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Volume 94 25c Per Copy Warrenton, County Of Warren, North Carolina Wednesday, October 18, 1989 Number 42
Warren Home Of Francis Scott Key's Daughter Destroyed By Fire
By HOWARD JONES
Record Editor
A Sunday morning fire destroyed an historic Warren County
home built of hand-hewn logs by the daughter of Francis Scott
Key, author of the national anthem.
"Nebraska," the rustic home built by Mrs. Daniel Turner in the
1850s, was enveloped in flames when members of the Warrenton
Rural Fire Department arrived at the site a mile south of Warren
ton on Baltimore Road (SR1600) shortly after 9 a.m. Sunday.
"Fire was already coming out of the top of the house, and the
back portion of the house was gone" when firemen arrived, Chief
Kenny Clayton reported.
The fire broke out in the chimney and side of the house when an
occupant, Marzella Harley, was cooking breakfast on a wood
stove.
A bucket of water was thrown on the fire, and that extinguished
the lower part of the blaze, but the fire by then was burning out of
control, Clayton said.
Two persons were in the house at the time, the fire chief re
ported, and one ran to a nearby home to summon help. No one
was at home, and the call for help could not be turned in until a
passing motorist was flagged down and asked to report the fire.
Four fire-fighting units were taken to the scene and nine
firemen remained at the site for two hours. Making the job of ex
tinguishing the fire more difficult was the fact that the log house
had been covered with weatherboarding in years past, and water
could not easily penetrate to the source of the fire.
Fire Captain Walter Gardner said owner Kenneth Mustian, who
lives nearby, told firemen he had no insurance on the building,
and firemen allowed the structure to burn completely when
flames rekindled.
No injuries were reported in the fire which destroyed all the
house's contents, valued at $2,000.
"Nebraska" stood west of "Shady Oaks," home of the late
Alston Twitty, which has recently been restored. At one time
"Nebraska" had served as the home of Elmer Palmer, who lived
there while he built the much larger two-story home now owned
by A. K. Mustian. Other occupants of the log house in years past
were Mrs. Bessie Blacknall, a local teacher, and the "Shine"
Collins family.
The house owed its name to Kansas Nebraska Bill, an act of
Congress which repealed the Missouri Compromise.
Mrs. Turner, who had the home built shortly after purchasing
the homesite in 1856, was known for her interest in politics. Her
husband, son of Governor James Turner, had served in Congress
and was principal of the Warrenton Female College from 1847 un
til 1855. The following year, Daniel Turner, the father of six
daughters, was given a naval appointment and moved with his
older children to California. His wife, and presumably their
younger children, remained here for several years before joining
him shortly before The Civil War.
Drug Enforcement Det. H. B. Askew (right) examines a portion
of the $1,000,000 marijuana crop discovered on Thursday of last week
off SR 1510 in Vaughan. Although some of the 14-foot plants had
already been cut and placed in piles for processing and distribution,
many marijuana plants still stood in the three fields found. Shown
with Askew, left to right, are Deputy Johnny Williams and Deputy
J. A. McCowan. - (Staff Photos by Howard Jones)
?crrcn
After 18 Ballots
Dr. Green Elected
To Fill House Seat
By THURLETTA M. BROWN
News Editor
Following a full 18 rounds of
balloting tallied on Thursday
night of last week, Dr. Jame-, P.
Green was chosen by the Demo
cratic Party's 22nd House Dis
trict Executive Committee as its
nominee to serve the remainder
of the term of the late Billy
Watkins.
The 22nd House District Execu
tive Committee, chaired by Mrs.
Jeanne Lucas, met in the audi
torium of Henderson's E. M.
Rollins School.
From the seventh round of
balloting, the votes were tied: Dr.
J. P. Green?253; VGCC Presi
dent Dr. Ben F. Currin?253. But
in the 18th round, a one-vote dif
ference broke the tie giving Dr.
Green 253 votes to VGCC Presi
dent Dr. Ben F. Currin's 252.
In addition to Dr. Green and
Dr. Currin, the committee had
considered two other nominees:
Michael S. Wilkins, former chair
man of the Person County board
of commissioners, and Mrs.
Louie B. Watkins, widow of Rep.
Billy Watkins. In the third round
of balloting, Mrs. Watkins
was eliminated as a potential
nominee.
In rounds four and five, Dr.
Currin and Wilkins were tied,
with Dr. Green leading the race.
The sixth round of balloting,
called to narrow the options,
forced the committee to decide
between Dr. Currin and Wilkins.
Dr. Currin was victorious, but the
two-option-vote brought protests
from Dr. Green. Not included on
the ballots cast in the sixth round,
the Henderson physician believed
all three candidates should have
been considered.
In rounds seven through 17, the
votes were deadlocked: Dr.
Green?253; Dr. Currin?253. But
shortly after 11 p.m., the dele
gates split their votes, giving a
one-vote margin to Dr. Green.
I
The 22nd House District Ex
ecutive Committee is comprised
of two delegates each from War
ren, Halifax, Caswell, Person,
Granville and Person counties.
Warren's delegates were Mrs.
Johnie Johnson and Marvin P.
Rooker.
Last week's meeting was about
four hours in length. "It was an
interesting experience to say the
least," Rooker said Monday in a
telephone interview. "I thought
we'd vote three or four times and
then go home," he said. Secret
(Continued on page 12)
Coulter Wanted
As Replacement
A recommendation for the
replacement for Oscar L.
