CHATTING WITH RAEFORD FOLKS
3 Jutqqfluced quite a batch of Rae
ford people to ouy readers a year ago,
bat the number of,Voice readers has •
considerably increased.since that time.
Let me introduce you to my pj^friend
Edgar Hall, acquaintance dating-back
to my. Lumberton days when Mr.
Hall was a resident of Robeson. He
became a citizen of Hoke in 1908 .
without moving. Hoke got Old. Blue.;
Springs township of Robeson. - They
have cut it up into three or four
townships in the baby county. He is
clerk of the''court and, I believe,
doesn’t even have any opposition to
his reflection. '
While I am’talking to Edgar Hall
in comes the chairman of the- board
of'county commissioners, Mr. F. F.
McPhaul, a fine farmer who is giving
Laurie McEachern a lively race for
the position of representative. The
latter would stand a fair chance to
become speaker if renominated, but
that is to be settled June 2—tomor
row by the date of this paper.
- How to Pronounce McMcnem
Carl Goerch and| Wade Lucas have
both tried to give their readers the
pronounciation of “McEachern,” but
have utterly- 'failed. Wade's attempt
made it “MoCairn.” Boys, I am an
authority. I took lessons in pro
nouncing that name under the pa
triarch of the clan more than thirty
years ago—Archie Johnson’s brother
in-law—was it D. S. McEachern? He
wrote under the liom de plume of
“Snyder” and I recall him rather by
that name. He was long a resident
of Red Springs and his pronunciation
of the name was probably derived from
Gaelic speaking Scotch or from those
whose parents spoke Gaelic. Laurie
was- reared in Georgia and probably
never really learned his name. There
a ta three syllables in the Scotch pro
nunciation. The nearest I can illus
trate the pronunciation in cold type is
thus: Ma-ke-hern. Those letter com
binations must be pronounced with a
nasal twang, which, in my case, ae- .
tually >:makes my nostrils finlveT. Ac--;
cent the second syllable; Ob the last
two syllables is where the nassl twarig 7'
Comes into play.
s Well, Laurie has got to wi:i Hay 2
before he can begin to count his
speakership .'chickens. R. Grady
Johnsdn down in Pender has the same
problem. '
Mr. and 'Mrs. T; B. LTpchnrch were
over at Hot Springs, Arkansas, last
year and I had the pleasure only the
other day of meeting those fine peo
ple. Mr. Upehurch is one of the largest
property holders in Hoke and lias one
of the most lovely homes in eastern
North Carolina. He came from Wake
a poor half-orphan lad with the sup
port of his mother largely upon him.
His’first task at forty cents a day was
to pay off the mortgage on hfs moth
er’s little home in Wake. His success
is well deserved, but is doubtless due
in part- to- that fine wife of his. She
is one of the Fuquay Springs John
sons, a double-first cousiu of that
splendid Wake citizen, K'. B. Johnson
of Fuquay, father of the two Johnson
teacher men in the Dunn school.
Mr. Covington, the sculptor, was not
at home. Mrs, Covington said that he
had created- a number of things dur
ing the last year, but never has cor
raled exGovernor McLean to get the
final touches on his bust.
xne ignored smooit sends uut first
Class of Graduates
I am in Dr. Brown’s office when
Supt. Hawfield comes in and I learn
that Dr. Brown is president of the
town school board and has been a
member of it for years. He directed
the throwing of the first dirt for the
erection of the colored. high school
building ten or twelve years ago, and
Mr. Hawfield had the diplomas in his
hand for the first class of fourteen.
They had already been passed at
commencement to the members of the
class, when by; mere chance Mr. Haw
field picked up that for the daughter
of the first colored man who appeared
on the scene that day a dozen years
ago to help prepare the ground for
the building. A most fitting happen
ing that. The diplomas were back in
hand to receive the signature of Dr.
Brown. That is the one colored high
school in; , tho county and some of the
pupils walk several miles to attend it.
Mr. Hawfield says the attainments oif
some of the graduates compare iavor
ably with those of the graduates of
the white school. , ,, . .
