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: 1984
  • 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
  • HistoricWebster1984_Vol10_No03
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library

HISTORIC ••••••••••••••••••.._ _ _:"~e~w~s:.:l.:e~tt:e~r of the Webster Historical Society, Inc. VOLUME X, NUMBER 3 WEBSTER, NORTH CAROLINA FALL 1984 Jane H. Coward, County Leader By Dale Coward Jane Hedden Coward, the youngest child of Nathan and Sophia Hedden Coward, was born January 16, 1897, at Webster. During her childhood, Jane's parents operated the Mountain View Hotel on Main Street for a number of years. She always had a soft spot in her heart for Webster and her people. She often told of growing up in the village, and she went in­to great detail, describing the fire that wiped out many of the main street buildings. One of the most touching acts occur­red that tragic night when she ran back into the burning building to rescue her dog, Dandy. She spent the rest of the night with her dog in her arms, as she walked around in the midst of all the confusion. At daylight she finally went to a neighbor's house for food and rest after this night of horror. Jane could do anything the boys could do, and most of the time do it better. She was right at home down on the river bank with a cane pole in her hands. She could knock her share of the home runs, and got the best of boys in a fist fight. She laughed and told about the time she broke her slate over Don Davis' head following an argument in the first grade. She would sit up half the night with my father, Rogers, and Bob Frady to determine the outcome of a checker game. After her father 's death in February, 1909, her mother moved the family to Sylva. Jane and her sister, Frances, helped their mother run a hotel, the "Coward House." No one at their table ever left hungry, and their food and hospitality became known far and wide. Jane's mother, Sophia Hed­den, was born June 19, 1869. She was well known for her kindness to the sick and needy, and she shared what she had with those less fortunate than herself. She helped send several boys and girls through "Jane Coward could do anything the boys could do. She could knock her share of homeruns." school. She and Jane were sit­ting on the on the back steps of the Sylva hotel one hot after­noon peeling ,potatoes when she suddenly put down her knife and pointed to the hilltop north of town. "Jane, when I die I want to be buried over on that hill above town." She was laid to rest in the Coward plot of the Keener Cemetery in December, 1922. Jane attended the Fruitland Institute in Hendersonville and, after graduation, she and her niece, Dixie Coward, enrolled at the Women's Col· lege in Greensboro. She received a degree in business education and came back to Jackson county to begin her career. She was Deputy Register of Deeds for four years. She was secretary­treasurer at the Builder's Supply and Lumber Company for 23 years. Jane Coward became in­terested in politics at an early age. She was Democratic Woman of the 11th Congres­sional District. As chairman of the ,Jackson County Democratic Executive Com­mittee during the 1960s, she became the first woman in the . state to hold such an office, and received an engraved crystal medallion from Jac­queline Kennedy. In 1947, she and her long­time friend and business part­ner, Dorothy Lee Williams, established Jane & Dot's Flower Shop which they operated until their retirement in 1974. After retiring, some one asked her why she never married. She replied, "When you work day and night, seven days a week for forty years, no man is going to put up with that." It was now that Jane has time to relax and give her time to her family, friends, and the animals that were a part of her life. She would take in every stray dog and cat in the area and spend a fortune in vet fees and pet food. Just prior to World War II, she and my father, Rogers Coward, went on a deer hunt in the Pisgah National Forest. Jane spotted a four-point buck some distance away and fired. They saw the animal drop and rac­ed over to where the buck lay. The bullet had only stunned the animal, and she always said that the poor thing just lay there with tears and pain in his eyes looking at her. She went home and promptly sold her firearms and never fired another shot as long as she lived. Like her mother, Jane helped countless numbers of children through school, and gave them a chance to earn spending money when money was scarce. She gave her phone number to the teenagers and they could call her if they became stranded at night and could not get home. In 1956, she and Dot leased, from Elda Coward, the "Old House" on Norton Creek Road in the Norton Community. This was heaven on earth for both of them. They hauled lumber, sheet rock, plywood, cement, and other supplies in their station wagon to remodel the house. They brought Annie Mae Dorsey, who worked for them in their home in Sylva for forty five years, to help with the chores. My mother-in-law, Hazel Fox Potts, grew up here on this site and since the old house had stood empty for several years, she said that a lot of repair work had to be done. They turned this place into