^Ylew* - journal
SECTION II ^ ^ _
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1982
A Look
Early Service -- In 1904 John Blue extended the tracks of the Aberdeen and from Fayetteville. Service from the Laurinburg and Southern Railroad
Rockftsh Railroad through Raeford to Hope Mills Junction a few miles began here after 1910.
Former Resident Ielpim Win I?ie lisftRi
by Paul Fa
Hoke County Library Consultant
and Technical Services Librarian of
the Sandhill Regional Library Sys
tem, Paul Fu, is cooperating with
Mrs. Suzanne Cameron Linder, to
write a book on Hoke County
railroad history.
f Mrs. Linder is currently working
as Librarian/Media Technician for
the Orange Blossom Railroad His
tory Project sponsored by Rich
mond Technical College.
It is the authors' hope that the
book be used as a basis for the
future expansion into a book on
Hoke County history which we do
not have yet.
The project has received a grant
I from the National Endowment for
" the Humanities to research the
impact the railroad industry has
had on the growth of communities
in the Sandhill Region.
It is designed to involve the
citizen of this region in their own
history as they have moved from
agricultural-textile areas into di
verse industrial communities.
Fu is responsible for writing the
P history of two main railroads in
Hoke County which are still in
?II
operation. They are the Aberdeen
and Rockfish (A&R) and Laurin
burg and Southern (L&S) rail
roads.
Linder is responsible for organiz
ing, editing, and making photo
graphs.
She is also writing the history of
the third railroad, the Red Springs
and Bunmore, which was demo
lished in 1950.
Suzanne is not a stranger to some
Hoke residents. She's the daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. Tom Cameron of
Raeford, and graduated from Hoke
County High School in 1957.
After the graduation she entered
Converse College in South Carolina
as a national merit scholar student
with a major in history.
Suzanne finished her college
education in three years for a four
years' program. She continued her
study in Wake Forest University
with a full graduate fellowship and
received her M.A. degree in his
tory.
Suzanne's master thesis, "Wil
liam Louis Poteat, Prophet of
Progress," is a full-scale biography
of the late Wake Forest president
and proponent of academic free
dom, which was printed later into a
book and published by the Univer
sity of North Carolina Press.
Her second book, "Medicine in
Marlboro County. 1736 to 1980." a
detailed medical history of the
South Carolina County, was pub
lished by the Marlborough County
Medical Society.
In it. she managed to transform
dry statistics and courthouse
records and bits of biographical
data into a compelling narrative
which relates the progress of medi
cine in that county to the advance
ment of medical science in the
nation and world; reviewers have
hailed it as one of the best local
history books ever published in the
Carolinas.
Hoke County Library has both of
Suzanne's two books mentioned
above. She is thinking about
undertaking a third book after the
conclusion of the railroad history
project next spring.
"I'd love to write something
about railroad history -- but right
now I'm inundated with such a
wealth of information that it's
difficult for me to settle on a topic
that's sufficiently narrow for one
? ? ? ?/.If. Austin wai elected mayor of Raeford in 1913 and a ytar later the town began preparing
? vmter and sewer service. The project was finished in 1916.
book," she said.
Before joining the "Orange Blos
som Special" staff, Suzanne taught
history courses for two years at a
South Carolina technical college.
Earlier, she had taught in public
school -- at levels from kindergar
ten through high school.
She took a year off from studies,
between college and graduate
school, to teach in Winston-Salem.
There she met Jim Linder, then a
student at Bowman Gray School of
Medicine, now a Bennettsville sur
geon. They were married 20 years
ago.
As both a librarian and a
histdrian, Suzanne thinks the pur
pose of librarian work is twofold.
"We want to stimulate the public to
use the libraries more, and we want
to place the historical material we
accumulate permanently in li
braries. I see this historical preser
vation aspect as the main purpose
of the (Orange Blossom Railroad
History) project," she said.
This is the main reason why
Suzanne and Fu are working
together to publish a tiny book on
Hoke County railroad history,
which is largely based on Hoke
County Library's Local History/
Genealogy Collection.
Actually the book is a further
expansion of Fu's article. "Aber
deen and Rockfish Railroad Was
Critical to Hoke County," which
was published in The News-Journal
on September 30. 1982.
He spent almost two years in
collecting and organizing local
history/genealogical material, in
cluding the researches on various
family connections in the Sandhill
region.
The work was completed one
year ago.
The focus of the railroad history
book is concentrated on the analy
sis of its two builders, John Blue
and John F. McNair, and their
family members' participation in
railroad business.
Their connection with the opera
tion of Hoke's two important
transportation system have greatly
contributed to the growth of the
county and the development of its
business.
The book will be published soon
and will be distributed to the public
without any charge on December 6
when the Sandhill Regional Library
System celebrates its 20 years
anniversary.
Hoke County Library is a mem
ber of the system. On that day the
library here will have an open
house. All the county residents and
the friends in the Sandhill region
will be cordially invited to jointly
celebrate its birthday in the library.
The open house will include
several activities. Meanwhile, Su
zanne also plans to come to
Raeford and help distribute the
new books.
Railroad/train photos and pic
tures will also be displayed in the
library.
Some folks have not seen Su
zanne for a long time, this is her
home-coming and a good oppor
tunity to talk to her.
Please come to the library on
December 6, one week from today.
See you next Wednesday.
The McLauchlin Company The firm was founded by the "Father of Hoke County" J. W. McLauchlin, and is
believed to be the oldest business in Raeford. The business started as a country story.