Chapter Thirty Five

June 22, 1939

Rev. A. G. Gant was a Methodist minister and an outstanding citizen and man. I boarded at his home for a few months while I was working at Belwood and became very much attached to his family. Mr. Gant later moved to Shelby and several years later he was visiting his sons in Texas and was killed in an auto wreck.

Mr. Horace Thompson lived about two miles out from Belwood. He owned and operated a wood working plant in Belwood. He manufactured doors, sash and house trimmings. He also owned a shoe shop. A man by the name of Fite was the shoemaker and he could take the measure of a foot and make a pair of shoes to exactly fit. Mr. Thompson later moved to Shelby and opened up a lumber plant.

Mr. John Weber was a Rutherford county man but married in Belwood and located there. His wife had been married before, having married also a Weber the first time. I boarded in this home for several months while at work here, and it was an excellent place to board. Mr. Weber moved to Virginia some years later and he died a few years ago in Danville, Va. His wife is still living in Danville, Va., with her son Meek Weber.

Mr. Melvin P. Gant lived in Belwood and operated a tan yard and harness shop. He usually kept about six or eight hands employed and things had to move around where he was. He had no use for anyone who did not like to work. He was a good man to work for, and was a great friend of mine. Some twenty or more years ago he went on a trip to California and on his return home he was killed in a train wreck near Newport, Tenn. As I remember now, there were about one hundred people killed in that wreck.

Mr. Jonathan Hoyle lived in or near Belwood and was one of the best men I ever knew. He was a great Christian and could do some of the most impressive praying I ever heard. He would very often pray for people by name. He had a son Marvin Hoyle who was a widely-known minister, but he died while young.

Mr. Jonathan Hoyle’s wife was a Johnston before her marriage. She was a sister to Mr. David Johnston, who was clerk of superior court of Rutherford county and died a few years ago. Mr. Hoyle is still living and lives at Cornelius, N. C.

Mr. Will Porter was an unmarried man and not far from my age. He was the harness salesman for the M. P. Gant & Co. He traveled through the country with a wagon from one town to another and sold harness, bridles, collars and saddles. He later married Miss Ethel Baber and they live at Belwood and operate a store there. Mr. Porter is the only person now residing in Belwood that lived there when I left there in 1895. The people, both men and women, old and young, have either moved or died since I left there.