John, Lord Carteret, Earl of Granville, on June 27th, 1717, sold Thomas Pollock 2800 acres of land on Cashie River. In 1729, Cullen Pollock, son of Thomas, sold John Gray 1000 acres of the "Rosefield" plantation for 150 pounds current money. William Gray inherited this plantation and river landing from his father, John.
By 1750, the upper Cashie River basin had become a center of commerce, population, politics and Court activities. Every landing from the courthouse for two miles down river was the scene of busy shipping and trade--especially those landings with access to the main county roads. With the influx of people and trade, a pressing need for a town arose. It is not recorded who were the leaders in this movement, but in 1752, enough interest had been generated to have an act passed in the Colonial Assembly at Edenton creating the town of "Wimberly" at Blackman's Landing on the West side of the Cashie River below Gray's Landing. It is not known what stopped formation of this town, but it was undoubtedly due to influence from the courthouse area of "Cashy. "
In 1756,in spite of the lack of encouragement from the government, cultivation of tobacco had increased so much that warehouses were established for its inspection before being exported from the Province. Tnomas Whitmel's warehouse on Cashie above Gray's was one such government station. As such, his landing became a center of trade.
By the 1760's, the landing at Gray's was the site of much shipping and water commerce. Gray extended a formal offer of one hundred acres for a town, and on February 14, 1766, the Speaker of the Assembly presented a petition from sundry inhabitants of Bertie County "praying a certain tract of land at Gray's landing may be erected into a town." Since the courthouse, prison and a small village were located farther up Cashie River at what is now Hoggard's Mill, opposition arose to this plan for a new town. A counter petition was presented to the Assembly by other inhabitants that a town be built at the courthouse. The Assembly resolved that the petitions be shelved and that Cullen Pollock, Edward Vail, James Blount, Benjamin Wynns and .Jasper Charlton be appointed to view both sites and present at the following session of the Assembly which of the two was the most convenient and best site at which to erect a town.
The main factors affecting this committee's decision was the crooked, narrow condition of the river past Gray's to the courthouse and the fact that all existing buildings at the courthouse were in a poor state of condition while Ballard, Gray and others had a thriving business at the lower landings.
When the Colonial Assembly met in December, 1767, the Committee returned in favor of Gray's Landing, and thus, on Jan 8, 1768, the Assembly passed an act "to create New Windsor on Cashie River." Cullen Pollock, David Standley and Tnomas Ballard wer appointed commissioners to seel lots on which each purchaser had two years to build a suitable edifice at least sixteen feet square with a brick chimney.
The act creating Windsor also had this to say: "And whereas subscriptic have already heen made for the greatest part of the Lots laid off in the said Town...the said directors...shall appoint a time, and give Public.Notice thereof, for meeting the subscribers on the said land, for determining the property of each particular Lot, which shall be drawn by Rallot in a fair manner...and each subscriber shall be entitled to the Lot or Lots which shal: happen to be drawn for him..." Exempted from this Lottery were Lots #11, #12, #84 and #86..."which are hereby reserved, to the only use and Behoof, of the said William Gray."
Some people turned over or sold their plots to others. Some developed their property, and some had to forfeit the property back to the Commissione due to lack of necessary development. The first recorded deed from this Lottery was to Henry Everett on October, 17~8, for Lot #1.
Lot Owner Date Drawn in Lottery By:
#1 Henry Everett Oct 1768 Same
#4 Thomas Ballard, Archibald
Buchanan Hastie Fr Co. 1769
#5 Stephen Outerbridge 1784 William Gray
#6 Henry Rhodes Mar 1771 Arthur Brown
#7 William King Oct 1770 Jesse Bazemore
#8 James Burns Aug 1783 Charles Jacocks
#13 William Benson 1774
#14 William Benson 1774
#15 Charles W. Jacocks 1774 John Watson, Sr.
