/ .
The
Published Every Tuesday & Thursday
/-*?
Serving All Of FrarVkhn County
# '
Tel. Gy6-3283
Ten Cents
Louisburg. N. C.. Thursday, January 23. 1969
(T welve Pages Today)
99th ' Veer-Nu/nber 98
$1000 Reward Offered For
Information On Missing Man
Friends and neighbors of Brooks
Merritt,. missing from his home in the
Moulton Community since January.
10, have posted a reward of $1,027 for
"information leading to the trial and
conviction of anyone having com
mitted physical harm to Mr. Merritt."
Merritt, 61, a bachelor living alone,
was first reported as missing on Wed- '
nesday, January 15,
according to Sheriff
William T. Dement's
office. The Sheriffs
department and vo
lunteers launched an
extensive search of
the area near the
man's home but fail
ed to turn up any
clue as to his where
MERRITT abouts. The Sheriff
has since contacted hospitals in the
area and friends and relatives of Mer
rill to determine if he might be visiting
them without having mentioned his
trip to neighbors.
Merritt is described as being about
5'10" tall -and weighing around 135
pounds. When last seen he was report
edly wearing stripped overalls.
The reward funds have been turned
over to Clerk of Court Kalph S. Knott.
Sheriff Dement released the announce
ment of the move by Merritt's friends
and neighbors Wednesday. The test of
the release follows:
"We, friends ani neighbors of Mr.
Brooks Merritt, being concerned, anxi
ous and afraid that he has .met with
foul play hereby offei1 above reward
for information .leading to trial and
conviction of anyone having com
mitted physical harm to Mr. Merrill.
Above reward to remain with Franklin
County Clerk of Court for six months
or until such time Mr. Merritt is found
free of harm."
Perkinson
Renamed
Rescue Chief
(Frk. B.W.) The monthly meeting
of the Frinklinton Rescue Service was
held last Friday evening at the newly
acquired rescue building on Main
Street.
The following officers were elected:
Chief. A. J. Perkinson; Asst. Chief,
James Payne; Captain, Kenneth Peter
. son; Lieutenant. Robert Ayscue; Sec
retary-Treasurer. Wilson Gupton.
Records show that they made 212
calls during 1968 an increase over the
first year. There are now 14 members
in the local rescue service which is *--*
completely voluntary.
Recently four new members joined.
They are Bobby Ray, Bob White,
Rudolph Bridges and John Bridges.
The local rescue service expressed their
gratitude to the Franklinton Lions
Club and to the people in Franklinton
for their help in raising the money for
the fescue building.
NC 39 Set For
Bids Next Week
-Bids are to be received by the State
Highway Commission Tuesday of next
week, January 28, on rebuilding a
section of NC 39 highway east from
Henderson, the Vance Board of Coun
ty Commissioners has been advised. A
similar stretch of NC 39 in Franklin
County is to be considered . in bids
received that day.
Because of rising costs and lack of
funds for the entire project from
Henderson to Loulsburg. only sections
of the road will be let to contract at
this time. It was explained. Highway
officials met with the commissioners
last Thursday and explained the reason
for being unable to build the entire,
road. '
Bids to be received Tuesday will
cover 1.7 miles in Vance County east
from tfce city limits from Andrews
Avenue to a point noKh of Gillburg. It
had been hoped 2.7 miles of road
could be let from the $600,000 al
lotted Vance County from the $300
million State highway bond issue, but
mounting costs will make this Impos
sible now.
Meeting with the commissioners
were , Merit T. Adkins, division en
gineer, and W. F. Adkins. district
engineer. The board had requested the
meeting In order to learn details of the
project and not to complain of the
reduction in the amount of work that
could be done at this time.
Franklin County's allocation for
that portion of NC 39 from the State
bond issue was $760,000. Slightly
more of NC 39 from Henderson to
Louisburg Is in Franklin County than
In Vance, which accounts for the
difWence In funds. ' j
Check Reward
Franklin Clerk of Court Ralph Knott, left and Sheriff William Dement are shown
above holding checks and cash totaling $1,027 which is being offered as a reward
by "friends and neighbors of Brooks Merrltt", a Moulton Community white farmer
who has been missing since January 10. The State Bureau of Investigation has
entered the case to assist Dement's department in the mysterious disappearance.
Staff photo by Clint Fuller.
Humphrey Is Promoted
Fort Stewart/ Hunter Army Air
field. Georgia. January 15, 1969 -
Command Sergeant. Major Hal F. Hum
phrey has been named Center Sergeant
Major of the U. S. Army Flight Train
ing Center. Fort Stewart/Hunter Army
Airfield. Georgia.
