Chapter Five

Nov. 24, 1938

Fifty years ago there were no railroads in this county, so there was no market for lumber or cordwood. The farmers would cut the timber off their land and pile it up and burn it. They would have log rollings and invite all the neighbors to attend and help pile up the logs. I have seen saw logs piled up that would have produced two hundred feet of lumber, and logs without a knot in them. Sometime they would put hand sticks under a big log that would require ten men to carry. There were thousands and thousand of feet of the finest saw timber burned up in this way before there was any market for it. I remember the first steam saw mill that came into the community. The people came from miles around to see it. It was as great a sight to the people then as automobiles were when they first came into this county.

The farmers would cut the timber off their land and pile it up and burn it.

After the railroads were built into the county saw mills were moved in and they began to cut and saw the timber and ship the lumber. There was a fine body of excellent timber between Bostic station and Washburn’s store, and M. L. and J. L. Clemmer of Mt. Holly bought a large boundary of this timber at 12 1/2¢ and 15¢ per tree. Many of these trees made from 500 to 1,000 feet of lumber when sawed. They sawed this timber and delivered a lot of the timber in Charlotte for five and six dollars per thousand feet. They paid about $1.50 a day for a wagon and team for hauling and fifty cents a day for labor to work around the mill. They did most all of the logging of their mills with a yoke of Oxen.

Uncle Reuben Washburn lived about three miles north of Bostic station. He was a very successful merchant and done a strictly cash business. He married a Miss Crowder and they reared a family of nine children. Seven of them are still living. They were members of Salem Methodist church and were faithful members in the support of the church. I believe Uncle Reuben was a local preacher. He was a very conscientious man and always wanted to be sure he was right in his dealings, and did not want to wrong anyone.