#16 Charles W. Jacocks 1775
#19 William Williams 1780
#21 Thomas Ballard 1775
#22 Samuel Milbourn June 1773 William Gray
#24 Samuel Milbourn 1773
#25 Dr. Anthony Darlet Dec 1775
#26 Dr. Anthony Darlet 1775
#27 Dr. Anthony Darlet 1775
#46 Mary Phillaw 1783
#71 A. B. Hastie Fr Co. 1773
#72 Thomas Stainback 1774 Same
#73 John Young of Halifax 1774 Same
#78 James Buchanan 1774
#80 John Johnson Oct 1775
#82 Thomas Ballard June 1769 Thomas Pugh
#88 William Benson 1777
#91 Thomas Clark 1777
#92 Thomas Harrison Dec 1772
Luke Collins 1779
#94 Zedekiah Stone 1783
#95 William Usher 1779
#96 Samuel Milbourn 1783 John Bond
#98 Samuel Milbourn Oct 1775 Thomas Bell
#100 Noah Thompson 1776 Hezekiah Thompson
#102 Samuel Milbourn 1773 John Person
#103 John Johnson May 1774
#104 Robert Hobday 1774
#105 John Johnson May 1774
#106 Macon Whitfield 1774 William Bently
#108 William Usher Dec 1768 Same
#109 Anna King 1776 William King
#111 George Outlaw 1780 Nathaniel Knott
#112 John Young of Halifax 1774 Same
#113 William Williams 1780
#116 Henry Everett Oct 1768 Same
#130 Jonathan jacocks 1780
#131 Jonathan Jacocks 1774 John Bazemore
#132 Jonathan Jacocks 1780
#133 Jonathan Jacocks 1774 John Bazemore
#144 William Bryan 1774
#149 Samuel Milbourn 1774 William King
One of the earliest recorded deeds for a completed structure is found in Deed Book M, page 183 - Thomas Ballard to Archibald Cunison of Halifax Lot #4 which contains Ballard's storehouse, Lot #71 which contains Ballard's warehouse and Lot #82 which contains Ballard's dwelling house--April, 1775.
Immediately upon the establishment of this new town, a bill was introduc in 1768 to move the courthouse and prison to Windsor. However, this met with stiff opposition from the group at "Cashy," and for several years nothing was done about it. In 1773, a petition was reintroduced which said in part..."A town was erected on Cashie River in Bertie County by the name of Windsor, very conveniently situated and nearly in the center of the county Since which time several houes have been built in the said town, especially houses of entertainment, and sundry stores established therein, and a good ferry to and from said town..." Witn this much evidence or growth, coupled with the run-down and cramped condition of the public buildings at' "Cashy," the bill was ratified. In 1774, the Assembly appointed William Gray, Thomas Ballard, Thomas Clark, Zedekiah Stone and David Standley~to build a court- house, prison, pillory and stocks in the Town of Windsor.
In 1775, Samuel Clay Milbourn, tavern owner, sold these Commissioners Lot #98, formerly Thomas Bell's of Bute County, containing one-half acre, for ten pounds Proclamation money..."to the sole use of building and erecting the said Courthouse, Clerk's Office, Prison, and Stocks..." This is the same site that the present courthouse buildings are on today.
There has been handed down through the years the story that there has been more than one courthouse site in Windsor. The first glance at the evidence tends to refute this story completely. There has only been one lot purchased by the county for a courthouse--#98, since 1775, and that is the present site. The only building contracts have been for construction on that. lot. It has also been published that the one hundred year old building of stone was an outstanding example of Grecian architecture and demolished in the late 1800's. Thus, it was never moved. However, with the aid of Mr. Francis Speight, we seem to have resolved the situation. It is found in the old Bertie Court Records that in November, 1774, the Bertie Court ordered that Samuel Milbourn be allowed 12 pounds for the trouble he had sustained in having three courts held in his house. The 1777 Court ordered..."William Williams be allowed the sum of 21bs for the use of his house during the sitting of the February Court, 1776, and May Court, 1776 - in the whole 41bs." In 1779, Samuel Milbourn was again awarded "30 Ibs current money for the use of his room." Both of these men were awarded a license to keep an inn or ordinary at this time.
