Generation No. 3

N9. DAVID JORDAN⁵ WHICHARD (David Fleming⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born on August 8, 1862 in Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina; died there on July 25, 1922; and was buried in Greenville’s Cherry Hill Cemetery.

David married Henrietta Williams Sutton on November 14, 1888 in Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina.  A daughter of Hugh A. Sutton and Betty Perkins, Hennie was born on September 21, 1868, in Greenville; died there on January 11, 1957; and was buried in that city in Cherry Hill Cemetery.  According to The Chronicles of Pitt County, North Carolina, published by the Pitt County Historical Society, Greenville, North Carolina, 1982, p. 710, “she was the society editor and managed the circulation for The Daily Reflector until the illness of which she died.”

A staunch Democrat, the paper Dave founded echoed the sentiments of the post-Civil War Democratic Party, and included such exhortations as these from The Eastern Reflector, of October 31, 1888:

“The Republican are registering a number of young negroes who are not of age.  Watch them!”

“Vote the whole Democratic ticket from President down to Constable.  Anything short of that will be a failure to perform your duty.”

“The Republican bosses and their leaders are engaged in solemn caucus during the entire day last Sunday.  Such a desecration of the holy Sabbath portends low, dirty and disreputable work.  Watch them!”

Marriage of David Jordan Whichard and Henrietta Williams Sutton

The Eastern Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Wednesday, November 14, 1888:

MARRIED.

At six o’clock this morning at the residence of Mr. H. A. Sutton, father of the bride, Mr. D. J. Whichard, editor of the Reflector, was married to Miss Hennie W. Sutton, Rev. J. W. Wildman officiating.  Immediately after the ceremony the bride and groom left for Richmond to attend the exposition.  The Reflector (that is what there is left of us) extends to the happy couple its heartfelt congratulations and the hope that their lives may be ever as bright and happy as on this bridal morn.  May fate entertwine for them its sweetest garlands of peace and happiness.  And at last, when they have swept down the river of life unto the boundless sea of eternity, may they be again united to pass in each other’s presence a glorious immortality.

Biographical Notes on David Jordan Whichard

From Sketches of Pitt County: A Brief History of the County, 1704-1910, by Henry T. King, Edwards & Broughton Printing, Raleigh, 1911, p. 235:

WHICHARD, DAVID JORDAN, son of David F. and Violetta (Jordan) Whichard, was born in Greenville, August 8, 1862.  His father entered the Confederate Army as a private in Company C, Forty-fourth regiment, and was promoted Commissary Sergeant.  After the war, he served as deputy sheriff, deputy Register, and Register of Deeds.  His mother was a daughter of A. G. Jordan, a farmer and school teacher, of Pactolus.

Mr. Whichard secured a good common education, mostly under his mother, who was one of Greenville’s pioneer teachers, and entered a print shop, becoming part owner of a newspaper, before he was sixteen years old.  After a partnership of several years, he bought the interest of his brother.  Their first paper was the Greenville Express, which became the Easter Reflector in 1882, and also the Daily Reflector in 1894, both of which were merged into a stock company in 1910.  He has served two terms as Clerk to the Board of Alderman, one term President of the Chamber of Commerce, and also had been President of the North Carolina Press Association.  He is a member of the Baptist Church, has been Superintendent of the Sunday School and for twenty-six years one of its deacons.  He is a Royal Arch Mason.  Soon after the building of a telegraph line from Tarboro, he became operator, and has continued with the Western Union since it bought the line, and for some time was express agent.

In 1885, he married Hennie, daughter of the late H. A. Sutton, and they have four children.  His oldest son, David J., Sr., has served two terms as Page in the General Assembly.

From History of North Carolina, v. 5, North Carolina Biography, Lewis Publishing Company, 1919, p. 313:

DAVID JORDAN WHICHARD is one of the veteran newspaper men of North Carolina, learned the printing trade when a mere youth, and was publisher of a paper by the time he was sixteen years of age.  Mr. Whichard has for many years been proprietor and editor of the Greenville Reflector and has made it one of the ablest papers in the state in point of circulation and influence.

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Friday, February 26, 1904, p. 4: ASSAULT ON THE EDITOR On Wednesday afternoon as the editor of The Reflector was returning from dinner he was passed on the street by A. Horton, a saloon keeper.  As he was passing he (I) said, “Good evening, Mr. Horton” and was surprised at the latter saying “Don’t trouble yourself about speaking to me or I will mash your jaw.”  He used other threatening language of the same character as he walked on, but no reply whatever was made to his threats. Thursday evening a little after 6:30 o’clock, as the editor was on his way home from the office, at Five Points, he was assaulted from the rear by Horton who struck him several times. To defend himself the editor drew a pistol and shot twice at his assailant.  One of the balls struck the stomach, but coming in contact with a button, its force was broken so that no damage was done.  The editor was not injured.

Mr. Whichard was born at Greenville August 8, 1862, a son of David Fleming and Violetta Hearne (Jordan) Whichard.  His father spent a number of years as a teacher, served as deputy sheriff and deputy register of deeds and lacked only one vote of being elected to the office of register of deeds of Pitt County.  In the beginning of the war between the states he entered the Confederate Army and was in service with the rank of commissary sergeant until the close of hostilities.

David J. Whichard received his early education in a private school conducted by his mother.  He had barely mastered the rudiments of an elementary education when he began learning the printing trade.  In 1877, when he was fifteen, he and his brother Julian established a small paper known as the Express.  In 1882, they established the Reflector, a weekly paper, and in 1885, David J. Whichard bought out his brother’s interest and in 1894 established the daily edition of that paper.  The weekly edition is still continued under the name Eastern Reflector.  Mr. Whichard was editor in charge until 1913, and has since been president of the Publishing Company and also editor.  In the early part of 1917 the Publishing Company was dissolved and he again became the sole owner of the paper.

At different times other activities have engaged his time and attention.  For twenty-nine years he was manager of the local office of the Western Union and for four years was express agent at Greenville.  He served as city clerk, two years, and since May 26, 1913, has been postmaster of Greenville and since 1914 has been secretary of the North Carolina Postmasters Association.  Both personally and as an editor and publisher Mr. Whichard has put forth strenuous efforts in behalf of the cause of prohibition in his community and state.  He was founder and is vice president and director of the Home Building and Loan Association of Greenville.

Mr. Whichard has been a deacon of the Memorial Baptist Church of Greenville since 1884, and for many years has been chairman of the board of deacons and a trustee of the church.  He is a Royal Arch Mason.  November 14, 1888, at Greenville, he married Miss Hennie Sutten (sic).  They have four children, Hennie, Essie Sheppard, David Julian and Walter Linden.  The son David has been assistant postmaster of Greenville since he was twenty years of age.  Following the entrance of our nation in the world war, military leave of absence was obtained and the young man enlisted in the army service and went overseas.

Excerpt from The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Friday, December 1, 1995, recounting the history of that newspaper on the occasion of its sale to Cox Newspapers:

DAILY NEWSPAPER BASED ON
LOCAL FAMILY’S TRADITION
OF JOURNALISM EXCELLENCE

n December of 1881, brothers David Jordan and Julian R. Whichard faced a decision.

The two had been working in Greenville for The Express, a weekly newspaper, since 1877.  In fact, during these years David Whichard had the distinction of being the youngest newspaper editor in North Carolina.  But The Express was shutting down, and the brothers found themselves at a crossroad.

The path they chose would prove to be a long one.

On Jan. 26 the following year, after purchasing The Express’ printing equipment, the Whichards published the first edition of The Reflector, also a weekly.  Headquarters for the new business was their mother’s one-room school house on the corner of Pitt and Third streets in Greenville.

The Daily Reflector: A Chronology 1877 - David Jordan Whichard is employed by The Express newspaper 1882 - David Jordan and Julian Robert Whichard purchase the printing presses of The Express and launch their own newspaper, The Reflector 1885 - David Jordan Whichard becomes sole owner 1894 - The Daily Reflector established 1895 - David Julian Whichard is born 1907 - East Carolina Teacher Training School established 1909 - Daily Reflector installs linotype 1919 - David Julian Whichard buys Daily Reflector from his father 1922 - David Jordan Whichard dies 1948 - David Jordan Whichard II joins business 1950 - John S. (Jack) Whichard joins business 1969 - Daily Reflector converts to phototypesetting and offset printing 1980 - Daily Reflector computerized 1991 - David Jordan Whichard III becomes president and publisher; Daily Reflector goes to morning cycle 1995 - Agreement reached for sale of Daily Reflector to Cox Newspapers

The Reflector, which was the original name, quickly evolved into The Eastern Reflector, published every Wednesday, and for $1.50 a year, its owners called it the “cheapest home printed paper in the First Congressional District” in ads of those days.

In 1885, Julian Whichard moved from Greenville, continuing his association with newspapers by purchasing the North Carolina Herald in Salisbury in 1891.  The Eastern Reflector of April 29, 1885 had in its first column : “By D. J. Whichard, editor and proprietor.”  It was the first edition with only his name at the top as publisher and sole owner.

The papers of those days regularly reported lists of taxpayers, county government financial records, goings and comings, letters to the editor, stories and a daily poem.   The emerging community, an “Eastern” community as its newspaper’s name came to show, was alive, well and bustling in these small gray pages.  This bond of family and community would deepen as the Eastern Reflector took firm root.

Firm enough that in another December the decision was made to add a daily paper to build on what the parent weekly had begun.  And so on Dec. 10, 1894, Greenville and Pitt County saw the first edition of The Daily Reflector, still under the eye of David J. Whichard.  It came out Monday though Saturday afternoons as it would until further expansion in the ’60s and after.

But the rise of the daily did not mean the demise of the weekly.  Two years later The Eastern Reflector would become a semi-weekly publication and the two papers continued to be published on up to 1912 when finally the parent gave way to the child and The Eastern Reflector was discontinued.

By the turn of the century, Greenville’s population had grown from about 900 in 1880 to more than 2,500.  The railroad came in 1889, telephones in 1896, night-time electricity in 1905.  And in 1907, the East Carolina Teacher Training School was founded after the community came up with the highest bid among eastern N. C. towns.  From January to July of that year, David J. Whichard’s editorials hammered away at the importance of this step.  Greenville was declared the winner in this education sweepstakes on July 10 of that year, and a new bond was established between newspaper and college.

But as The Eastern Reflector flourished and gave way to the daily, David Julian Whichard was growing up at his father’s side –– at the newspaper office as well as at home.  “Big Dave” as he would come to be known, would later recall his first newspaper memory from 1899 when he was 4.  He and his sisters helped his father retrieve files from the Reflector building during a fire that nearly destroyed the city.

Big David literally grew up in the newspaper business.  He learned to read handling the type and copy at the Reflector office.

In 1919, after he returned from France and World War I, he borrowed $300 for working capital and became the new publisher.  David Jordan Whichard would die in 1922, knowing that his son had the family business, then in its 40th year, well in hand.

In fact, David Julian Whichard and his wife, Virginia Suther Whichard, whom he married in 1926, would go on to lead The Daily Reflector family through the Depression years and beyond.  At their side were Whichard’s sisters Essie and Hennie and Essie’s husband, Sam Bridgers –– truly a family operation.

In 1948, Big Dave’s oldest son, David J. Whichard II, joined the company after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in journalism.  Two years later, his brother John S. Whichard, also came aboard, also with a journalism degree from Chapel Hill.

Just as David Jordan Whichard installed the first linotype machine at The Daily Reflector in 1909, and as David Julian Whichard oversaw the development of the daily through the heart of the 20th century, Dave II and Jack have since brought the paper and the company through the conversion to phototypesetting, offset printing and the beginnings of the computerization of the newspaper business in 1980.

Excerpt from The Eastern Reflector, Wednesday, August 24, 1887: Some of our subscribers who like to pay for their paper in wood can fill up our wood house now.  We want to get in a supply before cold weather comes.  Bring on the wood.

And just as David Jordan Whichard urged the establishment of East Carolina Teacher Training School, Reflector editorials of the ’70s did the same for the East Carolina University Medical School, which was established in 1976.

Also during those years, Dave and Jack directed the change from Saturday to Sunday publication in 1966, oversaw construction of a new building on Cotanche Street in 1956 with additions in 1969 and 1978 and directed the expansion of the company to include 10 weekly newspapers in eastern North Carolina.

