Mrs. Jack Scott Writes
\
Sequel In Which She Tells
Of Childhood Memories
By HATTIE BOYD SCOTT
Granddaughter Of
John Karly Boyd And
Ann Bignall Jones Boyd
I have had numerous requests
for a sequal to my
article several weeks ago on
my grandfather. John Early
Boyd, and "Sylva Sonora"
and that I didn't write near
enough.
Well, dear reader, with
the possibility of boring you,
I shall endeavor to jot down
a few of my memories of my
early "growing up."
First, so many have
requested more details on
the house plan of "Sylva
Sonora." On the ground
floor (no cellar) there was
the dining room, 40x20 ft.
long with china cabinets
built in a long wall, and
three other rooms known as
"the boys' rooms" with two
long flight of steps leading to
the second and main floor.
As you entered the main
front door, there was a wide
hall with long, curving
staircase leading to the
third floor. On each side of
the wall were two front
parlors and large sliding
doors, into the wall, between
the front and back halls. In
the back hall was Grandmother's
bedroom and
"dressing room," and
across the hall, a large
nursery.
On the third floor were
four large bedrooms (for the
ladies only) and no gentlemen
allowed!
The walls on the halls
were painted in blocks of
simulated marble, very
beautiful. The wood work
was heavily carved. The
floors were wide and smooth
as glass and in each room,
twelve in all, were lovely
Sylva Sonora, John E. Boyd Home
National Hospital Week
To Be Held From May 6-12
Warren General Hospital
will join other hospitals
across the nation next week
in the annual observance of
National Hospital Week,
May 6-12. Theme selected
for 1979 is "The Voluntary
Effort - It's Working For
You."
According to George
Fleming, who assumed
duties as hospital administrator
this week. Warren
County residents have
special reason to recognize
the accomplishments of the
In Hal's governing body
anu staff.
The spirit embodied in
the National Hospital Week
theme for 1979 has been a
guiding principle at Warren
General since it was
established," he said.
The Voluntary Effort
(VE) is the health industry's
voluntary program to contain
health care costs
without compromising the
quality of care provided.
In 1977, Rep. Dan Rostenkowski
(D-IL) challenged
health care providers to
develop a voluntary initiative
to reduce the rate of
increase in health care
costs. To meet this challenge,
the VE was organized
IMAGE
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RFD 2, Norlina, N. C.
Call for appointment
919-456-3476
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Jim White is your local professional and is willing
to help you with any project. A graduate of
Hallmark Institute of Photography, Jim has
exhibited in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts,
Connecticut and North Carolina. Jim has
worked as a Museum photographer with Historic
Deerfield (Deerfield MA) and published with The
Rangefinder and Mountain Living Magazines. With
an experienced studio and darkroom technician,
you will be assured a quality product with a money
back guarantee.
..All photography is by appointment only.
Weddings must be booked at least three weeks in
advance. For pricing information, appointments,
or fiirther information call 456-3476 after 5:30 p. m.
Spring Is a wonderful time for Outdoor Portraits!
under a national steering
committee.
Results of the VE to date
have been significant.
American Hospital Association
economists estimated.
that nation-wide hospital
savings for 1978 exceeded
$1.38 billion. These savings
translate into a reduction in
the rate of increase of health
care costs to consumers.
Careful management of
Warren General resources,
by retiring administrator
Col Herman S. Andersen,
produced notable achievements
for the hospital
during 1978, Fleming said.
"Recently released Duke
Endowment comparative
data on 19 North and South
Carolina hospitals, ranging
from 12 to 40 beds, showed
Warren General as an
admirable performer in the
area of cost containment,"
he emphasized.
Of the 19 Endowment
assisted hospitals considered,
only one was reflected as
having a lower total
operating expense per patient
day.
Most hospitalizations do
not require the awesome
array of technological capabilities
and high degree of
specialization found in large
medical centers, Fleming
said.
These centers are needed
for education, research and
the treatment of certain
severe diseases and injuries.
he pointed out.
However, the treatment of
many common ills can be
handled just as adequately
and more cheaply by small
hospitals.
"At Warren General," he
concluded, "we are proud to
be a very vital part of the
American health care delivery
system."
carved "mantle pieces."
Around the front door of
"Sylva Sonora" was very
lovely with blue stained
glass and amusing figures,
built in, which today would
be priceless, I suppose.
A unique feature I think
was that it had four long
complete staircases built in
the wall, all but the one in
the front wall. The house
had two long porches, one in
the front and one in the
back The one in the back
having the well of water,
brought up to its level, and
water drawn up by buckets.
My sisters and myself were
forbidden to ever go as far
out as the "well porch."
The yard was an acre
surrounded and fenced in, a
white picket fence. Around
the house and up numerous
walkways were lovely old
English boxwoods, which so
many of the old homes today
are famous for. Mimosas,
crepe myrtle, cedar and
maples completed the landscape.
In the backyard was the
kitchen (2 large rooms, the
"smokehouse," and the ice
house.) One of my most
vivid memories is seeing a
dozen or more wagons,
pulled by mules, oxen, or
horses, lined up, full of ice
from Roanoke River and
surrounding ponds, waiting
their turn to dump the ice in
the ice house. Then as the
summer became hot and
days long, colored and
white, would come each day
and climb down a ladder,
and get what ice they
needed.
In a thirty-acre oak grove
in the back of the house, was
a tremendous grainery, for*
storing wheat, and a large
complete stable for horses,
work horses and carriage
and riding horses. As a child
I remember going to the
third floor of "Sylva
Sonora," and gazing out
windows at the lovely, slow
Grant Made For
Lung Study At
EC Medical School
GREENVILLE - Dr.
