NUMBER 42
FACTS OF INTEREST
ABOUT BENSON
Town Was Chartered 1887;
Named for A. M. Benson
Who Owned the Land
(By Mrs. J. R. Barbour)
The town of Benson, N. C., was
named for A. M. Benson, a farmer,
who owned about two-thirds of the
present site of the town at the time
it received its charter. This was in
1887, two years after surveying for
the Atlantic Coast Line Railway was
begun. Nearly all of the town now
lying west of the railroad was owned
by Mr. Jesse Holmes.
The first building erected in the
town was a wooden structure, shop
and dwelling Combined, built by
Stephen O’Neill whose family was
the first to settle in Benson. He
was father of Mrs. R. R. Brady.
Other pioneer families were those of
Dave Wallace, Bill Johnson, J. H.
Boon, John D. Parrish, Criss G. Ryals
and Dr. Willis Turlington, the
town’s first physician and second
mayor. He lived in the house now
owned and occupied by R. F. Smith,
which until 1897 was located in the
eaxet middle of Main street, which
it now faces.
Mr. V. L>. Johnson was urst ponce
man and says it was a common oc
currence to have half a dozen d nk
in the lock up in one day. A bar-room
was the first place of business to
open and the town could boast ? of
three within a few months.
A. H. Slocumb soon started a tur
pentine distillery, also E. H. Rankin,
who opened the first dry goods and
grocery store combined. Most of the
first buildings were erected by A. M.
Benson but a fire occurred in March
of 1894 and two during 1903 destroy
ed practically all of the first places j
of business.
Brick buildings soon l'eplaced these .
crude wooden strutcures however, !
and now the town has about sixty j
well equipped business houses nearly I
all of them being modern brick build- j
ings.
The first church to be organized in l
Benson was the Missionary Baptist !
which was first organized at Dog |
Eye and moved here the very year j
the town was chartered. Meetings I
were first held in the building above
mentioned erected by Stephen O’Neil. 1
Later a lot was given by him in that j
part of own now known as Brooklyn j
upon which a small church was built, ;
This was blown down a few years la- '
ter. Their pastor was Mr. Betts.
Soon other churches were organized
and now there are five, the Metho
dist. Presbyterian, and Missionary I
Baptist occupying buildings which
would do credit to a much larger 1
place.
In the first Baptist church built, •
a subscription school was taught by I
Miss Nolia Benson. A part of the J
site on which the present school :
building now stands was given by j
Mrs. Catherine Benson, widow of A. I
M. Benson, and there the first school j
house was built; the last remnants of j
which were removed to the scrap heap
only a few weeks ago. There Miss j
Mattie Hare and Miss Effie Harper j
taught and later Prof. J. P. Canna- !
day taught for about ten years, be- j
fore he became County Superintend
ent of schools. In the Benson ceme
tery a lovely monument was erect
ed to his memory in 1911 by the school j
children of the county.
The Benson school, now an accredit- j
ed school, occupies one of the most !
modern and handsome school build- 1
ings in the county and employs a
superintendent and thirteen teachers. '
In 1895 Mr. J. W. Whittenton open
ed the first jewelry store, not only
in the town but in the county.
The first drug store was owned 1
by J. W. Benson. After Dr. Turling- '
ton. the following physicians locat- j
od here in order named: Doctors,
Jones, More, Rowland and Parker: !
the last named still retaining a large
practice in the community. Benson
now has three as nicely equipped drug [
stores as are found in any of our 1
cities, and there are five practicing ;
physicians located here: Doctors, H.
H. Utley, J. F. Martin, G. E. Park
er, A. S. Oliver and S. P. J. Lee. The '
town also boasts of one of the state’s
leading diftitists, Dr. W. T. Martin 1
and a number of lawyers who have j
attained emminence in heir profession
are J. R. and O. A. Barbour, Ezra
Parker, James Raynor, J. M. Morgan,
C. C. Cannaday and N. T. Ryals, three
of whom, O. A. Barbour, Ezra Parker
and James Raynor, have served two
I
THE FARMERS COMMERCIAL BANK OF BENSON
The Farmers Commercial Bank of Benson, is five stories high including basement. It is constructed of Indiana
limestone entirely. The interior of the banking room is equipped with Italian marble. There are thirty-five of
fices in this building, each having hot and cold water. The building is steam heated throughout and electrically
lighted. The basement contains pressing club and barber shop with seven chairs and six shower baths. A person
can get anything in the building from a shoe shine to an X-ray picture of his entire body. The bank has a capital
and surplus of $135,000.00. Directors are B. B. Adams, M. T. Britt, W. D. Boon, L. Gilbert, Chas. Johnson, and
C. T. Johnson. It is a member of the Federal Reserve System of the United States.
terms each in the State Senate.
