Blue had
local ties
who was John Blue?
And what did he mean to
the average St. Andrews
student? The simple ans
wer can be fovind in the
Morgan-Jones Science
Building. The famous
football-field sized
laboratory is named in
his honor.
On November 26, 1883,
just before his twenty-
second birthday, John
Blue paid his father,
Angus Blue $2,000 for one
hundred acres of land lo
cated a couple of miles
west of Laurinburg in
Richmond (later Scotland)
County. Less than two
weeks later, the young
man married Flora Jane
McKinnon, also a native
of the area. It was
about this time also that
he moved away from the
family farm and into a
house on his own newly-
acquired farm. During
the remainder of the
1880's, he added to his
holdings in the area of
the original tract. In
the 1890's, when success
came to John Blue, he
would build on his land
what one writer would
call "one of the beauti
ful and typical homes of
the Southland."
John Blue grew up on
his father's farm. He
received little formal
education, because times
were hard in the era of
Reconstruction and he was
needed to help with the
farm work. But he seemed
to have been gifted with
a keen mind and a streak
of practical inventive
ness. Even before he
moved to his own farm in
1883, he had spent time
in the small blacksmith
shop on his father's
land. The tools in this
shop were crude ones,
used mainly for horse
shoeing. Nonetheless, it
was here that John Blue
invented the first cotton
stalk cutter. Develop
ment of the first cotton
stalk cutter was inpor-
tant, and urged him to
the consideration of
other services to benefit
the farmer. His inven
tion of the Rex Guano
Fertilizer Distributor
and the John Blue Cotton
Planter were most notable
and somevdiat revolution
ized the cotton company.
The shop where he deve
loped these inventions
and others was enlarged
into a factory for their
manufacture.
In addition to his
business and manufactur
ing interest, he conti
nued to farm several hun
dred acres of cotton and
corn. He became a direc
tor and major stockholder
in several business en
terprises in Laurinburg
and Scotland County. For
excimple, he was a direc
tor of several cotton
mills, including the
Scotland, Dickson and
Waverly Mills; the Lau
rinburg State Bank; the
Scotland County Savings
Bank; and the Laurinburg
and Southern Railroad.
The rise of John Blue
somewhat paralleled the
development of Laurinburg
and Scotland County.
From the early years of
his success, he was well
known in the town and a
community leader.
It was sometime in
the 1890's when Blue
directed the construction
of the handsome Victorian
residence just west of
Laurinburg. Local tra
dition claims that he de
signed the house and did
much of the work himself,
including the ornaments
vrtiich decorate the porch
railing and the eaves.
The doors of the house
have decorative stained
glass, a feature Blue is
said to have been espe
cially fond of.
The descendants of
John Blue eventually
moved away from Scotland
County. The homeplace
remained and was lived in
by several families who
rented the large dwel
ling. The house began to
lose its one-time ele
gance and was falling
apart due to lack of up
keep, In 1976, the fami
ly that owned the house
gave it to the Scotland
County Historical Proper
ties Commission, directed
by Dick Brown.
It became a storage
place for other salvage
materials obtained by the
Historical Properties
Commission. Soon three
of the oldest log cabins
in the Coxinty were relo
cated on the grounds.
In late 1980, the
Scotland County Parks and
Recreation Commission was
approached concerning
relocating their offices
in the John Blue House
and assisting with the
restoration project. The
challenge was accepted by
Parks and Recreation and
restoration of the John
Blue House was completed
in June of 1981. At that
time, it became the home
of Scotland County Parks
and Recreation Commis
sion.
The John Blue Company
relocated to Huntsville,
Alabama, though there are
still relatives of Blue
living in the area. Of
ten the sons of Blue vi
sit the area to see how
the family's vast land
holdings in the area are
doing.
John Blue was a great
friend to St. Andrews in
its early years. Though
he died before the Mor
gan-Jones Science Build
ing was built, the compa
ny continued to support
the college, and the la
boratory was named in his
honor. There is not only
a plaque in the lobby,
but a portrait of Blue as
well.
Though, as stated
earlier. Blue himself did
not have the benefit of
much formal education, it
is good to know success
ful people see the bene
fits of colleges like St.
Andrews, and are willing
to help them grow.
By David Tew
Many St. Andrews
people and organizations
are participating in the
John Blue Cotton Festival
this year. In fact, much
of the entertainment
hails from the college.
On Friday, October
16, the festival will
last only from 9 a.m. tc
2 p.m. Among those en
tertaining will be Steve
Harris, the Roving Mime
Clown, and Amy Stewart.
Saturday, however, is
a big day for the festi
val as well as the col
lege. The Festival will
begin at 10 a.m. on the
grounds of the John Blue
house. Tours of the
house will begin at
10:30, and demonstrations
of the grist mill and
shingle mill will alter
nate throughout the day.
A group known as the
Apple Chill doggers will
appear with their band at
noon. At 1 p.m., St. An
drews' own Darin Lawrence
will entertain the crowd.
He will appear again at 3
p.m.
Meanwhile, the down
town area of Laurinburg
will be blocked off for a
special merchants' festi
val. Area dealers will
be displaying new cars,
and entertainment will be
going on simultaneously
on stages at opposite
ends of town. Stage one
will be in front of the
Wachovia bank. Stage two
will be in front of the
Firestone store.
Stage one will fea
ture a high school chorus
at 10:15, followed by the
beach group Shaggin' at
noon. The Marlboro Jazz
band will play at 3:30.
On stage two, folk
musician Ed Bobbit will
play at 10:30. At 1 p.m.
the Scottish Twirlers
will take the stage. Fi
nally, at 4 p.m.. After
Sinai, featuring St.
Andrews students Frank
Tuttle and Tanuj Kulkar-
ni, will play.
At the festival
grounds on Western Boule
vard several St. Andrews
groups will have booths
set up. The Cheerleaders
will be running a basket
ball toss for kids with a
special old-fashioned
backboard and rim de
signed and built by
Jerome Crumbley.
The Art Guild will be
painting faces, and the
Law Club will have a
booth set up to serve
coffee and pastries.
Meanwhile the St. Andrews
Press will be offering
books from our publishing
company as well as the
writings of Professor
Clyde Edgerton, who re
cently published his se
cond major novel, Walking
Across Egypt. An album
of tunes by Edgerton and
his wife Susan will also
be on sale.
Wilmington Dorm Pres
ident Michele Venable
will be decked out in her
mime uniform with bal
loons, circulating among
the kids. Many exhibi
tors will be coming to
display and sell their
goods, most of which are
hand-crafted.
Admission to the
festival is $1?
transportation will be
available not only
St. Andrews to the festi
val, but frcan the festi
val to the downtown ex
travaganza.
Festival Expands
to two sites