"Butch" Meek on the Warren
County Planning Board was
voted on by planning board
members during a meeting held
on Friday morning of last week.
Rufus Coulter of Lake Gaston
was unanimously voted to be
recommended to the planning
board as a replacement for Meek,
who, in September, gave his let
ter of resignation from the plan
ning board chairmanship.
In addition to making their
recommendation to the county
commissioners, the board voted
to reappoint T. T. Clayton and
Freddie Hargrove to serve addi
tional three-year terms.
Approval of a number of final
plats was among other action
taken by the planning board last
week.
Among the approved items was
a final plat for Lakepointe Sub
division, located in Nutbush
Township off SR 1202. The sub
division, owned by Mr. and Mrs.
Danny Strickland, consists of 11
lots.
board learned that the
road going through the subdivi
sion is almost complete, and the
owners have posted cash securi
ty in the amount of ft,000 for the
road improvements.
A motion made by Karl Hehl
and seconded by T. T. Clayton
(Continued on page 12)
Three Men Are Sought
$1 Million Marijuana
Crop Found By Lawmen
Towering marijuana plants
valued at over $1 million were
destroyed on Thursday of last
week, after being found by War
ren County Sheriff's Department
personnel at a rather sophisti
cated growing site in Vaughan.
But the destruction of the
plants is not the end of it, Sheriff
Williams said this week.
The Warren County's Sheriff's
Department is still "hot on the
trail" of the three or more men,
who apprently set up camp near
their three marijuana fields to
give "tender loving care" to their
crops.
According to the report filed by
Sgt. Lawrence Harrison, a site
south of Vaughan?larger than
one acre and containing up to
1,500 marijuana plants?was
discovered on Thursday of last
week, following a telephone tip
that the weed was being grown.
The unidentified caller had
spied three white men dressed in
camouflage clothing fleeing the
wooded area.
As Sgt. Harrison surveyed the
site off SR1510, he found a camp
site, filled with sandwich wrap
pers, crushed beer cans, a ham
mock and mens' magazines. Also
discovered were a bowl with dog
food and a water-filled bucket, all
evidence of a continuous-care,
residential operation.
The sergeant followed three
paths deeper into the woods and
discovered three fields with sen
similiia marijuana plants rang
ing in height from three to 14 feet.
The senslmillia variety ol
marijuana plant is prized by
users because of its higher con
centrations of tetrahydrocannab
inol (THC), the chemical which
produces the "high."
Harvested stalks, bags of fer
tilizer and lawn food found near
the three fields indicated a
sophisticated operation. "Who
ever they are, they sure knew
what they were doing," Sgt. Har
rison concluded.
According to Drug Enforce
ment Det. H. B. Askew, the men
are thought to have lived at the
campsite last summer to give
daily care to their crops. Found,
in addition to the plants and "liv
ing quarters" were several bags
containing food and toilet items.
The use of camouflage netting
is believed to be the reason the
(Continued on page 12)
Sgt. Lawrence Harrison (left) and Drug Enforcement Det. H. B.
Askew (right) examine the felled limbs and brush used to hide col
lapsed tent equipment found last week near three one-acre marijuana
fields in Vaughan. The officers also found foodstuffs, mens' magazines
and toilet items near the $1,000,000 marijuana crop Indicating on-site,
residential management by the growers. The bust resulted from a
telephone tip that three men had been seen fleeing the Vaughan site.
Waste Backlog Ends Up On Granville Fields
A six-month backlog of municipal sewage waste at the Warren
Wastewater Treatment Plant has been hauled off and the three
government entities using the plant have agreed to pay the $10,000
cleanup cost on a pro-rata basis.
Warrenton Administrator V. R. (Pete) Vaughan said a meeting
of representatives of Warrenton, Norlina and Warren County had
resolved the question of how much each would pay for the cost of
removing the backlog.
The backlog of waste?"sludge," as it is commonly known?
began piling up last March, when state regulations barred its
disposal at the Warren County landfill on Baltimore Road.
Since then, some 43 loads of the sludge have been taken to Gran
ville County where it was spread over farm land. At least one
farmer in Warren County had hoped to use the sludge as fertilizer,
but Vaughan said necessary safety questions had not been
answered.
"Sludge removal is every bit as complicated as the removal of
hazardous waste," Vaughan acknowledged.
Under the current agreement with Granville Farms, the Town
of Warrenton, operator of the wastewater treatment facility south
of here, pays three cents a gallon to have the sludge carried away.
In the long run, Vaughan thinks, paying to have the sludge
shipped elsewhere will probably cost less than operating the pumps
and maintaining the two drying beds at the treatment plant just
north of Fishing Creek.
Vaughan said that both drying beds need replacing, and to bring
new beds up to current specifications would cost about $10,000 each.
Vaughan met last week with Norlina Mayor Bill Delbridge, Coun
ty Manager Charles Worth, Warrenton Water Supt. Bill Neal and
treatment plant superintendent Macon Robertson. During the
15-minute session, an agreement was reached whereby the con
tributors to the backlog would pay for the cleanup on the basis of
the amount they paid for their September wastewater treatment.
That means that Warrenton will pay 67.75 percent, Norlina will
pay 28.56 percent, and the County of Warren, paying for Soul City
sewage treatment, will be billed for 3.69 percent.
Hereafter, when the tankers?capable of transporting 8,300
gallons per trip?arrive to pump the sludge from the barton of the
settling basins at the plant, Granville Farms' bill will be split
among the three contributors based on their sewage bill for that
month.