Lenoir County, NC - Industrial Issue - 1906

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by
Christine Grimes Thacker <http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00033.html#0008100>


This Industrial Issue of the Kinston Free Press was published in 1906
although there was an earlier Industrial Issue published in 1899. The issue
is composed of both text and numerous pictures of places and people. This
will be a slow project so please be patient.

The text is presented on the Lenoir County USGenWeb Archives and the pictures
on Old Dobbers reached through the Lenoir County GenWeb site -
http://www.rootsweb.com/~nclenoir/

We are grateful to the Free Press for permission to post anything of
historical or genealogical in nature published prior to 1939.


KINSTON TOWNSHIP

Townships of Lenoir County

  Lenoir County is, for purposes of local government, divided into twelve townships. 
Each township has it own school committeemen who direct the schools of the townships, 
a township constable and justices of the peace. The townships are all favorably 
situated as being in easy reach of a market, and possessing land capable of a great 
variety of farming. The land is level with a clay sub-soil, in a large part, more or 
less sandy and rich to a remarkable degree.

  Following in order are given some facts concerning each township, and pictures of 
leading homes and families in each township.

  KINSTON TOWNSHIP is one of the smallest in area of all the townships of the 
county; still it is the most populous and the richest, paying the greater part of 
the county's taxes. The township comprises 15,810 acres of land, which, outside of 
the city is excellent for farming purposes. The land is productive of a great 
variety of crops. At present they are principally used to produce cotton, tobacco, 
corn, and truck, such as cabbage, beans, lettuce, asparagus, strawberries, potatoes, 
etc. The local consumption of such products is considerable and the shipping 
facilities which Kinston offers makes trucking on these lands very inviting. The 
township is well settled, but there still remains ample room for many more 
prosperous homes and farmers.

  Outside of the city of Kinston the township contains three churches and two 
schools-one white and one colored. Miss MELTHE BROWN teaches the white school and 
there are about 25 pupils. The school is situated about two and a half miles from 
Kinston. The committeemen are K.R. TURNSTALL, V.R. JACKSON and W.A. JONES.

  Some of the representative homes of Kinston are given below.
  
                        THE CEDARS

  One of the prettiest residences of Kinston township is "The Cedars," owned by Mr. 
P.A. HOOKER. It is a mile from Kinston, and was in former days the site of  the JOHN 
TULL residence. The surrounding farm consists of 300 acres of good land upon which are 
raised some cotton, but especially hay, oats, and general home supplies. On his farm 
Mr. HOOKER also produces an abundant supply of fruit as plums, pears, peaches, apples 
and grapes.

  In addition to his farm, Mr. HOOKER has a steam cotton gin, with a capacity of 12 
bays a day, and a sawmill with per diem capacity of 8,000 feet.

  In 1896, Mr. HOOKER married Miss ANNIE RUE BARWICK, of Tampa, Fla. They have one 
child to make their home brighter-little Miss DORIS, only two years of age. They live 
just a short distance from the corporate limits of Kinston, where they attend the 
Methodist Church, and are prominent in social and business circles.

                        FRANK ROUSE

  Mr. J.F. ROUSE lives in a neat house in Kinston township, near the Vance township 
line. He was born in 1851 in Moseley Hall township. His parents were JESSE H. and JANE
ROUSE (nee KENNEDY). His father was a planter and took considerable interest in the 
Churches and schools.

  Mr. ROUSE has wandered about considerably in his time, but has always stuck to this 
section. At the age of 18 he went to Vance township, from there he came to Kinston 
township, than to Bucklesbury section, than to Wayne Co., next to Green Co., and 
finally back to Kinston township where he married and now lives with his wife, son 
and daughter-in-law. He married Miss ELIZA WHITE, daughter of WILLIAM and ELIZABETH 
WHITE. The children were EFFIE (deceased), TROY J., and GUY WILLARD, who married MAUDE, 
daughter of county commissioner A.T. DAWSON, of Institute

  The home tract consists of about 340 acres, of which 125 acres are under cultivation.
The land is good, being best adapted probably to corn and cotton. On his uncleared land  
is some valuable timber, although it has been cut several times.

                        TOWER HILL: ISAAC M. TULL

  One of the younger men of the county, who with his young wife occupies an historic old 
homestead in Kinston township, is Mr. ISAAC M. TULL The place of his residence is Tower 
Hill Farm, where he was born, in 1877. Here he has spent most of his life, except when 
attending school.

  The old Tower Hill farm was at one time selected to be the capital of the colony of 
North Carolina, but for some reason the site was abandoned and Newbern made a final 
choice.

  There are several interesting legends about the old place. In later years it became 
the home of the TULLS, which family owned a great many acres of land in this section.

  At present Tower Hill farm is frequently headquarters for hunting parties from beyond 
the States, who take advantage of the supply of game in this section. Mr. I.M. TULL, 
the proprietor, is himself an enthusiastic sportsman, and reckoned a good shot.
  In 1905 Mr. TULL married Miss OLLIE GILBERTA HILL of Lenoir county. He belongs to the 
Christian Church, is a member of the Elks, Odd Fellows, and Lenoir Commercials Club.

