EDWIN WILEY
FULLER
Poet and novelist. 1847
1876. born in Louisburg.
Wrote The Angel in the
Cloud and Sea Gift.
House is 4 blocks West.
Marker Erected In
Memory Of Local Poet
An historical marker has been erect
ed at the comer of Bickett Blvd. and
Noble Street here by the N. C. High
way Commission and the Department
of Archives in memory of the late
noted poet and novelist Edwin Wiley
Fuller of Louisburg.
The marker, erected this week,
states: "Edwin Wiley Fuller, Poet and
Novelist, 1847-1876, born in Louis
burg. Wrote "The Angel in the Cloud"
and "Sea Gift". House is four blocks
west". The Fuller is now known as the
Par ham place on North Main Street
between Sunset Avenue and Noble
Street.
Fuller was born here In Louisburg,
the only son of Jones Fuller and Anna
Thomas Fuller on November 30, 1847.
He attended the University of North
Carolina in 1864 and when the Univer
sity closed due to the Civil War, he
entered the University of Virginia,
returning home in the summer of 1868
due to his father's ill health.
While at Virginia, there was publish
ed in the University magazine a short
poem that was later a basis for "The
Angel in the Cloud". The book was
finished in 1870 and published in
1871 when Fuller was only 23 years
old by E. J. Hale & Son of New York.
In September of that year, Fuller
married Mary Ellis Malone, daughter
of Dr. Ellis Malone and sister of the
late Dr. James Ellis Malone who mar
ried Fuller's only sister, Anna Rich
mond Fuller. Fuller and his wife had
two daughters, Mary Ethel who died at
the age of one and Edwin Sumner
Fuller who later became Mrs. Asa
Parham and died in 1934.
In 1873 "Sea Gift" was published
by the same New York firm that had
published Fuller's book of poems.
"Sea Gift" had been written when
Fuller was only 18 years old and a
student at the University. The late
Rev. E. H. Davis in his book, "Histori
cal Sketches of Franklin County"
wrote of Fuller's works, "Each stamp
ed him as an author of real ability and
great promise and gave him a reputa
tion extending beyond county or state
lines."
Fuller was also known as a leading
spirit for good in his community and
was praised at the time for having built
and equipped at his own expense, a
country school in which he taught
Bible to the children.
Davis also wrote, "This fine young
man, absolutely irreproachable in life
and character, brilliantly endowed,
constant in the use and application of
his varied talents, never reached his
30th year. Yet what he did within
those limits, hampered as he was with
business cares and an incurable dis
order, may well make us pause and
wonder whose thread of life has been
so much longer".
Col. Theodore Fuller in his book,
"Early Southern Fullers " says of Full
er, "Had his life not been cut short,
Edwin Fuller may well have been as
well-known as any American poet".
As if writing his own epitaph,
Fuller handed his wife the following
See FULLER Page A-6
Youngsville Men Get Suspended
Terms In 1966 Assault Cases
Four Youngsville area men received
suspended jail sentences and were fin
ed $278.50 each in Recorder's Court
this week in connection with the
October 1, 1966 assaults on two
Louisburg men.
Bill Green, w/m/25, Sid Smith,
w/m/24, Barney Paschall, w/m/27, and
Bobby Pearce, w/m/25, were charged
with assault with a deadly weapon
with intent to kill against Rudolph
Bartholomew, w/m/37, and Bill Hight,
w/m/20, on the night of October 1,
1966. The foursome allegedly beat
Bartholomew into unconsciousness at
a local drive-in around 10 P.M. Ac
cording to reports at the time, the men
then drove to Youngsville, exchanged
cars and returned to Louisburg where
they assaulted Hight at another drive
in around 11 P.M. Hight was hospita
lized at Duke for surgery to repair a
broken jaw.
Judge E. C. Bulluck sentenced each
of the four to 12 months in jail,
suspended on payment to the Clerk of
Superior Court office $250.00 for the
use and benefit of F. C. Hight, Sr. and
$37.50 for use of Rudolph Bartholo
mew and to pay one bill of costs. Each
man was charged with two cues of
assault.
Other cases dlspoaed of in this
week's Recorder's Court session of
jury trials are as follows:
Charles Ransom Stone, w/m/20,
speeding; careless and reckless driving.
$40.00 fine and coats; defendant not
to operate motor vehicle for 30 days,
Tto turn In license to CSC.
Matthew Mehrin Copeland, c/m/20,
operating auto Intoxicated. State ac
cepts plea of careless and reckless
driving. $100.00 fine and cost*.
t
Garfield Treadwell, c/m, larceny.
