Operating Personnel
On the left is W. P. Jorgensen, secretary-treas
urer of the 'Southport Savings & Loan Association;
in the center is Mrs. Rachel C. Rook, assistant sec
retary-treasurer; and on the right is Mrs. Doris C.
Harrelson, clerk-teller. These pictures were taken
in the office of the Savings & Loan Association in
Southport.
Savings And Loan
Anniversary Recalls History
Today marks the. 50th anniver
sary of the Southport Savings &
Loan Association.
There are not many houses in
Southport which never have had
the benefit of money borrowed
from the association, or from its
predecessor in name, the South
port Building & Loan.
Perhaps that is why this in
stitution is held in such high
esteem and with such friendly re
gard by the citizens of Southport
and Bnmswick county, who know
it for what it was designed to be
—a home-owned, home-operated
financial institution whose pri
mary function was to help encour
age home building and home im
provement in this community.
The organizational meeting of
the Southport Building & Loan
Association was held on October
11, 1911, in the law office of
Oranmer and Davis. Authorization
had been given for issuing 200
shares of stock at $100 per share,
but business began after only a
total of 62 shares had been sub
scribed, thus creating a starting
capital of $6,200.
At this first meeting, M. C.
Guthrie was elected president of
the association, S. B. Northrop
became vice-president and D. I.
Watson was named see
f
retary-treasurer. Other members
of the original board of directors
were J. N. Daniels, Dr. J. A.
Dosher, Richard Dosher, and J. J.
Garrett. The remaining charter
members were J. J. Loughlin,
William St. George, A. J. Robbins,
W. J. Weeks, E. H. Cranmer and
Robert W. Davis.
Every one of these men is de
ceased.
Mr. Guthrie remained as head
of the local association until 1923,
when he was succeeded by Mr.
Northrop. He held this office for
eight years, until 1931, when fol
lowing his death he was succeed
ed by Mr. Daniels. The latter
headed the association as presi
dent until his death in 1936, at
which time his son, Dr. R. C.
Daniels, was elected to succeed
him. He served until his death in
1953, when he was succeeded by
H. T. St. George, who currently
holds this office.
One of the most colorful char
acters in connection with the ear
ly history of the Southport Build
ing & Loan was Dr. Watson, who
kept the records in one corner of
the prescription department of
Watson’s Pharmacy and who ever
kept a protective eye upon the
business affairs of the association.
In the beginning, most of the
Building & Loan accounts were
built up through weekly savings,
and Saturday for. Papa Doc was
the end of the week. For those
who were late in paying on their
savings shares a penalty was as
sessed, and it is a matter of rec
ord that Dr. Watson exacted these
penalties without show of favori
tism.
There were those, too, who
looked upon an account in the
Supervised Activity
Mrs. Rook looks on as Janitor Josie Galloway
waters the flowers in the planter in front of the South
port Savings & Loan Association office.
Building' & Loan as a sort of
transient spending fund, and
sometimes a man who called to
make a payment the first of the
week had felt the pains of eco
nomic pressure during his Satur
day night celebration. There are
reports that when some of these
came to the drug store to seek
financial relief, the venerable sec
retary-treasurer has been known
to tell them: “Well, you ain’t
going to get it”—and thus en
couraged the practice of uninter
rupted thrift.
There are stories, too, of loans
that he made out of his own funds
to help depositors whose condition
he knew, when they were in gen
uine distress.
He continued as secretary
treasurer until 1933, when he
turned over the entire responsibil
ity to the young man who had
been his assistant for several
years, James E. Carr.
It might well be said that much
of the success of the local savings
institution has been due to the
three men who have served in
this important role of secretary
treasurer, for James Carr was
one of the best beloved men who
has ever been in business in
Southport. He administered the
affairs of the Savings & Loan
with a fine balance between good
neighborliness and sound business
judgment and was in charge un
'f til his death in 1953.
The next man to assume these
duties, and the fellow who still
is in charge of the day-to-day
operations, is William P. Jorgen
sen, who had earned a reputation
for friendliness and fair dealing
while serving as Brunswick Coun
ty Tax Collector and later as
County Auditor.
The business has grown to the
point that he requires the assist
ance of two full-time helpers. One
is Mrs. Rachel C. Rook, who is
assistant secretary-treasurer, and
the other is Mrs. Doris C. Harrel
son, clerk and teller.
Officers of the association, in
addition to President St. George
and Jorgensen, include D. C. Her
ring and Joel L. Moore, vice
presidents.
In addition to these four the
board of directors includes H.
Foster Mintz, S. B. Frink, J. B.
Church and L. J. Hardee.
When James Carr became sec
retary-treasurer, the association
moved into offices in the Smith
Building on Howe street and re
mained there until three years
ago, when it moved into a new
building which had been designed
and constructed as the home of
fice. It is located next door to the
Southport Postoffice, which oc
cupies a portion of the modern,
air-conditioned building erected by
President
H. T. ST. GEORGE
the Savings & Loan.
