PAGE 2—THE HERALD. Ahoskie, N. C.—MILESTONE YEAR 1359
Started Famous Negro Family in Town:
W. H. Jenkins Was Pioneer Afioskian
(When Ahoskie began lo grow
from a railroad siding lo a large
communily, many Negro fami-
. lies lived in Ihe area near the
log-loading slop. This is Ihe
story of one of those pioneer
Negro families whose history is
entwined with that of the com
munity. The life of Wililam
Hawley Jenkins was outstand
ing, yet it was typical of the
story of many men of the post-
Civil War period who establish
ed Hertford's important Negro
leadership.)
By MRS. IRENE N. YEATES
William Hawley Jenkins was
born very soon after Lee sur
rendered in April, 1866.
He was the son of the late
Perry and Louvenia Jenkins. His
grandfather, Stephen Jenkins,
and his family were slaves and
belonged to the Caddus Jenkins
family. His grandmother’s family
belonged to the Kennie Holloman
family. The members were also
slaves. The members of the Perry
Jenkins family were Charle.s.
Perry, Jim, Wright, Stephen, Ra
chael and Harriet Mary.
Members of Perry’s mother’s,
Louvenia, family were Sallie,
Easter, Emoline, Martha, Jack
Lawrence and Samuel.
Members of his immediate
family were William Hawley,
Mary Ellen, Lawrence, Wright
Jefferson, Lannie, Claudia, Pau
line and Arrie.
As a boy, he had to v/ork hard
to help support the family. He
was hired out by his father to
work as a farm hand for $4 a
month.
School Training
His scholastic training was nol
above the third grade. Tony Ses-
som.s was his teacher. At that
time school terms were three or
four months. He was only allowed
to go to school on rainy, snowy
days when no outside work could
be done. Even under adverse cir
cumstances, he had a trained
niind for quick and accurate
thinking, which proved to be me
chanical and thrifty. He could
figure any problem in his head
before you could do it with a pen
cil.
Around the fireside, he would
often tell us the story of his rear
ing, and say that he made up his
mind. “If I ever grow up and own
children, I will try to see that
they go to school and get an ed
ucation.”
At the age of 18 years, he left
home and went to work for him
self. He was given a job helping
to lay the Carolina Railroad, now
known as the Atlantic Coast Line.
He worked as far down as At
lanta, Ga. He lived in camp
shacks and prepared his own
meals, while holding this job. At
times his crew would have work
ed too far down the distance to
walk back to sleep. The men
would build a campfire, cook
beans or peas in their dinner
buckets and bake bread in their
shovels. They would lie down on
crosscut ties for beds and the
sky was the cover. The men slept
in shifts, while others kept the
fire and watched for animals and
snakes until dawn.
Mel Friend
While laying this track, Tom
White from Chowan County was
assigned as his partner. They be
came life long friends, and
planned their career together.
They bought five acres of land
each, on the east and west side of
the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
in Ahoskie. There they built
homes, married and took their
wives. The present home site of
William Hawley Jenkins’s family
is the original location. Since, the
first purchase he bought addition
al acres. He bought from Will
Holloman on the north side, three
to five acres on south side and
from John Newsome, on the east
from Dr. Jesse Mitchell.
He was married to Miss Sarah
Edwards, a public school teacher
of Bertie County. The maiiiage
was a short duration of 14 months.
His wife having died at the birth
of twin boys. Both babies also
died. This was a great shock in
his life.
Another Wife
After overcoming grief, he went
back to Bertie County to look for
another wife. On May 7, 1893, he
married Josephine Lassiter, the
first cousin to his first wife. To
this union were born 14 children,
7 of which now survive. Three
died in infancy and one died in
youth of ten years.
While rearing this large family,
he saw the wisdom of accumulat
ing more land. He bought from
J. R. Garrett, the corner of First
and Maple Streets.