In 1991, Dave’s son, David Jordan Whichard III, became president and publisher of The Daily Reflector.  Under his leadership have come the transition to electronic photography, total computerization of newspaper editing, production and administration and the transition to seven-day a week, morning publication on Aug. 31, 1991.

It is clear that over the years the Whichard family has held close to its family traditions and principles of journalism, as the company’s pending sale to another family institution bears out.

Big Dave Whichard, who continued to be active in Reflector affairs nearly until his death in 1993 at age 98, once told an interviewer:  “We have always placed emphasis, first, on making improvements in the paper itself –– not to keep up, but to stay ahead of the times.”

“Because a newspaper has to adapt to the times, making improvements and be(ing) responsive to the needs of the readers, I have always considered it a living instrument –– a member of the family.”

Special thanks to Patsy M. Moore whose 1984 master’s thesis, “Big Dave Remembers: The Daily Reflector” and Susan Askew’s article “The Daily Reflector: A Public’s Voice” in the fall of 1991 edition of The ECU Report were used to develop this article.

Obituaries of David Jordan Whichard

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Tuesday, July 25, 1922, p. 1:

D. J. WHICHARD, SR.
DIES TODAY AFTER
LINGERING ILLNESS

Funeral Services to be Conducted by
Rev. Leland W. Smith Tomorrow at 5 P.M.

D. J. Whichard, Sr., 59 years of age, former postmaster of Greenville and editor of The Reflector prior to his appointment as postmaster, died this morning at eleven o’clock following illness of several weeks of pernicious anemia.  Funeral services will be conducted from the Memorial Baptist Church tomorrow afternoon at five o’clock by Rev. Leland W. Smith, pastor of the deceased.

The honorary pall bearers will be deacons of the Memorial Baptist Church.

The active pall bearers will be: Dr. R. L. Carr, O. L. Joyner, W. B. Wilson, N. O. Warren, C. T. Munford, H. A. White, R. C. Flanagan, J. G. Bowling, J. G. Moye, W. M. Moore, J. H. Boyd, Jr., L. H. Bowling, Dr. Joe Smith, J. R. Moye, L. R. Meadows, W. H. Dail, Jr., H. L. Smith, R. H. Wright, R. L. Humber.

A more extended sketch of his life will be in the next issue of the Reflector.

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Thursday, July 27, 1922, p. 1:

D. J. WHICHARD

An Appreciation by O. L. Joyner

“So live, that when thy summons comes to join,
The innumerable caravan, which moves
To that mysterious realm, where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night,
Scourged to his dungeon, but sustained and soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave,
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.”

hus lived the subject of this sketch.  Born in Greenville August 8, 1862, died here in his home July 25, 1922, he was therefore a few days less than 60 years old.  It is not, however, so much the number of years one lives in this world that counts, but rather what these years are filled with and which sometimes brings on premature decay or extends them beyond the allotted span.

The deceased was the son of David F. and Violetta H. Whichard.  In very early life circumstances, and the death of his father, placed upon his boy the responsibilities of a man and although naturally frail and delicate, he discharged his duties in such a way that before he was sixteen years old, he was one of the owners and co-editor with his older brother, J. R. Whichard, of the Greenville Express, a weekly newspaper that had been established in Greenville by Mr. L. Thomas.  At this time he was the youngest editor of a newspaper in North Carolina.

After publication of the Express was discontinued, he purchased it in 1885 and became sole owner and editor of the Eastern Reflector and continued its publication, with the Daily Reflector, until he was appointed postmaster of Greenville under the Wilson administration, after which he ceased to be its editor, but continued its ownership.

While a boy in his early teens, he joined the Baptist church in Greenville and by his loyalty and fidelity was soon made a junior deacon, the youngest one to ever hold this position, and he continued in this service until his death when he was a senior deacon and chairman of the board of deacons.

In 1888, he was married to Miss Hennie Sutton of Greenville, who with their four children, Miss Hennie, D. J., Jr., W. L. Whichard and Mrs. S. L. Bridgers, survive him.  Thus briefly is an outline of his nearly 60 years of life.  But let us revert to what these years were filled with.  Deprived of father in early childhood, his mother trained and taught him, giving him an education that at the early age of 16 years, he was owner, editor and publisher of a weekly paper and from an examination of the early files of the paper, it reflects no discredit even on an older or more experienced editor.

He worked to be sure, very hard early, late and I have often heard him speak of the love labor it was, but of the anxiety he was at times forced to feel, because of the fear and doubt of being able to get enough cash to meet necessary expense to keep the paper going, but as he often expressed it, “somehow or other means were always provided” and on this account it never missed an issue.

Do the people of this community realize what this man’s life and work have meant to it?  Do they forget that no issue for the betterment of the community was ever presented that did not champion it and with tongue and pen to the best of his ability force it forward?  That no good cause was ever left unhelped by him and his publications, although in doing so he often alienated pleasant acquaintances and made enemies?  Was he ever deterred from doing that which he regarded as his public duty by threats, or fear, or attempted intimidation?  Did he ever fail in his entire public career to challenge wrong and attack it, with the full power of his being, regardless of the personal consequences?  Was there ever a time when anything was proposed for the good of Greenville or Pitt county, that he did not lead in the fight to bring it about, or is there a public benefaction or institution in this county that does not owe in large part its existence to the unstinted and generous efforts of Dave Whichard?

In all his busy life he was never too busy to visit the homes of the sick or grief stricken among this acquaintances and with words of hope and comfort and bright cheer help to relieve the grief and alleviate the sufferings of the sorrowing ones.

No home is exempt from death and few indeed there are in this community who have been thus afflicted have not had their sorrows tempered and their grief assuaged by the kindly ministrations of this tenderhearted man.  I saw him many, many times during the influenza epidemic of 1918, when his own son was an absent sufferer in the army of this terrible scourge and when the gloom of sorrow and anxiety hung like a funeral pall over our town and community, silently walking the streets, frequently, at late hours of the night and upon inquiry, found he had been or was going to see some sorrow-laden friend or to visit some grief-stricken home, to do his humble part as friend to lighten the burden of sorrow there.

If the flowers which he caused to be sent into homes where death had laid its icy hand on some loved one in this community, could today be placed upon the mound that covers his mortal remains, its spire would pierce the clouds and its fragrant incense perfume the heavens.

I knew this man possibly better than many of his more intimate associates, for more than thirty years he was my constant friend and I was his.  Alike we shared each others confidences and it is no betrayal of that trust in anyway when I say I have seen him, in these later years sorely grieved and hurt, hurt to the hearts’ deepest depths, over some particular personal lack of appreciation.  He pretty well knew and very accurately gauged public appreciation or lack of it and was never surprised on this account and through it all never permitted himself to become sour or harbor ill feelings.  If he was deeply hurt, one would never discover it from his general bearing and if perchance he whispered his feelings to some trusted one he was always willing, ever eager to listen and if possible discover the error in himself and thus free the object of his personal grief from blame and if he could not do this, then charity toward that object softened his heart, for malice found no harbor there.

His years on earth were filled with a great deal of good, not much, if any bad.  Whatever of error there was in his efforts and influence was of the head and not of the heart.  He loved this town and county.  He loved its people, its industries, its very woof and warp and filling and he loved above all his wife and his children, his church and his friends with a passion that absolutely obliterated and effaced every consideration of self interest in sacrifice and service to them.

Before he retired from the post office, I realized that he was a very ill man and as I saw him during the last few days of his occupancy of that office, going about his work, preparatory to turning it over to his successor.  I marveled at his indomitable spirit and strength.

After he had been relieved of this burden and realized he no longer was compelled to do duty as a public official, the relaxation amounting almost to collapse became very pronounced and I knew that by sheer courage he had forced his “heart and nerve and sinew to serve him long after they were gone and there was nothing left in him except the will, which said go on.”

In the subsequent weeks I was often with him and never once did I hear him complain or find fault with anything or any body, nor did he ever give evidence that he realized his approaching end by words until a few days ago, as I entered his room and approached his bedside in company with his kinsman and my life long friend, C. L. Whichard of Norfolk, Va., he reached for my hand and holding on to it reminded me of a request that he made of me twenty or more years ago and told me where to find the facts I did not already know and said he was looking for the grim reaper most any time.

About my dear friend I have tried to write plainly as my feelings dictated, but I have not, I cannot do it, but what I have written has been the sincere promptings of a full heart and in obedience to a suggestion made by my departed friend twenty years ago, and however much I have fallen short in my feeble effort to do him and his life’s work simple justice I have at least done the best I could.

And now with a heart full of great grief at thy passing, sincere, kind, loyal, loving friend, I bid thee a long affectionately farewell.

Obituary of Henrietta Williams Sutton

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Friday, January 11, 1957, p. 10:

RITES SATURDAY FOR MRS. D. J. WHICHARD

Mrs. Hennie Sutton Whichard, 88, widow of the late David Jordan Whichard, founder of The Daily Reflector, died in Pitt Memorial Hospital at 10:30 this morning following several years’ illness.

Funeral services will be held Saturday afternoon at 3 o’clock at Memorial Baptist Church conducted by the Rev. Percy B. Upchurch, pastor of the church.  Interment will follow in Cherry Hill Cemetery.  Members of the Board of Deacons of Memorial Baptist Church will be pallbearers.

Mrs. Whichard was born in Greenville September 21, 1868, daughter of the late Hugh A. and Elizabeth Perkins Sutton.  On November 14, 1888, she was married to the late David Jordan Whichard of Greenville and to this union were born four children, two of whom survive.

At the time of her death she was the oldest member of Memorial Baptist Church, both from the standpoint of age and length of membership, having been a member of the church for more than 75 years.  Prior to her illness she was active in a number of women’s organizations in Greenville.

The body will remain at Wilkerson’s Funeral Home until one hour prior to the funeral when it will be taken to the church.

Surviving are one daughter, Mrs. Samuel L. Bridgers of Greenville; one son, David Julian Whichard of Greenville; six grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

Issue:

N21–––i.––– Hennie Sutton⁶ Whichard, born August 24, 1890 in Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina; died October 19, 1937 in Greenville, North Carolina; and was buried in Cherry Hill Cemetery, Greenville, North Carolina.

Obituary of Hennie Sutton Whichard

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Thursday, October 21, 1937, p. 1:

MISS WHICHARD LAID TO REST

Funeral Services Conducted
at Home On Wednesday

Miss Hennie Sutton Whichard was buried Cherry Hill cemetery beside other deceased members of her family yesterday afternoon following funeral services at the home on Evans street where she lived during her entire life.

The services were conducted by Rev. A. W. Fleischmann, pastor of Memorial Baptist Church, of which she was a life-long member.  Assisting was Rev. Lowell F. Sodeman, acting pastor.

Music was provided both at the home and at the grave by Mrs. W. L. Hall, Mrs. E. S. Hamrick, Mrs. H. R. Goodall, W. W. Lee, and H. A. McDougle.  “Face to Face” and “How Firm A Foundation” were sung at the home and “Abide With Me” at the grave.

The large and beautiful floral tribute was handled by intimate friends of Miss Whichard, including members of her bridge club.

Active pall bearers, all cousins, were H. Walter Whichard of Norfolk, Va., Hugh S. Sheppard of Wilson, Dr. Paul E. Jones of Farmville, E. B. Whichard of Stokes, L. R. Whichard of Whichard’s, John R. Carroll of Winterville, A. F. Kennedy, Robert D. Whichard, Hugh S. Ragsdale and A. E. Hobgood of Greenville.

Miss Whichard, who had suffered practically all her life with asthma, was taken ill Wednesday night of last week.  She developed pneumonia Sunday and her condition became critical.  She died at 4:30 o’clock Tuesday.

She was the daughter of Mrs. Hennie S. Whichard and the late David J. Whichard.  She had served as society editor and circulation manager of The Reflector since 1922.  The paper was founded by her father, and is now published and edited by her brother, D. J. Whichard, Jr.  One sister, Mrs. S. L. Bridgers, also survives.  Six surviving nieces and nephews are John David and Elizabeth Sutton Bridgers, son and daughter of Mr. and Mrs. S. L. Bridgers; Hennie Ruth and Mary Andrews Whichard, daughters of Mrs. Ruth A. and the late W. L. Whichard; and David J. III and John Suther Whichard, sons of Mr. and Mrs. D. J. Whichard, Jr.

