Newspapers / The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, … / Aug. 26, 1938, edition 1 / Page 4
Part of The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
t . "S- T 1111 ' THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY. .HERTFORD. N. C.. FRIDAY. AUGUST 26, 1938. ' ';-;pAGE FOUR - r ' V tf ' i in"" ' J ' " 1 "- ' j - , 77t 77: , . r 7 m 7y . ,1 1 a34. J 'A 'n ' 1 1 '4 v f FIHST STORE OPENED BY WILLIAM RAVLS MCHARD AND STILL IN SAME FAMILY FOUNDER OF BLANCHARD'S Now In Hands of Third Generation, Store Is largest In Perquim ans County In the year 1832, when Andrew Jackson waa president of the United States and when the country was celebrating the first centennial of the birth of George Washington, a young North Carolinian was starting his career as a merchant. He little sus pected that he was laying the founda tion of a business that would endure for more than a full century and en joy the distinction of a centennial celebration of its own. This young man was William Rawls Blanchard, a native of the county of Gates and a descendant of a family that had already been settled in that section for more than a century. His great-great-grandfather, Benjamin Blanchard, lived first in Mansemond County, Virginia, and then moved to Worth Carolina about 1701. In that yfear it is recorded that he obtained a grant of 455 acres in what is now Gates County, then a part of Chowan, i a risen miles or so across the line' i from Nansemond. j ' i Many iof the same names that are , - w--w . 11.. -U 1 iUnn HO iic Been oil uie uiu mumg u vuvoc i days are those that are familiar to-' day, many of which can be found on the books of the Blanchard firm jthroushout the past century; such : r names, for example, as Baker, Bar- cliffc, iBnyce, Chappell, Davis, Elliott, felton, Gregory, HolloweH, p, Morgan, Newby, Nixon, Reed, Spewht, Perry, Riddick, Saunders, Skinner, Sumner, Toms, Whedbee, TOute, Winslow and many others. Hey are truly among the "first fam ilies of North Carolina." Shortly after his marriage, William Bnchard opened a little country Stom in Chowan County, about ten ilea south of his birthplace at a pteca called Small's Cross Roads, or imply Cross Roads, about twelve miles north of Edenton on the old Edenton-Suffolk roadj now Route No, ,32. After five years at the Cross Roads Mr. Blanchard formed a partnership with James C. Skinner and together they moved the business to Nixon's Bridge in Perquimans County, about three miles up the Perquimans River from Hertford. Nixon's Bridge be came something of a shipping center and small sailing vessels were fre quently to be found tied up at the wharf there. Much of the trading between points as far distant as New England and the West Indies passed through the hands of the Blanchard firm. During the disastrous period of the Civil War it became increasingly dif ficult to replenish the stock and the business dwindled to a much smaller volume. Mr. Blanchard, however, was endowed with considerable in genuity and mechanical skill and in his own workshop fashioned and made many farm implements. He built a sugar mill, raised sugar cane and supplied his own needs. He tanned the hides of his cattle and with the leather made shoes. People who could do these things were a.ble somehow to defy the "de pressions." After the war the business was moved to Hertford (in 1866) to a lo cation on the west side of Church Street, between Grubb Street and Punch Alley. In the early seventies the business was moved to a larger building on the northeast corner of Church and Grubb Streets. After Mr. William Blanchard's death, his son, Thomas, became sole owner and continued at the corner location until driven out by fire in 1879. Mr. Blanchard saved some of his stock, however, and was soon in stalled in a vacant store on the south side of the Courthouse Square, the present site of the Blanchard busi ness. In 1912 Mr. T. C. Blanchard, hav ing devoted some forty-odd years of his life to the store, decided to re tire. Since that time the guidance of this establishment has been largely in the hands of Mr. J. C. Blanchard, MERCHANTS IN HERTFORD COPE WITH KEEN COMPETITION 111 MEETING DEdlAND Supplying Every Need Of Section Efficiently Principal Reason For Town's Existence WILLIAM BAWLS BLANCHARD (1810-1875) Founder of the Blanchard mercantile business in 1832. who began in the business with his entry as a clerk in 1901. In time he persuaded the older heads to build a new store and in 1909 the present handsome brick building was erected. And so the little country store at the Cross Roads which was started in 1832 has passed into the hands of the third generation and has become the largest department store in the county. During the past few years extensive alterations have been made onhe interior, greatly enhancing its attractiveness and affording better facilities than ever for serving its in creasing clientele. Expansions, modernizations and an eye to "the trend" have made this store second to none in the section. It is not without reason that an estab lishment of this sort has lived for over a hundred years. Chance may have played a part, but1 ' it, could hardly have survived so long had it OH OUR TISIBB -ADDIVEBSABY - - IT IS WITH PLEASURE THAT WE MAKE THE OPENING OF THE SOUND BRIDGE PART OF OUR OCCASION FOR CELEBRATION CONGRATULATIONS.... To the People of the Albemarle VISIT OUR STORE Luggage You Will Be Proud to Own Clocks - Watches not maintained the high standards of business conduct established by its founder and won the confidence and approval of