He built a two story house there
that furnished a home for work
ers and their families who fol
lowed the Branning Mill here
from Edenton. At this time he
was farming and doing carpen
ter’s work for $1 a day. The rev
enue from this house was an
asset. Being thrifty minded, he
later moved his family into this
house. His wife at the steering
wheel, she boarded and lodged
workers.
Buy Job Field
Again with his partner, Tom
White, they bought the Job field,
where they worked without a di
vision for several years. In 1910,
Surveyor McGlohon ran the di
viding line.
At this time, Jenkins owned
enough farm land, if. worked
properly, to support his family.
While he worked at his trade, he
hired a plow hand to do the plow
ing and his children did the other
work. In harvesting time, the
children worked until school
opened. If the crops were not out,
he hired the remainder of the
work done. He never kept bis
children out of school to work on
the farm. At this time he was
making $2 a day as a carpenter.
During the early development
of the Town of Ahoskie, he help
ed with Messrs. Billy Greene,
Duncan Thomas (White) and
Graham Holloman in the con-
struction of many of the historic
buildings of this town. Rainy days
he would draw oak splits and
make baskets, bottom chairs, and
build cabinets for pastime.
He was a Baptist. He was or
dained a deacon of the New Ahos
kie Baptist Church in 1898 and
served in that capacity until he
passed. He was Superintendent of
Sunday School for several years.
Rain or shine, he never missed a
Sunday unless he was disable.
Family Altar
The family altar was exhibited
each Sunday morning around the
fireside with Bible reading and
prayer, where all members of the
family shared. He dearly loved
his Wednesday night praise serv-
In 1892 he was elected as chair
man of an all Negro school com
mittee. At this post he served
until it was abolished by the State
Legislature, when it inaugurated
the district plan in 1933.
After this tenure, he still work
ed with Dr. L. K. Walker and the
Board of Education for the devel
opment and progress of the
schools. He built the car shed for
the'first school bus to be Jioused
on his lot on First Street and
Maple Street. His greatest ambi
tion was to better the condition
of the colored boys and girls—
morally, spiritually, educationally
and religiously in the community.
Family Record
For his children, they all were
able to acquire an education. He
worked zealously to accomplish
his aim. Five now. hold their col
legiate degrees: Mrs. Hattie Ev
erett, Mrs. Amaza Davis, Mrs.
Irene Yeates, C. A. Jenkins, Miss
I Ruth V. Jenkins. Mrs. Marie
Yeates (deceased) also held a col
legiate degree. William Clarence
was a senior at Shaw University
in the School of Medicine when
he passed. Lenton Calvert (de
ceased) was a high school grad
uate.
Jenkins was highly interested
in civic affairs. He purchased the
25 acres of woods land for the At
lantic District Fair grounds from
Dr. Jesse H. Mitchell. His broth
er, Wright Jefferson Jenkins, be
came the first president of the At
lantic District Fair. He was a
charter member of the Masonic
Odd Fellows Secret Organization.
He was an honest reliable cit
izen of Hertford County. He often
made this statement “The money
you owe is not yours, always pay
your honest debts, and you will
always have something to pay
them with.”
He died at the age of 76, in
June, 1941.
Continued from Page One
Ahoskie Started When
Railroad Line Came
lies of men joining the expanding
Cockey and Powell operation,
others working for the railroad.
David L. Myers arrived in De
cember, 1889, to become a sales
man for the mercantile business.
His first home (Number 21), was
soon replaced by a frame house
that stands today on the corner
of Church and Lloyd.
A. E. Downs was another who
arrived in the community at this
time. His home (Number 16)
stood in the center of the grow
ing group of residences on the
muddy road that was to become
Church Street.
His small store (Number 63)
was located on the railroad a few
hundred yards away.
Bill and Claude Dukes soon
were to arrive. They were coach-
makers and shopkeepers, who had
lived in the crossroads of Union
a few miles away. Bill Dukes
built in the same area (at Number
105 on the map) and their shop
and store operated nearby (Num
ber 107) on the new dead end
street that was to become Main
Street.