Out-of-town friends and relatives here for the funeral included: H. Walter Whichard of Norfolk, Va.; Dr. and Mrs. Paul E. Jones, Mrs. B. O. Turnage, Mrs. Jack Lewis and Mrs. Grover Webb of Farmville; Mrs. James Ellison and Mrs. Swanson Graves of Washington, N.C.; E. A. Griffin of Goldsboro; Mrs. T. B. Jeffreys, Mrs. Gus Hobgood and Mrs. Sophia Brewer of Kinston; Mr. and Mrs. Hugh S. Sheppard of Wilson; Mrs. Vernon Ward and Miss Elizabeth Bost of Robersonville; Mrs. S. M. Jones and Miss Olive Jones of Bethel; E. B. Whichard and Misses Ida and Mary Whichard of Stokes; Mr. and Mrs. L. R. Whichard of Whichard’s; Mr. and Mrs. John R. Carroll and Mrs. W. A. Forbes of Winterville; Mrs. John F. Lynch of Erwin; Miss Ernestine Hobgood of Meredith College, Raleigh; Mr. and Mrs. F. R. Elmore of Rocky Mount.

N22–––ii.––– Estelle Sheppard Whichard, of whom below, born April 18, 1893 in Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina; died February 12, 1980 in Greenville, North Carolina.

N23–––iii.––– David Julian Whichard, of whom below, born January 11, 1895 in Pitt County, North Carolina; died April 19, 1993 in Greenville, North Carolina.

N24–––iv.––– Walter Linden Whichard, of whom below, born March 24, 1901 in Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina; died June 27, 1933 in Greenville, North Carolina.

N10. CLARENCE BROWN⁵ WHICHARD (David Fleming⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born September 10, 1872 in Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina; died on January 3, 1928 in Greenville; and was buried there in the Cherry Hill Cemetery.  In 1899, he married Emily Catherine Renfrew, who was born on February 5, 1878, in Nash County, North Carolina; died on August 5, 1951, near Bethel, Pitt County, North Carolina; and was buried at Cherry Hill Cemetery.  She was a daughter of William Hardy Renfrew and Lucretia Catharine Armstrong.

Biographical Notes on Clarence Brown Whichard

The Eastern Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Wednesday, October 31, 1888, p. 3:

OUR CALAMITIES.

The Reflector office has labored under very serious disadvantages for the last few weeks, and troubles seemed by no means to come singly upon us.  About three weeks ago, Master Clarence Whichard, a younger brother of the editor and one of our typos, was taken with typhoid fever.  A week ago just as he was getting in a fair way to convalescence, Mr. James Whichard, a cousin and another one of our typos, was stricken down with the same disease.  Seeing that they had proper attention and keeping working going on at the same time required the hardest of efforts, which of course was more taxing because of the anxiety that must be endured.  Had it not been for the coming of our aunts, Miss Frances Whichard and Mrs. W. R. Whichard, to help nurse the sick ones, we hardly know how all could have been done.  It causes us to remember that “in some way or other the Lord will provide.”

Obituary of Clarence Brown Whichard

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Tuesday, January 3, 1928, p. 1:

C. B. WHICHARD TO BE BURIED TOMORROW

Well Known Citizen Passed Away At
His Summitt Street Home at 6 O’clock Today

C. B. Whichard, manager of the local office of the Postal Telegraph Company, died at his home on Summitt street this morning at six o’clock following illness of ten day(s).  He was fifty-five years of age, and one of the best known citizens of the county.

Funeral services will be conducted from the Memorial Baptist church tomorrow afternoon at three o’clock, by Rev. H. F. Jones, pastor of the church, assisted by Rev. L. R. O’Brian, pastor of Immanuel Baptist church.  Interment will be made in Cherry Hill Cemetery, where services will be in charge of local Masonic lodges.

Mr. Whichard was born in Greenville, Sept. 10, 1872, being the son of the late David F. and Violetta Whichard.  He spent his entire life in Greenville and was one of the best known figures in the business life of the city.  For many years he was connected with the Reflector and later in the telegraph field.  He was associated in the grocery business prior to taking over the managership of the local office of the Postal Telegraph Co., about three years ago.

He was a former deacon of the Memorial Baptist church, of which he was one of its most active members, a charter member of the Hope Fire Company and prominently associated with Masonic activities of the city, being a member of Greenville Lodge No. 284.

While Mr. Whichard had been in poor health for several months, he remained active until December 23 when a pronounced change in his condition forced him to bed.  His condition became gradually worse and last night attending physicians had virtually despaired of his life.

He is survived by a wife, two daughters, Mrs. Ralph Peed of Richmond and Miss Stella Whichard of Greenville; two sons, Clarence, Jr. and James Whichard; one brother, J. R. Whichard, Greenville; one sister, Mrs. A. F. Kennedy, Bertie County.

Active pallbearers will be members of the local Masonic lodge.  Honorary pallbearers will be comprised of the combined membership of the Barsea (?) class and board of deacons of Memorial Baptist church, and the Hope Fire Company.

Obituary of Emily Catherine Renfrew

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Monday, August 6, 1951:

FUNERAL TUESDAY FOR MRS. C. B. WHICHARD

Mrs. Catherine Renfrew Whichard, 73, widow of Clarence B. Whichard, died at 7:10 Sunday morning at the home of her son, James H. Whichard near Bethel.  She had been critically ill for several weeks.  Funeral services will be conducted at 11 o’clock Tuesday morning at the chapel of S. G. Wilkerson & Sons Funeral home, and burial will be in Cherry Hill Cemetery in Greenville.

Mrs. Whichard was born in Nash County, and was a daughter of the late William and Lucretia Armstrong Renfrew.  She came to Greenville when a young girl and was married to Clarence B. Whichard in 1899.  He died in January 1928.  She was a member of the Memorial Baptist Church for many years.

Surviving her is a daughter, Mrs. James A. Donalson of Panama City, Florida; two sons, Clarence B. Whichard, Jr. of Frederick, Md., and James H. Whichard of near Bethel; ten grandchildren, and a number of nieces and nephews.

Issue:

N25–––i.––– Stella Whichard married James A. Donalson.  She was born on November 4, 1903; died on August 26, 1996 in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida; and was buried in Evergreen Memorial Gardens, Panama City, Florida.

Obituary of
Stella Whichard

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Wednesday, August 28, 1996, p. B-2:

STELLA W. DONALSON, 92;
FUNERAL ON FRIDAY

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. –– Mrs. Stella Whichard Donalson, 92, died Monday, Aug. 26, 1996.

Funeral services Friday 10 a.m., Covenant Presbyterian Church.  Burial services 2:30 p.m. Friday in Evergreen Memorial Gardens, Panama City.

Mrs. Donalson was a native of Greenville, N.C., who had lived in Tallahassee since 1996.  She was a member of Covenant Presbyterian Church and Order of the Eastern Star, Parker Chapter No. 96.

Surviving: her sons, William R. Donalson and William L. Hardy, both of Tallahassee; brothers, Clarence B. Whichard of Walkersville, Md.; three grandchildren; three great-grandchildren.

Visitation Thursday 7-9 p.m., Culley’s MeadowWood Funeral Home-Timberland Road Chapel.

Memorials to Covenant Presbyterian Church, Tallahassee.

N26–––ii.––– Clarence Brown⁶ Whichard, Jr., born July 12, 1915 in Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina; died on March 20, 2003 in Boonsboro, Maryland.  He married Marian Carroll about 1938.  She was born on August 13, 1922.  According to his obituary below, they had at least three children: (a) Howie Whichard, born May 16, 1943, (b) Chris Whichard who married Linda Fahr (issue: Christopher Scott Whichard and Tamlin Danette Whichard), and (c) Carole Ann Whichard, who married Noel Werking.

Obituary of
Clarence Brown Whichard, Jr.

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Saturday, March 22, 2003:

CLARENCE B. WHICHARD, JR.

FREDERICK, Md. –– Mr. Clarence Brown “Coot” Whichard, Jr., 87, of Crestwood Village, Frederick, died on Thursday, March 20, 2003, at the Reeder’s Memorial Home in Boonsboro.  Funeral services will be held on Tuesday at noon in the Etchison Memorial Chapel of Keeney and Basford Funeral Home, 106 E. Church St., Frederick.  The Rev. Burnis D. Barrett will officiate.  Private inurnment will be later in the Mount Olivet Cemetery, Frederick.

He was the husband of Marian Carroll Whichard, his wife of 65 years.

Born July 12, 1915, in Greenville, N.C., he was the son of the late Clarence B. Sr. and Emily Catherine Renfrew Whichard.

He served in the U.S. Army, 2nd Division, in the European Theater during World War II.

Mr. Whichard came to Frederick in 1940 and worked as a route salesman for the Lance Corp.  He then worked for many years as a salesman in the plumbing and heating department of the Frederick Trading Co.  After his retirement, he worked part time in real estate.

He served as Worshipful Master of Lynch Lodge of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, where he was a member for many years.  He was also a member of the Scottish Rite and Tall Cedars of Lebanon.

Mr. Whichard was a member of the First Baptist Church and the Francis Scott Key American Legion Post 11.

He was preceded in death by a son, Howie Whichard, in 1983; and two sisters and a brother.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by a son, Chris Whichard and wife, Linda, of Eastham, Mass.; one daughter, Carole Ann Werking and husband, Noel, of Frederick; eight grandchildren, Todd Whichard of Middletown, Del., Scott Whichard of Portland, Maine, Catherine Werking Davidson and husband, Lorne, of Middletown, Tamlin Whichard of Woonsocket, R.I., Kerry Whichard of Charlestown, W.Va., Andrew Werking and wife, Heather, of Harpers Ferry, W.Va., Danielle Whichard Bushnell and husband, David, and Sister Agnes Gloria Whichard, all of Orleans, Mass.; five great-grandchildren, Lauren and Joshua Davidson, Fahra Holt, and Aaron and Sean Bushnell.

The family will receive friends Monday night from 7 to 9 at the funeral home.  A Masonic service will be held on Monday night at 8 at the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Daybreak Adult Daycare, 7819 Rocky Springs Road, Frederick, Md. 21702.

N27–––iii.––– James Henry Whichard, of whom below, born January 27, 1919 in Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina; died there February 3, 1989.

N28–––iv.––– (A daughter) Whichard married Ralph Peed.  She (Maggie?) is perhaps the subject of the story below from The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Saturday, December 23, 1905, p. 1:

CHILD BURNED.

Little Girl Has Narrow Escape.

Friday evening Maggie, the little daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. B. Whichard, was right painfully burned.  The accident occurred about supper time.  While Mrs. Whichard had stepped in the dining room the little girl began sticking straws in the grate in the sitting room and set her dress on fire.  The first outcry from the child instantly brought her mother and grandmother to her side and the fire was quickly put out.  Her hands and face were painfully burned but the injury is not thought to be serious.

N10. JULIAN ROBERT⁵ WHICHARD (David Fleming⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born in Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina on January 11, 1859; died on June 4, 1934; and was buried in Cherry Hill Cemetery in Greenville, North Carolina.  On June 27 1883, in Greenville, North Carolina, he married first Carrie E. Rives, daughter of Richard G. and Elinissa (?) Rives; Carrie died in May of 1887.  Mr. Whichard married second Ella Catherine Robert on April 2, 1889 in Albany, Dougherty County, Georgia.  Judy Whichard, great-granddaughter of Julian and Carrie Whichard, writes that Ella Catherine (Robert) Whichard was born in January of 1865.  With his brother David Jordan Whichard, he started The Weekly Reflector newspaper in 1882, forerunner of today’s The Daily Reflector of Greenville, North Carolina.

Biographical Notes on Julian Robert Whichard

From History of North Carolina, v. 5, North Carolina Biography, Lewis Publishing Company, 1919, p. 313:

In 1877, when (David Jordan Whichard) was fifteen, he and his brother Julian established a small paper known as the Express.  In 1882, they established the Reflector, a weekly paper, and in 1885, David J. Whichard bought out his brother’s interest and in 1894 established the daily edition of that paper.

The Eastern Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Greenville, North Carolina, Friday, May 23, 1902, p. 2:

J. R. Whichard, a native of Greenville and the founder of The Reflector, but who for nearly two years has resided in Albany, Ga., is publishing The Dixie Fancier, a monthly magazine of sixteen pages devoted to the poultry industry.  To many people interested in poultry raising this is a useful publication, and the subscription price is only 25 cents a year.