Those who have served the town
as mayors, according to the best in
formation obtaintable, are Johnnie H.
Brantham, Dr. Turlington, P. Holly,
Will Weeks, G. W. Cavanaugh, C. C.
Ryals, H. L. Hall, Jesse Britt, O. A.
Barbour, Ezra Parker and C. C.
Cannaday. Some of these served two
terms.
In 1909 the town was fenced in and
a law enacted forbidding any one “to
turn out or cause to be turned out any
stallion, cow, ox, heifer, horse, mule,
jack, jenny, calf, goat, sheep, hog.
or geese within the limits of the
town”—Such offense to be punished
with a fine of five dollars.
It is hard to imagine that until that
time geese squawked at one’s heels
on Main street; hogs grunted and
rooted where they pleased, and the
lowing of a cow disturbed one’s slum
bers at night, in a town where now
even the chickens are kept strictly
in their owners own back yard, and
the prospects of paved streets looms
brightly in the future.
The first newspaper was establish
ed in Benson in 1907 by Mr. Busbee
Pope now of Dunn. It was called
“The Spokesman.” This was sold in
1914 to Mr. J. B. Benson who changed
it’s name to “The Benson Review”
which still flourishes. A few years
ago “The Eastern New's” began its
existence, so the town now supports
two newspapers and printing offices.
In 1914 local electric lights were in
stalled by Mr. A. Parrish. The town
now gets its power from the Caro
lina Power Company and enjoys most
efficient lighting and also water ser
vice.
For twenty-one years the telephone
exchange has been operating in Ben
son.
Among the towns oldest merchants,
who have built large trade and are
widely known are J. H. Boon & Son,
C. T. Johnson, P. B. Johnson, A.
Parrish, Preston Woodall, Chas. John
son & Bro., Rose & Woodall, C. W.
Anderson, James E. Wilson and J
Greenthal and others, who have more
recently established prosperous busi
ness houses.
Benson’s past is not illustrous, but,
based upon its present life a prophe
cy of the towm would probably be
more interesting. Within the past
decade it has made rapid strides in
different phases of improvements and
now presents to the visitor a neat,
clean little town sprinkled about with
a goodly number of lovely homes,
handsome churches and school build
ing, a modern brick hotel, two large
banks, the Farmers Commercial oc
cupying one of the most expensive
and up to date bank buildings in the
state. Two lumber plants and two
cotton gins do good business here.
Nearly 20,000 bales of cotton are
marketed 20,000 bales of cotton are
two ear loads of . chickens and eggs
are shipped daily to Northern mar
! kets.
The town, in addition to the assets
n entioned already in this sketch, has
1 txcellent market facilities, a Public
| Library, a live Chamber of Commerce,
a wide-awake Woman’s club, a large
J Parent-Teacherd’ Association, many
! church and social organizations and
^ fraternity orders. Its citizenery is of
. the very best. The business men
j are energetic and progressive; its
people as a whole are friendly and
j sympathetic. It is a busy town; a
; happy town; a town with an ideal
! and altogether a good town in which
I to live.
! SELMA TO HAVE
TOWNSHIP FAIR
Tuesday evening Miss Minnie Lei
Garrison, Home Demonsration Agent,
met with members of the Woman’s
Club of Selma for the puipose of dir
cussing a township fair for Selma.
The women of the club were quite
entl.usisastic and the following men |
present promised their hearty sup- j
port in the undertaking. Mayor Ay
cock, Messrs. J. D. Massey, Wad j
I Erown, Matt Wall, John Wiggs, C. G. !
| Wiggs, Kuntz, Lowe, C. R. Lee, and !
j Dr. Noble.
j Mrs. Debnam is president of the
; Woman’s Club and has been active in j
j bringing about the decision to have j
i a township fair. Mrs. C. G. Wiggs, j
president of a rural club was also
present, and promised the coopera
tion of her club, which had such a
creditable exhibit at the county fair J
last fall.
It was decided to hold the fair in
October, the exact date to be an
nounced later. The executive commit- i
tee of the Woman’s Club together \
■ with a committee of three men will
| start things going at an early date
j by appointing committees for the va
j rious departments, these committees
' to be distributed over the township.
I The business men present discussed
j prizes to be offered and it is certain
I that a number of prizes will be of- ,
fered by Selma business firms.
Dr. R. J. Noble, president of the j
.Johnston County Agricultural Socie
| ty, made an opportune, talk relative
j to the County Fair, pointing out how J
j the township fair can cooperate > ith (
the County Fair.
HELD FOR ROBBING THE
OXFORD POSTOFFICE IN 1920
i Philadelphia, Pa., May 23.—Charg
. ed with robbing the postoffice at Ox
; ford, N. C., of $25,000, in 1920, John
O’Brien, said to be known to police
throughout the country as “Hostile
John,” was arrested here today by
federal authorities. He was taken in
to custody when he applied for treat
ment at a hospital, where it was said
he was suffering from cancer. He is
64 years old. Federal officials have
been looking for O’Brien since 1920.