•I met the chairman Of the jaunty
school board—Mr. Louis Parker, an
other staunch farmer and a mau of
fine economic sense, as I discovered in .
a chat with him.' Dr. ^Fairly, the
scholarly pastor -of the Presbyterian
church, was just off for his vacation.
I .whs much impressed with that gen
tleman wheij. I met him last fall* Dr.
Gromartie, one of Raeford’s fine physi
cians, was ilL,- He,., of course, is one
of the Bladen Cromartiea. I failed
also to see my eld Robeson friend W.
B. McQueen.* I found him at Raeford
at the time I met Dr. Fairly last fall.
He is a good one. I have, never intro
duced you to Mr..E. B.vMcNeill, Rae
ford's biggest merchant. You should
know him—he is a real man. And in
the dry goods department of . that
huge store is Mr. A. K. Stevens,
another fine gentleman. , Ryan Mc
Bryde was off at his sawmill in Cum
berland. He has one at Raeford' also.
As Hoke does not have the senatorship
this year, Senator McBryde is not go
ing through the throes of a campaign.
Mr. Baucom, merchant, was out,-of
town and I failed* to show him that
pair of shoes I got from him last May
17, which, worn every day since, hasn’t
a break in them, though they have
seruflfled the pavements of probably 50
Capital, Surplus, Profits & Reserves
In Excess Of
$600,000.00
Smithfield, Dunn, Clinton, Benson, Louisburg Kins
ton, New Bern, Morehead City, Roseboro, Beaufort
North
North Carolina towns and cities and ;
had 4vad? ntf repair; at the "date of my ;
yi^;ex^bt?a pair'or two of strings.
Probably I shall show them to him
next May, as they look good for
another .year/ They cost $1.85 and A
year’s subscriptionr to The _ State’s
Voice. . . : ^
: 3tn the Baticom store, i met a nephew
of his, TOuhg Weaver, who has been
teaching at the Six Buns school over
in Sampson. He had been teaching
the ideas of some of the young Peter
sons over that way how to shoot. He
is another of the legion of Wake For
est men in the school business in this
State - ‘ - t ..
Baeford boasts its sculptor, its ex
cellent editor, Paul Dickson, and long
time editor and witty anti-monkey
legislator, D. Scott Pool, its senator
and representative, but one of the
most interesting characters there is
Dr. A. C. Bethune, steeped in Scotch
history particularly. He even visited
Daniel McNeill, descendant of Neill
McNeill, up in Canada, to learn of
the first appearance of that pioneer of
tlje Scotch in the Cape Fear section.
One of these days I hope to have an
article from Dr. Bethune on the early
settlers of the. Cape Fear section. As
ap example of what he can tell is the
statement that the first man to get a
lapd grant at what is now Wilming
ton was the ancestor of our old friend,
John Maultsby, long a resident of Fay
etteville and dealer in real estate over
several counties. ■ *
Dr. Bethune is of course a descen
daiit * of Moore’s great land-owninJ
congressman, Lauchl^ Bethune
owned largely the Port Bragg iand°
of today." Fortunately for his ^
scendants they did not acquire tha
barren acres and have to try to nialT
a* living' upon them after turpentij*
ceased’ to be a source of considerable
income. It may astound our friend
Bion Butler to pronounce such a
heresy—but about the only thin*
those sand hills are good for is *ta
shoot over and to afford room for *0lf
courses. It is the very place for
Uncle Sam’s greatest infantry camp 0r
fort I refer to those areas in which
the nearest clay is across the next
creek.' •
iJDr. Bethune is a double-first cousin
of L. A. Bethune of Clinton and of the
Harnett county Bethunes. The Be
thune name is as old as French or
even -Gallic history, Caesar spelled the
name of the present town of Bethune
in France “Bethunia,” which is almost
identical with the present name, for
‘th’ and ‘t’ are interchangeable in all
the4ryan tongues. The first Bethune
went to Scotland so long ago that the
French strain is so thin that the Be
thunes may be accounted full-blood
Scotchmen.
I shall tell you of other Raefordites
another time. But here and now let
me say that Raeford is one of the most
delightful communities I know.