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Friday, June 5, 1903, p. 2:

J. R. Whichard has moved his publication, the Dixie Fancier, from Albany, Ga., to Charlotte, N.C., and the Fancier shows much improvement in appearance.  It is a journal devoted to the poultry industry, and is filled with matter of much interest to those who engage in this profitable enterprise.  The Fancier is issued monthly at 25 cents a years, and is worth many times the price to poultry raisers.

Excerpt from The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Friday, December 1, 1995:

DAILY NEWSPAPER BASED ON LOCAL
FAMILY’S TRADITION OF JOURNALISM EXCELLENCE

n December of 1881, brothers David Jordan and Julian R. Whichard faced a decision.

The two had been working in Greenville for The Express, a weekly newspaper, since 1877.  In fact, during these years David Whichard had the distinction of being the youngest newspaper editor in North Carolina.  But The Express was shutting down, and the brothers found themselves at a crossroad.

The path they chose would prove to be a long one.

On Jan. 26 the following year, after purchasing The Express’ printing equipment, the Whichards published the first edition of The Reflector, also a weekly.  Headquarters for the new business was their mother’s one-room school house on the corner of Pitt and Third streets in Greenville.

The Reflector, which was the original name, quickly evolved into The Eastern Reflector, published every Wednesday, and for $1.50 a years, its owners called it the “cheapest home printed paper in the First Congressional District” in ads of those days.

In 1885, Julian Whichard moved from Greenville, continuing his association with newspapers by purchasing the North Carolina Herald in Salisbury in 1891 ...

Obituary of Julian Robert Whichard

The News & Observer, Raleigh, North Carolina, Tuesday, June 5, 1934, p. 11:

J. R. WHICHARD

Greenville –– Julian R. Whichard, 75, native of Greenville and one of the founders of the local paper, The Reflector, died early today.

Funeral services will be conducted by Rev. A. W. Fleischmann at Memorial Baptist Church at 4:30 Tuesday afternoon, followed by interment in Cherry Hill cemetery.

Mr. Whichard was born in Greenville January 11, 1859, the son of the late David Fleming and Violet Jordon Whichard.  While in their teens, he and his brother, the late David Whichard, were connected with the Greenville Express, Pitt county’s first newspaper.  The Express was discontinued on the first of January 1882, and on the thirteenth of the same month, the brothers launched the Reflector.  After a few years on the Reflector, J. R. Whichard disposed of his interest in the paper to his brother and went to Salisbury where he was engaged in the newspaper business for several years.  He continued active in the newspaper field until 1905.  After retirement from the newspaper field, Mr. Whichard returned to this city to engage in other business and during the latter years of this business activity was owner and operator of the Proctor news stand here.

He is survivied by one daughter, Mrs. Thomas Barney, Atlanta, Ga.; two sons, Robert D. Whichard, Greenville, and W. B. Whichard, Silver Springs, Maryland; one sister, Mrs. Ora Whichard Kennedy of Bertie county.

Obituary of Carrie E. Rives

The Eastern Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Wednesday, May 18, 1887:

DIED.

gain our hearts are pierced and bleeding.  Again the cruel Reaper has come and cut down one who was near and dear to our hearts.  At this writing the sad news has just been received that Mrs. Carrie E., wife of Bro. J. R. Whichard, of the Snow Hill Enterprise, has fallen on that sleep which wakes no more on earth.  This sad intelligence has cast a gloom over her many friends at this place.  They all remember her as a friend who was loving, confiding, faithful.  Free from all arrogance and pride, and possessed of a meek and quiet spirit, she won the esteem and confidence of all who came in contact with her.  In her were combined all the qualities ... which gave her a title to true womanhood.  Hers was indeed a lovely character.  Pure as the dew drops of the morning in her youth, and true as steel, it was but natural that she should be in after life, a devoted wife and mother.  And withal she was a consistent, devout Christian.  She loved her God, she loved the Methodist Church –– the church of her choice.  And doubtless when the summons came she was ready to respond to the call.  Doubtless her pure spirit has flown from its tenement of clay, and is reclining on the bosom of its God.  Doubtless she is now with her Savior under the “Tree of Life” waving a palm that shall ever be green and sweeping a harp that shall ne’er be unstrung.  We mourn her loss to us, but we would not call her back if we could.  Beyond the din of all earthly strife, beyond all “change and war,” beyond the reach of all sorrow and pain, she is happier far than she could ever be in this shadowy vale of aches and signs and tears.

God knows best.
We only see the dark side of the cloud,
God seeth the rest.

Our warmest sympathies run out after the grief stricken husband and father and motherless children.  May the God of all grace be with them.

J. G. N.

Judith Marie Whichard, jwhichard@juno.com, in an email dated May 14, 2003, writes: Dear Mr. Fleming: t was with great pleasure that I happened upon your ... homepage.  I always find it exciting to see the Whichard name in print or online, and you have filled in a bit of the family history that I was missing. I am a great-granddaughter of Julian Robert Whichard ... I believe I can shed some light on his line of descendents ... here are the generalities: Julian Robert Whichard was actually married twice.  The first marriage was to ... Carrie Rives (I have a copy of the marriage record and the handwriting is difficult to decipher).  This marriage took place in Greenville, NC ... Children included William Brown Whichard (my grandfather), another son, Robert, and a daughter, who I believe may have been issue from his second marriage, and who lived to adulthood (not the daughter noted in your history that died at an early age) ... The second marriage was to Ella Robert and took place in Georgia.   J.R. was living in Salisbury, N.C. at the time and was the editor of The Salisbury Truth, a local newspaper.  I have a copy of the marriage notice from that paper. David Whichard, the late editor of The Daily Reflector, recalled “Miss Ella” to me when I visited him in Greenville about 20 years ago.  He claimed she made him his first “big boy pants ... ” Julian Robert Whichard’s son Robert married a cousin, Ora Kathleen Kennedy ... (daughter of Ora Violetta Whichard and Alfred Forbes Kennedy).  They had two children, a son ... and a daughter Kathleen “Sissie.”  Sissie still lives in Greenville. My grandfather, William B. Whichard, moved to the Washington, D. C. area and married Marea D. Allen.  Marea had a son and one daughter by a previous marriage.  The daughter, Doris, was raised by Marea and William.  Marea and William Whichard also had a son, my father, William B. Whichard, Jr. My father, William B. Whichard, Jr., was born in March of 1913 and died in 1967.  He served the Army in WWII as a cryptographer on submarines.  He continued the family tradition of working in the newspaper business, working on a number of local papers in his youth, and working his way up to Bureau Chief at Business Week later in life.  He had a son, William B. Whichard III (b. 1938) by a first marriage.  He married my mother, Shirley Wolfel (b. 1923, d. 1984) in March of 1948.  They had three children : a. Shirley Elizabeth Whichard (b. 1949), b. Robert Charles Whichard (b. 1954), and c. me, Judith Marie Whichard (b. 1958) ... Judy Whichard

Issue:
Of Julian Robert Whichard and Carrie E. Rives

N00–––i.––– William Brown Whichard, born September 9, 1884; died January 2, 1939.  This is the line of cousin Judith Marie Whichard, who reports that William’s middle name was given to honor the doctor who delivered him, a Dr. Brown it is presumed.  Mr. Whichard married Marea Ditmar Allen, her second marriage, who was born on October 14, 1874 in Binghamton, New York; died October 18, 1934 in Silver Spring, Maryland; she was a daughter of James Alexander Allen and Elizabeth Jardin Mason.  William Brown Whichard and Marea Ditmar Allen had a son, William Brown Whichard, Jr.

William Brown Whichard, Jr. was born on March 23, 1913; died in December of 1967.   He was at one time Bureau Chief at Business Week magazine.  He married first Florence McCann on April 29, 1937 in Silver Spring, Maryland.  They had one child:

(a) William Brown Whichard III, (b. 1938).

William Brown Whichard married second Shirley Edna Wolfel on March 20, 1948 in Washington, D.C.  She was born on May 5, 1923; died on March 30, 1984; and was a daughter of Charles Conrad Wolfel and Edna Sophie Kreie.  They are buried in Chester Rural Cemtery, Chester, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.  They had three children:

(b) Shirley Elizabeth Whichard (b. 1949),

(c) Robert Charles Whichard (b. 1954), and

(d) Judith Marie Whichard of Chicago, Illinois (b. 1958), now of Chicago, Illinois.

N29–––ii.––– (A daughter)⁶ Whichard, born July 28, 1886; died July 30, 1887 at home of her grandmother, Mrs. V. H. Whichard, in Greenville, North Carolina.

The Eastern Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Wednesday, August 24, 1887:

IN MEMORIAM.

DIED –– At the residence of Mrs. V. H. Whichard, in Greenville, on Tuesday, 30th inst., at 2 o’clock p.m., the infant daughter of Mr. J. R. Whichard, editor of the Snow Hill Enterprise.  She was but one year and two days old, and had been in very feeble health for some weeks.  The little sufferer has been taken from the pains of earth and angels have borne her to the arms of the sainted mother who three short months ago preceded the little one to the heavenly land.

Jesus said, “Suffer little children to come unto me.”

Issue:
Of Julian Robert Whichard and Ella Catherine Robert

N00–––i.––– Robert David Whichard, born on March 7, 1890; died on October 23, 1955 in Greenville, North Carolina; and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Greenville, North Carolina.  His wife was Ora Kathleen Kennedy, #N32, a daughter of Alfred Forbes Kennedy and Ora Violetta Whichard, to whom he was married on April 10, 1920.  NOTE: See his obituary, issue and descendants under #N32, Ora Kathleen Kennedy, at http://www.mindspring.com/~jtfleming/nf-4.htm

N00–––ii.––– Julian (Robert?) Whichard (Jr.?), born December 1891.  According to Judy Whichard, he may have had children Pierre and Robert.

N00–––iii.––– Ella Catherine Whichard, born in June 1894, married first Edward Joseph Browne and second Thomas Barney.  According to Marsha Elise Browne of Gary, Indiana, granddaughter of Edward Joseph Browne and Ella Catherine Whichard, Ella Catherine Whichard died in 1971, and she and her husband Thomas Barney are buried in the Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.

Ella Catherine Whichard and Edward Joseph Browne had two children:

(a) Robert Edward Browne, born November 1, 1915 in Atlanta, Georgia; died August 31, 1971.  He married Marianne Kopach of Gary, Lake County, Indiana, and they had three children:

(i) Tamara Lyn Browne, born 1958;

(ii) Marsha Elise Browne, who is engaged to be married in July 2003 to Robert S. Martino, Jr.  She and her future husband are both high school teachers; and

(iii) Thomas Robert Browne married Jennifer Lynn Ogiego.  Thomas has two daughters: (1) Kaitlin Elisabeth Browne and (2) Sarah Catharine Browne.

(b) Catharine Ella Browne, who married a Mr. Wynne.  Their five daughters:

(i) Joan T. “Joanie” Browne;

(ii) Patty Browne married a Mr. Bedford;

(iii) Margaret Browne married a Mr. Brownlee;

(iv) Debby Browne, who married a Mr. Kelly; and

(v) Michael Browne married a Mr. Crowe.

Ella Catherine Whichard and Thomas Barney had one child:

(a) Worth Yankey Barney, who was born in Atlanta, Georgia about 1924; died on October 29, 2000 in Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia.

Obituary of
Worth Yankey Barney

The Savannah Morning News, Savannah, Georgia, Tuesday, October 31, 2000:

WORTH Y. BARNEY

Worth Yankey Barney, 76, died Oct. 29 at home.

The native of Atlanta was a member of Christ Church and retired as a senior clerk from the Chatham County Department of Engineering.

He was a past president of the Board of Directors of the Savannah Association for the Blind and also served in various leadership positions in Lions Club International.

SURVIVORS: a sister, Catharine Browne Wynne of Atlanta; a sister-in-law, Marianne K. Browne of Gary, Ind.; seven nieces, Michael W. Crowe, Debby W. Kelly, Joan T. Wynne, Margaret W. Brownlee, Patty W. Bedford, Tamara L. Browne and Marsha E. Browne; a nephew, Thomas R. Browne; eight great-nieces and great-nephews; two great-great-nephews.

VISITATION: 2-3 p.m. Wednesday in the Undercroft of Christ Church.

FUNERAL: 3 p.m. Wednesday in Demare Chapel of Christ Church.

Sipple Mortuary.

REMEMBRANCES: Leader Dog for the Blind Program, 1039 South Rochester Road, Rochester, Mich. 48307.