THE ASHLEY SMITH |
PROPERTY SOLD;
Group of Smithfiled People
Purchase the Entire Prop
erty of Ten Lots
One of the most valuable pieces of
business property in Smithfield, a
block on the corner of Market and
Third streets at the intersection of
the busiest streets of the town, was
sold at auction yesterday bringing
$81,840, the purchasers being Messrs.
F. K. Broadhurst, J. J. Broadhurst,
W. H. Austin, W. M. Sanders and F.
H. Brooks. This property which
fronts Market street seventy feet and !
two hundred feet on Third street, was j
owned by Ashley Smith, an old time
slave negro, who by thrift and in
dustry has accumulated considerable j
property. Since it became known that
this corner was on the market there ■
has been quite a bit of speculation as
to who would purchase it and for
what purpose, so yesterday when the
brass band, one of the lures which j
Allen Bros., of Raleigh, the selling j
agents, used to draw a crowd, started
up a large number gathered, some to
satisfy their curiosity, others to bid
on the property.
ihe property had been divided into
ten lots each twenty by seventy feet.
The first lot auctioned off was the
corner where a two story brick build- j
ing is located. The bidding was lively
but was finally knocked off to Mr.
J. J. Broadhurst who was acting for
the group of men already designated
as the purchasers at $14,610. The 1
next lot, the location of the Busy Bee
Cafe, a wooden building, brought
$6,125. The third lot on which also 1
a wooden building stands was closed
at $3,425. The remaining seven lots,
which have no buildings and which !
extend to the Farmers Warehouse, j
brought a lump sum of $7,680.
At the close of the sale a few i
cash prizes were awarded. Those I
present were given a card to sign. ,
These were then shuffled and the
names drawn designated the win- j
ners of the money. The lucky per
sons were: Harry P. Johnson, $15.00; ,
W. D. Avera, G. A. Martin, L. T.
Pearce and John W. Medlin, a dollar
each.
REPORTS DISCOVERY
OF CURE FOR CANCER
New York, May 23.—An apparent j
cure for cancer consisting of a solu- '
tion of collodial of lead, which is
an enemy of diseased tissues, has
been discovered by Professor Blair
Bell, of Liverpool University, ac
cording to Dr. L. E. Houghey, of
Concordia, Kanssa, who returned to \
day on the steamship President
Adams after studying surgery abroad
for several years.
THE SCHOOL HERE
CLOSES NEXT WEEK
Dr. B. R. Lacy to Preach
Sermon Sunday Night;
Literary Address
The finals at T. G. g. begin to
night with the music recital of the
junior pupils of Miss Margaret New
ell. The senior recital will be given
Monday evening. On Sunday even
ing at eight o’clock, Rev. R. R. I^acy,
D. D., pastor of Central Presbyterian
church of Atlanta, Ga., will preach
the baccalaureate sermon at the
graded school auditorium. Dr. Lacy
is well known in his community hav
ing served several Presbyterian
churches in Johnston County in the
beginning of his ministry. He is
scheduled to deliver the sermon at
Peace Institute, Raleigh, Sunday
morning. The various churches of
this city have given away their night
services, and will unite in hearing Dr.
Lacy.
Next week, on Wednesday night,
the graduating class will give the
class day exercises. This class has
the distinction of being the first to
hold their exercises in the new high
school auditorium and something dis
tinctive in the way of a program is
expected. The young men and women
who will graduate are as follows:
Misses Sarah Patterson, Ruth Brooks,
Leone Sanders, Mary Avera, Edna
Coates, Beatrice Matthews, and Mes
srs. Mose Godwin, Donnell Wharton,
Gilbert Grady, Alton White and Mil
ton Parker. On Wednesday evening
the honor rolls will be read and prizes
awarded with the exception of the
Edwin Smih Pou medal which will
be given Thursday evening.
The program has been arranged so
that on Thursday evening the liter
ary address will be chief feature. Dr.
E. C. Brooks, State Superintendent
of Public Instruction, has been se- i
cured to deliver the addi-ess, which
is sure to be well worth hearing. The
salutatory and valedictory will be a
part of this program which will close
with the presentation of the diplomas.
PRESBYTERIAN WOMEN WIN
RIGHT OF REPRESENTATION
Montreat, May 23.—Women today
won the right of representation on
executive committees of the general
assembly of the southern Presby
terian church by the overwhelming
vote of 140 to 49.
Advocates of the minority report,
favoring the granting of the overture
of St. Johns presbytery, Florida, pre
senting the women’s request, drove
supporters of the majority state
ment into an admission of defeat be
fore the vote was taken, when Dr.
