I first met Lowder Mountain when viewing the below picture from the Stanly County History Center, presented by Lewis Bramlett, who issues a daily Facebook post for the Center. I grew up in Albemarle, and had never heard of Lowder Mountain, yet here it was, easily seen from the top of the hill that is the square of Albemarle, the intersection of Main and Second Streets. Over the past several years, I have spent hour upon hour perusing old deeds and newspapers, researching this family or that one either I or my children (via their two fathers) are descended from. Often, I have encountered the mention of this creek or that mountain, some branch or ridge, that I had never heard of. These geographical features had been mapped within the political boundaries of Stanly County, but their names had been lost to modern generations. Thus begins my endeavor to give them their names back. But where are they?
Post Card of Albemarle dated 1907, Courtesy of Lewis Bramlett and the Stanly County History Center
The above 1907 Postcard is labeled "Lowder Mountain looking west - Albemarle, NC".The building under the red arrow was built in 1903 and sits at the corner of First Street and West Main Street. It's popularly known as the old Roses building and currently holds Top Dollar Pawn Shop.
A modern view of Lowder Mountain from the Albemarle Square
Lowder Mountain and a few other small mountains, while still considered part of the Uwharrie Range, arise not from the banks of the Uwharrie or Yadkin River, as most of the other Uwharries do, but are actually part of a group of hills that rise up in peaks and ridges from Long Creek, the longest and widest creek in the county not named as a river. In places, it rivals the river it feeds into, the Rocky River.
Long Creek as seen from the Charlotte Road/West Main Street, Albemarle
Long Creek is fed by various other small creeks and branches, that roll off a myriad of springs and culverts from the higher elevations in the northern part of the county. I had long heard that the New London area was the highest elevation in the country and it appears these high grounds give birth to Long Creek, which runs through Albemarle all the way to Rock River.
Looking down on Long Creek from Central Avenue
Long Creek winds from City Lake Park through the western part of town. This old watery snake has created steep banks, long ridges and high braes in it's wake. In old records, I've entercountered several named Mountains in its family, several I have not determined their location, Long Creek Mountain, Lowder Mountain, Nelson Mountain, Burns Mountain, Thomison's Mountain, Adderton's Peak, Pennington's Ridge, Poplin's Point, Hearne's Hill. Some might have a familiar ring, while others are complete question mark.
Pouring through old deeds, I see mentions of land that involve the Lowder Gold mine. It sat at the foot of Lowder Mountain. I knew from the descriptions of the Gold Mine, that if I could locate it, I should find the mountain rising above it.
The above is a photograph of a turn-of-the-century map in glass, thus the glare. On the left in tan, is an area that was known as "Burleson". The area or community of Burleson encompasses an area from the beginning of St. Martin Road, at it's Albemarle origins, across the Charlotte Road and down Canton Road from it's Albemarle end. It's a vast area covered in Burlesons. It adjoined the Lowder lands. In green, just above the "A" that spelled "Albemarle", you can see the name "T. F. Lowder" whose home sat on a road that looped and connected to the Concord Road, up above it in red. To the west of T. F. Lowder is a Miller and an another Lowder, whose house was on the same road as the Miller and right on Long Creek. That road, from what I can gather from deeds and newspaper articles was called Lowder Road. It connected to the Charlotte Road, that can be seen at the bottom of the picture in red. Also above the "A" and the road that "loops" to Concord Road is a little cross that marks the location of a Gold Mine. That was Lowder's mine.
The mine is mentioned in an article in The Enterprise as a possible source of the city's water supply.
I had now gathered enough information to determine the whereabouts of Lowder Mountain. How can you not know where a mountain is, some may ask? It's a mountain. Well, Albemarle itself sets on several high hills. There are hills, valleys, ridges, all around. Stanly County, especially near its multiple waterways, is full of these hills. The names of these hills, once referred to as mountains, has been lost to time. We drive down the roads that go between them, and seldom go up them and tend to really not pay attention to them, except in autumn, when they turn into colorful patchwork ramparts against the sky.
Now that I am actively searching for them and acknowledging them, I am pointing them out to my children and grandchildren. We'll crest a hill where the view is clear, and I will point, "What is that?" They look, and lo and behold, "It's a mountain." And they really never noticed it was there. Because like Lowder's Mountain, roads cut all around the base of it, but until sometime in the 1980's, none went up the sides of it, and none yet to it's peak. But someone decided to build a school onto the side of it, and a housing developement climbing up that same side now.
The things I had first determined about Lowder Mountain was:
1) It lay west of Albemarle.
