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482-4418 Wednesday, March 14, 2007 50c James Iredell ; controversy j • . ' ■ .?■ ’.■ _ ' •> , ' , . V Novel suggests that Iredell 1 was involved in a love triangle : See story below ;: mm yp z&aflf BY EARLINE WHITE Staff Writer For the longest time the sign out front read “We’re sorta open.” As quickly as Sharon Moxley could put out the Nabs, Moonpies and longneck bottles of Nehi, people were snatching them up off the shelves. The neighbors never really asked if the store was open, just ciune in whenever they A 48/star, 100 percent cotton flag w^s donated and hung by a granger who said it belonged at •*v*" the store. Moxley has not seen the man since. saw signs of life out front. A year after sort of opening, there still has been no official grand opening for General Mercantile. And the futile at tempts to keep cus tomers at bay until fully operational has long since passed. “This place re minds me of some thing you’d find in Like flowers, some things thrive over time, others fade away into memories. General Mercantile, the only remaining shop in the once bustling hub of Tyner, struggles to keep local history alive . Earline White/The Chowan Herald General Mercantile owner, Sharon Moxley, above * with Lilac, has reopened one of Chowan County's old est stores, at left, after falling in love with its his tory and charm. about— plenty of memories to recall, stories to tell, NAS CAR races to argue about. “It’s not strange for people to come in, get their bellies full, slip off their .shoes and just take a nap on the couch,” Moxley says. Renee Ziemba who has become a regular at the store says that there is something Canada, a place where neighbor helps neighbor, where people stop in to tell you their life stories,” Moxley said. Moxley welcomes the stories and the visitors, even on Sunday when she isn’t really open, whether they buy anything or not. She just likes the company One never knows quite what to expect at the store. Some days the place is filled with ladies from the community joining Moxley in morn ing coffee around the old wood stove. Some days it’s just Moxley and the Pekingeses she raises. Regardless of how many people might be sit ting at the table there’s always something to talk special about the place. “I stopped in one morning, sat down right here and didn’t get up all day,” Ziemba, a sassy red head with a big smile, says. “The next day I came back and again didn’t get up. My husband knows where I am and he knows that some nights I’ll be late for dinner. Once you start coming here, it just feels like home and there’s no need to rush anywhere else.” “Nobody rushes away,” Moxley says, “in fact they talk about leaving for hours.” For years the old T.E. Chappell Store sat empty, collecting dust and age like a derelict tractor, on the corner of the road in a once-thriving com A sign reminiscent of the olden days at the former T.E. Chappell store hangs outside. munity of Center Hill. Center Hill, as it is known by the locals, or Tyner, as it’s called by everybody else, is named after the postmaster James N. Tyner, and is the highest point in Chowan County, some say. In its early years, the bustling commu nity was the center for religious services, schools, picnics and voting precincts. JoAnn Tyson keeps Waterman's nightlife running smoothly Inside, A3 Displaced worker finds new direction in life Inspiration, C8 !/ 02006 The Chowan Herald I All Rights Reserved .'•» •• • • • i . . • INDEX I A Local Editorial.A7 ^ Land Transfers.A8 f Iredell Association bans book in gift shop, angered over image of former Jurist BY REBECCA BUNCH Editor A new historical novel which places early Supreme Court Justice James Iredell of Edenton at the center of an al leged love triangle has out raged those charged with up holding his legacy. Members of Edenton’s James Iredell Association are concerned that many readers may feel the book is more fact than fiction. So concerned, in fact, they have voted not to al low it to be sold in their gift shop at the local visitor center. The novel, “A More Obedient Wife: A Novel of the Early Su preme Court,” uses excerpts from actual letters Iredell and his wife, Hannah, exchanged as part of the narrative. Inter spersed in the text, in italics, are fictional diary entries used by the author to move the story along. *; “It’s true the preface dSes make it clear which parts of the book are real, and which are not, but how many people even bother to read that?” asked John Smith, chairman of the association’s furnish ings committee, and an avid history buff. "I don’t. I start reading with chapter one.” Smith said he found the way Iredell was por trayed in the book unsettling. “That’s not the image of James Iredell we want to put forward. It may be good for the book, but it’s not good for his image.” But the book’s author, Natalie Wexler, said that Iredell, in a number of letters he wrote over the years, made mention of attractive women he noticed. ; And he himself was known as an outgoing man with a pleasing personality — in sharp contrast to the shy, retir ing nature of his wife. Add to that the fact that ex isting letters he wrote to his wife in 1779, six years after they married, contained a se ries of abject apologies which Wexler believes involved some sort of marital infidelity. * She does not find it such a leap of faith, then, to imagine that he and another Hannah -4 Hannah Wilson, the pretty, v£ See IREDELL, Page A2 ► : '.M' Sports Recreation News.B1 NASCAR ... B2 -\'T; & :r< - v. ,vv . C Community News Upcoming Events .....C2 Society.......C4 Obituaries...C6 CHurcH.................. C7. B Classifieds Buy/Sell/Trade.......... D1 Service Directory...... D2 Employment.D4 .? • Commentary about death of I Capt. America ! Inspiration, C8 1 AUCTION f 7:00pm Until at Leon Nixon’s Catering Benefit Lunch & Dinner Tiiesday, March 20th 11:00am to 2:00pm - Donation: $7.00 Sponsored by Rocky Hock Ruritan 611 Relay for life Team
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March 14, 2007, edition 1
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