Dan Crittenden, research
associate in the Department
of Physiology at the East
Carolina University School
of Medicine, has received a
$1,300 grant from the N. C.
United Way to study
changes that occur in the
lungs as a result of stellate
ganglion stimulation, an
effect that produces alterations
in respiratory function
similar to those resulting
from head injuries.
Crittenden plans to simulate
head injuries in animal
models to learn more about
how a massive discharge of
adrenalin produced by the
injury cause the lungs to be
less elastic and unable to
function properly.
Head injuries are common
in traffic and occupational
accidents, and they
frequently produce respiratory
complications more
serious than the initial
trauma. Large amounts of
adrenalin triggered by the
injury reduce the lungs'
ability to expand, thereby
reducing the amount of
oxygen to the victim.
Crittenden says the project
will provide more
information on whether the
effect is caused by the
constriction of small airways
in the lungs or by the
collapse of tiny alveolar
sacs in the lungs.
Products labeled "beef
with gravy" must contain
at least 50 percent cooked
beef; "gravy with beef', at
least 35 percent cooked beef.
The picture of the members of the John Early Boyd
family was taken in the purch of the YY. B. Boyd (now
Mrs. John Kerr, Jr.) home by the late J. Willie White.
Members of the family, left to right, are: William Boyd
moving Roanoke River and
wonder where it all went!
Another thing I remember
so well was my older sister's
dating (called engagement
then) and me a kid. hanging
around, making a nuisance
of myself, I'm afraid; and
always making "blunders,"
saying "the wrong thing, at
the wrong time" much to
my sister's embarrassment.
What a pity so many of
North Carolina's fine old
homes were allowed to fall
into decay •— not like
Virginia, who preserved
almost all of her beautiful
and historical old homes.
I remember the big snow
of 1899. I being only five
years old, and seeing from
an upstairs window, just the
top of my father's htfad, with
two colored men, clearing a
path. Funny how things
stick in one's mind, as a
small child.
At each end of the big
front grove, were big white
gates and a driveway (in a
circle) leading to the house,
with beautiful cedar trees on
both sides of the driveway,
making a canopy upon
entering, something like a
so-called "Rain Forest" —
one can still see signs of
those cedar trees still
standing, gaunt, and arro
gant, after seventy-five
years of neglect.
My story of "Sylva
Sonora" would not be
complete without a word
about "Uncle Haywood
Shearin," an old colored
man, when he died in 1910;
but who was born, raised
and died at "Sylva Sonora."
He was beloved by all the
Boyd boys and as they all
left home, Uncle Haywood
continued to stay with my
father and mother. He was
honorable, reliable, with
unblemished character, a
gentleman of the old school.
He worked the garden,
made all the fires, took care
of the carriage horses, and
drove them to Warrenton
when needed to bring back
"the Cousins." He also
looked after and took care of
us children when our
parents were gone! He also
entertained us by telling us
long stories of by-gone days.
It was a sad, sad household
when he died. I'm sure he
has a seat in Heaven with
those of the family gone
before!
The picture shown here is
of my father and his
brothers and sisters, taken
on Uncle Walter's front
porch in October 1922. From
left to right, my father,
(father of Mrs. Scott), John E. Boyd, Mrs. Joe Ware,
Henry Boyd, Edwin Boyd: seated. Walter B. Boyd, and
I'anthea Boyd Massenburg.
William. Uncle John, Uncle
Henry and Uncle Edwin;
also Aunt Mollie. SeatedUncle
Walter and Aunt Pan
Uncle Walter had his house
built (now owned by Mrs.
John Kerr. Jr.) about 1910,
and moved his first home
down a hundred feet, now
owned and restored by Mr.
Eddie Ham. The picture was
made by Mr. Willie White,
with a regular camera, and
enlarged.
I remember happy times
spent as a "teenager" in this
lovely home. Uncle Walter,
having no children of his
own, loved having his nieces
visit him. One incident
stands out in my mind,
never to be forgotten! My
sister, Ann Bignall, and I
were* sitting on the floor
upstairs in one of Uncle
Walter's guest rooms, she
writing a letter, when she
turned over a bottle of ink on
Aunt Betty's pretty rug. We
mopped the best we could,
(scared out of our wits) and
nobody was ever the wiser,
as the run happened to be
black and dark blue, but
leaving nevertheless, a
small stain.
Many, many years later,
seing that run on another
person's floor, that stain
was still there!
"Sylva Sonora" had many
peacocks. The beautiful,
vain, haughty birds! My
father said at every wedding
supper at • Sylva Sonora"
there were two pea fowls on
the table - one at each end
and cooked and served
much like turkey When the
male struts and unfolds his
tail feathers like a fan, he
comes right up to you. and
looks you in the eye. A
beautiful sight and he
knows it too: but beware of
getting between him and his
lady love during the mating
season
When they give their
clarion call, it is harsh and
ear splitting, and some say
can be heard a mile (if the
wind is right.) "Seven
calls," bring rain, in 24
hours - so the legend went!
I have seen pure white
peacocks only in the Bronx
Zoo in New York. They are
lovely also, and at the time I
saw them, they had quite a
few babies.
Ah-, how wonderful are
the sweet memories of those
by gone days, but sad to
know that nothing we can do
will ever bring them back
again!
These are just a few of my
memories and I hope you
have enjoyed them.