2) It's name derived from Thomas A. Lowder and his descendants.
3) It lie between the Concord (73) and Charlotte (West Main/24/27) Roads. Although the exact trajectories of the roads have ebbed and flowed over the decades, the general direction has not.
Traditional oral Lowder family history maintains that two brothers, Thomas and William Henry, came from Pennsylvania to what is now Stanly County during the later half of the 1700's. Some add a third brother, who supposedly settled in the Canton area. Thomas settled on Long Creek and William settled on Bear Creek. Our focus is on Thomas and the Long Creek area. He acquired a massive amount of land in his time. Not much of it was "developed", but he owned it. I found a total of 6 grants in his name. The grants are listed in Montgomery County as Stanly was part of Montgomery at the time.
The first 2, Grants Number 1596 & 1597, were entries numbered 4015 and 4016 and entered on August 21, 1797, Book 101 Pages 259 & 260. There descriptions only as being on the South West side of the Yadkin River. I discovered that the terms "on ___ side of ___ River" does NOT mean the land adjoined the river. It simply meant that the tract lay within the named county on that certain side of the river. It could be 15 miles away, just depending on how wide or long the county was, it could be 50 miles away, or before the counties were subdivided, even further depending how far one river was from another.
The third grant came 4 years later on January 31, 1801, Entry number 5549, for 300 acres, described simply as "Beginning at a small pine".
Two more came later that year, both on August 24, 1801, Entry numbers 5660 and 5661. 5660 was for 50 acres " Beginning at a pine on top of a hill" and 5661 was for 100 acres "Beginning at a post oak."
The last grant was # 2841, entered on December 17, 1828 for 200 acres located "6 miles South West of the Pee Dee River".
Thomas Lowder and wife, Elizabeth, are buried at the Old Freedom Cemetery, which is located down St. Martin Road about 3 miles out of Albemarle.
In 1828, Thomas Lowder granted to his children tract to certain portions of his land, these tracts, so large themselves, show the massive amount of land he owned and controled. It is commonly accepted that he had 6 children to live to adulthood, 3 sons: George, Daniel and Samuel and 3 daughters, Amy (Mrs Benjamin Franklin Cagle), Catherine "Caty" (Mrs. Jesse Poplin), and Rebecca (Mrs. Brian Deese) .
Portions of this land encompassed certain portions of Lowder Mountain, his children settling round about its feet. These tracts were given with the "natural love, good will and affection" Thomas Lowder had for his children.
Amy Cagle, in Book 2, page 109, was given a tract on 'both sides of Long Creek", part of a 300 acre tract deed James Pickett and William Coleman on July 25, 1774, in line with the Lee tract.
Caty Poplin, in Book 2, page 110, was also given a portion of the tract orginally granted James Pickett and William Coleman, her borders and angles marked by sweet gums, black gums, white oaks and dogwoods, elms and hickory's, meetine Amy Cagle's corner.
Lowder Mountain as seen from Hedge Road
Warrant 403 Granted to James Pickett and William Coleman in Anson County, NC (remember that at this time, what we now know as Montgomery and Stanly was part of Anson)
"You are forthwith to admeasure and lay out or cause to be admeasured and laid out a Plantation containing 640 acres of land in the county of Anson on Jones Creek joining Thomas Bailey's land on the Southwest side of the PeeDee river'. Given at New Bern on May 21, 1773
Warrant 406 lists 300 acres on the South West side of the PeeDee River and Long Creek on Camp Branch that runs into the Cloverfork Branch of Long Creek.
These are only two of 7 Grants James Pickett and William Coleman were given in what is now Stanly County. William Coleman, at least, also lived here as his name appears on a 1770 petition to divide Montgomery from Anson.
Lowder Mountain as seen from Poplins Grove
So sisters Amy Lowder Cagle and Caty Lowder Poplin shared adjoining properties, sharing portions of a tract originally granted James Pickett and William Coleman in 1774.
On this 1968 map of Albemarle, locate Long Lake in the upper left hand corner. The lands of Amy Lowder Cagle and Caty Lowder Poplin both lay south of Long Lake, west of Albemarle. The connection of roads that start just north of the bridge at Hwy 73 at the top of Long Lake (a), goes around it and at the bottom of the lake (b), connects to another road that follows a trajectory south (c) are City Lake Drive (a and b), with the straight offshoot being Bobcat Drive and Poplin Grove Church Road, which connects to West Main Street before West Main intersects with the Hwy 24/27 Bypass.