N11. ORA VIOLETTA⁵ WHICHARD (David Fleming⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born June 2, 1875 in Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina; died October 21, 1934 in Bertie County, North Carolina; and was buried in Cherry Hill Cemetery, Greenville, North Carolina.  She married Alfred Forbes Kennedy on September 19, 1894 at her mother’s home in Pitt County, North Carolina.  He was born January 12, 1872 in Alabama; died June 18, 1961 in Creedmoor, Granville County, North Carolina; and was also buried in Cherry Hill Cemetery in Greenville.

Marriage of Ora Violetta Whichard and Alfred Forbes Kennedy

The Eastern Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, September 19, 1894:

Cards are out for the marriage of Miss Ora Whichard and Mr. A. Forbes Kennedy, at the home of Mrs. V. H. Whichard this evening.  The ceremony will be performed at 9 o’clock by Rev. G. F. Smith.  The Reflector takes occasion to express its best wishes in advance.

Obituary of Ora Violetta Whichard

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, October 22, 1934, p. 1:

MRS. KENNEDY DIED SUNDAY IN BERTIE CO.

Former Greenville Woman Buried at
Cherry Hill Cemetery This Afternoon

Mrs. A. F. Kennedy, 59, native of this city and member of one of the county’s oldest families, died at her home in Bertie County near Aulander late yesterday following a long period of failing health.  Funeral services were conducted at the home at one o’clock this afternoon by Rev. Mr. Payler, pastor of the Methodist Church, after which the funeral cortege came to this city where interment was made in the family plot at Cherry Hill cemetery.  Services at the grave here were conducted by Rev. A. W. Fleischmann, pastor of Memorial Baptist Church.

Mrs. Kennedy, who before her marriage was Miss Ora Whichard, was born in this city June 2, 1875.  She was the daughter of the late David Flemming (sic) and Violet Jordan Whichard.  Most of her life was spent in this city and county but for the past several years the family has been making its home in Bertie County.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by three sons, Alfred F. Kennedy, of this city; David Kennedy, of Rocky Mount; and John Kennedy, of Bertie County; and five daughters, Mrs. Robert D. Whichard and Miss Elizabeth Kennedy of this city; Mrs. Mary Gray Costner, of Greensboro; Mrs. R. P. Burk (sic) and Miss Ella Claire Kennedy of Bertie County.  The survivors also include several nieces, nephews and grandchildren.

Obituary of Alfred Forbes Kennedy

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Monday, June 19, 1961, p. 12:

RITES TUESDAY FOR A. F. KENNEDY

Mr. A. F. Kennedy, 87, died at nine o’clock Sunday night near Creedmoor after several years of illness.

Funeral services will be conducted at the Wilkerson Chapel Tuesday afternoon at (?) o’clock by his pastor, the Rev. Howard M. McLamb.  Burial will be in Cherry Hill Cemetery.

Mr. Kennedy, son of the late Warren E. and Elizabeth Forbes Kennedy, was born and reared in Alabama.  He live in Greenville from 1890 to 1917, when he moved to Bertie County.  He was engaged in the tobacco business for a number of years and well known in the early days of the tobacco industry in Greenville and eastern North Carolina.  He was a member of the Jarvis Memorial Methodist Church and a former Mason.

Surviving are three sons: Alfred F. Kennedy, Jr. of Greenville, David W. Kennedy of Rocky Mount, and A. John Kennedy of Norfolk, Va.; four daughters: Mrs. R.D. Whichard and Mrs. W. Ed Moore of Greenville, Mrs. R.F. Burt of Swansboro, and Mrs. Mary G. Costner of Greensboro; 20 grandchildren; and 16 great grandchildren.

Issue:

N30–––i.––– Arthur Eason⁶ Kennedy, born March 20, 1895; died March 25, 1905; and was buried in Cherry Hill Cemetery, Greenville, North Carolina.

Obituary of
Arthur Eason Kennedy

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Monday, March 27, 1905, p. 1:

WORK OF THE GRIM REAPER.

Arthur Kennedy, aged 10 years, oldest son of Mr. and Mrs. A. F. Kennedy, died at 10 o’clock Saturday night after an illness of about two weeks with dysentery.  He was their first born, and his death casts a dark shadow upon the home.  Arthur was a bright, industrious boy.  For sometime previous to his sickness, he served as one of the carriers for The Reflector and always performed his duties faithfully and promptly.

The interment took place at 4 o’clock Sunday afternoon in Cherry Hill cemetery and was attended by a large number of sorrowing friends.  Services were held at the home and grave, conducted by Rev. A. T. King.  The active pallbearers were: R. M. Moye, T. W. Skinner, R. F. Betts, Z. P. Vandyke, Hugh Sheppard, J. W. Higgs, K. W. Cobb and W. E. Goolsby, and the honorary pallbearers were G. S. Whichard (?), F. W. (?), Wiley Brown, B. E. Patham, F. M. Hodges, R. O. Jef(?), E. B. Ficklen, and W. D. Pruett.

N31–––ii.––– Alfred Forbes Kennedy, Jr., born September 14, 1896 in Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina; died February 7, 1972 in the Pitt Memorial Hospital, Greenville, North Carolina; and was buried in Cherry Hill Cemetery in Greenville.  He married Mildred Dupree, widow of Ledyard E. Ross.  She was born on January 22, 1910 in Edgecombe County, North Carolina; died on April 13, 1970 in Pitt Memorial Hospital, Greenville, North Carolina; and was buried in Cherry Hill Cemetery, Greenville.

Obituary of
Alfred Forbes Kennedy, Jr.

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Tuesday, February 8, 1972, p. 6:

KENNEDY

Mr. Alfred Forbes Kennedy, Jr., 75, died Monday afternoon in Pitt Memorial Hospital following several weeks of illness.  Funeral services will be conducted at 3:00 p.m. Wednesday in the Jarvis Memorial United Methodist by Rev. Troy J. Barrett, the pastor, assisted by the Rev. Adrian E. Brown.  Burial will be in Cherry Hill Cemetery, where Masonic honors will be accorded.

Mr. Kennedy, a native of Greenville, had spent most of his life here.   For many years he was the News & Observer agent in Greenville, and later operated a furniture store.  He was a veteran of World War I and was a member of American Legion Post No. 39 and was Chef-de-Gare of Voiture No. 1198 of the Forty and Eight.  He was a member of Greenville Moose Lodge No. 885, the Greenville Masonic Lodge No. 284, A.F.&A.M., the order of the White Shrine, now holding office of Watchman of Shepherds, a Past Patron of the Order of Eastern Star, and a member of the Jarvis Memorial United Methodist Church.

Surviving are a stepson, Dr. Ledyard E. Ross of Greenville; a stepdaughter, Mrs. Hiram Mayo of New Bern; and six step-grandchildren; four sisters, Mrs. R. D. Whichard and Mrs. W. Ed Moore, both of Greenville, Mrs. Mary Gray Smith of Greensboro and Mrs. Robert Burt of Swansboro; two brothers, David W. Kennedy of Rocky Mount, and A. John Kennedy of Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Obituary of
Mildred Dupree

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Monday, April 13, 1970, p. 8:

KENNEDY

Mrs. Mildred Dupree Kennedy, 68, wife of Alfred F. Kennedy, died in Pitt Memorial Hospital Monday morning at eight o’clock.  Funeral services will be conducted at 2:30 Wednesday afternoon at the Jarvis Memorial United Methodist Church by Dr. Joyce V. Early, the Rev. Thomas Loftis, and the Rev. A. E. Brown.  Burial will be in Cherry Hill Cemetery.  The body will be taken from the home, 200 S. Library St., to the church one hour prior to the time of service.

Mrs. Kennedy, a native of Edgecombe County, spent her early life in the Belvoir community and attended East Carolina University and taught in the public schools in Edgecombe and Pitt counties.  She was married to Ledyard E. Ross, and he died in 1936.  She was later married to Mr. Kennedy.  She and husband were for many years rural representatives of the News & Observer for Pitt, Martin, Edgecombe and portions of surrounding counties.  In 1948, she and her husband established the Kennedy Furniture Company and operated it until 1960.

Mrs. Kennedy was a member of the Jarvis Memorial United Methodist Church and the Women’s Society of Christian Service and for her services to the Society was awarded a life membership.  A past Matron of Greenville Chapter No. 149, Order of Eastern Star, she was past Worthy High Priestess of Greenville Shrine No. 7, Order of White Shrine of Jerusalem.  An active member of the American Legion Auxiliary, Unit No. 39, she was a past president of the local unit, was a District President, and was commissioner of Girls State.

Surviving are her husband; a son, Dr. Ledyard E. Ross of Greenville; a daughter, Mrs. Hiram J. Mayo of New Bern; a sister, Mrs. Clarence Barnhill of Belvoir; three brothers, Paul Dupree, Sr. of Belvoir, J. W. Dupree of Raleigh, and Elmo Dupree of Greenville; five grandchildren.

The family requests donations to the American Cancer Society in lieu of flowers.

N32–––iii.––– Ora Kathleen Kennedy, of whom below, born January 4, 1899 in Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina; died March 1, 1991 in Greenville, North Carolina.

N33–––iv.––– Mary Gray Kennedy, born August 6, 1900 in Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina; died April 6, 1993, in Greensboro, Guilford County, North Carolina.  Mary Gray married first Elia Moffiett Costner on December 25, 1923 in Aulander, Bertie County, North Carolina.  She married second a Mr. Smith.

Obituary of
Mary Gray Kennedy

The News & Record, Greensboro, North Carolina, Wednesday, April 7, 1993, p. B-6:

MARY SMITH

Mary Gray Smith, 92, of 1318 Oak St., died April 6, 1993 at the Evergreens Nursing Home.

Funeral arrangements are incomplete at Hanes-Lineberry North Elm Street Funeral Home.

A native of Greenville, N.C., she was retired from Blue Bell.  She was a member of First Baptist Church, where she was a member of the Silent Class and the W.M.U.

Surviving are daughter, Mary C. “Lib” Basham of Greensboro; sisters, Elizabeth Moore of Greenville, Aimee Burt of Slidell, La.; seven grandchildren; one great-grandchild.

Contributions may be made to American Heart Association, 111-D Pomona Drive, Greensboro, N.C., 27407 or the Central North Carolina School for the Deaf, Summitt Ave., Greensboro, N.C.

N34–––v.––– David Warren Kennedy, born December 28, 1902 in Greenville North Carolina; died August 31, 1979 in Siler City, Chatham County, North Carolina.  He married Mary Eleanor Carmichael.   They had two sons: (a) David Warren Kennedy, Jr. and (b) Arthur Bryant Kennedy.

Obituary of
David Warren Kennedy

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Sunday, September 2, 1979, p. A-3:

KENNEDY

ROCKY MOUNT –– Mr. David Warren Kennedy, 76, died Friday in Siler City.  The funeral service will be conduced at 3 p.m. today at First Christian Church, Rocky Mount.

Mr. Kennedy is survived by two sons, David W. Kennedy, Jr., of Norfolk, Va., and Bryant Kennedy of Silver City; four sisters, Mrs. Elizabeth Moore and Mrs. Kathleen Whichard, both of Greenville, Mrs. Robert F. Burt of Swansboro, and Mrs. Mary Smith of Greensboro; and two grandchildren.

N35–––vi.––– Clarence Robert Kennedy, born October 22, 1904; died July 22, 1905; and was buried in Cherry Hill Cemetery, Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina.

Obituary of
Clarence Robert Kennedy

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Monday, July 24, 1905, p. 4:

DIED.

Clarence, aged 9 months, infant son of Mr. and Mrs. A. F. Kennedy, died Saturday afternoon about 5 o’clock.  This is the second bereavement to fall upon them in the last few months, their oldest son dying in April.  The funeral of little Clarence was held Sunday afternoon at 5 o’clock, the interment being in Cherry Hill cemetery.  Services were conducted at the residence and grave by Rev. J. E. Ayscue.  The pall bearers were L. T. Smallwood, T. W. Skinner, W. B. Goolsby and W. D. Pruett.

N36–––vii.––– Elizabeth Violetta Kennedy was born February 4, 1907 in Halifax County, North Carolina; died January 28, 1997 in Pitt County Memorial Hospital, Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina; and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Greenville.  She married William Edward Moore, who was born on August 14, 1904 in Greenville, North Carolina; died there on April 17, 1976; and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Greenville, North Carolina.  They had two sons (a) Bill and (b) Robert.

