No. 1 School Plart, Desegregation, Sujy^
80%
-*?* FRAwkI/m
-50V. CoomT^
~*Sy' V(^lof>Tioi
__4oy.
-15%
? 3?x
? 25%
Zo%
No. 5 Revaluation, Value Cut
No. 6 KKK Rally, Walk, Attack
No. 7 Town Elections
No. 8 Meningitis Scare
No. 9 Attorney Jailed, Sues
No. ^0 Beam Named Judge
WELCOME TO
LOUISBURG
1FIRSTI
IN PERCENTAGE RETAIL SALES GROWTH
IN
NORTH CAROLINA
No. 2 Louisburg Tops State In Growth
?=?
FRANKLIN
COUNTY
i ^ r nm vi h ^ " ?
\o. 3 "No" N ote On jtoads. Courts
No. 4 Farm Income Decline
}
S^ pian, Integration, Suit top Hews
Choosing the top stories of
any year Is usually a difficult
Job. The year Just ending is
no different. Many things hap
pened during the last twelve
months locally or of concern
to local people. While one story
would be considered large to
some of them, others would find
It relatively minor.
The Times has picked the
top ten news stories of 1965
based on their Interest to the
majority of Franklin County
citizens.
Leading the events of the past
year as the number one news
event is the desegregation of
Franklin County and Franklln
ton city schools. Included In
this : category are such side
events as the County Board's
request and subsequent 4lenlal
of funds for long-range con
solidation by the County Com
missioners. Included, too, are
the frustrating negotiations be
tween the local Boards and
Washington officials In formu
lating a Plan of Compliance
to the Civil Rights Act, the
opening of schools without In
cident, and the recent suit by
a group of local Negroes against
the County Board.
Schools made news In areas
other than Integration, which
added to their being selected
as number one In news stories
for the year.
The disclosure that Louls
burg was tops In the state In
retail sales growth for the past
five years rated the number
two spot In the top ten. Louls
burg registered a fabulous
112.7% Increase In retail sales
from 1959 to 1963.
Almost as though contradict*
lng the number two story of
progress, number three, the
"No" vote on the road bonds
and courts Issues In Novem
ber, brought puzzlement to
many political observers.
Farm Income decline, dis
closed this fall, showing the
county Income off by around
$2 million, rates the number
tour spot In the top ten..
Coupled with this are such
related Items as the uncer
tain marketing sales this fall.
Number five Is the revalua
tion of county real property
and the recent 20% cut grafted
to property owners by the
"County Commissioners. This
story In all probability will
crop up again In 1966.
The Klan rates the number
six place In the ten biggest
stories of the year. The rallies
held In the county, the Louls
burg street walk on a busy
Retired
Teacher
Passes
Mrs. Susie Hayes Jackson died
Monday. Funeral services war#
conducted at St. Paul's Epis
copal Church at 3 p.m. Tues
day by the Rev. Frank E.
Pulley. Burial was In Oak
wood Cemetery. She was a
retired school teacher, having
taught (or more than SO years
In the Loulaburg schools.
Surviving are two sisters,
Mrs. Ernestine H. lnscoe of
Louis burg and Mrs. LUlle H.
Kelllan of Denver.
Saturday afternoon, the attack
on a free-lance photographer
and the cross burnings In the
area, Including one burned on
the lawn of The Times office,
ail brought, emphasis to the
organization's activities lo
cally. Side Items Included pe
titions, handbills, the Senate
Investigation and a denounce
ment by the Tar River ttptlst
Church organization.
Elections In the five towns
In the county are listed as
the number seven news event
of the year. V. A. Peoples
was elected Mayor of Louis
burg, Joe Pearce won at Frank -
llnton, Marvin Roberts was re
elected at Youngsvllle, John
Neal was named Mayor at
Centervtlle, and W. A.Andrews
was elected at Dunn.
Number eight goes to the trag
ic death of a Frankllnton young
ster, which brought about a
meningitis scare and caused
hundreds of Frankllnton area
citizens to take treatments
against the disease.
Number nine was the unus
ual actions by a Frankllnton
attorney and a Superior Court
Judge. Judge Hamilton i Hob
good Jailed and fined Hubert
Senter for contempt of court.
Senter filed a quarter of a mil
lion dollar suit against,. Hob
People Made
News In 1965
While Incidents and accidents
made top news stories In 1965,
It was, as always, the people
who really made the front pages .
It was people who made the
news Interesting. Some of them
made good news, some tragic,
but when the year's events are
recorded, these are names that
appeared on the front page of
The Times. There were others;
many gained new position!),
headed drives or won contests
In their schools or clubs. These
are not mentioned here. They
are too numerous.
There were a number of out
standing speakers to visit
Loulsburg in the past year.
