Wiliiamston Agency Equipped To Do Any Automobile Job
Martin County Plant Started
As Service Station In 1938
The Charles H. Jenkins and Company of Wiliiamston is equipped
to do almost anything with an automobile except build one, J. B.
Peele, manager of the agency said.
That is not a bad record for an agency which started in business
14 years ago with a service station and expanded into a plant with
nearly 17.000 feet of floor space
and a large volume of business.
The Wiliiamston agency is the
district distributor for Cadillac
automobiles. The territory served
by this distributing point com
prises 16 counties in Eastern
North Carolina.
The agency is a dealer for
Pontiac, Cadillac, Buick and Olds
mobile automobiles and General
Motor trucks.
When the agency was started
14 years ago, only' three persons
were employed. Now there are 19
on the payroll.
In 1939 the present building for
the headquarters of the agency
was completed and the Charles
H. Jenkins and Company of Wil
liamston moved across town to
locate on U. S. Highway 17.
The agency is located on the road
to Washington, N. C.
The building was remodeled in
the spring of 1951, and now has
all the conveniences of a mod
ern plant.
A showroom for new cars faces
the highway. Off to one side are
the offices, while the parts de
partment separates the show
room from the service depart
ment.
An entrance to the service de- !
partment is beside the show room, i
Hex - e cars can drive into the “L” !
shaped department to be repaired 1
or serviced. Cars coming in pass !
by the service manager’s desk, 1
lubrication stall to the repair
stalls. At the rear of the building
is the wash pit, front end pit, and
special tools room.
Constructed at the rear of the
building is the paint and body
shop. Also at the rear of the
building is a parking lot, but the
agency keeps its used cars on a
lot across the highway from the
headquarters.
The Wiliiamston agency has fol
lowed the policy which has be
come well known throughout the
Roanoke-Chowan area. That is
the company will trade%cars oh
practically everything. In 1941,
the agency traded a Buick for a
pony cart, and in 1948 b-aded a
Cadillac for a boat, then in use
as a fishing party boat in Pamlico
Sound.
When the agency was still of
service station size, J. B. Peele
was appointed manager of the
branch. He has been with it ever
since and watched its growth.
Peele has been with the Charles
H. Jenkins and Company for 19
years, having started with them
as a salesman.
The agency also employs a
number of men who have been
with the organization for a long
period of years.
H. H. Taylor, the oldest em
ployee in point of service with the
Charles H. Jenkins and Company,
has been with the organization
for 31 years. He is partsman at
the agency.
Others with ten or more years
of service with the company who
are working at the Wiliiamston
agency are: C. W. Whitaker, serv
ice manager, 15 years; Frank
Smith, mechanic, 15 years; C. E.
Britton, salesman, 13 years; E. R.
Saunders, assistant general man
ager, 13 years; Andrew Wiggins,
service, 12 years; Luther Stall
ings, service, 10 years; and R. E.
Tarkington, Jr., parts manager,
10 years.
Other employees with their
years of employment are as fol
lows:
H. C. Mobley, salesman, 7 years;
Milton Letchworth, mechanic, 2
years; Chester Nicholson, mech
anic, 8 years; Milton Nicholson,
body repairman, 6 years; Mar
garet Nicholson, bookkeeper, 3
years; Evelyn W. Glass, book
keeper, 4 years; William Chand
ler, mechanic, 5 years; W. E. De
cato, mechanic, 7 years, and
Horace Ray, bookkeeper, 7 years.
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JENKINS EQUIPMENT CO. IN WILLIAMSTON ' --4
'. / :;1
Equipment Co.
Joined Jenkins
Family In 1941
The franchise of the Jenkins
Equipment Company of Wiliiam
ston was taken on by Charles
H. Jenkins as an agency for Inter
national trucks, tractors, and im
plements.
During the first nine years of
its operation, the equipment com
pany occupied space in the same
building with the Charles H. Jen
kins and Company’s automobile
agency in Wiliiamston. In the
summer of 1950, however, the
equipment company moved in a
building of its own.
The company is located in aj
cinder block, “L” shaped build- '
ing on U. S. Highway 17 at South
Pearl street in Wiliiamston. The
equipment company is across the
street from the Jenkins automo
bile agency.
The general manager of the
equipment company is J. B. Peele, j
who also serves in the same ca- |
pacity with the automobile agency.
E. R. Saunders serves as assis
j tant general manager of both the
equipment company and the auto
j mobile agency.
Even though both have the same
| general managers, their operations
| are completely separate. The j
equipment company keeps its own j
set of books, employs its own |
personnel, and maintains its own !
sales services and parts depart- j
ments.