The financial strength of the
association has made tremendous
strides since the day of organi
zation, for assets at the close of
business on June 30 of this year
were $2,756,536.62. Graphic evi
dence of recent growth is demon
strated by the fact that on June
30, 1951, the assets of the asso
ciation were only $391,300.21.
Officers of the Southport Sav
ings & Loan Association feel that
not only has this growth in as
sets helped to finance building in
development in Brunswick, coun
ty, but that it reflects the pros
perity of citizens of this area dur
ing the past decade. Emphasis
still is upon saving, and the men
who guide the affairs of the as
sociation take pride in the fact
that funds deposited there have
been used exclusively for loans
within the boundaries of Bruns
wick County.
At the annual meeting of the
association in 1913 the following
statement was continued in the
annual report: “The Association
is doing good work in Southport
and Brunswick county, and every
shareholder should have a lively
interest in his Association and
work for it, that it may grow lar
ger, increase its means, and be
better able to serve its members
and enable a larger number of our
citizens to own their own homes.”
Members of the committee
making this report were E. H.
Cranmer, H. L. Keith and George
H. Ruark.
It is evident that this spirit has
prevailed through the years, and
that it still is reflected in the
policies of this institution on the
occasion of its fiftieth birthday.
Waterfront
Strange is it may seem, chances
are that more lard stands are
sold in Brunswick than in other
county in North Carolina. Stran
ger still when it is considered
that comparatively few of these
tin containers are used for hog
fat. Nine out of ten are used
by visiting fishermen to pack
fish in iqe so they may be trans
ported home in condition suitable
for placing in the home freezer
or to be distributed as bounty to
the neighbors.
With the coming of spot fishing
season the sales tempo has quick
ened, which reminds us of a
strange sight we saw last fall.
We were riding down the long
straight road from Southport to
Supply when in the distance we
saw a beautiful fan-shaped dis
play of colored lights coming
from the back of a pick-up truck.
As we drew nearer we discovered
the source to be racks of these
tin cans which were reflecting
the rays of the sun.
This week we ran into another
chapter of the fish container
story. We saw a fellow walk out
of Leggett’s with a 20-gallon
garbage can, and as he crossed
Moore street a car stopped and
the driver asked, "Say, Fellow,
where'd you get the can’’ ? The
buyer pointed to the store and
went on his way. We checked
with the new prospect and found
out that both he and the first
man had been out on a king
mackerel trip and had come in
with a lot of these big fish. “One
of these cans is about the only
way you can ice and take home
these fish,” he said, "and I’m
planning to put some of them in
my freezer.”
Imagine a garbage can filled
with fresh, edible fish—so long
that when they are struck head
down in the container they are so
long you cannot get the top on!
That’s the kind of fishing that is
going on right now in Southport.
Letter Thanks
Sports Writer
Jiggs Powers, sports editor of
The News Reporter, recently re
ceived the following letter from
Lou Bello, well-known sports fig
ure, thanking him for an article
which appeared in that newspaper
and in The State Port Pilot:
Here’s Lou’s letter, dated Sept.
27:
“Dear Jiggs,
“On Monday, Sept. 25, one
of my Raleigh friends, L. A.
Billisoly, (we stayed at his
Long Beach, N. C. cottage in
the summer of 1954), gave
me his Wednesday, Aug. 30
copy of The State Port Pilot.
Mighty fine paper and that
was a wonderful writeup on
page 6 of ‘Lou Bello is WAA
Grid Clinic Leader’. Thanks;
many, sincere thanks!
“You certainly must be busy
as a publicist. I thoroughly en
joyed reading the entire paper.
I also heard you on WPTF again
recently.
“I’ve been busy with high
school and college football. Work
ed the Carson-Newman, Western
Carolina game in Asheville, Sept.
16, had a very fine trip to Gaines
ville, Fla. last weekend where I
worked the Clemson-Florida
game. Both teams excellent with
QB Libertore of Florida the dif
ference. Will be at Wilson this
Friday nite and Elon, Saturday,
for the Appalachian game.
“Going to the World Series
next week in NY—my first
WS and I’m all excited.
“Speaking to the Greenville, S.
C. Touchdown Club, Monday, Oct.
9 and to the Columbia, S. C.
Touchdown Club, Tuesday, Nov.
21. Also, I’m going to attend the
12th Annual Basketball Clinic of
the National Association of Col
legiate Commissioners, Oct. 23-24
in Washington, D. C. as an At
lantic Coast Conference represent
ative.
“Thanks again, Jiggs, and
regards to the many fine
folks in your area.
“Best personal wishes,
“Lou Bello”
ANN OUNCE BIRTH
A 2'C and Mrs. Woodrow Piner
of Fairport. England, announce
the birth of a daughter, Donna
Joan, on September 16.
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