R. C. Reed, Columbia, S. C., former
moderator and chairman of the com
mittee on bills and overtures, assert
ed on the floor that he realized his
position was lost.
“I cannot argue against the great
work the women have accomplished
in the church,” Dr. Reed continued,
“but I do question whether we can
place women in executive positions
and conform with the teachings of
God’s word.”
Sixty-three per cent of the mem
bership of the southern Presbyterian
church is composed of women, Judge
S. F. Hobbs, of Selma, Ala., a com
missioner, declared in submitting the
minority report, adding that over
half of the church missionaries and
99 per cent of the members of mis
sion study bodies also are women.
He challenged opponents to the over
ture to show cause why the women
should not be recognized.
Declaring that the women had con
tributed more than $1,000,000 for
mission work during the past year,
Dr. E. W. McCorkle, Rockbridge
Baths, Va., stated he believed they
should have a voice in determining
how the funds should be expended.
Dr. Egbert W. Smith, of Nashville,
executive secretary of the foreign
missions committee, followed with
the assertion that it was his opinion
the women’s committee would prove
of great assistance, especially in his
work. G. F. Kirk, Tuscumbua, Ala.,
took the same position.
The membership on committees do
not give the women a vote in the as
sembly sessions, but gives them a di
rect voice to that body.
Dr. Read was the only speaker in
behalf of the majority report, and
the vot* on the minority q£atement,
offered as a substitute, came after a
DR. L. B. McBRAYER
GIVES TESTIMONY
Closed Evidence Taken In
Legislative Investigation
Of the Sanatorium
Four hours and a half of grilling
cross examination of Dr. L. B. Mc
Brayer, superintendent of the State
Sanatorium, closed the testimony in
the legislative committe’s investiga
tion of the conduct of the institution
yesterday afternoon and immediately
afterwards, the committee adjourned
to await the preparation of the
transcript of evidence before mak
ing up its report.
Thirty days or more will be re
quired for this purpose the commit
tee stenographer anticipates on the
basis of an estimated thousand page
record. Copies of the record will be
furnished each member of the
committee and each of the attorneys,
while the latter allowed ten days fol
lowing the receipt of the transcript
to file a brief. If it is desired, Chair
man T. C. Bowie announced the com
mittee will also hear oral argument
when it assembles again.
Combatting his inquisitor at every
step of the cross examination, Dr.
McBrayer left the stand in tears,
following an emotional break down
that occurred when he was called up
on to testify on re-direct examina
ion, of transactions involving the car
rying out of the wishes of his dead
wife in the distribution of furniture
which the complainants charged was
the property of the instituion and
which Dr. McBrayer testified was the
property of the family. Dr. McBray
er wept silently while Mr. Hinsdale
delayed further questioning to give
the witness time to recover.
The taking of tesimony which end
ed yesterday afternoon began dur
ing the latter part of the General
Assembly when the press of legis
lative business forced a continuan t
of the committee with authority to
complete the investigation after ad
journment of the legislature and to
made a report to the Governor. The
committee resumed its inquiry on
May 15th and has held daily sittings
since.
Scores of witnesses including em
ployes, former employes, former
patients, physicians, and others who
had information relative to Senator
ium matters were examined before
the committee. For the most pati
that body contented itself with hea:
ing ttye evidence. Questions fro::
members of the committer h:j •<
rare.
For the complainants, the invest -
gation has been conducted b" Jot
Hinsdale and J. C. Little, Raleigh
attorneys, and Caveness Brown, of
Lillington, while the defense has
been represented by Judge Walter
W. Neal, of Laurinberg, and Judge
Walter Brock, of Wadesboro. N. 1
Broughton, of Garner, Wake County
representative whose resolution w; :
responsible for the investigation of
the institution, has attended all sit
tings of the committee, aiding the
attorneys in the examination of wit
nesses.
Dr. McBrayer completed his direct
examination which started Tuesday
afternoon, yesterday morning at 11
o’clock. It was a detailed review of
the contentions of the defense in a -
swering to charges.—News and On
server, May 24.
CANCER IN ONE YEAR
KILLS 90,000 PEOPLE
NEW YORK, May 23.—Cancer
claimed 90,000 victims in the United
States last year and 180,000 more will
die within the next two years, all of
whom might hav ebeen saved or at
least had the course of their disease
mitigated by prompt diagnosis and
expert treatment, according to Dr.
Frances Carter Wood, of the Crocker
cancer research laboratory, who today
addressed the state medical society.
Relief from cancer, he said, must
come first from awakening of the
public to the dangers of the disease by
means of the publicity work of the
American society for control of can
cer.
Then, Dr. Wood said, family physi
cians must mak eearly diagnosis and
submit their cases immediately to
competent surgeons.
day filled with heated debates and
the transaction of much business.—
Associated Press.