the Garden of Eden, a place most people just dream about. If you visited in the afternoon, you would find Jane riding her mower over the three acre lawn. Dot would be sitting in her special chair down at the lake, catching a line of speckled trout for their supper. They always had their garden just off the kitchen porch. Firewood was stacked on the front porch. Dot always said you could not beat Norton gardens for flavor. It was here that they were hostesses for the Coward Family Reunion for many years. This reunion began in Webster as a birthday party for Nathan Coward on his 74th birthday on June 12, 1892. The traditions of that event have been carried on ever since. After Dot's death in April, 1978, part of Jane died with her. She just never got over it. She tried living alone at her Continued on page 3 Jane Coward as a child lived at family's Webster home. Page 2, HISTORI~ WEBSTER, Fall 1984 "Miss Jane" Coward's Judgmen By Marcellus Buchanan "Miss Jane" Coward is often remembered for her family and community ties, ·her faithfulness to family and friends, and her generosity toward her associates and ac­quaintances. Of these at­tributes I am well aware, however, my closest associa­tion with this great lady was in the political arena during the 1950's and 1960's. She demonstrated during these years her intense loyalty to her political friends and to her Democratic Party with the same faithfulness and fer­vor with which she dispensed her largesse to her family and friends. So vivid is my recollection of "Miss Jane" that I can recall, as only yesterday, when during those two decades, she was elected by the Democratic Party as it's Jackson County chairperson. So far as I have been able to ascertain she was the first lady chosen in North Carolina to chair the party in any coun­ty. To her duties in this capacity she chanelled her vast energy. She was small person in physical stature, but her energy was enormous and her presence was com­manding. Her judgment was respected, her integrity was \lllquestioned, and, therefore, ·her leadership was followed. "Miss Jane" Coward led the Democratic Party wisely and adeptly through a tumultuous time in it's history in Jackson County. She healed wounds within her party and succeed­ed in bringing unity whenever division threatened. She was a mediator above all else, never losing her temper and always reminding those less knowledgeable of the cost of divisiveness and the need for unity even at the cost of com­promise of divergent views. Her sage political advice was always an inspiration to me. I can hear her voice now when she would deliver to me, in person or by telephone, her views on what should be done "in the best interest of the Party". While she held strong views on vital issues, she never sought to force her views on others save by the art of persuasion on her part and at the same time always listening to the reasons and arguments of others, and if those opposing views, meeting her open mind, impelled her to change her own position, she always showed the greatness to make that change. "Miss Jane" Coward will be sorely missed so long as nay person who knew her lives - and in fact so long as anyone who remains who have even second handedly heard of her actions, work and accomplishments. Marcellus Buchanan is district attorney for the thir­tieth prosecutorial district with offices in the Jackson County Courthouse. Nathan Coward of Webster was the father of fourteen children. Jane was the youngest. Jane Coward was eleven years old when this Sherrill photograph was made at her Webster home_ Sophia Hedden Cowa1 mother, on her wedding Cowards' Webster home. "Myfh that WI "On the 12th day of June, 1892, we met at our Father's House Coward Smith wrote on June 12, 1898. This is the 1908 reunion to celebrate his seventy-fourth birthday anniversary," Clara at the Cowards' Webster home. DorothJ Jane Cl 1t Respected ·d, Jane's day at the Continued from page 1 home in Sylva, but as time went by, she became concern­ed about her health and knew she would have to have cons­tant care. She entered the Skyland Care Center in July, 1980. Here she received her family and friends and talked about the " old days." A Methodist, she told about the old-time services that she at­tended at Webster at both the Methodist and Baptist chur­ches. She would dominate the conversation, discussing politics, government, gardens, and sweet potato patches. Even though her health became worse, she visited the " Old House" and went for rides on pretty days out through Webster and over to the Keener Cemetery. She attended the reunion in Jtme, 1982. This would be her last chance to greet her fami­ly on the front porch of the place that she had grown to love. Last year, 1983, she was in the hospital recovering from surgery and was unable to attend. On May 20, 1984, Jane Hed­den Coward passed away at the age of eighty-seven. She was buried in the Keener Cemetery with her other fami­ly members. At the 93rd Coward Reunion held this June, those who had come to know her and love her arrived with saddened hearts, as they remembered the mountain woman who loved her God, her country, and her family. st vote was cast in the year 1920- the