Obituary of
Elizabeth Violetta Kennedy

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Thursday, January 30 1997, p. B-2:

MOORE

GREENVILLE, N.C. –– Mrs. Elizabeth Kennedy Moore, 89, died Tuesday, January 28, 1997 in Pitt County Memorial Hospital.

The funeral service will be conducted Friday at 11 a.m. in the Wilkerson Funeral Chapel.  Burial will be in Greenwood Cemetery.

Mrs. Moore, a native of Halifax County, had made her home in Greenville since the 1930s.  She was employed at Blount Harvey’s for many years until her retirement.  She was a member of the Memorial Baptist Church.

Surviving are: 2 sons, Bill Moore of Suffolk, Virginia, Robert Moore of Rochester, New York; grandchildren, Eddie Moore of Boling Brook, Illinois, Scott Moore of Suffolk, Virginia, Rob Moore of the United States Navy, now stationed in Japan, Patrick Moore of Rochester, New York; sister, Aimee K. Burt of Slidell, Louisiana.

Visitation will be Thursday from 7 to 8 p.m. at the funeral home.

Obituary of
William Edward Moore

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Monday, April 19, 1976, p. 8:

MOORE

Mr. W. Ed Moore, 71, died Saturday night in Pitt Memorial Hospital.  He resided at 210 Manhattan Ave.

Funeral services will be conducted at 11 o’clock Tuesday morning at the Wilkerson Funeral Chapel by the Rev. Jim Bailey, his pastor, and the Rev. Norman Bennett, pastor of Memorial Baptist Church.  Burial will be in Greenwood Cemetery.

Mr. Moore, a native of Greenville, was associated with Export Leaf Tobacco Co. for many years prior to his retirement in 1967.  He was also a gunsmith.  He was a member of Jarvis Memorial United Methodist Church, the Greenville Moose Lodge and was a charter member of the Pitt County Wildlife Club.

He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Kennedy Moore; two sons, Bill E. Moore of Portsmouth, Va., and Robert A. Moore of Greenville; two sisters, Mrs. W. F. Jackson of Havelock, and Mrs. William Sullivan of Birmingham, Ala.; and two grandchildren.

The family has suggested that those desiring to make a memorial contribution consider the North Carolina Chapter National Kidney Foundation, c/o Dr. Al Ferguson, Greenville Hemodialysis Center, Box 4089, Greenville.

N37–––viii.––– Aimee Jordan Kennedy, born October 24, 1908 in North Carolina; died November 22, 2001, Slidell, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana.  She married Robert Ferguson Burt, who died in 1965.

N38–––ix.––– Arthur John Kennedy, born July 31, 1910 in Ahoskie, Hertford County, North Carolina; died January 10, 1973 in Virginia Beach, Virginia; and was buried in Rosewood Memorial Park Cemetery in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  He married Willie Lois Pierce on January 24, 1942 in South Mill, North Carolina.  Their children included: (a) Arthur John Kennedy, Jr., who married Drucilla Lynn Vourlas; (b) Warren Eason Kennedy; (c) Diane Kennedy, who married a Allie Hudgins; and (d) Mary Clare Kennedy.

Obituary of
Arthur John Kennedy

The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Virginia, Friday, January 12, 1973, p. B-4:

ARTHUR J. KENNEDY, SR.

VIRGINIA BEACH –– Arthur John Kennedy, Sr., 62, of 429 Hartsdale Road, died in a hospital Wednesday.

He was the husband of Mrs. Lois Pierce Kennedy and a son of Alfred Forbes and Mrs. Ora Whichard Kennedy.

A native of Ahoskie, N.C., he lived in the Norfolk-Virginia Beach area 23 years.

He was a member of Kempsville Baptist Church and a retired carpenter.

Besides his widow, he is survived by two sons, Arthur J. Kennedy, Jr. and Warren E. Kennedy of Virginia Beach; two daughters, Mrs. Diane Hudgins of Norfolk and Miss Mary Clare Kennedy of Virginia Beach; four sisters, Mrs. R. F. Burt of Swingsboro, N.C., Mrs. Kathleen Whichard and Mrs. W. E. Moore of Greenville, N.C., and Mrs. Mary Gray Smith of Greensboro, N.C.; and a brother, D.W. Kennedy of Rocky Mount, N.C.

A funeral service will be conducted in Hollomon-Brown Funeral Home, Bayside, Saturday at 2 p.m. by the Rev. Charles H. Jones of Kempsville Baptist Church.  Burial will be in Rosewood Memorial Park.

N39–––x.––– Ella Claire Kennedy, born October 20, 1916; died November 14, 1953.  She married Alton Gold Keel.

Notes

A son, Alton Gold Keel, Jr., was:

• Born in Newport News, Virginia, Dr. Keel holds a bachelor of aerospace engineering degree (1966) from the University of Virginia and a doctorate in engineering physics (1970) also from UVa;

• Nominated by President Reagan as served as Assistant Secretary of the United States Air Force (1978);

• Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

• Appointed Executive Director of The Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident (1986);

• Was U.S. Ambassador to NATO (i.e. - U.S. Permanent Representative on the Council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (1987-1989); and

• Managing director of Atlantic Partners, LLC, an East coast based investment group, and chairman and chief executive officer of LAND-5 Corporation of San Diego, California, a privately held network storage technology company.

NOMINATION OF ALTON GOLD KEEL, JR.
AS ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE U.S. AIR FORCE

The White House
June 3, 1981

The President today announced his intention to nominate Alton Gold Keel, Jr., to be an Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Research, Development & Logistics).

Alton Gold Keel, Jr.

From 1978 to the present, Dr. Keel was professional staff member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and is currently senior professional staff member of the committee.   In 1977 Dr. Keel was selected as a Congressional Science Fellow by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.  He began serving in Senator Howard Cannon’s (D-Nev.) office as a defense and technical adviser.  From 1971 to 1977, he was with the Naval Surface Weapons Center, White Oak Laboratory, in Silver Spring, Md.  In 1976 he became scientific staff assistant to the Associate Technical Director of the White Oak Laboratory.

Dr. Keel was a postdoctoral scholar (1971) at the University of California at Berkeley.  In 1970 he received his Ph.D. in engineering physics from the University of Virginia.  He received his bachelor of aerospace engineering in 1966 from the University of Virginia.

Dr. Keel was born ... in Newport News, Va.  He is a resident of Washington, D.C.

IMPACT
Volume 2, Number 1
Spring 2000
http://www.seas.virginia.edu/alumniHome.php

The University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

FROM ENGINEER TOAMBASSADOR

Alton G. Keel, Jr. (BS ‘66, Ph.D. ‘70), has built an impressive career on foundations laid more than three decades ago at the engineering school.  As associate director of the Office of Management and Budget, acting assistant to the president for national security affairs, ambassador to NATO, and now president and managing director of an investment bank, he draws constantly on the analytical skills he honed while a student in Charlottesville.

Keel never set out to be anything but an engineer.  After completing an undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering and a doctorate in engineering physics at the University, he completed a postdoctoral program at the University of California at Berkeley and took a job with a navy research lab.  But after applying for and wining a Congressional Service Fellowship, he embarked on a career that is notable both for its variety and for its distinction.

Ambassador Keel is remarkable for finding new fields to apply his skills.  His engineering education gave him the confidence to take on the first systematic examination of the Defense Department’s multibillion-dollar R&D budget ever undertaken by Congress, to conduct complex negotiations with our NATO allies, and to evaluate the prospects of high-tech start-up companies.

Ambassador Keel’s eclectic career is not surprising in light of his decision, right at the start, to pursue engineering at the University.  “I was drawn to the combination of a high-quality engineering school within a major university with areas of excellence in medicine, law, the liberal arts, and the sciences,” he recalls.  “It was a great opportunity to study and socialize with people of varied interests.”

Although he’s acted in a variety of capacities during his life, he has always seen himself as an engineer.  “I’ve been mistaken for a number of different things,” he says, “a diplomat, an economist, and a foreign policy analyst.  But the fact is, I am an engineer.  And throughout my career the engineering training I received at U.Va has served to my advantage.”

N13. FRANCES GERTRUDE⁵ WHICHARD (Willis R.⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born on November 22, 1861 in Pitt County, North Carolina; died on January 16, 1930 in Bethel, Pitt County, North Carolina; and was buried in the Jones Family Cemetery, near Bethel.  Gertrude married Soloman Major Jones on November 15, 1882, a son of Major Jones and Vesta Wainwright.  He was born on November 14, 1859; died on April 19, 1936; and was buried in the Jones Family Cemetery.  After Gertie’s death, he married Trulah Ward Johnson on June 22, 1930.  “Sol’s” sister, Harriet Elizabeth Ann Jones, married Leonidas Fleming, son of Ivey Fleming and Talitha Ann Albritton.  Ivey was a son of Benjamin Fleming and grandson of David Fleming.

Soloman Major Jones served in the North Carolina House of Representatives, working to steer to successful passage the legislation offered by his wife’s kinsman, state Sen. James L. Fleming, to establish what became East Carolina University.  In 1906, he and his family moved into and operated the M. O. Blount Hotel in Bethel, which burned in 1915.  In 1921, he moved into a new brick home on Main Street, in Bethel, across from the old Bethel High School, and became an insurance agent while continuing his farming operations.

Obituary of Frances Gertrude Whichard

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Thursday, January 16, 1930, p. 1:

MRS. S. M. JONES PASSES AFTER SHORT ILLNESS

Funeral for Well-Known Bethel
Woman To Be Held
Tomorrow Afternoon

Mrs. S. M. Jones, one of the best known women of the Bethel community, passed away at her home in Bethel today shortly before the noon hour.  Death was attributed to pneumonia of about a week’s duration and death was not unexpected.  She was 68 years of age.

Funeral services will be conducted from her late home Friday afternoon at 2 o’clock by Rev. Ben Cowan and Rev. John Rogers, Primitive Baptist ministers.

Interment will be made in the Jones burying ground on the Greenville-Bethel highway a few miles from Bethel.

Mrs. Jones was a native of Pitt county.  She was formerly Miss Gertrude Whichard, daughter of the late Willis R. Whichard of Whichards, Pitt county.  She was a member of the Primitive Baptist church and was active in the work of the denomination.

Mrs. Jones spent virtually her entire life in the county and was probably one of the best known and most popular women of the Bethel section where she resided over a period of many years.  Her husband, known as “Sol” Jones, among hundreds of people in all parts of the county, is among the most prominent men of the town of Bethel and for many years has taken an active part in the social, religious, business and political life of the county.

She is survived by her husband, five daughters and two sons, Mrs. Vernon Ward, Robersonville; Mrs. J. P. Harris, Beaufort; Mrs. Will Spencer, Raleigh; Mrs. S. S. Farabow, Varina; Miss Olive Jones, Bethel; Dr. Paul E. Jones, Farmville; and Willis R. Jones, Baltimore.  She is also survived by her step-mother Mrs. M. A. Whichard of Stokes and four brothers, C. L., W. R., H. W. Whichard, Norfolk, and L. R. Whichard, Stokes.

Obituary of Soloman Major Jones

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Monday, April 20, 1936, p. 1:

FUNERAL HELD FOR S. M. JONES

Prominent Pitt Man Buried in Family Plot

Bethel, April 20 – Funeral services for Soloman M. Jones, 76, were conducted at his home this afternoon at four o’clock by his pastor, Elder B. S. Cowan, pastor of the Robersonville Primitive Baptist church, assisted by Elder Julius Moore of Whitakers and Rev. J. P. Harris of Maysville.  Interment was made in the family burial ground.

Mr. Jones was a deacon of the Primitive Baptist church and a very loyal supporter of its organizations.  He was also especially prominent in both county and local civic and political affairs.  In 1907, he was a representative from Pitt county to the State Legislature and was untiring in his efforts to secure the appropriation which made possible the establishment of the East Carolina Teacher’s Training school.  For a number of years, he was Mayor of Bethel.  He also at one time was a member of the County Board of Commissioners and a member of the local school board.  Until his death, he was president of the Pitt Building Loan Association of Bethel.

On November 15, 1882, Mr. Jones was married to Frances Gertrude Whichard of Whichards, who died several years ago.  Of this union, the following children, all of whom survive, were born: Mrs. V. A. Ward, Robersonville; Mrs. J. P. Harris, Maysville; Mrs. Virginia Jones Spencer, Greensboro; Miss Olive Jones, Bethel; Mrs. Sidney Farabow, Oxford; Dr. P. E. Jones, Farmville; and Willis R. Jones, Baltimore, Md.