Since the county did not purchase the courthouse site until 1775, and since the Revolution was thrust upon the area before a building could be completed, it is logical to assume that a local building belonging to some individual was used for some years as a court. Records indicate an extension was granted on the courthouse contracts in 1777, 1782 and 1784, and it is likely that a completion date in the mid 1780's is more realistic. A check of the old maps shows Samuel Milbourn as owner of Lot #22, the site handed down as the possible location of another courthouse. The use of his tavern has given rise to the story of the second courthouse.
The ferry mentioned before was authorized in 1769 by the County with a license to David King to operate same from Windsor to Virgin's Point (now called the "Bertie" side of Cashie River). This ferry was replaced with a draw bridge in 1776, the second one in the state according to existing records, at a cost of 84 lbs. Proc. money. A new bridge was built in 1786 consisting of a wooden structure six feet above the water at the middle,
The first businesses to appear in the newly-formed town were necessarilp shipping merchants, since it was a river landing site. Chief products for export were tar, pitch, staves, turpentine and~foodstuffs. Gray already had a warehouse at the river and he was soon joined in 1773 by the Archibald Buchanan Hastie E Co. on lot #71 at the Public Dock. Thomas Ballard and Thomas Clark were two of the leading merchants and Town Commissioners.
An early recorded industry was one of necessity--Milbourn's Brickyard. Since one of the conditions of the town deeds was erection of a structure with a brick chimney, Samuel Milbourn purchased thirty-five acres from Thomas Whitmel in 1779 adjoining Windsor and established his brickyard between what is now King, Spring and Broad Streets.
To complete a picture of Windsor - Pre 1800 - we turn to religion and education. Services were held in various homes by visiting ministers, and services were attended at the Parish Church at Merry Hill. Referring to the Collet Map of 1770, we find a chapel outside of town in the general area now known as the Ernest Taylor home place. Deeds around 1822 describe the chapel as being near Thomas Whitmel's "Gate," and as early as 1783, the court allowed Peter Clifton "to turn the road from Cashy Bridge round his fence to Cashy Chapel."
Education in the early form was mainly in the private homes with tutors, Boarding students were taken in and taught with the children of the home. Sometime about 1800, Oak Grove Academy was formed near Windsor. An ad in the Windsor Herald on October 1, 1833, had this to say: "The exercises of this Institution will be resumed on Monday the 30th under the superintendenc~ of Mr. Hart, assisted by Mr. Rayner. To the Course of studies heretofore pursued at the Academy the French language has been added." Patrick H. Winston, Sr., arrived in Windsor in 1839 at the age of nineteen years to assume leadership of the Academy.
Across the Quitsney Road from the chapel was the "Rase Field" or race tract. Horse racing was one of the main social events of the period and persisted until after the Civil War. This race tract was on the land now known as the Powell and Stokes farm, and Miss Prudence Stokes' stationery still bears the inscription "Race Field Cottage."
A Masonic Lodge was formed in Windsor in 1772, chartered as Royal Edwin Lodge #4--later to be renamed in 1822 Charity Lodge. An attempt was made to erect a lodge building in 1883, but insufficient funds ended the endeavor. In 1843, the Lodge was meeting over the W. S. Pruden store. Finally, the Old Brick House, said to be the oldest brick building in Windso: was purchased in 1848 and after several remodelings has been used continuous: by the town's oldest organization.
By 1800, Windsor was quite an inland shipping center and is referred to in some documents as the Port of Windsor. Ten ships listed Windsor as their home port in Registry Book. The largest of these was the schooner "Susanna," owned by Jonathan Jacocks, Benjamin Cook, Robert West and John H. Pugh, with tonnage of 158 tons. She was equipped for West Indies trade. The rest were primarily coastal traders. The ten registered vessels had a combined tonnage of one million pounds of cargo.
"Windsor was a flourishing little town, situated on the deep sluggish, amber colored Cashie at the head of navigation, the center of important trade in tar, pitch, and turpentine. Shingles riven from juniper and cypress and staves made of oak were bought and sold by the millions. Cotton was the money crop. So extensive was the trade of Windsor that Ezra Cornell, founder of Cornell University, often visited the place exchanging the contents of his schooner for Naval Stores." So said Judge F. D. Winston in It's A Far Cry.