In addition to the trucks, and i
tractors, the company carries
stoves, refrigerators, and farm
machinery.
Farm machinery sold last year
j included mowers, dusters, plows, j
S and stalk cutters. The company j
. also carries small equipment such j
! as plow points.
The parts department is well j
stocked with parts to repair prac
tically all types of International I
Harvester implements and ve«j
hides. The skilled mechanics are
thoroughly) trained to handle any
type of service or repair job which
'S brought to the service depart
ment.
| Besides the general manager
j and the assistant general manager
; 'here are eight persons on the staff
I at the Equipment Co. D. D. Baze
| more, who has been with the
j Charles H. Jenkins and Company
I organizatio'n for more than 12 j
i years is the manager of the equip- j
ment company.
Others with the time of service
[with the organization are as fol-j
I lows: W. C. Manning, salesman,!
; 4 years; H. Thomas Daniels, mech- j
| anic, 6 years; Lovick Modlin, serv
ice, 2 years; Cooper Owens, rae-
I chanic, 2 months; Willie Williams,
service, 1 year; Norma F. Roberts,
bookkeeper, five months and Hor
ace Ray, bookkeeper, 7 years.
Hubbell Bought Car
From Jenkins Co.
Charles H. Jenkins and Com
pany once sold a car to Carl Hub
bell, former New York Giants
pitching great, and now the Giants’
farm director.
The sale was made to the athlete
in the spring of 1940. Hubbell’s
auto had been demolished in a
wreck near Wiliiamston, and when
his team played in Tarboro, the
pitcher drove over to Wiliiamston
to see the wrecked vehicle.
In Wiliiamston, Hubbell met
Charles H. Jenkins and several
other members of the firm and
was sold on a new car. Since the
pitching ace had to return to his
team, the Charles H. Jenkins Com
pany delivered the car to New
York.
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CHARLES H JENKINS & CO. IN WILLIAMSTON * -
Jenkins Firm
Employs Six
Brother Teams '
Six sets of brothers are as
sociated with the Charles H. Jen
kins and Company.
The best known set of this group
i is Charles and W 7 ayland Jenkins.
I Charles is the founder of the or
ganization and Wayland was one
lof the charter members of the
Jenkins firm. Wayland joined
Jenkins and Company when it was
founded in 1912. Today, he is
business manager of the organiza
tion.
A nephew of the Jenkins bro
j there, E. R. Saunders, assistant I
s general manager of the William
! ston agency and the Jenkins
j Equipment Company, has been
•I with the organization for 13 years.
Anpther set of brothers in the
employ of Charles H. Jenkins and
Company is C. L. and Harold Mc-
Coy. C. L. has been with the or
ganization 19 years, and is now
I assistant manager for the com
| pany. His brother Harold joined
I the firm four years ago as mam
j. ager of the agency in Ahoskie.
The company has as its oldest
| employees in point of SCrvice
| brothers, H. H. Taylor, who has
i t&rt v»iW 4hf> Jen
kins and Company for 31 is
partsman at the Wiliiamston
agency, and his brother, B. W.
Taylor, who joined a year or so
later, as shop foreman at the
Aulander agency.
W. H. Slade, a salesman at the
Aulander agency, works in the
same building with his brother,
J. Willis Slade, who is body me- i
chanic and radio repairman.
Chester and Milton Nicholson
I work for the Wiliiamston agency.
I Chester has been with the agency
J eight years and is a mechanic.
Milton, a body repairman, has
| been associated with his brother
at the Wiliiamston agency for six
years.
A sixth set of brothers is that of
Rupert Lee, painter, of Aulander
and Francis Lee, maintenance
man, of the same agency.
Another family combination of
father and son are employed
E. A, Smith, manager of the Wind
sor agency, is the father of Ru
dolph Smith, service manager at
Edenton.
DEWAR TROPHY
In 1908, Cadillac won the De
war trophy in London for de
veloping interchangeability of
parts. Cadillac had succeeded in
so accurately controlling the pre
cision of its manufacturing opera
tions that any -two parts of the
same type were identical and in
terchangeable. Unique then, this
principle is now part of the regu
lar shop practice of all car manu
facturers.
PAID VACATIONS
Employees of Charles H. Jen--
kins and Company are given paid
vacations after they have been
with the organization for a year.
Chas. H. Jenkins & Co. Anniversary Section
BEST WISHES
—TO—
CHAS. H. JENKINS & CO.
40
-ON ITS—
40TH ANNIVERSARY
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GMC TRUCK & COACH DIVISION
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General Motors Corporation
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CHARLES H. JENKINS EMPLOYEES IN WILLIAMSTON
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