Amy Cagle (1795-1848) is said to be buried at the Cagle Confederate Cemetery, which is located near the interection of Poplins Grove road and Kingsley Drive, not far from the old City Lake dam
This view shows how close the Cagle Cemetery, which is on part of the old Thomas Lowder property, was to this section of Long Creek. Cemetery is on the left, Kingsley Drive is on the right side of the photo. The green sign on the right side of the road marks Long Creek at the Albemarle City limits and just beyond is the bridge over Long Creek.
Caty Lowder Poplin is said to be buried at Poplins Grove Church, which is near the Poplins Grove Church Roads intersection with West Main Street.
Poplins Grove looks like a modern church and from the road, looks like it has a fairly small, modern cemetery. Information states that the church was constituted on May 28, 1939.
A portion of Poplin's Grove Cemetery
Upon closer inspection, the cemetery is much larger than the view from the road, and the graves are far, far older than the church itself. It's highly likely that is was a family or community cemetery long before the church was built and that the community was largely made up of descendants of Caty Lowder Poplin and her husband B. F. Poplin, thus the name "Poplins Grove".
This old marker is thought to mark the grave of Caty Lowder Poplin
The size and age of this cemetery is very misleading from the view from the road.
Gravestone of Isaac Lowder
Marker of David T. Lowder with marker of Henry Lowder and wife in the upper left corner.
Poplins' Grove is full of unmarked graves. Here, the graves are clearly laid out and spotted, but the markers have long eroded away and gone.
Many Lowder family members are buried here. This is the grave of Sophia Lowder Morton (1839-1931) daughter of Samuel and Nancy Marbry Lowder, wife of Rev. William Green Morton and granddaughter of Thomas Lowder.
Samuel Lowder (1808-1885) and his wife Nancy Marbury Lowder are buried at Old Freedom with George and their parents.
Youngest daughter, Rebecca M Lowder would migrate to Tallahatchie Mississippi with the family of her husband, Bryant Dees, who had been born in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. It is assumed she died in Tallahatchie.
In the Stanly County deeds, Book 3, Page 55, Bryant (or Brian) and Rebecca are seen selling their portion of Thomas Lowder's land to Nelson Pennington. This section of land encompassed another neighboring lump in the Stanly landscape to Lowder Mountain and this one would become known thereafter as "Nelson's Mountain".
In the early part of the 20th century R. L. Lowder planned to open a park for local residents as he already owned a number of exotic animals. Less than a decade later, he sold this property and auctioned it off in 1922 before moving to Virginia.
These lots became the area located in front of the old West Albemarle School and the old R. L.Lowder house still stands. The streets were named for the trees listed in the Lowder deeds, White Oak, Hickory, Cedar, Maple and Holly, with crossover streets, Forest and Brookwood.
With the evidence presented, it appears Lowder Mountain was in the center of Thomas Lowder's massive land holdings just west of present day Albemarle.
Lowder's Mountain is shaped roughly like a fat "L" with the top of the L beginning and the head of Long Lake (or City Lake). Hatley Farm road crosses its northern foot. It's east of Burleson road and lies between Burleson road and the lake. Canton Road runs south of it and several roads from Cantons southern end run toward it, and dead end. Hedge and Crystal stop short of the rise, but Imperial Way and Northlake trail begin to climb it. Very close to these, College Drive also climbs the southern border of the "L" and Stanly Community College sits along the side of Lowder Mountain, but its highest points are west of there. A housing development climbs the same side as the college, connecting to Poplins Grove Church Road, which sits at the foot of it and runs to meet the bottom of the lake.
Albemarle circa 1930's, Lowder Mountain in the background.
As the years pass, every family tree has its gains and losses. Recently, our family tree has experienced both.
As I sit here this morning mourning the loss of my aunt, Shirley Eudy Davis, many childhood memories come runing back. Memories of spending the night at her home, exploring the woods with my cousins, of her gracious parents, the Eudys, who lived next door, playing with a dog named Trixie, her repairing my hair when I had gotten a bad perm.
Aunt Shirley was a gifted hairdresser and crafter. She was quiet-natured, sweet and thoughtful. She will be greatly missed.
Born November 15, 1937, Shirley Elaine Davis was the only daughter of Horace Vaughn Eudy and Florence Marie Vanhoy. She grew up in Albemarle, or just outside of it.
While looking for the death certificate of one of my Lambert ancestors, which I did not find, I came across an unusual death certificate for a young woman named Jessie Bell Whitley. She had not one, but two death certificates, and an unusual note written across them by P. J. Huneycutt, Undertaker.