The two main avenues of land traveled into Windsor were the Halifax Road and the "Cashy" Road. A portion of the "Cashy" Road was laid out in 1717 from the west side of Roquist Swamp over the head of the Cashie River near "New Market" and down to the mouth of Salmon Creek. The portion to the west of the Cashie River Bridge (Hoggard Mill now) became known as the "Quitsney Road," and a fork one-half a mile west of the bridge led into Gray's Landing. This junction became known as "Horse Tavern" due to the Inn by that name located and operated there in 1780 by Peter Clifton. A fork at the courthouse to the north of the bridge led across Will's Quarter Swamp to Campbell's Landing (Colerain). The Halifax Road existed in 1770 and entered Windsor from the west, intersecting the Ouitsney Road about one mile above town. This became the main thoroughfare due to the early seat of Governmental Affairs at Halifax, and later as the Post Road from Bertie. Other roads in 1770 consisted of the Merry Hill Road entering via Virgin's Point across the ferry of David King, and the Speller Ferry Road leading southward from Windsor towards "William's Town," which forked at Aberdeen and led into "Cashie Neck." In 1833, a company was formed by the name of the Williamston G Windsor Turnpike Company to build and improve this latter route.
A shipyard had been built by William Gray by 1788 below his landing presumably at what is now the County Farm. Small vessels were built and repaired there.
The people of Windsor were distinguished by their early devotion to Liberty. Colonel Thomas Whitmel, Lt. Colonel Thomas Pugh and 2nd Major Arthur Brown wereelected as leaders of the Bertie Militia. The Council of Patriots at New Bern in 1774, the Assembly at Hillsboro in 1775, and the Congress at Halifax in 1775 had these men of Windsor and others present.
By 1832, Windsor had grown until it had its own newspaper, the Windsor Herald, John Campbell editor. There were, according to Vol. 1, number 22, including three medical practioners--John Haywood, Joseph Outlaw and William B. Forsythe. John Bond was a medical student. There were two lawyers, three shoe makers, a gig maker, a carpenter and a tailor. Other businesses included a blacksmith, two ice houses and numerous warehouses at the river. In addition to the eight business concerns mentioned before, there were two taverns or inns operated by John Folk and William Watson, four cotton Rins, a turpentine still, a printing office, a post office and twenty dwellings. The courthouse had been built some years before, but a new jail was in the process of being built consisting of a frame structure two stories high. The plans were designed by William Hoggard and Joseph B. G Roulhac with Myles Bayley and Dempsey Cooper builders.
Windsor reached a milestone in the year 1847 when an act was passed in the General Assembly to incorporate the town. This act authorized the offices of Magistrate of Police and three commissioners who were in turn to appoint a street overseer, a town constable, a clerk, a treasurer and to levy real estate taxes. All male persons between the ages of sixteen and fifty were required to work on the streets of the town if they were residents, and be exempted from work on county roads."And be it further enacted, that the Commissioners shall adopt any method, which they may deem expedient and best, for keeping the streets free from hogs...."
The newly incorporated Town had now become a farm oriented community. Plantation life prevailed, and the town became the church, social and trade center for the many farms in the surrounding area. It also became a center for banking under the state chartered N. C. State Bank. The Windsor 8ranch of this bank was founded sometime in the 1830's, and by 1860 could boast of a Million Dollar Capital and of being one of only two in the Northeastern Region. Lorenzo Webb was cashier and Jonathan Tayloe, President In 1860, there were still only twenty-four of these branches in existence
Windsor community life took the slow, easy, typical form so prevalent in the South prior to the Civil War.
