There are many, many names that could be mentioned in connection with Cliffside-people who helped to build a “model textile town.” I will not get nearly all of them, but I do want to give some names of personalities as I can remember them through the years. These were some of the white men in the town.

I would like to add Jim “Bunk” McCraw; he was the town’s funny boy.

The women I remember most from the town were the following:

The black people were always part of the town and were very well respected. I want to name some of them. They were the following:

Some of the black women were, namely:

(Aunt Lou McSwain is the great grandmother of Chuck and Rod McSwain, players for the Clemson University Varsity Football Team, 1981 National Champions.)

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I want to tell about Little Nora Oglesby. She was just a tiny, little thing, not more than four feet tall. She always went barefoot. I was scared to death of her. Simp, her husband, seemed to save his money and have plenty. When Nora wanted anything and Simp wouldn’t buy it for her, Nora would leave home. She wanted a piano once and Simp wouldn’t get it so she left home. Simp bought a piano and she came back. She wanted one of these pretty, blue Majestic wood ranges. Simp said no that he couldn’t buy it. Again, she left home and again Simp bought it for her and she came back. She really knew how to get her way, didn’t she?

Back in those days, children had many chores to keep them busy. It was so different from children growing up these days. My brother and I would get home from school in the afternoon and we had to carry in stove wood, coal, pine splinters, oak wood for the fires. Then, we had to go to the well and draw all of the water that was used in the home. We had to go and feed the pigs. On each side of the town were rows of pigpens where people could have their own pigs. We also had cows to look after and during the summertime, my brother and I used to take the cows to graze. We had many other chores that we had to help with because we did not go in and turn on an electric stove; we could not go in and turn on a faucet for water; we could not go in and have a well-heated home from gas, electricity or fuel oil, as we have today. All of this work was not unpleasant to us. It was a part of every child’s life and it helped to build character and responsibility into us.

You remember I told you about the little boy who worked at the theater, who sold popcorn and peanuts, helped to sell tickets, later on would go back up in the back and help to run the motion-picture machine. This little boy was an adopted child. He was Earl Owensby. His parents adopted him when he was just a baby. They did not have a lot of this world’s goods, but they gave him a lot of love and tried to give him all of the material things that they could. As he worked there in the theater, he had a vision and said to himself, “Someday when I grow up, I am going to have my own movie companies.” And he did. Today, he is recognized as probably the largest movie director on the East Coast. He has, between Boiling Springs, N. C. and Shelby, N. C., a big complex entitled the E. O. Corporation. He has a lovely chalet home, a landing strip for his private jet, and he is a multi-millionaire, probably the only one to come out of Cliffside. Not too many years ago, they had an Earl Owensby Day to honor him there in Cliffside. People came back from far and near-lawyers, doctors, dentists, people from all walks of life. There was even a great actor from Hollywood who came from California to be at this affair. He is one of the successful persons who came from a small textile community.

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This has reference to the town clock that has been mentioned before. It stood on top of the R. R. Haynes Memorial Building. When the building was being torn down, the people were so concerned about this sentinel that had stood through the many years. They did not want it to leave Cliffside. So it was arranged that it be placed up on a beautiful, grassy knoll where the old ancestral home once stood. This was done and ceremonies were held for the dedication of it. A luncheon was given at the Cliffside Baptist Church. All of the Haynes relatives were invited back and I happened to be included in the invitations. Also, a new plant that had been built between Cliffside and Henrietta was on tour for the day. It was a great day and everyone was so pleased that the town clock had been preserved.