Sergeant Major Humphrey; who, in
this capacity, ic the highest ranking
enlisted man at the Fort Stewart/
Hunter complex. Previously, he served
as Army advisor to thej&h Battalion,
113th Artillery. 30th nnfantry Divi
sion. North Carolina National Guard,
Louisburg. North Carolina.
He recently returned from Vietnam
where he served as Sergeant Major of
the 54th Artillery Group from 1966 to
1967.
At Center Sergeant Major. Hum
phrey will serve as enlisted advisor to
he Command Sections on matters of
health, welfare and morale of enlisted
personnel.
A native of Clark. North Carolina.
Sergeant Major Humphrey began his
military career in 1946. He was or
dered to active duty with the 690th
Field Artillery Battalion In New Bern,
North Carolina. In 1950. He spent the
next five years as a First Sergeant and
HALF. HUMPHREY
*s
Sergeant Major with the 690th at Fort
Campbell. Kentucky, and in Germany.
During this period he attended the
Seventh Army Non-Commisaioned Of
ficers' Academy .
From 1955 to 1956 Humphrey was
See HUMPHREY Page 8
State Expected To
Give Aid To Frankli n
Attorneys Set Feb. 4 As Deadline In Case
The State. Attorney-General's office
is expected to offer some assistance to
the beleagued Franklin County Board
of Education li\ Its latest skirmish with
the United States Department of Jus
tice. School officials, meeting for an
hour with Attorney General Robert
Morgan and assistant Attorney General
Ralph Moody Tuesday afternoon, re
ported the meeting as "fruitful." Be
yond this, however, locals are awaiting
a statement by the Attorney General
as to th? degree of participation by the
State.
Board attorney E. F. Yarborough.
Board Chairman Horace Baker and
Vice Chairman Clint Fuller conferred
in Raleigh on behalf of the Board and
asked that the State enter the total
Jury Excuses
To Be Heard
Judge Llnwood Peoples will be here
to hear jury excuses for the February
3 term of District Court on Friday,
January 24, according to Clerk of
Court Ralph S. Knott. Peoples will be
in the courtroom between the hours of
10 A.M. and 12 Noon, Knott said.
Youths Held
For Break- Ins
Three juveniles have been arrested
by Franklin Sheriff William T. Dement
in connection with three break ins at
Jasper Parrish's Store at Oswego on
NC-561. The names or the suspects are
being withheld but it was learned that
two of the boys are 14-years-old and
the third is eleven. Two live on Louis
burg, Route 2, and the other lives on
Rt. 1, Castalia. All three are Negroes.
The trio is expected to be charged
with robbery of the Parrish store on
January 10, 17 and 18. Dement says
they will be turned over to District
Judge Linwood Peoples, who serves as
Juvenile Judge. Some of the merchan
dise. consisting of small items, such as
knives, cigarette lighters and candy,
was recovered, according to Dement.
case. The trio pointed out that two
charges In the latest line directly affect
every school system in the State.
Indications are that he Attorney
General will join in to defend the 1958
ruling by his office, which prohibits
children whose parents live outside the
district from attending schools in the
district. There is the possibility that
the department will also join in efforts .
to defend the method of "classroom
assignments used by Franklin County.
The method, which uses the "Califor
nia Reading Test", is nationally recog
nized and widely used in North Caro
lina. Should the federal government be
successful in knocking down these two
Franklin policies, every system in the
state would be affected, according to
Board attorneys.
DEADLINE SETTING IS ROUTINE
Meanwhile an agreement has been
reached by Board attorneys and attor
neys for the original plaintiffs to have
February 4 as the deadline for all three
papers filed recently against the Board.
Attorney E. F. Yarborough dis
closed this morning that he has success
fully sought to have the one deadline.
The February 4 date falls routinely as
the twentieth day from the date of
service of the charges by the Justice
Department. Papers filed by the
NAACP were sent to the wrong court'
resulting in a delay in them being
served on the defendant Bna?cL,.f he
filing of interrogatories by the plain
tiffs. first of the three papers, would
have had an earlier deadline without,
the agreement, said Yarborough. The>
consent agreement was delivered to ''
Judge Algernon Butler, who signed it
into an order. It had been erronously
reported that Butler had issued the
deadline. Yarborough explained that
the entire matter is routine in such
cases. He did not discount the possi
bility that an extension might be
requested in order to gain time for
entry into the case by the State of
North Carolina.