Windsor was not spared completely the ravages of the Civil War. After the fall of Roanoke Island, the federal forces occupied the entire Sound region and held much of it throughout the war. Episcopal Bishop Atkinson was only able to visit Windsor once between 1860 and 1865, as it was held by northern troops. His journal shows a report from Rev. Cyrus Waters in 1863 stating that he had not been disturbed in the discharge of his duty by the enemy and that the Church had "nobly responded to the call of her country, by giving up her bell and carpets for the use of the army, and that the members have contributed freely to the wants of the same." Later from Bishop Atkinson's journal we hear: "We have lost by death the Rev. Cyrus Waters, formerly rector of the Church of St. Thomas, Windsor. He was, during the war, subjected to harsh imprisonment by an act of unscrupulous violence on the part of some of the subordinants in the Army of the United States; not on the ground that he had committed any offense, but it was said, to deter others from offending. As soon as the facts were made known to General Palmer, who at that time commanded at New Bern, he ordered the release of Mr. Waters, together with that of two friends and parishioners of his, who had been imprisoned in the same despotic manner..." Mr. Waters contracted consumption in prison and died in 1868.
There was sympathy to be found for both sides during the occupation, and a certain amount of trade was conducted with the northern forces. The many excursions of the northern gunboats from Plymouth up the river to Windsor brought fire from partisans in the area. Two such encounters took place at the County Farm Landing and at the Hnggard Will Bridge. Windsor served up her sons to fight on the battlefields across the South, however, and suffered at home as did many other rural areas. High prices, scarce commodities and lack of some necessities were prevalent. The end of the war left the area land poor and depressed.
Community life in the early 1870's centered around surviving the aftermath of the Civil War. Politics was the issue, with Windsor Township being highly disturbed over President Grant's management of the South. In 1874, the people of the state were rallying from the shock of the war and the humiliation of reconstruction. They were ready to resume reins of self- government which federal troops had denied thus far, but were afraid, remembering the federal replacement of the people's governor with the federal, William Holden. Statewide, the people carried elections and favored a convention to change the Constitution.
At this time, one of Windsor's sons was called upon. Patrick H. Winston, Jr., at the age of twenty-eight, Reading Clerk of the State Senate and one who had felt the horrors of the war and the degradation of reconstruction, was petitioned to address the Legislature and public. This great orator spoke for two hours, and when finished, the Convention was called, the Constitution changed, and North Carolina has since been governed by men of her own choice. P. H, Winston, Jr., was the first son of Patrick H. Winston, Sr., lawyer and co-owner of Wii~dsor's newspaper, The Albemarle Times, in 1874.
At home, commerce had reached levels approaching pre-Civil War, although "hard money" still was the only accepted payment. New stores and businesses began to appear. Dr. Frank Gillam's store, Sheriff Bell's store and Levi Harden's coach shop were under construction. Mr. E. S. Dail's coach factory was running full blast. In 1874, Windsor had: H. C. Fager, Mayor; Moses Gillam, J. T. Bond, Dr. Frank Gillam, Commissioners; J. R. Moddy, Constable; James Martin, Town Solicitor; P. H. Winston, S. B. Spruill, D. C. Winston, D. Worthington, James Cherry, D. E. Taylor, Jesse Yeates, Attorneys; and two doctors, Henry Dunstan and W. S. Gurley. There were numerous taverns, general merchandise stores, watch and jewelry stores and a tailor. A steamship line, The Windsor and Plymouth steam route, had just been established in 1874 by Captain W.F. Askew.
On August 8, 1888, at 2:00 p.m., Windsor had one of its most disastrous fires destroying almost an entire block. Sam Hoggard's restaurant, Mrs. Belle Pugh's restaurant and home, W. D. Hoggard's bar, Adaline White's restaurant and home, the home of W. D. Leath, the W. T. King store occupied by Messrs. Lipsitz, the W. H. Leigh store used by Joe James as a bar and W. G. Carter as a barber shop and W. D. Hoggard's ice house were burned. The Roulhac house used by Madison Outlaw as a hotel was partially damaged. If it had burned, it has been predicted that the fire would have been so out of control that the entire town would have been destroyed. As it was, the entire side of Granville Street was lost.
