Thursday, December 20, 2001 :
Vol. 113 No. 51
b
Since 1889
_ with
tast Gaston
6A
50 Cents
MERRY CHRISTMAS, KINGS MOUNTAIN
~ Christmas
Historical Museum.
=
Mary Neisler looks inside the cabin while it was at its original
site on the western side of Kings Mountain.
Ro
Williams donates 200-year-old cabin
to Kings Mountain Historical Museum
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer i nh
Kings Mountain will be
receiving a gift this year from
one of its residents.
Toby Williams has donated a
log cabin to the Kings
Mountain Historical Museum,
which has been on land he has
owned for a number of years.
Williams, who bought the
cabin from his sisters, said the
cabin has a history before his
own life.
“That cabin’s there a long
time before I. was,” Williams
said. “I bet I don’t know how
old it was.”
The cabin, which is now dis-
assembled, sits in a truck until
it will be erected again on
property next to the Historical
Museum on Piedmont Avenue.
Although Williams never
lived in the cabin, he spent a
lot of time around it, especially
when he was between 12 and
13 years old.
“I just played around and
worked out there,” Williams
said. “My daddy would take
me out there on the wagon
and say, ‘you do this, and you
do that.” oe
Williams worked as a farmer
who grew crops that included
cotton, wheat, barley, and oats.
Progress, although it did not
interfere with his farming,
came through another piece of
land he currently owns in the
form of the U.S. Highway 74
compassion
Christmas party Friday at City Hall
for families who lost homes in fires
BEN LEDBETTER / THE HERALD
Kings Mountain resident Toby Williams recently donated a log cabin, believed to be over 200 years old, to the Kings Mountain
TOBY WILLIAMS
Bypass.
Along with his cabin, the
bypass has also become histor-
ical, according to Williams.
“It’s not the bypass, it’s the
main highway now,” Williams
said. “They came through
there and got 22 acres.”
Williams received some
money to build another house,
with the building of the
bypass.
The ownership of the cabin
went through different own-
ers, like the bypass assuming
another function.
Williams’ grandfather
George Ware owned it before it
was passed on to his father
W.A. Williams.
See Cabin, 5A
_ Bypass.
Mabrys note 65th Christmas together
By BEN LEDBETTER together
Staff Writer through the
years.
“Just have to
work together
and trust in the
Lord,” Eloise
said. “And he
Hoyle and Eloise Mabry will
have seen a lot in their 65 years
together on Christmas Day.
It all started at a party one
night.
“We didn’t know each other helps you
before that,” Eloise said. through all the
And through the years, team- way. MABRYS
work and faith are elements that The two
have helped keep the Mabrys married in 1936 in Gaffney, SC,
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
Celebrating 127 Yeans
with a judge conducting the cer-
emony.
That was shortly after Eloise
graduated from Central School.
Currently the Mabrys attend
Boyce Memorial Associated
Reformed Presbyterian Church
on King St. She attended a
church in her hometown of
Bessemer City before moving to
Kings Mountain when the cou-
ple married.
When Hoyle joined the Navy,
Kings Mountain
300 W. Mountain St.
704-739-4782
529 New Hope Road
he served during World War II
and he saw different parts of the
world. Some of the places he
saw during his tour of duty
included Guam, The
Philippines, and Pearl Harbor.
“It was rough,” Hoyle said “I
don’t want to go through it
again.”
The two were married during
Hoyle’s time in the Navy, and
See Mabrys, 5A
Gastonia
704-865-1233
106 S. Lafayette St.
704-484-6200
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
Bob Grindell was at City Hall
the day after the house he rent-
ed burned when he ran into
Mayor Rick Murphrey.
After hearing about
Grindells losses in last
Tuesday's house fire, the mayor
decided to do something.
“He was down here doing
some business and I came over
to speak to him,” Murphrey
said. “In talking to him he said
at that time he had been burnt
out and had nothing.
“At that time, I said, “We'll
ask the community to get
together and we'll hold a
Christmas party.”
And after receiving numerous
_ calls about people wanting to
make donations toward the
family, Murphrey is helping
organize a Christmas party for
the Grindells and the Swangers
Friday at 3 p.m. at City Hall.
City Hall has become one of
the donation drop off sites as
Murphrey said he’s seen money,
cash, and clothing arrive.
Furniture is also expected to
arrive, and Murphrey said
packages should be wrapped
before being dropped off.
On Monday, the Christmas
tree had a number of gifts
under it, and others were stored
in the council chambers.
But individuals have not been
the only ones giving.
See Christmas, 5A
Guiding hand
Woman says man saved her life
when she made wrong turn on 74
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
This Christmas is one Maryita
Spann of Kings Mountain will
remember for a long time.
She witnessed what she calls
“the hand of the Lord” guiding
her last"
Thursday
when she came
out of the park-
ing lot of K-
Mart in Shelby
and turned the
wrong way on
a busy
Highway 74
Spann, 79, WE di int
said she had SPANN
her mind on
things other than driver after
losing her keys in K-Mart. She
had to call a locksmith to
unlock her car so she could get
a spare car key to crank her car.
“I had all of that on my mind,
and it was also about 6:30 at
night and I'm not used to driv-
ing at night,” she said. “When I
came out the light was green
and instead of turning up the
right lane (74 East) and coming
back toward Kings Mountain I
went across the to left side of
the road (74 West) and turned
back toward Kings Mountain.
Spann said there were numer-
ous cars “coming over the hill”
on the westbound lanes and she
began saying “Oh, Lord Jesus,
please help me!”
Almost immediately a
motorist came “out of nowhere”
and blocked the lane she was in,
got out of his car and directed
traffic away from her vehicle.
“I rolled down my window,
and he said ‘watch my hand,”
Spann recalled. “When the traf-
fic cleared he directed me back
across the highway to the right
lane and on toward Kings
Mountain.”
Everything happened so fast,
Spann was not able to get the
man’s name and thank him for
his actions.
“I would like to get in touch
with him, because without him
I don't think I would be here
today,” Spann said. “I thank
God for him coming over and
, saving my life.”
Spann said her hero was
about 40 years old, “a nice look-
ing young man” wearing a yel-
low shirt.
“I go to Shiloh church in
See Spann, 5A
GARY STEWART / THE HERALD
David Gamble, son of Anne and John Gamble, tells Santa what he
wants for Christmas Saturday at the Kings Mountain History
Museum.
Shelby
Bessemer City
1225 Gastonia Hwy.
704-629-3906
Member FDIC