In June 1930, he was married to Mrs. Trulah Ward Johnson of Williamston, who with the following step-children, survive him: Mrs. Hugh Horton, Mrs. Hewett Edwards, Miss Trulah Ward Page of Williamston, and Mrs. E. H. Robinson, of Daytona Beach, Florida.

Active pallbearers were: T. R. Andrews, J. W. Rook, J. P. Hooker, F. C. Martin, L. L. Barnhill and J. A. Stokes of Bethel.

Honorary pallbearers were: M. O. Blount, Robert Staton, R. D. Whitehurst, G. G. Whitehurst, J. Rufus Carson, B. A. Beverly, J. W. Martin, J. M. Loyd, E. L. Mayo, W. W. Taylor, W. J. Carson, J. R. Whichard, J. B. Bowers, W. R. Bullock, F. L. Andrews, S. C. Ives, W. C. Whitehurst, J. G. Thomas, W. J. Smith, W. J. Manning, E. O. Burroughs, John Mayo, Z. V. Bunting, Dr. J. W. Warren, J. L. Gurganus, J. C. Wynne, R. L. Whitley, J. S. Moore, J. V. Taylor, B. W. James, Edward Manning, A. M. McWorter, F. E. Price, J. B. Bunting, H. W. Brown, W. D. Cheery, of Bethel; J. L. Little, J. G. Taylor, J. H. Blount, M. K. Blount, J. C. Gaskins, J. T. Harrington, W. H. Woolard, W. M. Moore, J. H. Manning of Greenville; R. A. Bailey, J. L. Roberson, W. J. Little, N. C. Everett, J. Robert Jenkins of Robersonville; W. G. Stokes, Bennie Moore, Lamb Barnhill, Sr., D. C. Barnhill and W. G. Barnhill of Stokes.

Issue:

N40–––i.––– James⁶ Jones, born October 1885; was buried in the Jones Cemetery, near Bethel, Pitt County, North Carolina.

N41–––ii.––– Mary Elizabeth Jones, of whom below, born July 31, 1887.

N42–––iii.––– Lucy Estelle Jones, born October 17, 1888.  Lucy married Joseph Pegues Harris on May 20, 1923 in Bethel, Pitt County, North Carolina.  He had at least three children by an earlier marriage: (a) Joseph Pegues Harris, Jr., (b) Sharon Harris, and (c) Franklin Gardner Harris.

The Chronicles of Pitt County, North Carolina, published by the Pitt County Historical Society, Greenville, North Carolina, 1982, p. 429:

Lucy Estelle Jones, born October 17, 1888, was Bethel Postmaster from 1917 to 1924.  She married the then Bethel Baptist minister, J. P. Harris, thereby becoming the stepmother of J. P. Harris, Jr., who became an insurance agent, Sharon Harris, former president of Carolina Power and Light Company, and the United States Chamber of Commerce, and Franklin Gardner Harris, D.D.S., who practiced dentistry and still resides in Sanford.

One of the Carolina Power and Light (Progress Energy Co.) generating plants is named the “Sharon Harris Plant,” a nuclear facility located about halfway between Raleigh and Sanford.  The Harris Plant became operational in May 1987.

Marriage of Lucy Estelle Jones and Joseph Pegues Harris

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Monday, May 21, 1923, p. 4:

HARRIS-JONES

The following announcement has
been received by friends in this city:

Mr. and Mrs. Soloman M. Jones
announce the marriage of their
daughter

Lucy Estelle

to

Reverend Joseph Pegues Harris

on Sunday, the twentieth of May
nineteen hundred and twenty-three
Bethel, North Carolina.

N43–––iv.––– Paul Erastus Jones, of whom below, born April 9, 1890 near Bethel, Pitt County, North Carolina; died December 26, 1977 in Farmville, Pitt County, North Carolina.

N44–––v.––– Willis Roscoe Jones, of whom below, born March 9, 1892 near Bethel, Pitt County, North Carolina; died March 17, 1952 in Mercy Hospital, Baltimore, Baltimore County, Maryland.

N45–––vi.––– Virginia Dare Jones, of whom below, born July 19, 1894 in Bethel, Pitt County, North Carolina; died September 18, 1979 in Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina.

N46–––vii.––– John David Jones.

N47–––viii.––– Ruth M. Jones, born January 19, 1897; died October 16, 1898; and was buried in the Jones Cemetery, near Bethel, Pitt County, North Carolina.

N48–––ix.––– Martha Olive Jones, born November 11, 1898.  Olive died June 27, 1987 in Pitt Memorial Hospital, Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina.  From The Chronicles of Pitt County, North Carolina, Pitt County Historical Society, Greenville, North Carolina, 1982, p. 430: “Martha Olive Jones, born November 11, 1898, was first employed by Bethel Bank and Trust Company.  Later she was bookkeeper for M. O. Blount and Sons.  In 1931, she became secretary of Bethel Savings and Loan, a position in which she was so faithful that many said she was Bethel Savings and Loan.  She retired from this position in 1969.  She is the only one of her generation still surviving, and the sole occupant of the large home that Grandpa built in Bethel; it now has seven bedrooms and four baths.”

Obituary of
Martha Olive Jones

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Monday, June 29, 1987, p. A-10:

JONES

BETHEL –– Miss Martha Olive Jones, 88, died Saturday in Pitt Memorial Hospital.  Her body was donated to the East Carolina University School of Medicine.  A memorial service will be conducted at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Bethel United Methodist Church by the Rev. Earl G. Dulaney.

Miss Jones was a member of Bethel United Methodist Church and for many years was a bookkeeper for Bethel Building and Loan Association.  In recent years, she had lived at the University Nursing Center, Greenville.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Bethel United Methodist Church.

N49–––x.––– Blanche Gertrude Jones, born July 3, 1902; died July 31, 1902; and was buried in the Jones Cemetery, near Bethel, Pitt County, North Carolina

N50–––xi.––– Annie Gertrude Jones, of whom below, born December 25, 1903; died on May 9, 1980.

N14. CLAUDE LINDEN⁵ WHICHARD (Willis R.⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born on September 1, 1867 at Whichard’s, Pitt County, North Carolina; and died on January 13, 1931 in Norfolk, Virginia.  He married Annie Wortham Dey on December 4, 1901, in Norfolk, Virginia.  She was a daughter of George Walters Dey and Mary Jane Toy; and was born on April 21, 1869; died on September 28, 1973 –– 104 years of age! –– in Norfolk, Virginia; and was buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Norfolk, Virginia.

Marriage of Claude Linden Whichard and Annie Wortham Dey

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Friday, November 22, 1901, p. 4:

WHICHARD-DEY

The following cards have been issued:

Mr. and Mrs. George Walters Dey
request the honor of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter,

Annie Wortham

to

Mr. Claude Linden Whichard

on the evening of Wednesday,
the fourth of December
nineteen hundred and one
at half after seven o’clock.

At 312 Bate street,
Norfolk, Virginia.

Biographical Notes on Claude Linden Whichard

The Eastern Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Wednesday, January 6, 1892:

Mr. C. L. Whichard, who since last spring has been in the employ of the Greenleaf Johnson Lumber Co., Norfolk, returned to Pitt on the 26th ulto.  He was over last week to spend a day or so with the Reflector boys.

The Eastern Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, August 2, 1893:

Last Wednesday’s issue of the Norfolk Landmark gives an account of the organization of a new lodge of I.O.O.F. with 150 members.  In the list of officers elected we see the names of C. L. Whichard as permanent secretary and C. C. Cobb as chaplain.  This is a compliment to Pitt county.

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Friday, December 18, 1903, p. 1:

PROSPEROUS PITT COUNTIANS IN NORFOLK.

he annual meeting of the stockholders of Winston-Whichard Company, wholesale jobbers and importers of dry goods and notions, was held yesterday afternoon at the office of the company, 76 to 84 Commerce street in this city.  The old board of directions was re-elected, as well as the old officers –– M. Winston, president; H. W. Whichard, vice-president; C. L. Whichard, secretary and treasurer.

The annual statement and report of the treasurer showed the affairs of the company to be in good condition.  It was decided to increase the capital stock of the company 50 per cent by a stock dividend for that amount to be distributed among the present stockholders in proportion to the amount of stock now held by each.  A cash dividend of 10 per cent was also declared.  The stock dividend was paid in cash out of the surplus earnings of the company, leaving a surplus on hand.

A decision was reached at the company’s meeting to subscribe to the stock of Jamestown Exposition Company.  The Winston-Whichard Company has had a most successful career since its formation in this city and is one of the prosperous and progressive young business houses in Norfolk. –– Norfolk Dispatch, 16th.

Two members of the above firm are Pitt county boys and The Reflector is glad to note the splendid success they are making in Norfolk, the city that is largely made of hustling North Carolinians.

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Tuesday, January 24, 1905, p. 1:

HONORS FOR A PITT BOY.

We see from Norfolk papers, C. L. Whichard, a Pitt county boy who is now a prominent business man in Norfolk, was recently elected a member of the board of directors of the Chamber of Commerce in that city.  The boys of old Pitt usually make their mark wherever they go.

Obituary of Claude Linden Whichard

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Wednesday, January 14, 1931, p. 1:

FORMER PITT COUNTY MAN PASSES AWAY

C. L. Whichard, Prominent Merchant
and Churchman, Dies at Norfolk

Claude L. Whichard, 63, native of this county, but for 38 years prominent wholesale merchant and clubman of Norfolk, died in a hospital in that city last night, according to advices received by relatives here last night.

Mr. Whichard was a member of Whichard Brothers, wholesale and drygoods and notions merchants, a deacon in Freeman Street Baptist church and a member of the Masons and the Norfolk Rotary club.

A native of this county, Mr. Whichard was born at Whichard’s, the son of Mrs. Mary Amanda and the late Willis R. Whichard.  In 1892, following a business education in Louisville, Ky., Mr. Whichard went to Norfolk to accept a position and later became a partner in the Winstead-Whichard Company ...

In 1901 he was married to Miss Annie Dey, who with three sons, Rogers Dey, Claude Linden, Jr. and George W., survive him.  He is also survived by his mother, Mrs. M. A. Whichard and three brothers, W. R. and H. W. Whichard, of Norfolk, and L. R. Whichard, of Whichard’s, and a number of other relatives in this county.

Funeral services will be conducted from his late home at 818 Ocean View avenue, Willoughby Beach, at noon Thursday.

Obituaries of Annie Wortham Dey

The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Virginia, Saturday, September 29, 1973, p. A-8:

MRS. ANNIE WHICHARD, 104, OF OLD NORFOLK FAMILY

NORFOLK –– Mrs. Annie Dey Whichard, 104, of 822 W. Ocean View Ave., a member of an old Norfolk family, died Friday at noon in her home.

She was the widow of Claude L. Whichard, Sr., and a daughter of George W. and Mrs. Mary Jane Toy Dey.

She was a member of Freemason Street Baptist Church, which was founded by her grandfathers.

She graduated in 1886 from Norfolk College for Young Ladies and received her master of arts degree in 1887.

She had been a member of Norfolk City Union of King’s Daughters since 1891.

She is survived by two sons, Rogers D. Whichard and Claude L. Whichard, Jr. of Norfolk; and a grandson, George W. Dey Whichard, Jr.; and a great-grandson, Brandon Dey Whichard, both of East Hartford, Conn.

The body was taken to H.D. Oliver Funeral Apartments.

In lieu of flowers the family suggests contributions be made to King’s Daughters’ Children’s Hospital.

The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Virginia, Sunday, September 30, 1973, p. B-2:

WHICHARD, MRS. ANNIE DEY –– In her residence, 822 W. Ocean View Avenue, Norfolk.  Mrs. Annie Dey Whichard, widow of Claude L. Whichard, Sr., in the 105th year of her age.  The body will be taken from H. D. Oliver Funeral Apartments, Norfolk, to Forest Lawn Cemetery Mausoleum for services today at 2:00 p.m.  Friends are invited.

The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Virginia, Sunday, September 30, 1973, p. B-2:

MRS. ANNIE DEY WHICHARD

NORFOLK –– A funeral service for Mrs. Annie Dey Whichard, 104, of 822 W. Ocean View Ave., who died Friday, will be held today at 2 p.m. in Forest Lawn Cemetery.  H. D. Oliver Funeral Apartments, Norfolk, has charge.  The family will be at 1215 Hampton Blvd.  They have requested that expressions of sympathy take the form of contributions to King’s Daughters’ Children’s Hospital.