With Mayor R. W. Askew, Commissioners T. P. Gurley, A. S. Rascoe, J. J. Jacocks, Thomas Small and P. C. Cooper, Windsor has grown. Now served by two steamship lines and a railroad, Windsor saw an influx of traveling people. Large fancy hotels such as the American House, J. R. Moody, Prop., and the Hotel Pearl, were complete with bars and hacks that met each train and ship. Bars such as the Wild Cat Saloon, W. D. Rice, Prop., catered to travelers. The Rascoe Store, R. C. Bazemore, G. W. Simpson, ;i. J. 3acocks, G. G. Jernigan, W. E. Mountain, T. S. Todd and C. T. Harden offered sundry goods for sale. Pugh's Drug Emporium furnished everything from medicine and paints to John F. Stratton's musical and string instruments. "Tonsorial Artist" MI. H. Leigh handled shaving, haircuts and shampooing.
The Windsor Public Ledger, Benjamin Swain, editor, carried news of social life running from baseball with Lewiston and Aulander, week end outings to Nag's Head, "Koffee Klatches" at the Cotton Factory, to fancy parties, church socials and dances.
The railroad became a main mode of transportation and ushered in a new era of business. The county-wide forests had enticed the northern lumber interests to settle in the area, and they in turn built a network of logging roads that expanded into freight and passenger service. The Branning RR,known as the Wellington and Powellsville, had a terminal in Windsor prior to 1900. Johnson's Mill, just below Windsor, and Peeves Oatman and Church at Austin offered a network of railroads connecting steamshi] lines and major railroads in larger towns. More important, the industry offered jobs, income and trade that became the county's second largest business in the 1900's and enabled Windsor to grow to almost its present size.
Imagine Windsor in the late 1800's. The streets and merchants were quite differnt from what they are today.
The following advertisements were taken from Bertie County newspapers between the years 1833-1897.
"A majority of the merchants of Windsor have returned from the North with their Fall and Winter stock of goods. We notice the arrival of a large, well selected and assorted stock of dry goods, groceries, etc. the secletion of Moses Gillam, Esq, of the house of J.P. Rascoe, one of the most thorough merchants of our town whose success as a business man is mainly attributable to his honest dealings and indomitable perserverance. Mr. Gillam's seclection of his stock of good strikingly evidences discretness of taste as well as a knowldege of the neccessity of local consumers. At the store of Mr. Rascoe purchasers can be supplied with every thing they need.""Mr. W.P. Gurley, Jr. likewise exercising a capacity for business seldome witnessed in one so young, has also a fine and well assorted stock of goods to which he gracefully invites the inspection of purchasers."
M.V. Perry, Ewq, shoe fondness for the deer chase has never been excelled by his aptitude to sell goods, is still on the ramparts of mercantile fame and is keeping pace with economy in giving good bargains with small profits."
"Mr. M.E.G. Barrett, is at his well known stand exhibiting a well assorted stock of goods and in his varied selections customers are bound to go off satisfied as to goods and prices."
John T. Bond, Esq, is by no means reprograding in the skill olf a good merchant. His late arrival of goods of all kinds is in every way decidedly tasteful, cheap and warranted to give satisfaction."
"Messrs. G.F. Skirven and Company have just received an addition to their heretofore fine stock of Family Groceries, wines and liquors, all of which are choice and cheap".
"F.W. Bell, Esq, characterised by industry and perserverance and ever on the alert fo improvement, has just moved his stock of goods in his spacious new building, where may be found a full stock of goods, well selected and offered to the trade at a fair advance on cost.
"Mr. C.T. Harden's stock of jewelry, musical instruments, etc. is complete and is offered to customers upon reasonable terms. Mr. Harden is also a skillful workman in his mechanical occupation and all work done by him, we can venture to recommend.
"R.W. Askew, Esq, of the corner store if diminutive in stature, is by no means the least in the capacity of a good merchant -- pleasant and decorus in his manners, segacious and prompt in his dealings will ever vie with all others o fhis occupatin to sell cheap and give universal satisfaction.