"Dr D. P. Whitley and T. C. Spludes both attended @ a s c and neither one will sign certificate" P J Huneycutt Undertaker
She was buried at Pleasant Grove on February 13, 1919, a cemetery filled with Burris family members, her parents names being given as Ellis Burris, born in Stanly County and Juna Burris, born in Albemarle. The informant's name was given only as "Whitley". Could this have been her husband? The Certificate said she was a white female, only 26 years old, and a Housekeeper by trade, but it did not having anything in the box labeled "Single, Married, Widowed or Divorced". Her surname was Whitley, however, and her parents names were Burris, so it can be easily assumed that she was born a Burris and married a Whitley.
I discovered that "Jessie Bell" was actually Jezebell. She was indeed the oldest daughter of Ellis Burris and Junie Cloelia Burris. She was a very Burrisy Burris. Her father Ellis was the son of Davdison Burris and wife Mary Coley. Junie was the daughter of Zachary Ephraim Burris and
Margaret Victoria.........................Burris. So here I go with another Burris family tree.
Ellis married Junie
son of daughter of daughter of
Davidson Burris Zachary E. Burris Margaret V Burris
son of son of daughter of
David Wright Burris David Green Burris James Allen Burris
and and and
Sarah Whitley Sarah Vanderburg Lucy Hinson
son of son of son of
JC Burris Solomon Burris Jr. Joshua Christian Burris
and and and
Sarah Springer Sarah Morgan Sarah Springer
Joshua Christian Burris and Solomon Burris were brothers, both sons of Solomon Burris, the Revolutionary War Solider and his wife Judith Taylor. I always put that "Revolutionary" in there to keep him from being confused with his many namesakes.
This chart shows that James Allen Burris, Margarets father and David Wright Burris, Davidson's father, were brothers and that David Green Burris was their first cousin. So Davidson Burris and Margaret V. Burris were first cousins and Margaret and her husband Zachary were second cousins. With Davidson being a first cousin of Margaret and a second cousin of her husband Zachary. So the relationship of Ellis and his wife Junie was a combination second and third cousin, with enough shared dna to make them first cousins.
Davidson Burris and wife Mary Catherine Coley Burris
PJ Huneycutt, who had written the puzzling statement was a man who wore many hats. First, he was a coroner for the county.
And from the same issue of The Enterprise, he was also an undertaker.
He sold appliances.
He opened his business in 1905. This article gives a great deal of information about where he located his business and where other businesses in early Albemarle were locate.
Philas Jerome Huneycutt was a busy man. But what would cause him to write such a statement on a young woman's death certificate? And why would two physicians refuse to sign it?
I determined that Jezebel was a very rooted member of the Burris family tree, but where did her married name "Whitley" come from?
Temple Irenius Whitley II
The below page from the old Whitley Family Bible shows that on the 6th line down, Temple Whitley married Jezabelle Burris on December 5, 1910.
It also shows on the 11th line that he married Rozilla Burris in 1919 and on the 12th line that he married Bedie Hinson in 1929. This guy kept the JOP's in business.
The 1910 census was taken before Jezebell's December wedding. She is still at home with her parents and the oldest of 7 children.
So, who was this Mr. Whitley she married in December?
Temple Irenus Whitley was born on April 17, 1893. He was the son of Israel Irenus Whitley and Oma Jane "Omie" Morton. If anyone familiar with the history of Stanly County, a little, and recoginizes the name of Temple Whitley, they might think, "That's not right, he lived far before then", then they are a little bit right, but also quite a bit wrong. There was more that one Temple Irenus Whitley. The first one, born in 1820, was a Civil War soldier and died in 1865. He was the father of Israel Irenus Whitley, so Temple II was named for his grandfather.
Isreal and Omie Whitley
Temple and Jezebel both grew up in the community of Big Lick, near the present town of Oakboro, which today encompasses it. They grew up in a community full of Whitley's, Burris's, Barbee's, Tuckers, Coley's, Hartsells, Efirds and Hinsons. They were not next door neighbors, but the families appear to be pretty close in the census records. They were the same age, born the same year, and probably went to the same little country "Common School".
Big Lick School 1903 from the Stanly County Musuem Collection
The above school picture is from the Big Lick School Class of 1903. The only identified people were teachers Mr. Stallings and Professor C. J. Black, sitting in the front and Miss Florence Osborne, standing at the back, right, behind a row of girls. Both Temple and Jezebel would have been 10 years old at this time and this would have been the school that they attended, with their siblings. The chance that they are in this photo are very good.