A. E. Garrett, later to be
come sheriff of Hertford County,
arrived from Tennessee during
this period. His home was built
next to the railroad. His home
(Number 31) and cook’s quarters
(Number 30) and barn (Number
29), rattled as the log trains
rumbled past on the busy tracks.
A. J. (Jack) Parker came as the
agent for the busy railroad. His
home went up in the residential
colony on the Powellsville-Saint
John’s road (Number 22). There
was yet no depot, An early resi
dent said the fu'st “depot” was a
railroad box car parked on a sid
ing. 'Woodland covered the area
now .occupied by the depot and
siding.
By now, the town’s ancestral
landowners, the Mitchells, had
expanded into strictly “urban”
activities. Dr, Jesse’s office stood
on the dead end path of “Main
Street” west of the railroad
(Number 35). The town’s first
drug store was next to the young
physician’s headquarter.^ (Num
ber 36).
Colorful Characicr
And, next to the Mitchell
buildings, Ahoskie’s most colorful
early character had his empire.
Charles Trummell, a “half-
breed—a cross between a white
and Indian,” had here his cattle
lot, market stable, and home.
A. V. Greene described Trum
mell: “his was a familiar name
throughout the Roanoke-Chowan.
His market was the first in Ahos
kie. Cattle ranging in. number
from 30 to 40 head at times, with
three or four big bulldogs in the
block with them. Charles, as we
all knew him, was supposed to
have been a half-breed, a cross
between a white and the Indian.
You could see him corning dri\dng
a big spring wagon, and with per
haps three or four colored men
with him and bulldogs getting
under the wagon all the time. His
good sense of humor made him an
outstanding man for most people
who knew him. He was classed as
a colored man. Came from South
Mills.”
(Trummell’s empire included
the stalls—Number 37, market
—Number 38, and small home.
The great animal stalls were lo
cated at about the present lo
cation of the Richard Theater
and surrounding buildings.)
Barber shops, mostly run by
Negro men in these days, occu
pied small shacks in several loca
tions during this period, at Num
ber 40 and Number 65. Lonnie
Lewis operated a barber shop at
Number 74.
The Builder
Now, as a new decade arrived,
one of the town’s most famous
pioneers, a man who was to earn
Lhe name “The Builder,” arrived.
J. R. Garrett came from Bertie
County as a young man of less
than 30. He was a lightning-fast
carpenter who helped build some
of the early fi-ame houses for the
growing town’s new residents.
In 1891, he married and showed
his carpentering skill by putting
up his own big frame house, still
standing at the intersection of
Church Street and Catherine
Creek Road (Number 4 in lower
left of map).
He stai-ted Ahoskie’s first build
ing boom, constructed many of
the frame store buildings on
budding Main Street.
In these early years of the
1890’s, the Cockoy and Powell
mercantile operation expanded.
In 1889, the new store went up
where Bill Duke had operated
his store (Number 50).
Other mercantile businesses in
1890 included Freeman and Rid
dick’s store on Church Street,
A. E. Garrett’s store (Number 28)
beside his house on Church Street,
Doss Downs’s store on “Main”
(Number 63.)
Powell continued to expand,
and his “big store” was built a
few years later oh the lot (Num
ber 5) at the east end of expand
ing “Main Street.”
Powell went out of bu.siness in
1896, and the store became that of
Parker and Hill. Tom Garrett ran
a store next lo it (Number 57).
The Hayes stable was soon to go
up in the same area (at Number
55), and another small store run
by a man named Bunch operat
ed for awhile in this area (Num
ber 56).
First Depot
the town began to boom, the
I ACL constructed its depot (Num-
'ber 68) section house (Number
67) and workshop (Number 79).
Jack Whitehead, a Negro rail
road woi-kcr, built his frame
house near the railroad’s buil^;^
mgs, at Num'ber 66.
By then, the sawmill (unmark
ed large building) which had op
erated on the west corner of what
is now Catherine and Main had
been moved, although the entire
length of the block was still bare,
except for the Copeland store
next to the railroad (Number 43).