year •men were first permitted to vote." Lee Williams (left) was from Virginia. She and ward were lifelong friends and business partners. Fall 1984, HISTORIC WEBSTER, Page 3 Church Restores Organ By John Parris A restored 104-year-old chapel pump organ used for playing my great-grandmo­ther Wild's favorite hymns will be dedicated here Sunday morning at the Webster United Methodist Church. The dedication is part of a special Webster Circuit ser­vice celebrating the bicenten­nial of Methodism in America. The beautiful old organ, made by the Estey Organ Co., of Brattleboro, Vt. , out of black walnut, was recently restored by Jack Cobb of Dick's Creek, a member of the church whose hobby is restor­ing pump organs. To know the history of the organ, you must first know something about the history of the church, which was built in 1887 by Webster Methodists after 33 years of moving from building to building. Webster, the first county seat of Jackson county, came into being with the founding of the county in 1851. . Two years later, Methodism was recognized in the new town when the church con­ference changed the name of the Tuckaseigee Circuit (the part of Haywood county that became Jackson) to the Webster Circuit. The Methodists joined with the town's Baptists and Presbyterians in church ser­vices at the court house until 1870, when the three congrega­tions moved into a building they shared with the town school. On Dec. 11, 1881, trustees of the church purchased for $50 a lot on Main Street for a church site. But, it was not until six years later, and nobody knows how many ice cream suppers to raise money for the new church, that the Webster Methodist Episcopal Church, South, opened its doors. The church building that rose in 1887 and still stands is an outstanding example of the classic country church built to serve rural America throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. It utilizes a simple gable­roofed rectangular form entered on one end to create a "temple form" which harkens ultimately to classical Greek architecture. Experts such as Doug Swain of the western office of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources' division of ar­chives and history point out that most of the building's ar­chitectural interest, however, is found on its entrance facade. This face of the building is dominated by an engage bell tower which rises in two stages and culminates in a splayed pyramidal cap that serves as the church's steeple. Gothic arched vents are centered on all four sides of the tower's second tier, just beneath its cap. A blind fan and a diamond-shaped vent or­nament its principal face above the church entrance. Swain calls the building's entrance composition as "tru­ly outstanding." Gothic arch­ed windows flank the base of the belltower. The corners of the base are supported by box­ed Ionic columns with recess­ed gothic-pointed panels. These columns carry an elongated basket arch under which the entrance is made in­to a sheltering portico hollow­ed out of the base of the tower. The door into the church is surmounted by a Gothic tran­som and is flanked by sidelights of Gothic heads. Fluted Ionic pilasters with spearpoint heads divide the sidelights from the doorway. "The entrance design," Swain said, "is high spirited and full of charm." When the church was built 94 years ago, the men of the church helped with the con­struction and the women pro­vided the furnishings. Many of these same women had put on ice cream suppers to raise money for the pur­chase of a chapel pump organ in 1880 that was used for ser­vices on the first and third Sundays of the month in the building they shared with the town school and other denominations. They bought their organ from the Estey Organ Com­pany of Vermont when Jacob Estey, a grand old name in the reed organ business, was still owner Nobody remembers - and there's no record - what the church members paid for the organ, which was shipped to Asheville by rail fetched on to Webster by wagon over win­ding, climbing, rough dirt tracks that took a week. But according to Jack Cobb, who restored the organ and who is an authority on old organs, the factory price in 1880 for the organ, a Model H chapel organ, was $41. "I would say they probably had to pay around $60 for it plus freight charges to Asheville," Cobb said. After the Webster Methodists got their own church, Ethel Leatherwood played the organ for many years. Her name is mentioned frequently in the church records for playing at wed­dings of many of Jackson county's most prominent families and at the funerals of many of the church's members. In the early records she is mentioned weekly along with the music she played each Sunday. In time a modern piano replaced the old organ when it when the reeds and other parts went bad. Besides, pump organs had been old-fashioned. Yet, they hung on to the old organ. Even though it was unplayable they refused to throw it away or sell it. Last ·year some of the relatives of those pioneer members of the Webster Church got together and put up the money for restoring the old organ. They included the family and friends of Ethel Leather­wood; Sarah and Ben Coleman Fisher in memory of Mollie and