Townships of Stanly County
People outside of Stanly County, upon hearing the mention of some of our more colorful community names, like Big Lick, Frog Pond, Red Cross, or Finger, find them quite humorous. But there's an interesting story behind each one. Wikipedia gives the following explanation for the naming of Big Lick. It's accurate and as good as any explanation I could devise.
Early settlers observed deer trails that all went to the same destination. When they investigated, they found that deer licked the ground. It turned out there were several salt licks in the area, but this was the big one and was referred to as "Big Lick". A store became a place to meet, and the community had a post office by 1860. The town, officially named Big Lick, was built on land from Jesse and Elizabeth Morton.[2] 2) Morgan, Fred (January 26, 1961). "Big Lick Was Thriving Community About 1900". Stanly News and Press.
Temple Irenius Whitley's first census was the 1900 one, just like Jezebel's. He was number 8 of 12 children and was attending school. Most likely the picture Big Lick School in the above picture, as the reknowned (in its day) Oakboro/Big Lick Academy, would not be built until 1916.
In 1910, the record told us that the family lived on the Albemarle Road and most of the older children had already started their own families and households. Temple was 16 years old.
On December 5 of that same year, after he had turned 17, he married Jezebel Burris, also 17. It was what was known as a "shotgun wedding." Being the same age and having grown up in the same area, however, the union was no doubt one of teenage sweethearts.
Two children would be born to the young couple. Just 5 months later, on May 15, 1911, a son James D. Whitley was born, but sadly died as an infant on November 5, 1912. He was only 18 months old.
Name:
James D Whitley
Birth Date:
15 May 1911
Birth Place:
Stanly County, North Carolina, United States of America
Death Date:
5 Nov 1912
Death Place:
Stanly County, North Carolina, United States of America
Cemetery:
Pleasant Grove Baptist Church Cemetery
Burial or Cremation Place:
Oakboro, Stanly County, North Carolina, United States of America
A daughter, Truly Odessa Whitley, would be born on May 9, 1915 in the spring, three years after her brother's death. Truly would marry back in to the Burris family, when she would become the bride of Claude Isaac Burris at age 15. Truly would have two sons and two daughters and a set of twins that died as infants and remain in Big Lick all of her life, a long one, when she would pass in 2002 at the age of 86. Her descendant are Jezebel's only descendants.
And then, we having the passing of Jezebel, at the age of 25 on February 12, 1919. Her little girl, Truly, was only 4 years old.
Tombstone of Jezebel Whitley
Temple grieved for a full 2 months. Then he married her sister.
Rozilla was the second child of Ellis and Junie Burris. She was 21.
The 1920 census shows that Temple and Rozilla wasted no time expanding their family. Their first daughter, Virginia, was already born. They also had moved to Furr, which was around the current town of Locust.
Virginia Belle Whitley, the incorrectly and oddly transcribed "Nirjinat" above, was born on February 7, 1919. Brakes.......
That can't be right. Check it out.
Date of Jezebel's death: February 6, 1919
Date of Rozilla's marriage: April 12, 1919
Date of Virginia's birth: February 7, 1919
Virginia, who has been attributed to Rozilla in family trees, was born the day after Jezebel's death. Wait a minute here. This does not add up. Strange things happened in old Stanly, but I just don't see Temple have a child with his wife's sister that was born the day after his wife died.
Here is what I believe happened. Somewhere on the night of the 6th, morning of the 7th, Jezebel was in labor with her third child. She most likely had a terrible case of influenza at the same time. The infant, Virginia, was born, taken safely away to a relative, or neighbor to nurse. The ailing Jezebel passed away, either of influenze, or childbirth, or a combination of both. Two attending physcians could not save her nor agree on the cause of death. Following are the reasons for my theory.
Osborne Hardware Store in Big Lick aka Big Lick Academy
Temple Whitley began selling his property to raise money. He wasn't arrested for anything, so it wasn't bail money. It was likely a combination of reasons; to relocate, to afford a funeral, to afford a wedding. Perhaps Big Lick had become a place of sickness and tragedy. I've seen this in other towns, where a plaque had gone through, esecially the ones built along waterways, like thypoid, and the surviving citizens would remove to a healthier area.
Surprisingly her funeral, which was already planned for 3 months past her death, was being delayed, waiting on the minister to arrive. By this time, Temple had already married her sister. A closer look at Temple and Rozilla's marriage license shows that Temple applied for the license himself, giving his address as Oakboro and Rozilla's address as Albemarle. The wedding was held at the Ellis Burris residence, his father-in-law. It was performed by R. H. James, a "Baptist Minister" and was witnessed by S. G. Smith and Myrtle Tucker.
