Chapter Thirty Nine

July 27, 1939

Miss Alice Hopper was a student in the Belwood school. She was a daughter of Mr and Mrs. Millard Hopper of Rutherford county and resided near Providence church. Miss Alice was a fine young lady and was very popular among the students of this school and the people of Belwood. She married Mr. R. L. Smith and she now resides very near where she was reared. Mr. Smith died about two years ago.

Miss Dovie Carpenter was a student at the Belwood school and was considered one of the best Christian girls in the school. She was from Stanley, N. C. Miss Dovie married John Glover and they live at the old Glover home place on the old Lincoln road, about three miles from Salem Methodist church, where Mr. Glover was reared.

Plato Hawkins was from Rutherford county and was a very fine young man and was a popular student in the school. He married Miss Nannie McDaniel. Mr. Hawkins died a few years ago in Forest City. At the time of his death he was a deacon in the Forest City Baptist church and president of the Men’s Bible class. His wife still resides in Forest City.

There were quite a number of other young ladies and young men that were students of this Belwood school whom I could speak of, also a number of other people who resided in and around Belwood that I could say many good things about, but I will now go back to Rutherford county and mention a few people and relate a few more incidents. I went from Belwood to Henrietta in the spring of 1895, about the time they started building Caroleen Mill. I made application for a job as a carpenter to help build houses at Caroleen, but they could not put me to work for a month or so. Instead, I got a job with Mr. C. M. (Marsil) Roberson at his livery stable to drive teams to buggies, wagons or do anything that was to be done around a livery stable. I think he paid me sixty-five cents per day. Mr. Roberson was a fine man to work for. He treated me very nicely. He was a great horse trader. He would make some good trades and occasionally he would get cheated. I recall trading him a mule for a horse he had one time and we swapped even. He kept the mule about three months and he gave me the mule and five dollars for the return of the horse. I also recall one time after I was married I hired a horse and buggy from him to drive to Forest City one Sunday to spend the day. We finally decided to make the trip on Saturday evening instead. We got the horse and buggy Saturday evening and went on the trip. On Sunday morning it was snowing and sleeting and Monday was no better and Tuesday was just as bad, so we did not go back until Wednesday. When I got back to the stable I said, “Mr. Roberson, what are you going to give me for feeding that horse for three days for you?” “0h, about a dollar I guess,” so I handed him a dollar. The price for a horse and buggy was two dollars per day.

Mr. Roberson was twice married. His first wife was, I believe, a Miss Bailey and they had seven children, five daughters and two. sons. Ada married Lon Fortune; Lillian married Charlie Belk; Beulah married LeRoy Smith and one married Jonah Harrill and the youngest one married Grady Moore. I don’t’ recall who the boys married.

His second wife was Miss Virginia Doggett and they had two sons. Mr. Roberson was a Democrat and always took a very active part in politics. He was a man I always thought a great deal of and he was a special friend of mine.