"We cheerfully recommend one and all of our merchants to the patronage of our people and we feel assured that in the difference of freights and incidents of delays occasioned in sending off to buy goods at retail, will pry the local trade in purchasing from those at our home".
Askewville
Askewville Village Began In Pines As Railroad Sta.
By FINLEY JOHNSON
(Used with permission from The Bertie Ledger - 250th Anniversary Edition - Setp 28, 1972ASKEWVILLE – The village of Askewville had its beginning as a railroad station. Prior to the year 1898, the site of the present town was a pine forest with the Pell Mell Pocosin on the north. In 1898, the Wellington and Powellsville railroad crossed the public road in this forest. Askewville was still only a flag station in 1905. The mail was carried to the Askewville post office which was at the crossroads at Buena Vista one mile west of the station. The first home and store were built at the station about 1905.
The Askewville post office was established June 3 1893, at Buena Vista and was named for the first postmaster, "Bill" Askew. About 1899 the office was moved one mile east, near the site where the residence of Jake Dunlow is located today, and a new postmaster was in charge, Dancy White. The mail was carried by Elli Dunlow from station to office. The office was later moved and located in the first store built at the station in 1905. A few years later a building was built beside the railroad for the post office and railroad ticket sales. John G. Butler was postmaster and railroad agent from about 1910 to 1927. J. G. Mitchell was postmaster from 1927 until the office closed September 30, 1932. Since this date Askewville has been served by the Windsor office.
Early merchants in Askewville were: Dancy White, Thellie Newbern, D. T. Newbern, Mack White, J. G. Mitchell, who was also a blacksmith, H. F. Jernigan and A. E. Holloman. More recent were: J. H. Cowan, Otis Hoggard, W. R. Dunlow, Z. O. White and W. R. Jernigan, R. L. Freeman sold Star and Durant automobiles here in the early 1920's. The Planters Nut and Chocolate Co. operated a peanut buying station in Askewville from 1923 to 1943. Sykes and Leary operated a lumber mill and cotton gin from 1924 to 1929. C. L. Emory had a lumber mill and stave and box factory from 1931 to 1938.
The Farmers-Atlantic Bank opened a bank January 1, 1920. It closed February 2, 1930, at the beginning of the depression. In 1970 the present bank was opened.
The town of Askewville was incorporated March 15, 1951. The first council was composed of Finley Johnson, mayor, who still serves, and commissioners J. H. Cowan, Otis Hoggard and Truett White. The clerk was J. R. White. The town has always operated in the black and has never issued any bonds. Street lights were installed in 1954. The Askewville Fire Department was organized in 1963 and a new fire truck was purchased and fire station erected. The department now has two trucks and 27 members. Curbs and gutters were built on Main St. in 1967 at a cost to the town of $13,500 and total cost of over $50,000. Evans St. was paved in 1969. The town has operated a garbage dump since 1963 and beginning in 1972 had had a pick-up service.
Prior to the year 1920 there was no school in Askewville. The community was served by two nearby one-teacher schools, the Cobb's school and the Todd's school. These two schools were consolidated into a three-teacher school in 1920 and a frame building was erected in Askewville at the present school site. Two classrooms were added in 1927.
The auditorium was built in 1937 and serves now as a community building. AS modern brick and concrete building was built in 1963. The school now has seven teachers. From the year 1928 to 1933 the school was a junior high school. During all the other years it has been an elementary school.
The school opened in the fall of 1920 with Chester Spears as principal; the other teachers the first year were: Mrs. Chester Spears and Miss Lillie E. White. The other principals from 1920 to 1940 were: Mrs. Parham, Lillie E. White, Lloyd Wiggins, Willie Mae Horton, C. L. Haney, C. W. Bazemore, Finley R. Johnson and Lou Lyon Craig.
The Askewville Baptist Church was organized in 1913. The Bethel Assembly of God Church was organized in 1931. The average attendance in Sunday school in the town of Askewville is 450 to 500. This probably accounts for the fact that our community has very few court cases. Both churches now have modern brick air-conditioned buildings and both churches are now building new homes for their pastors.
Typed by Paul Muraukas
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