                          J.F. HORNER

  One of the "up-country" farmers to be attracted by our superior agricultural resources 
is  JASPER F. HORNER, of Orange County. He was born in that county, March 5, 1868. His 
parents were JOHN and BETTIE F. HORNER. His father was a farmer and was regarded as the 
best brick mason in Orange county. His grandparents were JAMES and BETTIE HORNER. His 
grandfather raised fine stock and owned from four to six wagons, with which, in those 
early days, he made regular trips between his home section and Petersburg, thus doing 
a general carrying business.

  The subject of this sketch spent his early years on the farm. In 1889 he married Miss 
MAGGIE, daughter of W.R. and SALLIE WILKERSON, of his native county. The children were 
two, one of whom is now deceased.

  In 1896, Mr. HORNER came to Lenoir county, owning-as he says-nothing. He came as a 
tenant and for one year worked the RICHARD HILL place on shares. After this he went to 
the CHADWICK place, where he staid for three years, having leased the farm from the 
late ALEX. LaROQUE. He than bought the HENDERSON LOFTIN place on Hull road, six miles 
from town. He still owns this place and also the DALLAS ALEXANDER place, four miles 
from Kinston. At the latter place he has built a nice cottage house and barn with 
other attractive out-houses and tenant houses.

  The land which he cultivated will come near producing anything; although it seems 
best adapted to the culture of tobacco.

  One year since he has been in this section, Mr. HORNER sold his tobacco crops for 
$6,000; and three or four years ago, when tobacco was so low, he averaged $100 an acre. 
This year he has raised over a thousand bushels of peanuts, some of which he has sold 
for 75 cents a bushel.

  In addition to the farms he owns, Mr. HORNER has leased the Rountree and Temple 
farms. He owns three lots on west Blount  street in Kinston. On two of these he has 
erected dwelling and will soon build on the third.
  So much for a young energetic preserving farmer, who came to our community as a 
tenant, without other capital than his ability and determination.

                         W.T. WORTHINGTON

  Living on his farm a mile and a half North of Kinston is Mr. W. T. WORTHINGTON, 
familiarly known as Uncle TOM, a jovial farmer, a strenuous soldier of by-gone days, 
a good talker and all-around good fellow. He was born in the good county of Greene the 
11th of January, 1844.

  In 1896 Mr. WORTHINGTON, came to Lenoir and lived on ADKINS Hill, near Kinston, then 
on the R.F. HILL place near Lousan Swamp, and than he came to his present place on Snow 
Hill road where he built a neat cottage home. The home tract consists of 78-1-2 acres 
of as fine land as there is in Lenoir county. All of this but about 10 acres is cleared 
and under cultivation, producing anything that is planted.

  Uncle TOM has been married twice. His first wife was Miss HANNIE J. LYONS of Greene 
County. The children are Mrs. ANNIE FLORENCE HEATH, W.C. WORTHINGTIN, MATTIE WORTHINGTON, 
Mrs. EMILEE EDWARDS, HEBER, DAVID and TOM, twins, and GROVER CLEVELAND, DESSIE, 
(deceased), LESSIE, and HANNAH JANE. Mr. WORTHINGTON'S second wife was Miss PENELOPE 
KILPATRICK.

  Mr. WORTHINGTON likes to read and talk about civil war times. At the early age of 18 
he entered the confederate service, May 1862. He volunteered at Greenville and saw 
service all over eastern Carolina where he was detailed as courier. He next went to 
LEE'S army in Virginia and took part in the hard campaigns of that great command. Among 
Uncle TOM'S treasures of memory are two conversations which he had with the peerless 
LEE. The great commander approached him while on picket duty and a kinder, more polite, 
more considerate man, Mr. WORTHINGTON never knew.

  One of the hardest battles that he was ever in was that of Cold Harbor when 13,000 
Yankees were killed in twenty minutes. That was a "hot time," too on July 30,1864, 
before Petersburg when GRANT mined the fortifications protecting the city blew up. 
The Yankees got in, but Uncle TOM says they got out again.

  In one of the Virginia campaigns Uncle TOM was on the skirmish line whose duty it 
was to run the Yankee pickets out of their "dugouts" and take possession. The attempt 
as a whole was a failure; but Uncle TOM ran his men out and entering, took possession 
of the dugout and its contents, for the fleeing Yankee did not take his knap sack with 
him. Uncle TOM at that time was very much in need of just such things as his departing 
friend had left behind ; so thinking an even swap no robbery he exchanged the contents 
of his knap-sack for those of the one he found. Meanwhile the Yankees were pouring shot 
over the dugout, but Uncle TOM got out and to the cover of the woods in safety.

  His hardest fighting was at Wises' Fork, near Kinston, where he was severely wounded 
and taken to the Salisbury hospital. During the war he was wounded five times; but he 
suffers no inconvenience now from those wounds.  
 
  Typed by Christine Grimes Thacker 8/18/2001.  

__________________________________________________________________________

USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information 
on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as 
this message remains on all copied material. The electronic pages may NOT 
be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons 
or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material 
for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the 
file contributor, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of 
this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives 
to store the file permanently for free access.
__________________________________________________________________________