School Board members report a
mounting deluge of calls from
teachers, other school personnel and
private citizens in support of the man
ner in which the schools have been
operated this year Locals cont inue to
express surprise at the latest c harges.
which have been branded as "u ntrue"
by the Board in issuing an "em phatic
denial" of charges of discrimin ation.
Offers of money with which ti "> pay
Board member fines, as, requeste. d by
the Department of Justice, have t ?en
coming in along with some offers by
private citizens to serve some of . the
time, should the Board be found >n
contempt. Board members hive *. S;
pressed their appreciation to all fo r
these expressions of support.
There are three possibilities before '
the State Attorney General in the C
Franklin case.(aciording to a reliable
source. Hp.kcan enter the case as
Amicus Curiae-a friend of the court-as
a party to the action, who volunteers
some information and opinion upon
some matter of law; or he may enter
and become an Intervenor and thereby
become a full party to the suit: or he
may offer assistance in the form of
legal help by his department.
The tuition question arose in 1958
when residents of Virginia attempted
to send children to schools across the
line while schools in their state were
closed in defin?nce of integration. The
ruling was "still adhered to" on Sep
tember 4, 196H> in a letter to Franklin
Clerk of Court 'Ralph S. Knott. It had
also been reaffirmed in July of 1960 in
an opinion to tfie Durham City School
Board.
In essense. the one sentence states
the position of the Attorney General's
ruling. "I can find no statute authoriz
ing the schools of this state to enroll
pupils whose parents* are domiciled in
another state."
In regards to thi situation where
children are left with grandparents or
other relatives while the parents reside
outside the state, the ruling states, "It
is my opinion that these. children, or
pupils, are not entitled to attend the
public schools of this state."
The Franklin Board first set a
policy of non-attendanqe by such
pupils but due to the hardships involv
ed last fall, altered the policy to one of
tuition for this year only. Such child
ren will not be eligible for the next t
school session under the Board's pre
sent policy.
Army Names Building In Honor Of Franklin Hero
A Franklin County airman, who
gave his life in Vietnam rather than
risk injury to a group of people stand
ing on a runway at the airfield, has
been honored by the U. S. Army. The
Link Trainer Building at Ft. Wolters,
Texas, home of the U. S. Army Pri
mary Helicopter "School, has been re
named the Bennett GatyWilder Build
The Wilder Building houses the link
trainer used to teach pilots to fly by
instrument.
Wilder. 38. at the time of his death
in the crash of a helicopter in Vietnam
on September 29. 1967. was a 1949
graduate of Edward Best High School.
He was the son of the late Henry A.
(Fay) Wijder and Mrs. Lena Gay Wil
der. who now lives in the Seven Paths
Community of Franklin County.
Wilder's wife. Mrs. Elizabeth Austi
Roth Wilder unveiled the plaque de
noting the new name of the building in
ceremonies at the Army base recently.
Col. Lloyd G. Huggins. U. S. Army"
Helicopter School Commander also
participated in the ceremonies.
Wilder was born September 5, 1929
aod entered the Army in 1949. He
served in five Korean War campaigns
and received his wings and promotion
to Chief Warrant Officer in December.
1956. At the time of his death, he was
a Senior Army Aviator, qualified in
both rotary and fixed wing aircraft. He
had expressed a desire to fly while a
student ft Edward Best. He was killed
on his aectyid duty tour of Vietnam.
He served at Ft. Wolters from 1965 to
March. 1967 as assistant airfield opera
tions officer. He arrived in Vietnam In
July, 1967, is a part of the Array's
U-21 New Equipment Teat Team. He
had served two tours In Germany,
where he met and married his wife.
Among the special assignments
given Wilder daring his career as an
Army pilot were flights by the late
President John F. Kennedy to Paris.
President Dwight Eisenhower to Por
tugal and Henry Cabot Lodge to Viet
nam. \
The crash which resulted in his
death was called by his superior of
fleers a "selfless and heroic act."
Special ceremonies were held at
Edward Best High School on Novem
ber 11, 1967, in honor orWilder. They
were attended by his mother and a
brother. Jimmy Wilder of Raleigh and
a host of friends and relatives.
The Bennett Gay Wilder Building +
Mr*. Elizabeth Aurta Roth Wilder, widow of C. W. 0. Bennett bay Wilder, who wa? killed in Vietnam tact September, la
shown above following the unveiling of a plaque renaming the Army'i Link Trainer building at ft. Wolters, Texas in honor of
tne Franklin County native Col. Mo yd G. Muggins, right, U. S.. Helicopter School Commander, assisted in the ceremonies.
U.S. Army Photo.
? I -in T: ?? rn