The building boom opened up
a new business block along the
western side of the railroad.
In 1894, C. C. Hoggard and
brother, Richard, built a store on
the present Bank of Ahoskie cor
ner (Number 76). Fletcher Powell
was later to open a store of his
own at Number 75. Parker and
Hill owned a store in, the block
(Number 73). Fire was to destroy
the block in the early days of the
20th century.
R. J. Hoggard built a home on
Church Street, next to the rail
road, facing the Arthur Mitchell
home (Number 41).
But Uncle Drew Newsome was
the block’s first merchandiser.
His little store (Number 71) op
erated during the 1890’s for the
many Negro railroad and log
woods workers.
Later, B. S, Barnes was to
build a home behind the row of
frame business buildings, at
Number 78. He was a sewing ma
chine salesman, later town con
stable, famed character.
Incorporaled
The town became incorporated
in January, 1893, and its first of
ficers included Dr, Mitchell as
mayor, Fletcher Powell, Bill
Dukes and Jack Parker as com
missioners and J. H. Downs as
constable.
The incorporated limits includ
ed a square 1,200 yards on each
side, with the Main Street cross
ing of the ACL as the center. It
did not include the Baptist
Church lot, and most of the area
within the limits was field and
woods.
In 1890, the Ahoskie Baptist
Church got itself a new pastor,
the Rev. Braxton Craig. For the
young pastor, his flock erected the
church’s first parsonage, on a
lot at the. corner of Church and
Maple Street (Number 19). In
1901, the Rev. L. M. Curtis be
came pastor. Before he died in
1907, he had moved into the new
parsonage on a lot across from
the church, and had begun con
struction of his own home, still
the Curtis home at the present
coimer of Church and Lloyd
Street (approximately at the
point where Number 29 is located.
This was, in the 1890’s, a tenant
house on the Jenkins farm).
By 1896, the little town wa'
growing fast. W. B, Newsome ar
rived to open a sawmiii (his log
ging camp and loghorse stabl
was at Number 60), The Newsome
home went up on Chru-ch Street
(isui-riber 48) and ho soon opened
a.sbop ,gn.d.sn-iithy qn Mam .Street
(Number 51)V ~ -r
W. J. Greene, a carpenter and
contractor aiTivcd in 1895, and
built his home on Church Street
(Number 15).
R. H. (Bob) Holloman came as
a representative of the active
Farmer’s Alliance. He operated a
store for the cooperative venture,
built his home (still standing) on
Church Street (Number 24). The
store was located on Main Stree.
(Number 62).
Richard Baker came in these
early years of the new town, lo
cating on Church Street just
after the incorporation. His home
stood at the corner of Church and
Catherine (Number 25) in from
of the C. W. Miller home (Num
ber 26).
The Willoughby family, with
young son, A. T. WilloughlDy, ar
rived in these early years. The
cider Willoughby was a railroad
worker, he cut ties for the many
logwoods lines that were being
laid. The Willoughby home was
first located on Church Street
(Number 27). Later, it was to be
at the intersection of the Main
Street and the Aulander highway
(present Main and Academy).
R. E. (Bob) Cowan moved to
Ahoskie with his family and built
his house on the old Winton
road (Number 70).
J. W. (John Bill) Godwin came,
too, opened a store on Main Street
(Number 61).
It was a period of booming for
the busy railroad town. By 1895,
there were perhaps 100 folks who
said they were from the new
town of Ahoskie.
same time, one serving the other.
The Big Mill went up alongside'
the tracks of the new line which
paralleled the developing streets
of the new community.
The mill (Number 10), its huge
boiler shed '(Number 9), dry kiln
(Number 11) and big lumber shed
(Number 12) constituted the larg
est industrial enterprise in a 50-
mile radius, and immediately
made Ahoskie a center of the vast
wooded area between the Roan
oke and Chowan rivers.
Its coming meant that Ahoskie
was to become the area large.st
community in 10 years. The pop
ulation, 302 in 1900, snowballed
to 924 in 1910.