Some of them were: JUDGE
POU BAILEY of Raleigh,
CHARLES McCULLERS of
Dunn, IRVIN BELK, President
of the N. C. Merchants Asso
ciation of Charlotte, and
THOMPSON" GREENWOOD,
Executive Secretary; DR. NA
POLEON PADILLA, Cuban
refugee; VANCE PACKARD
spoke at theCollege; MRS. L. Y.
BALLENTINE spoke to the
Democratic Women; SAM A.
HENNE, JR., Grand Master,
addressed the local Masonic
Lodge.
JIM TAPP, N. C. State Uni
versity Assistant Coach, and
Wolfpack Quarterback
CHARLIE NOGGLE spoke to
the local Monogram Club;
BBHOP PAUL N. GARBER
spoke at the College, as did
JUDGE HAMILTON HOBGOOD;
CONGRESSMAN L. H. FOUN
TAIN spoke several times In
the county, Including Com
mencement Exercises at
Frankllnton; newly-named U.S.
Commissioner of Education
HAROLD HOWE II spoke at
Frankllnton to an area School
Boards meeting; N. C. Agri
culture Commissioner JIM
GRAHAM (poke to the local
Rotary Club, and MRS. ANNIE
COOPER. Principal Clerk In
the State House of Represen
tatives, spoke to a group of
local women. Gubernatorial
aid JOE BRANCH also ad
dressed a local women's group.
A number of county cltliena
received honors and award*
during the year. Some of the
more outstanding went to:
C. T. DEAN and MRS. FRAN
CES PULLER for service in
the field of agriculture and
home demonstration work;
MRS. W. H. HORTON waj
awarded a Cripple Children
?ervlce Award; DON NIB
SOUTHERLAND, a student at
Loulsburg, was named the coun
See PEOPLE page 6
good and later nonsuited.
Number ten Is the.appolntment
of veteran Loulsburg Att'orney
Galther Beam, Sr., to the Re
corder's Court bench without
regard for three prominent ap
plicants by the County Com
missioners last January.
There were other stories
which ? made the larger head
lines. Schools were hit by
typewriter thieves; Gay, Pro
ducts plant held open house;
Mac Joyner started a new In
dustry here; Lelan Woodllef
was taken off the County Board
of Education by Rep. James
Speed and Jones Winston was
named to fill the post; highway
fatalities dropped from 1964
but still were too many, as
six lost their lives on county
highways.
There was a record-breaking
number of local people honored
by appointments, or awards,
or other distinctions, and the
county had Its usual toll of
citizens passing from the
scene.
Speed, Board Ut Education, County
Commissioners Top Newsmakers
Speed Education Commissioners
Franklin County Representa
tive 'James D. Speed was the
top newsmaklng individual of
1965, and the County Board of
Education and the Board of
County Commissioners were
the top news making agencies
locally for the year.
Speed began the year with a
prepared published statement
on fys views of the impending
session of the General Assem
bly. Later, as the legislative
body convened, Speed wrote a
regular weekly column In which
he explained certain actions of
the legislature and expressed
his thought** concerning some
,of the legislation.
In early April, he became
Involved In a heated contro
versy when he removed
Youngsvllle businessman Lelan
Woodllef from the County
Board of Education and named
another Youngsvllle business
man, Jones Winston, 'to the seat.
Woodllef had been appointed*
earlier by the Democratic Exe
cutive Committee to fill the
unexpired term of Richard H.
Cash, who made a successful
bid for a post on the Board of
County Commissioners.
The cry of politics was heard,
particularly In the Youngsvllle
area, and citizens' groups con
ferred with Speed in Woodllef s
behalf. Winston was reportedly
a supporter of Speed, while
Woodllef had allegedly support
ed Speed's opponent in the prl
nr^arles, James T. Moss.
Speed opposed the changes
In the Speaker Ban Law and
voted against It during the
special session of the General
Assembly called by Gov. Dan
Moore to amend the contro
versial legislation.
Speed's comments on the pro
posed redistVlctlng of Franklin
County Into a three-county dis
trict with Warren and Vance'
Counties made front-page head
lines a few weeks ago.
A relatively minor incident In
See SPEED page 6
The County Board of Education
had, what has been termed, "A
very frustrating year" In 1965.
Pligued with Interference 'in i
school operations by state and
federal agencies and hassles
with Negro groups and criticism
by some whites, the Board found
little time to take on tontine
affairs.
The first blow came early,
as the County CoijimUsloners 1
could not work out financing
for a proposed long range plan ]
presented by the Board after a |
three year study. I
' Then In late January, began
the perplexing task of drawing i
a Plan of Compliance to the '
Civil Rights Act of 1984. First, |
It was believed that all that i
would be required was to sign
a pledge of nondiscrimination.