Discharged on payment of costs.
Horace Allen Wright, n/m/36, ope
rating auto intoxicated. 90 days in jail,
suspended on payment of $100.00
fine and costs. Not to operate motor
vehicle during hours of 8 p.m. - 6 a.m.
and not to operate motor vehicle from
8 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Monday for 60
days.
Thomas Eugene Perry, n/m/37,
speeding. $20.00 fine and costs.
Irvin Radford, w/m/21, assault on
See COURT Page A-6
Electric Service
Interruption
Electric service to those served in
the Youngxville, Creedmoor and Wake
Forest areas by Carolina Power and
Light Co. and Wake Electric Member
ship Corp. wiU be Interrupted Sunday,
July 21 from 6:30 A.M. to 7:30 A.M.
The announcement of the interrup
tion was made by both CP & L and
WEMC here Wednesday.
The interruption is necessary to
shift the electric load from one sat of
line* serving the area to another in
order to rebuild a major transmission
line which delivers electricity through
out the area. This Is part of a service
expansion program which Carolina
Power & Light Company has under
way.
Roy Burch, CP&L Henderson dis
trict manager, explained that the early
morning hours were choaen to incon
venience as few people as possible.
Groups Form Private Schools
With the growing concern over the
manner in which public schools are to
be operated this fall in Franklin Coun
ty, it was inevitable that private
schools would enter the picture. To
date, two organizations are busy at
work in efforts to open one or per
haps, two such schools in the county
this fall.
Farthest along with their
plans is a group attempting to
establish a kindergarten through ^
eighth grade operation in the old
Harris School building in the
New Hope Community. Walter
Ball of Louisburg is Chairman of
the Board of the Franklin Chris
tian School, Inc. and reports
that 129 students have signed to
attend the school this fall.
Ball's group has had a new roof put
on the building, constructed in 1928,
and other renovations and repairs are
planned. Ball reported that Joseph
Earl Gilliam is treasurer of the organi
zation and that Gene Pleasants is
secretary. He identified members of
the Executive Committee as Jim Ben
nett, Willis Dupree, Charles Dickens
and the three general officers. The full
Board numbers sixteen members.
Ball says one teacher is al
ready signed, and another has
orally agreed to teach. He said
he has nine applications from
persons wanting to teach at the
school this fall. He explained
that he felt that his group would
be unable to match the state
teacher pay scale in this first
year.
Ball and Gilliam report that the
annual tuition per student for this year
is expected to be about $160. Ball says
this figure is expected to increase in
future years. Pleasants questioned this
price as perhaps, unrealistic and when
informed of a second group's efforts
to establish a school, commented that
it might be well if all interested parties
pulled together to form just one
school.
Pleasants says he has handled a
large amount of paper work for the
organization and has made a number
of contacts in obtaining various infor
mation needed. He says he believes,
that response would be better had the
school been located nearer to Louis
burg. He said he feels that the group
must pay teachers "good salaries."
A look at the facilities at Harris and
it becomes obvious that if a school is
to operate in the building this fall, a
great deal of work is necessary. The
building, according to Ball, has been
inspected for safety by State people
and approved. His group has sown
grass on the front grounds and he
states that he believes that the school
will be able to open this fall.
Pleasants disclosed Tuesday that
the State Department of Revenue has
by Clint Fuller
Times Managing Editor
declared Franklin Christian School,
Inc. a non-profit organization, free
from filing certain tax forms and
allowing all donations to be tax de
ductible. He also said that all necessary
papers have been completed for the
group.
One interesting note disclosed
by Pleasants is that the school
will accept students from the
nonwhite races, provided the
child qualifies. The Franklin
Christian School group and the
newer Franklin Academy group
in Louisburg play down the
thought that the schools are
being established because of in
tegration. Both say unofficially
that any child who qualifies will
be accepted for enrollment.
The Franklin Academy group came
to light over the past weekend when a
series of phone calls were made in the
area, asking if parents would be in
terested in having their child attend a
private school this fall. No permanent
organization has been formed for this
school as far as could be learned, but
certain temporary appointments have
been made. Tuition at this school has
been reported to be $430 per student
per year.
It was learned that the group is
interested in obtaining the use of
Cedar Street School, a Negro school
located about two miles north of
Louisburg. The school was operated
last year in the public school system,
but all three plans presented to the U.
?S. Eastern District Court this week
See SCHOOL Page A-6
Site Of Franklin Christian School
Continuance Of Anti Poverty Program Requested
The Board of County Commission
ers, meeting here Tuesday in special
session, passed a resolution asking that
the Franklin-Vance-WarTen Opportuni
ty anti-poverty project be continued in
the three-county area. The resolution
was passed at the request of George
Boyd, who heads the organization.
