwelling house o£ Daniel Bryson. This was done about the 20th or 21st day of March, 1853. His Honor, J.W. Ellis (afterwards Governor) was holding the spring term of the court and appointed J. Newton Bryson, Clerk of the Superior Court. Ellis was Governor when hostilities broke out between the states. Presi­dent Lincoln called on him to furnish 7500 soldiers to bring the South under subjection, to which Ellis sent an indignant refusal, of course, When the magistrates appointed had qualified, they proceeded to the election of the following County officers: Clerk County Court, J, Keener; Coroner, Charles Bumgarner; Register, J.D. Buchanan; Trustee (now Treasurer,) A.M. Bumgarner. I was elected to the 'office of Sheriff, and so have the distinction of having been the first sheriff of this county. When the business of electing county officers was dispatched, the court moved its sitting to an old log church which stood near the present residence of ex-sheriff W.A. Henson, and there appointed road over­seers and patrollers, The organization of the county was completed by drawing the following list of jurors, of whom all are now dead except Thomas Henson and George Bumgarner: Wm. Candler, Bazee Lusk, Aaron Butler, John B, Wilkes, H, T, Galloway, John Davis, Frederick Huffman, George Bumgarner, Hugh Rogers, Albertr Hyatt, James Connelly, Absalon Wood­ring, Silas Gr, -,, Ben Williams, Isaac Mason, A.C. Coleman, James Wilson, J.M. Henson, Wm. Henderson, J.J. Hooper, W.R.Buchanan, James Fisher, George Buchanan, John Monteith, Joel S. Conner, Wm. Noz1?~· Josiah Watson, James Kirkland, Amos Ashe, Ph1hp Dills, E,D. Brendle, Abe Hyatt, Ben Harris, A.M. Gocher, and G.W. Clayton, The following is the list of magistrates who qual­ified at the organization of the county, all of whom have passed away: Allen Fisher, Wm, R. Crawford, A.M. Bumgarner, Peter King, Jonas B. Sherrill, John Wilson, Jacob Wike, L.C. Hooper, W.H. Higdon, W.R. _Buchanan, James c1ilitne;)',_;mg_,John Zach!\!Y. I held the office of sheriff for twelve successive years. When my last term expired, I engaged in farming for the three ensuing years and then made the race for clerk of the Superior court, against M.M. Brown, the father of the present incumbent of the office. I was successful in this race, and held the office for six years. While still in this office I made the race for representative against G.W. Spake, Dr. J.M. Candler, and Harve London. I was again suc­cessful, and served in the legislature of 1874-5 in which I voted in favor of the constitutional convention which amended and removed from the county its ''carpet bag" features. Some years afterwards I was elected a member of the Board of County Commissioners, and served in that capacity for six years, In all, thirty years of my life have been spent in office, taking into consideration ••• years term as justice of the peace my official life beginning in the office of Sheriff when I was twenty-five years old. The first election held for the election of" mem­bers of the General Assembly was in 1854, when Col. T;D. Bryson was elected, having defeated John B. Allison, Bryson was defeated in 1856 by J .R. Dills by ll votes. Bryson was re-elected in 1858. In 1860 Col. Jas. R. Love was elected. Joseph Keener suc­ceeded him in 1862, He was succeeded in 1864 by W .A. Enloe. In 1866 T.D. Bryson was again returned to the Legislature. E.M. Painter succeeded him in 1868. T .D. Bryson was again elected in 1870, and he was succeeded in 1872 by J.N. Bryson. The recollection of the present generation will reach back this far, and I shall not mention the representatives chosen since that time. seasons, according to Miss Lucy. "In the fall," she says, "we used to pick grapes, chestnuts and chinquapins that we would find in the cove of the mountains. Ther e was always music, mostly by the Madison boys. We'd all gather on the Hedden front porch and play and sing. "There was plenty of snow then, and in the ·. inter we had the best time playing snowball and rir.ing on sleds, "In spring, we always cleaned the yard and burned trash and began garden work. We were especially glad when we had commencement and we didn't have any more school. "In the summer there was plenty of work to do, but plenty of fun, too. We always made a garden and had flowers all around. We'd go blackberry pickinJ when the berries got ripe, and sometimes we usc:d to go fishing and boating on the river." Jane and Miss Lucy tell a story that made big excitement one Sunday afternoon