"Our Heritage"
Mt. Olive Tribune
By Claude Moore

I was in looking through my files I found a photograph of the Summerlin Buggy Factory in Mount Olive and, also, photographs of Oliver Summerlin and his wile, Frances Albritton Summerlin. This inspired me to write what I remember about this highly respected Mount Olive family. Just before writing I went to the old town cemetery and found the Summerlin family plot.

Oliver Summerlin was born in 1830 near Summerlin's Crossroads and was the son of Thomas and Annie Summerlin. When he was quite young he learned blacksmithing and, also, learned to be a wheelwright. His family were members of Bear Marsh Church and he was probably named for the Reverend Francis Oliver, one of the early pastors of Bear Marsh.

In 1858, Mr. Summerlin came to Mount Olive and started a blacksmith shop. He married a Miss Roberts and had three children. When the War Between the States came along, he joined the Confederate Greys and served throughout the War in the Infantry. His wife died and in 1872 he married Frances Albritton, the daughter of Matthew Albritton (1813-1893) who was a carriage maker at old Waynesborough and later moved to Mount Olive. He had two sons, Jesse T. Albritton and the Reverend John T. Albritton. Frances Albritton was educated at the Wayne Female College and had a real talent for music and Latin. I was young when she died but I remember when she visited her daughter, Annie, who married our uncle John B. Moore and lived near us. When I first came to Mount Olive College to teach 19 years ago, there were still people alive who remembered Mr. and Mrs. Summerlin and most always said that they were sainted Christians.

When the First Baptist Church was reorganized in 1869 and moved from Breazeale Avenue to the present location, Mr. Summerlin gave the lot. The present beautiful church was built in 1912 and Mr. Summerlin died in 1911.

Mr. Summerlin and his son, Claude (1859-1927) Summerlin went into buggy making business together and later Claude and his brother Matt O. Summerlin went into a partnership. Much later M.O. Summerlin had a Ford car sales business in the same building. This building was torn down to make room for the Wachovia Bank.

Mr. and Mrs. Summerlin lived on the site of the Reginald Hines house. Their children were: Benjamin Oliver Summerlin who was once postmaster of Mount Olive; Matt O. Summerlin; Thomas Summerlin of Calypso; and George Summerlin, who had a plumbing business and was a pioneer firefighter in Mount Olive; and Annie Summerlin who married John B. Moore and lived at Turkey. All are deceased except Mrs. M.O. Summerlin who is now living in Maryland.

The Summerlins always had faith in the growth and development of Mount Olive, since it was on the railroad and in the center of a fertile farming area.

I have lived long enough now to realize that some people walk through life's pilgrimage and barely leave a footprint; others like the Summerlins, leave indelible, inspirational pathways for us to follow.