I wonder why Rev. James could not also officiate at the funeral? And why they had to wait of Rev. C. J. Black? The next article kind of clears things up a little bit in many aspects.
First, it reports that Jezebel died on the 9th, not the 6th of February. Somewhere, somehow, the date is wrong. Either in the article or either on her tombstone. It is most likely that Jezebel died with a day or two after the birth of Virginia, which was no doubt her daughter, not her niece. Rozilla took over the raising of her niece, but was not the biological mother of her. The above article explains that members of her family were all suffering from influenza, which killed alot of people in this area between 1913 and 1920.
Months after the funeral and the wedding, Temple even sold his car.
Secondly, Temple went on about his business, living a normal, if not tragic life. By 1930, he had been widowed once again. In 1928, Temple found himself another monument to buy, as Rozillia passed away on
Seymore Temple Whitley was born on June 23, 1922. He would died at age 18 on July 12, 1940
His sister Junie Pauline Whitley was born on May 6, 1926. She would marry Carl Gray Hester in Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, NC in 1959 and would pass away in 2004 at the age of 78.
Temple would marry a third time. This time, he did not chose a Burris sister, but that does not mean she was not a member of the Burris family. On February 12, 1929, one year after Rozilla's death, a respectful period of mourning, he would marry Bedie Larcenis Hinson, age 19.
Bedie was the daughter of George Elias Hinson and his wife......Obedience Catherine "Beadie" Burris Hinson (b 1964 - d 1946) . But wait, George E. Hinson was the son of Daniel Columbus Hinson and .......Obedience "Beadie" Burris (1834-1939). Obedience Catherine Burris was the daughter of Gideon Greene Burris and Obedience Hathcock Burris (whose mother was also a Burris), who is mentioned above in the family tree of Jezebel and Rozillia. I feel another Burris family tree coming on.
Beadie Larcenia Hinson
daughter of
George E. Hinson married Obedience Catherine Burris
son of daughter of
Obedience Burris Gideon Greene Burris and Obedience Hathcock
and Daniel C. Hinson
daughter of son of daughter of
David Wright Burris Solomon Burris Jr. Nancy Ann Burris
& Sarah Whitley & Sarah Morgan & Benjamin Hathcock
son of son of daughter of
Joshua C. Burris Solomon Burris Sr. Solomon Burris Sr.
& Sarah Springer & Judith Taylor & Judith Taylor
son of Solomon Burris Sr
& Judith Taylor.
As you can see, Beadie Hinson was still very much a Burris and related to Jezebel and Rozilla on several levels.
Beadie and Temple would have 3 children together:
1931 Tommy Keith
1933 Willie Truett
1937 Edna W.
Temple Irenius Whitley died on January 24, 1964 in Albemarle, at the age of 70. His third wife, Beadie Larcenis Hinson Whitley outlived him by 3 decades and passed away in Cabarrus County on September 20, 1993 at the age of 84.
Oddly, neither Rozilla Burris Whitley or her son, Seymour T. Whitley, had death certificates that can be located in Stanly or Cabarrus Counties. Seymour did warrant an Obituary in the Stanly News and Press. The copy was too faint to copy well, but the following is from the July 16, 1940 issue.
"Seymour Whitley Rites Conducted 18-Year-Old Oakboro Youth Dies After Appendix Operation Funeral Services for Seymour Whitley, son of Temple Whitley and the late Mrs. Whitley of Oakboro Rt 1 were conducted Sunday afternoon at 2:30 pm at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church of which he was a member, by Pastor C. C. Huneycutt. Internment followed at the church cemetery. Young Whitley died Friday at 4:40 at a local hospital from complications arising from out of an operation for appendicitis performed some time ago. Active in the farming and social scene of his community, young Whitley was popular and energetic and his demise cut short a promising career. He was a member of the Oakboro 4H Club. He is survived by his father, two sisters, Pauline and Edna Whitley of the home, two half-sisters, Mrs. Claude Burris of Oakbor and Mrs. Carlie Eudy of Albemarle, and two half-brothers, Travis and Truett Whitley of Oakboro."
His obituary corroborates my theory that Virginia was the child of Jezebel, not Rozillia, as "Mrs. Carlie Eudy" was his half-sister and not his whole sister.
While the family itself left few clues, what about the doctors who refused to sign the Death Certificate?
The first name mentioned, Dr. D. P. Whitley, was easily read. The other name, well the letters just did not fit together into a name I had ever heard of, and definately not one I had ever seen in Stanly County. And I was right. But when I searched for it as it appeared on the death certificate, I found it easily, and he was not from Stanly County.