The mill opened a new phase in
the life of Ahoskie. It ended the
period that saw the formative
years of the community, as it
grew from a church and farm
land to post office, then to in
corporated village, mushrooming
mercantile center.
These early years, from 1883
when the first iogline railroad
tracks were laid crossing the
Powellsville - Saint John’s road
near the Mitchell plantation,
through post office in 1889, incor
poration in 1893, to the coming
of the Big Mill in 1899, are the
years remembered by A. V.
Greene, a pioneer citizen, as he
sat down to draw the earlies map
of Ahoskie, a document of im
mense historic appeal for citizens
of the Roanoke-Chowan’s larg
est—yet most youthful—commu
nity.
Manhattan Unique Family Affair
AHOSKIE — The Manhattan ^
Cafe, at the corner of Mitchell and!
Main Streets, has been a family i
affair for 42 years. George and
John Halages opened the restau
rant in 1917 when they came to
America from Greece.
The Halages brothers became an
institution in Ahoskie, for their
cafe drew many customers staying
at the old Manhattan Hotel (now
the Mitchell Hotel) which was then
the only hotel in town.
In 1925, John Halages returned to
Greece lo bring a bride back to
America, but died at sea on the
return voyage.
In 1934, lhe second brother,
George, also returned to Greece,
to visit relatives. Ho, too, never
got back to Arhcrica, for he died
in his hcmoland.
Two ether young Greeks had
come to America among the vast
influx of immigrants in the early
1900’s. Tom Costas and Gus Pap
pas had friends in North Caro
lina, where they became acquaint
ed with the Halages brothers—and
the Halages sisters.
In 1910, when Gus Pappas landed
in New York, he spoke Greek,
French, and a smattering of every
thing but English.
iS'
fe.,1
By 1914, he had become a cafe
owner in Weldon, where h c
operated his business for 20 years.
Tom Costas settled in Ahoskie,
where he worked for the Halages
brothers.
Eventually, both Tom and Gus
joined the Halages family by mar
rying the Halages sisters. After
George Halages’s death in 19.34,
Tom and Gus ran tiie Manhattan
Cafe together until Tom’s death in
945. Since that time, Gus Pappas
has been sole owner.
The Manhattan has undergone
several cliangos, an the years went
by. The last major renovation was
done in 1942, when new plate glass
windows and fixtures were install
ed.
Gus and the Manhattan stop
only a few hours each day—even
the yearly interior paint job is
done in between customers.
Mr. and Mrs. Pappas are par
ents cf two children, Elizabeth, a
talented pianist and instructor; and
John Gus Pappas, a Greensboro
architect. “No more hash-slingcrs
in the family,” says Gus Pappas,
in his thick Greek accent.
MANHATTAN CAFE IN 1322
Buffalo once roamed Hertford
County forests, according lo ac
counts of earliest explorers of the
region. These bi-g animals were
probably drifters fx'om large
herds which inhabited the more
w'ostern areas of what was to be
come North Carolina.
Mill Comes
Then, in 1899, the Big Mill
came, and Ahoskie mushroomec
to triple its size in a few months.
Branning Lumber -Company
and the 'Wellington and Polvells-
vllle Railroad came almost at the
Qua,
MILESTONE
HERTFOR.D
THE
HERALD
1905-1959
Copyright, Parlirr Bros., Inc.. 1058
J926-I959
I '■ *■ w- s, ■ ' . • .
S' ■. ‘ V-
WE CELEBRATE OUR
rd
33'
YEAR IN AHOSKIE
Ahoskie ond Hertford County have changed a lot
since the fall of 1926 when we first opened but
doors. They have both grown and so have we. We
are proud we were a port of progress Ond we lock
forward to an even better future tor Hertford
County.
Brijiging Values to the Folks in the Roonoke-
Chowan Since 1926
This Has Been and Still Is Our Policy
WIilTi'S
AHOSKIE
MM