As the weeks ran Into months, '
a multitude of changes were
demanded by Washington au
thorltles and It was finally Au
gust before the Board's plan
was approved. c
There were a number of meet
ings, special and regular plu* <
even more meeting of the three- I
man committee appointed to I
map the plan. Two trips were
made to Washington for con- i
ferences with government I
officials and a host of long <
distance telephone ? calls were I
made, some lasting upwards I
to an hour. 11 I
fhe Board approved a plan
calling basically for desegrega- 1
tlon of our grades per year. <
This was later amended to four ]
grades this year and the re- I
malnlng eight next fall. This I
came about when Washington I
refused to approve the plan I
unless the amendment was In
cluded. I
Schools In the county system 1
and at Frank] Inton were lnte- I
grated In September without <
Incident with Negroes attend- !
Ing previously all white Bunn, ?
Loulsburg and Frankllnton <
schools. I
See EDUCATION page 8
The County Commissioners
made news as they alternately
moved Into and out of hot water
during the twelve month period.
Jumping off to a big ?s tart,
with two new members, E. M.
Sykes and Richard H. Cash, the
Board made what proved to be
an excellent appointment to the
Recorder's Court Judge post.
This was done however, more
by ac ldent than design.
A heated campaign was
launched In a short period early
last January on behalf of Louls
frurg attorneys Wilbur Jolly and
?. C. Bulluck and former Clerk
Df Court John King for the post.
The Board, In an attempt to
postpone action appointed dean
o1 Loulsburg attorneys G. M
Beam, Sr. to fill the post tem
porary appointment and .Beam
was given tlje^ Job on a per
manent basis.
They made news when they re
fused a request for a long
range finance program for the
county schools made by the
Board of Education and some
eyebrows were raised as they
ippolnted a deputy tax collector
in April. i
They set the tax rate at $1.98 .
without much fanfare, endorsed ,
he road bond Issue and stood
>ut like a sore thumb when
:hey became the only local group
;o endorse the appeals court
ssue.
The Commissioners probably
iad their most difficult time
luring the latter part of the
fear. They voted to Instate (
i Food Stamp Program and cut 1
he county-wide property valua
lon by 20% following a petition
jy a group of property owners. 1
They considered, but did not <
ict, on the appointment of a '
3stter Roads Committee during
he year and they finally
jolved the Boarding Home da- 1
emla by leaving things as they '
ire. They abolished the dog 1
rarden program without any (
ixplanatlon, and are now con- 1
See COMMISSIONERS page 6 ,
Dr. Benjamin E Powell
Bishop Paul N Garber
Founders Day Set
At Louisburg College
Founders' Day ceremonies
marking the 179th anniversary
of the school charter will be ob
served at Loulsburg College on
Wednesday, January 5.
Dr. Benjamin E. Powell, Li
brarian of Duke University, will
deliver the Founders' Day ad
dress at the 10;00am. chapel
hour. Dr. Powell will be In
troduced by Dr. Herbert J.
Herring, former Vlce-Presl
dent of Dufc? and now Consul
tant at Loulsburg. During the
planning and early construction
of the new LoulSburg CoU<?e
library building, Dr. Powell
served Is consultant. President
Cecil W. Robblns will preside
at the chapel service.
After the chapel program
Bishop Paul Neff Garber, resi
dent bishop of the North Caro
lina Conference of The Metho
dist Church, will preside at the
formal opening of the new li
brary building at which time
memorials will be named. The
Reference Section In mert\ory
of Mrs Mary Duke Blddle, The
Faculty Study In memory of
Frederick B. Edwards; and The
Librarian's Office In memory
of Mr. and Mrs. Charles G.
Poole. Memorials of furniture
and equipment will also be
named.
Following the opening of the
library building the program
focus will move to the new
women's dormitory where
Board Chairman James E. Hill
man of Raleigh will preside LS
the dormitory Is officially
named In honor of Professor
Ruth Wlllard Merrltt, long-time
teacher of English at Loulsburg.
Tributes to Miss Merrltt will
be given by Professor llmphrey
Lee, Chairman of the Depart
ment of English; Miss Diane
Jones of Durham, President of
the Women's Council; and Mrs.
Carol' Bessent Hayman of Jack
sonville, Trustee and Alumna
of the college.
Committee
To Meet
A meeting of Hit Franklin
County Democratic Eiecutlvt
Committee has been set for
Friday, January 7, ISM at The
Murphy House her*, according
to an announcement received
today from A. E. Pearce, Chair
man.
The meeting, scheduled tor
7 p.m., Is to be a dinner meet
Ing, said Pearce, and "I urge
everyone to be present as a
rery Important matter will be
llscussed," be continued. He
dso stated that "certain leed
trs of the county hare also beeo
isked to attend."