Tellable , yes, Tellable Clyde Sprude was born in Marinette Wisconsin in 1885 to French Canadian parents, John B. Splude and wife Delana Deucet. Clyde was raised by his father and step-mother, Louise.
The name was so rare, that his father must have been the progenitor of it, in America, at least. A search reveals only Clyde and his siblings (and their children, etc.) They spread themselves around well, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Iowa, Washington, Michigan, Ohio, Nevada and Califorinia. Clyde would become the most traveled of them all. Despite all the relocated siblings, over half of them remained in Wisconsin. There were a number of them. Between two wives, John B. Splude spawned 15 children.
Sugarloaf Mountain, New Brunswick, Canada
John, himself, was born in Campbellton, New Brunswick, Canada, just north of Maine, in 1862, a place so beautiful, you wonder why he came to Wisconsin. Campbellton sits on the south bank of the Restigouche River, in the shadow of Sugarloaf Mountain, right across the river from Quebec. John would immigrate to America in 1884, at 22 years of age. He married first, Delana Deucet, in 1881 and had 8 children:
1882 Walter John Splude
1884 Gordon F. Splude
1885 Tellable Clyde Splude
1891 John Theodore Splude
1892 Ellen Cluster Splude (Cluster must have been a maternal family name as several of the siblings passed it down to their daughters.
1894 Ruth M Splude
1897 Sidney Roy Splude
1899 Francis Margaret Splude
Tombstone of Delana Deucet Splude
Delana passed away on February 10, 1890 and is buried in Martinette, Wisconsin.
John B then married Mary Louise Deucett in the same year. The two wives were sisters, showing up in the 1870 census, with their mother, Angeline, who was "living with sister" Lucy , and her husband Patrick White in West De Pere, Brown County, Wisconsin, all born in Canada.
John and Louise would then have 7 more children.
1901 Jane Delana Splude
1902 Virginia P Splude
1903 Raymond L Splude
1906 Edmund Gerald Splude
1910 Marie M. Splude
1911 Genevieve Maude Splude
1913 Wesley William Splude
Campbellton, New Brunswick, Canada
And John would put them all to work. In 1900, 13 year old Clyde was a mattress maker and his father an electrician. He was also the first member of the family to be born in America, as his older brothers, Walter and Gordon, were born in Canada.
Marinette, Wisconsin sits on the bay, just north of Green Bay and close to the Michigan border. It may have reminded John of his coastal hometown of Campbellton.
His sons were not raised in Canada, however, and apparently had the American travel bug, because they went everywhere. Clyde struck out on his own fairly young, following in the footsteps of his older brothers, most particulary Gordon.
From Marinette, he first went to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the City Directory has him as an Assitant Bookeeper. Several other members of the family, including his father, were in Menominee, Michigan, just across the Menominee River from Marinette.
A year later, he is in Youngstown, Ohio, where he works for the J. H. Fitch Company. He was there for about 3 or 4 years, before he moved to Davenport, Iowa, where he is listed as a student. He was enrolled in college. His sister, Cluster, was also a student in Davenport a few years later. They attended the Palmer School of Chiropractic, which is still in operation.
The young doctor Splude first plied his trade in Wyoming, before chosing to make his home in Albemarle, NC. Why a young man from the Great Lakes area would chose the small southern town of Albemarle to practice in is a mystery to me, but settle here he did indeed, in the fall of 1916.
A group of young men in front of Hall's Drug Store circa 1900. Courtesy of the Stanly County Museum archives
Dr. Splude's practice seemed to do pretty well in Albemarle as it entered the roaring twenties. He was mentioned quite often in the local papers and became an active member in the Albemarle and Mt. Pleasant,( a college town at the time), social scene. Within a few years, he would meet and marry a preachers daughter, Miss Mary Christina Barringer, daughter of The Rev. Paul Barringer and wife, Alice EvaAnn Foil Barringer.
They were married on November 25, 1919. The Stanly County Herald gave the following report of the lovely wedding.
Dr. Splude was also a ground-breaker for Albemarle, introducing a female practioner, Dr. Mary Lou Miller, to his practice in 1922. She was a recent graduate of the same school, Palmer, that Dr. Splude had graduated from. Mary Lou was a local girl, daughter of John Maxwell Miller and Nancy C. Dry Miller. Dr. Splude had no doubt encouraged her to attend the school.
Dr. Splude kept up with his education and visited his family frequently. He and Mary Christina would also become the parents of two daughters, Mary Catherine Splude Holder (1921-1954) and Florence Fay Splude Riddell ( 1924-1999).