in Webster, before automobiles were a common sight. In Jane Coward' s words: "One Sunday afternoon, George Hedden and· I didn't have anYthing to do, so we decided to go to Sylva and see if we could borrow a Model-T Ford that belonged to my uncle, Andy Brown. ''We walked over to Sylva and saw th~ car sitting there at Mr. Higdon's Che ;vas the Ford dealer at that time). George got scared :.c.d he wouldn't try driving it, so I said I would, "Well, we saw Mr .. Higdon and ~ Jld him rt.a wanted Uncle Andy's car, He said, 'Can you drive?' and I said 'yes. ' Now I had never driven a car befc,re; 1 had only ridden with Uncle Andy a few tin:es; But I said 'yes,' I could drive. "So he backed the car out for usr and George and I got in, cranked it up and started out towards Webster. We drove over ther e a ll right, but'' came around by the grove and turned down by the Hed­den house, I couldn't stop the thing. "My mot.her and the, Heddens and the Madison bunch were all out on the Hedden front· porch, waiting for us to stop, but I couldn't. So I sa;d to George, 'Wave at them! Wave beca~ se I can't stop!' They a ll looked at us like we were crazy and I guess we were. So we kept on going down toward the river and finally got it stopped, and went back to the Hedden house." "CAKES, CAKES! SCI'' According to Mrs. Gracie Hall Brown, Ira Barker of Big Savannah was as faithful to come to court in Webster as the jury and the lawyers. Every day court was in session, he would come in the early morning and build a fire in the courthouse yard, make a big pot of coffee, and sell coffee and sweetcakes for 5C. They say that when the county seat was re­moved, he carried his tradition to Sylva. Drawer W Webster, North Carolina 28788 Appalachian Consortium Meets At Webster School The Webster Historical Society and Western Car ­olina University co-hosted the Appalachian Consor­tium meeting March 15 at the Webster School. The consortium is a three- state organization devoted to the history of Southern Appalachia. At the meeting, Borden Mace was elected the first full time executive director of the consortium. He succeeds two co-directors, Dr, W.H. Plemmons of Boone and Dr. Arthur S. DeRosier of Johnson City, Tenn. , who submitted their resignations to the mem­ber ship that day, Dr. Gerald Eller of WCU was nominated to become chairman an1 Dr. John Hough of Mars Hill was nom­inated for vice chairman. The consortium board will act on the nominations at a May meeting in Bo­one .. WCU provided lunch for the consortium member s at the university, and the Webster Historical Soc­iety provided the meeting place, The meeting heard a report by WHS President Betty Price about the progress of the Webster pro­ject. Post Office History •• • , Continued from page three received the appointment on June 14, 1914 and served 34 years. Mrs, Alison's daughter, Mrs. Maurice Carlton of Wauchula, Florida and Webster has writ­ten a beautiful account of her mother's ser vice which appears elsewhere in this newsletter. Mrs, Margie A. Penland served as a r eplacement for Mrs. Allison about six years and succeeded her as postmaster on October I, 1948 in which capacity she served until February 28, 1950. At that time Mrs. Ernaline C. Friz zell was succeeded by Mil­dred M, Cowan on this date, and Mrs. Penland again became the r eplacement for the postmaster and ser­ved in that capacity until July 15, 1970. Mildred M, Cowan was appointed acting postmaster at Webster on August 15, 1950. She was commission­ed postmaster on September 29, 1950 by Postmaster General, Jesse M. Donaldson, making her the 27th postmaster to serve in the Webster Post Office, She has witnessed many changes in the post office during her twenty four years of service. In 1950 the Post Office Department was a branch of the fed­eral government. Today it is known as the United States Postal Service and is operated by a board of governors on somewhat different procedures. In August 1950 only one box was being r ented in the office. All other ser vice was either general de­livery or rural free delivery, The office now r ents 90 boxes and has a number of general delivery cus­tomers. The rural route was combined several years ago with Route 3, Sylva, N.C. During her ser­vice the post office has advanced from a low Fourth Class to Third Class, which is due in part to the in­crease in residents. The post office is currently located on the property of Mrs, Margie A. Penland who provides the building leased to the Postal Ser­vice ..