The resolution said the commission
er board "is of the unanimous opinion
that Franklin-Vance-Warren Opportu
nity, Inc., has made a significant con
tribution in the fight against poverty
among low income families" in the
three counties, and has "had a benefi
cial economic effect" in the three
county area.
Included in the program for the
area are the full-year Headstart pro
gram, involving 360 students, obtain
ing and opening three neighborhood
centers involving participation of in
excess of 2,000 persons, and operation
of a Neighborhood Youth Corps in
volving 100 school enrollees and 25
out-of-school enrollees.
Also included are the summer
Headstart programs delegated to the
school systems in Franklinton and
Henderson and involving 316 students;
cooperation with the PACE program
with 16 students placed for summer
employment; and cooperation with
the on-the-job training program, invol
ving 42 trainees.
The resolution "earnestly request
ed" continuation of the program dur
ing the fiscal year July 1, 1968, to
June 30, 1969.
The Commissioners also received
representatives of the Mental Health
Program, including several from
Chapel Hill. The group gave an expla
nation on the workings of the pro
gram. Among those present were: Dr.
Will Edgerton, Dr. Terry Miller, Mr.
Henry Dier, Dr. Ken Bentz, Dr. Ralffs
Pickerton all of Chapel Hill and Tal
madge Edwards, Coordinator of the
local Family Counseling agency, Ed
ward Boone, Service Guide and Mrs.
Irene Scott, secretary, all from Frank
lin County and connected with the
project here.
Bob Preddy
? Man With An Idea
Bible Recording Firm
Is Formed Here
A Franklin County native with an
idea has come home and in coming has
formed a new business corporation for
this area. The man is Robert Preddy,
son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert T. Preddy
of Franklinton. The idea is the record
ing of the New Testament of the Bible.
Gospel Recorded, Inc. is Preddy's
firm and he is President of the organi
zation which has members of its Board
of Directors scattered across North
Carolina, with several local business
men among them.
Preddy's Arm has recorded the King
James version of the New Testament on
twenty long-play 33 RPM records. The
voice used is that of Rev. Tom Bolick
of radio station WADA in Shelby, N.
C. where Preddy spent the past twelve
years as sales manager for an oil
distributor. Bolick is experienced and
holds degrees in the ministry and in
voice. He airs a regular program over
the Shelby station called, "Daily Bible
Study."
Preddy, a 1956 graduate of Frank
linton High School, said it took 300
hours of recording to get the twenty
hours on records. "Some of the chap
ters were recorded 10 to 12 times
before the engineer said it was cor
rect", Preddy says. The recording was
done in Nashville, Tenn.
Preddy credits a number of people
with offering encouragement in the
development of his idea. He lists
among these T. W. Wilson, an associate
of Rev. Billy Graham who offered
suggestions on the voice to be used
and urged that Preddy see his idea
through. Pete Morrison, Genera] Mana
ger of Phillips Petroleum Co. of Bartes
ville, Okla. gave suggestions on how to
market the records. Preddy says there
were a number of other ministers,
religious laymen and sales people who
offered suggestions and encourage
ment. He also spoke of help given him
by his mother, Mrs. Flora Preddy.
Preddy is past president of the
Shelby Lions Club, a member of the
City (of Shelby) Safety Council, Coun
ty Safety Council and past president
of the Inter-Civic Council. He is a
member of the N.C. N.C.O. Club, a
Mason, a Shriner, a Moose, a member
of Eastern Star and an active church
worker.
He is married to the former Bobbie
Lloyd of Franklinton and the father of
two boys, Charles, 11 and Robbie 10.
The Preddys reside at 302 Lumpkin
Blvd. in Louisburg.
Gospel Recorded, Inc. also will
have offices in Shelby, N. C., the home
of the firm's vice president, Don
Beam, who is president of Beam Heavy
Equipment Company there. A third
office is to be established in Nashville,
Tenn. where the records will be manu
factured. The home office will be in
Louisburg.
Preddy says this is a "great break
through in the religious field" and
points out that it will "aid measurably
in helping people to better understand
the Bible". The product is ideal for
elderly people, Preddy says, and for
the youngsters and for those with
failing eyesight. "If a child could listen
to just one side of a record a night",
Preddy explains, "Jnst think of the
change this could make in a child's
life."
Sales of the 20-record package in
this area is being handled by local
churches and civic groups. Using the
area as a test, the firm plans to expand
its sales campaign nationwide in the
near future.