J . W. Fisher; and Oberia Wild Hyatt and Nell Wild Sillmon in memory of their mother and father, Minnie and Jake Wild, and their uncle, John Wild. This 1880 organ was purchased by the Webster Methodist Church for $61.00. Restored this year. Page 4, HISTORIC WEBSTER, Fall 1984 Reflections by Janice Monteith "Webster" Blanton The town of Webster is often on my mind, For it's there as a child I had a good time. Composed of one street lined with homes on either side, Woods close by where kids could play and hide. A Post Office and two country stores, Where kids could get sweets galore. A rock school house - grades one through nine, Two churches - one by the river bridge and mine. Marbles, hop-scotch, hide and seek, mud pies, Yelling, arguing, loving, and joyful cries, Could be heard night or day, From Webster kids at play. Prisoners digging Webster's ditches, Children sometimes yelling from Mama's switches. Lemonade for 10 cents sold at a stand, Guaranteed to be the best in the land. The Big Lot, Coward's Spring, the Grove - Or just fun playing on a toy stove. Rides hitched to the movies on Saturdays, Followed routinely by drug store Sundays. Halloween's UNICEF trick-or-treat, Or Christmas caroling up and down the street. "Clovering salve for sale," Or, "If you need cards, we've got 'Get Wells'." Neighborhood softball games in the Big Lot, When, when Miss Lucy was home, came to a STOP! Basketball at Rhinehart's Store, Or, just sit and listen to neighborhood lore. MYF programs of many kinds, We did about anything when we 'set out minds'! Webster- a forerunner in "Community Centers" To grow up there was to be a WINNER! Society Honors In 1922 Lucy Hedden (right) and her cousin Jane Coward fish in Pisgah Forest. Miss Lucy By Joe P. Rhinehart Talk and laughter, songs and music moved across the "Big Lot" this summer as the spirit of Miss Lucy Hedden entertained her friends at her annual Fourth of July picnic. As in days past, Miss Lucy, this year in the guize of the new Hedden house owners Hazel and John Fobes, pro- · vided the spot and the enter­tainment and her friends pro­vided the food. The summer rains stayed away. Children rolled and ran across the green lawn. Balls Citizen Featured Coward -C"Itlun PhotO-G I~nn OCT 8 19til . WOiUAN OF THE WEEK Miss .Jane Coward of Sylva is Dem­ocratic Woman of the 11th Congres· sional District 114 western counties) and .Jackson County Democratic Woman of the Year. She has been vice chairman of the counl\· executive committee and organized its-Women's Club last March. Earlier political activity included se rv­ing as precinct chairman of Sylva's South Ward six years and Deputy Reg­istrar of Deeds four years. .J ane was born in Webster, daugh­ter of the late Nathan and Sophia Hed­den Coward. She graduated from Fruit­land Institute, Henderso nville, and Woman's College with a business edu­cation certificate. For 23 years she was assistant secretary·treasurer of Build­ers Supply and Lumber Company. Sev· cnteen years ago she and 1\liss Dorothy Williams organized .Jane and Dot's Flower Shop 11·here both work full time. They Jive in a white cottage next to their greenhouse. They also have re­stored ''The Old House'' in Norton com­munity where they relax, enjoy the small lake and raise luscious fruits and wgetables. The Coward family has always given a helping hand to young people wanting an education. Her mother and sister ran the 25-room Coward House in Sylva many years, during which time perhaps 16 county teenagers were given work, food. clothing and a chance to complete their schooling. There was even one boy from Wales who drifted in and stayed until he graduated from high school. Jane and Dot have con­tinued this interest in helping young­sters get an education . Jane also was an unofficial Santa Claus 32 years. Each holiday she re­ceived huge cartons of toys from the S. H. Kress Foundation in New York, which she distributed, along with 60 pounds of candy to children in the county who wo[Jld not have had Christ­mas gifts otherwise. This windfall came because she kept the books and payroll for the Kress property, the Log Cabin Association, recently sold to a Florida firm for real estate and resort development. Love for children, dogs, flowers and people has made Jane Coward the ideal politician. Others not only trust her wi\h their money but their civil rights and privileges. flew through the air. Voices sang those immortal words "Oh beautiful for spacious skies .. .for purple mountains majesties. . . " and the thankful sounds of the Reverend E. T. Rodda lifted through the trees. the favorite of Webster--rolls and cornbread, squash and beans, ham and chicken and watermelon. Fobes, on the harmonium, struck the notes that brought the gathering to its feet, and while the flags of the United States and the United Nations blew in the late afternoon air, the party sang "Oh say, can you see, by the dawn's early Guests made their repeated light. .. " visits to the lovely set tables of Hazel Fobes, loaded with Evelyn McKee passed the famous Miss Lucy cookies as the neighbors reminisced with "Do you remember the time Miss Lucy ... " There were a few old familiar songs, and then John And Miss Lucy was pleas­ed.