the community it has served. (Data from Dr. Julian Blanchard's.0' several Hertford "A Century of Merchandising.") Indiaaa Did Not Value. Money Whileofflcialsof the Unitad State government and Indian leaders were dickering" over proposed trea ties to settle ownership of Ohio lands, one chief replied, in response to the offer of money: "Money is of no value to us, and to most of us it is unknown. We know these set tlers on land north of the Ohio riv er are poor. Divide this large sum of money you offer to us among the settlers. This will repay them for the land they have settled on. You could also share among them the large sums of money you spend for an army to drive us off our land." The quiet, peaceful outward ap pearance of this elm-shaded little city on the banks of the broad Per quimans River in the "Land of Beau tiful Women," belies the activity and keen competition that is part of the daily business of the leading firms within the town. For though the city itself is very old in tradition and rich in history, the business must be up-to-the min ute in serving the demanding needs of a vast agricultural area which in turn must be progressive to meet the competition offered by other outside producers. Supplying the farmers' needs, and supplying them efficiently, is one of the principal reasons for Hertford's existence, and the fact that it has existed for so long furnishes proof that the people who own and operate these houses are familiar with the needs of an enterprising farming sec tion. It would be very difficult for a farmer, in this sectlor to name any particular piece of farming machin ery or a small item of equipment that he could not secure in any one establishments. It has been for so long the business of Hertford . firms to anticipate the farmers' demands, that they can get on a moment's notice, the smallest or largest item or set of items that they could ask. From tractor to smallest nut or bolt can be secured quickly. Then to furnish the most discrimi nating in things of wearing apparell, the local stores make it their busi ness to overlook nothing in their ef forts to stock the best and at uni versal prices. Most of these pro gressive and forward-looking estab lishments maintain "specialty peo ple," employees whose duty it is to keep abreast of the times in their particular line whether it be ladies' wear or men's clothing. The result y-vi'f of this arrangement is that the same garment which makes its appearance on Bond Street or Park Avenue to day, is stocked in a Hertford store and displayed in its windows tomor row -probably at a much more rea sonable price. Then to further belie the "picture town's" quiet day-dreaming, are the newer specialty shops, electrical ap pliances, beauty shops, etc. Three nationally-advertised automobile deal ers are located here. The largest lumber company in the State is locat ed a mile from the city's front door, while a large fertilizer manufacturing plant and seed and bean processing plant covers 22 acres on the water front. The city's natural resources "offer unlimited opportunities, recreational and industrial. The visitor finds here a broad fresh water river well-filled with game fish, deep woods teeming wit!) wild life. Sailboats, cruisers and smaller boats add the vacation land touch. The prospective industrialist would do well to contact one of the city's civic organizations and have it enum erate the section's advantages, a rail road through the town, navigable waters connecting with outlets to sound and ocean, interlocking high way systems, locations and sites, all surrounded and covered with ideal climatic conditions running to neither extreme in winter or summer. Ain't It the Truth? Nexdore I'm going to take my radio set with me when I go on my vacation. Nayber-rThat's very thoughtful of you. ' It certainly needs a vacation. And There fore Saf There Pipes - Tobaccos i Whitman's Candies Magazines 8 yrTaTiS n r w i.i, CAMERAS and Supplies Perfumes Cosmetics Fountain Pens CHINA Pottery and Glassware "To Fit Every Purse and ' Purpose'', "J. G. ROBERSON'' to Acquaintances rLENN ROBERSON" to his Friends I . ..,. - III ! "11 i j can be no VI ?; in com- M . 13 danger- ' i : Y CZ7, I 1 TOm.H -r .v.:v.:::-m ' .i I I N--- It; , I,:.: m a r jrw .. . ,lt ' 1 I t I ;.'.. I ' r II I The Great Pyramid of Egypt It is believed that the Great Pyr amid of Egypt was built by Bong Cheops in 4700 B. C, and that 100, 000 men were employed for ten years in making a causeway 3,000 feet long to facilitate the transporta tion of stone from adjacent quar ries and the same number of men worked . 20 years more to complete the pyramid. Another Day Is Here! pounding scriptions are too ous! Our sion is never failing I PHONE 77 And with it the opening of a fine new Sound Bridge . . . more travel . . . new friends . . . new relations . . . closer union ... WINSLOW - WHITE MOTOR COMPANY "Your Ford Dealer" AND THEIR CORPS OF TRAINED MECHANICS offer - - A Welcome to Hertford COME AND SEE US ... LET US SERVE YOU Comigiratalatioini -v ii . 1 g, 1 k i. - - ' 4 ' IS V ine opening ot the new Albemarle Sound Bridge : . . 1 and CONGRATUIiATIONS : . . IF . . . Yoa 0;vn a Fd?tD ; I- V ill i You've got Performance, Economy, Utility, the best of h ?i he three'- 'r: VS'-t'i lJ;iTili-:; V- - Vll V atch the Fords Go By" 1 - 1 r- , v 1 i 4 " r - , r r;:yoiuR ford dealers ; - i 1 "THE DRUGGIST" to the Community , HERTFORD, N. C
The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Aug. 26, 1938, edition 1
4
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75