Dr. Sprude went on to inspire other North Carolinians to attend his Iowa Alma Mater and even convinced the state association to hold their convention in Albemarle. He retired in 1944 and turned his practice over to a Dr. Ivester from Nashville, NC.
Dr. Splude and wife would spend the majority of their retirement years (from 1945-1952) in St. Petersburg, Florida, where their daughter would marry in 1949. They would then relocate back to North Carolina, to Randleman in Randolph County, near their oldest daughter, Mary Catherine Splude Holder.
Dr. Splude would pass away on June 4, 1957 and is buried in Asheboro. His wife Mary died on February 14, 1983, in Maryland, where youngest daughter Florence was at the time, and was brought back to NC to be laid to rest next to her husband in Asheboro.
From Find-a-Grave:
Clyde was the son of John B. and Delana (Deucet) Splude. He married Mary Christina Barringer in 1919 and they were the parents of two daughters: Mary Catherine and Florence Faye.
Greensboro Daily News, NC June 5, 1957
Dr. T. C. Splude Dies In Hospital
Sr. T. Clyde Splude, 71, of Route 1, Randleman, died at 4;30 p.m. yesterday at Moses Cone Hospital where he had been a patient for one day. He had been in declining health for three months. Dr. Splude, a retired chiropractor, was a native of Wisconsin. He practiced in Albemarle for 40 years. he was a member of the Albemarle Presbyterian Church. He is survived by his wife, Mary B. Splude; one daughter, Mrs. Florence Riddel of California; several brothers and sisters of Wisconsin and five grandchildren. The body was taken from Forbis & Murray Funeral Home to the McEwen Funeral Home in Monroe last night. Other arrangements are incomplete.
Greensboro Daily News, NC June 6, 1957
SPLUDE FUNERAL
RANDLEMAN, June 5 - Funeral services for T. Clyde Splude, who died Tuesday in a Greensboro hospital, will be conducted at 3:30 p.m. Friday at the chapel of Pugh's Funeral Home by the Rev. Elbert Newlin, pastor of the Centre Friends Meeting. Burial will be in the Randolph Memorial Park.
As I expected, Dr. Daniel P Whitley was a local boy, born on March 15, 1866 in the Big Lick Community, the son of Columbus Whitley and Marintha (or Maranatha) Eudy Whitley. I am not going to gamble on what the "P" in his name stood for. I've seen it as Paul, Pressley and Polycarp.
Dr. Whitley attended the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore and was graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons there in 1889. His specialty was in Allopathic medicine.
He practiced in Millingport and Albemarle and in 1888 had married Eliza Lavinia Esmerelda Efird, the daughter of Ireneus Polycarp Efird and Mary Catherine Treece Efird. There's those odd names Ireneus or Irenus and Polycarp again. Dr. Whitley married well, as his father-in-law was a Stanly County industrialist, who began as a Teacher and farmer who ran both a Grist Mill and Cotton Gin, while eventually partnering with J. W. Cannon, of Cannon Mills fame, and founded the Efird Manufactoring Company in Albemarle, which would eventually become known as the American Efird Mills.
Dr. D. P. Whitley and his wife, Eliza, would welcome 6 children:
1889 Ora Allis Whitley
1891 Elsie Agnes Whitley
1893 Ida Victoria Whitley
1894 Daniel Polycarp Whitley
1900 John Efird Whitley
1903 Elbert Lee Whitley
Dr Daniel P Whitley and family
The below newsarticle from the Concord Times chronicles the location of his residence in 1890.
Dr D. P. Whitley was a busy man. In this same issue that announced his move, it also reported on a very busy weekend he had. He had to attend to a drug overdose, a "horse accident" (as compared to an auto accident) and a drunken brawl that resulted in severe lacerations to the victim.
It is reported, that during the "Teens" and in the era of Jezebel Whitley's death, an Influenza epidemic was devasting Stanly County and keeping all local doctors busy. This coincides with the report that most members of her family were too sick to attend her funeral, causing a postponement.
So, back to my leading question, What happened to Jezebel Whitley? I can only divest to my predrawn conclusions. As she had evidently just given birth to daughter, Virginia, and as an Influenza epidemic had overtaken the community, and especially her own family, I would attribute her premature death to either or both of these factors. Perhaps that is why the two doctors would not sign her death certificate. Her death was so complicated, it's attribute to one factor or another could not be easily determined. But that's just my theory. Perhaps some Burris or Whitley descendants have heard an old story passed down the line that can shed more light.