Issue:

N51–––i.––– Rogers Dey⁶ Whichard, born circa 1902 (his obituary in The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Virginia, Monday, January 31, 1994, p. D-2 says he was 91 years old at his death); died January 30, 1994 in Chesapeake, Virginia; and was buried there in the Chesapeake Memorial Gardens.  He was the author of Whichard-Wichard-Wishard-Wishart, 1654-1954: A Genealogical History of the Whichard Family.  He married Virgilia Mason Nash, born on January 22, 1909; died on December 2, 1980 in Norfolk, Virginia; and was buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery, Norfolk.

Obituary of
Rogers Dey Whichard

The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Virginia, Monday, January 31, 1994, p. D-2:

Rogers Dey Whichard, 91, formerly of the 300 block of Middle Oaks Drive, died January 30, 1994, in a Chesapeake hospital.  Dr. Whichard, a member of a very old, prominent Norfolk family, resided in the West Ghent section of Norfolk prior to 1983, after which he made his home in the Great Bridge Borough of Chesapeake.  He is survived by Peggy D. Wagner of Chesapeake, his companion and caregiver of many years, a nephew, George W. Whichard of Potomac, Maryland, and two cousins, Meade G. Stone, Jr. of Virginia Beach and Stuart Calvert Stone of Norfolk.

Dr. Whichard was the son of the late Claude Linden and Annie Dey Whichard.  He was the widower of the late Virgilia Nash Whichard.

Dr. Whichard was a professor of Romance Languages at Old Dominion University for 25 years, a distinguished veteran of the U.S. Navy, and author of The History of Lower Tidewater Virginia, published in 1959, among other books.

Following graduation from Maury High School, he studied at Paris at the Lycee Louis le Grand.  Upon receiving his Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of North Carolina, he attended the Harvard Business School and subsequently became a Licensed Customhouse Broker.  He returned to Chapel Hill to complete his Master of Arts Degree in Romance Languages and taught French there while pursuing his doctorate.

However, as a Commissioned Lieut. USNR, he was called into active duty in 1942, distinguishing himself as an Intelligence/Security Officer.  He later served as Liaison Officer with the U.S. Army for the Normandy Invasion of June 1944.  Following World War II, he returned to Chapel Hill for the completion of his Ph.D.

After a year of teaching at Emory University, Dr. Whichard began a twenty-five year teaching career at the Norfolk Division of the College of William and Mary, later Old Dominion University.  His academic career again was interrupted briefly by a call to active duty during the Korean War.  He retired from the Navy in 1963 with the rank of Captain.  He then served eight years as Chairman of the Department of Modern Languages at Old Dominion University, retiring in 1972 as Professor Emeritus of Romance Languages and Literature.

In addition to his naval and academic careers, Dr. Whichard was a noted historian (considered an authority on local history) and a respected author.  He wrote The History of Lower Tidewater Virginia (published in 1959) and The History of Norfolk Academy (published in 1978).  He was a frequent contributor to the local newspapers, providing articles on local history and letters to the editor.  He continued to pursue a life-long interest in genealogy.

His honors and memberships include the Phi Beta Kappa Society, Society of the Cincinnati, the Norfolk German Club, life memberships in the Retired Officers Assn. and the Naval Reserve Assn.  Dr. Whichard was a life-long member of Freemason Street Baptist Church which was founded by his two great-grandfathers.

A funeral service will be held on Tuesday at 2 p.m. in Freemason Street Baptist Church, Norfolk, by Dr. Donald J. Dunlap.  Burial with military honors will be in Chesapeake Memorial Gardens.  Memorial contributions may be made to the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters.  Graham Funeral Home, South Norfolk Chapel, is in charge of arrangements.

Obituary of
Virgilia Mason Nash

The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Virginia, Thursday, December 4, 1980, p. C-2:

MRS. VIRGILIA M. WHICHARD

NORFOLK –– Mrs. Virgilia Mason Nash Whichard, 71, of 1215 Hampton Blvd., the wife of Rogers Dey Whichard and a lifelong resident of Norfolk, died Tuesday in her home.

She was a member of the Colonial Dames, Lawrence T. Royster Circle of the King’s Daughters, and an alumna of Chatham Hall School.

Other survivors include a sister, Mrs. H. P. Costolo of Lynchburg; and two brothers, William L. Nash of New York and C. Albert Nash of Richmond.

A funeral will be held today at 2 p.m. in Cedar Grove Cemetery by Dr. William L. Lumpkin.  H.D. Oliver Funeral Apartments has charge.  The family asks that flowers be omitted and memorial donations may be made to the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters.

N52–––ii.––– Claude Linden Whichard, Jr., born on July 13, 1909; died on February 23, 1975 in Norfolk, Virginia; and was buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Norfolk.  He was married to Virginia Overstreet.

Obituaries of
Claude Linden Whichard, Jr.

The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Virginia, Monday, February 24, 1975, p. A-10:

C. L. WHICHARD, Jr.

NORFOLK –– Claude Linden Whichard, Jr., 65, of 822 W. Ocean View Ave., died Sunday in a hospital.

He was the husband of Virginia Overstreet Whichard, and a native of Norfolk.  He was a retired City of Norfolk employe and a member of Freemason St. Baptist Church.

Other survivors include a brother, Rogers Dey Whichard of Norfolk.

A funeral service will be held Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. in H. D. Oliver Funeral Apts., by William L. Lumpkin.  Burial will be in Forest Lawn Cemetery.  Memorial donations may be made to the American Cancer Society.

The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Virginia, Tuesday, February 25, 1975, p. A-10:

WHICHARD, JR., CLAUDE LINDEN –– in a Norfolk hospital Sunday.  Claude Linden Whichard, Jr., husband of Mrs. Virginia Overstreet Whichard, and a son of the late Claude Linden Whichard, Sr. and Mrs. Annie Dey Whichard, in the 66th year of his age.  A funeral service will be held in H. D. Oliver Funeral Apts., Norfolk, Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.  Burial, Forest Lawn Cemetery.  Memorial donations may be sent to American Cancer Society.

N53–––iii.––– George Walters Dey Whichard, of whom below, born January 23, 1914; died on May 2, 1962 in Orlando, Florida.

N16. WILLIS R.⁵ WHICHARD, JR. (Willis R.⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born on July 9, 1872; and died in 1933.  He married Ella Keel on October 6, 1897 in Carolina township. in Pitt County, North Carolina.  A daughter of Offie Keel and Mittie Page, she was born in January of 1869 in Stokes, Pitt County, North Carolina; and died on March 8, 1934 in Norfolk, Virginia.

Marriage of Willis R. Whichard, Jr. and Ella Keel

The Eastern Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Tuesday, October 12, 1897, p. 3:

A PRETTY HOME MARRIAGE.

On Wednesday afternoon 6th inst., at the home of the bride’s mother, Mrs. Theo. Keel, in Carolina township, Mr. W. R. Whichard, Jr. and Miss Ella Keel were happily married by Rev. M. Pittman of Washington, in the presence of a few friends and relatives.

Immediately after the ceremony the party left for the home of the groom’s father, Mr. W. R. Whichard, Sr., where an elegant wedding supper was served and a delightful social evening spent.

The bride and groom received a number of beautiful presents.  They are both among the most popular young people of the county and have the best wishes of a large number of friends, the Reflector among them.

Biographical Notes on Willis R. Whichard, Jr.

The Eastern Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Wednesday, June 26, 1895:

Mr. W. R. Whichard, Jr., Coast Line agent at Whichard’s station, came over Thursday on his bicycle.  He made the distance, 12 miles, in exactly an hour.

Obituary of Ella Keel

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Thursday, March 8, 1934, p. 1:

MRS. WHICHARD PASSES AWAY

Death Claims Former
Pitt County Lady at
Her Home in Norfolk Today

News was received here today of the death in Norfolk this morning at 11 o’clock of Mrs. W. R. Whichard, a native of this county.  Death followed illness of several weeks.

Funeral services will be conducted from her Norfolk home Saturday afternoon at 2 o’clock.

The deceased was formerly Miss Ella Keel, of the Stokes section, and the daughter of the late Office Keel and Mrs. Mittie Page Keel.  She was born and reared near Stokes and had been living in Norfolk a number of years.  Her husband, a prominent business man and a recorder of Khedive Temple for a number of years, died about a year ago.

Mrs. Whichard was an active member of the Christian church and beloved by a wide circle of friends.  She is survived by her son, Cecil Whichard, and a granddaughter, Miss Frances Whichard, both of Norfolk.  In addition, she is survived by several brothers and sisters and other relatives in this and other parts of the country.

Issue:

N54–––i.––– James Cecil⁶ Whichard, of whom below, born September 2, 1898 in Pitt County, North Carolina; died November 20, 1966 in Norfolk, Virginia.

N55–––ii.––– Willis T. Whichard, born circa 1905; died June 27, 1906.

Obituary of Willis T. Whichard

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Thursday, June 28, 1906, p. 1:

DIED.

Willis T., infant of Mr. and Mrs. W. R. Whichard, died at 2:40 o’clock Wednesday afternoon at their home of cholera infantum.  The funeral was held this afternoon, the service being conducted by Rev. J. E. Ayscue, of Greenville.

N17. HENRY WALTER⁵ WHICHARD (Willis R.⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born March 23, 1875 in Whichard’s Station, near Stokes, Pitt County, North Carolina; died March 20, 1960 in Norfolk, Norfolk County, Virginia; and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Raleigh, North Carolina.  Harry married Pattie Carroll, who was born about 1886 in Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina; died November 7, 1972 in Sacramento, California; and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Raleigh, North Carolina.   She was a daughter of Owen J. Carroll and Mary Southerland.

Biographical Notes on Henry Walter Whichard

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Friday, December 18, 1903, p. 1:

PROSPEROUS PITT COUNTIANS IN NORFOLK.

he annual meeting of the stockholders of Winston-Whichard Company, wholesale jobbers and importers of dry goods and notions, was held yesterday afternoon at the office of the company, 76 to 84 Commerce street in this city.  The old board of directions was re-elected, as well as the old officers –– M. Winston, president; H. W. Whichard, vice-president; C. L. Whichard, secretary and treasurer.

The annual statement and report of the treasurer showed the affairs of the company to be in good condition.  It was decided to increase the capital stock of the company 50 per cent by a stock dividend for that amount to be distributed among the present stockholders in proportion to the amount of stock now held by each.  A cash dividend of 10 per cent was also declared.  The stock dividend was paid in cash out of the surplus earnings of the company, leaving a surplus on hand.

A decision was reached at the company’s meeting to subscribe to the stock of Jamestown Exposition Company.  The Winston-Whichard Company has had a most successful career since its formation in this city and is one of the prosperous and progressive young business houses in Norfolk. –– Norfolk Dispatch, 16th.

Two members of the above firm are Pitt county boys and The Reflector is glad to note the splendid success they are making in Norfolk, the city that is largely made of hustling North Carolinians.

Two members of the above firm are Pitt county boys and The Reflector is glad to note the splendid success they are making in Norfolk, the city that is largely made of hustling North Carolinians.

Obituary of Henry Walter Whichard

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Monday, March 21, 1960, p. 10:

HARRY W. WHICHARD DIES IN NORFOLK, VA.

NORFOLK, Va. –– Harry Walter Whichard, age 85, a native of Pitt County, N. C., died yesterday in a Norfolk hospital following several years of failing health.  He was born at Whichard’s Station, N. C. in March, 1875, the son of the late Willis and Amanda Whichard.

Funeral services will be held today at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Norfolk.  Burial is scheduled to take place at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday at Oakwood Cemetery, Raleigh, N. C.

After the turn of the century, Whichard and his brothers left Pitt County for Norfolk, where they established a wholesale mercantile business which is in operation under the name of Whichard Brothers.

Survivors include his wife, the former Pattie Carroll of Raleigh, N. C.; a son and daughter, several grandchildren; a brother, L. R. Whichard of Whichard’s near Stokes; a number of nieces and nephews in Virginia and Pitt County.

Obituaries of Pattie Carroll

The News & Observer, Raleigh, North Carolina, Wednesday, November 8, 1972, p. 33:

MRS. PATTIE C. WHICHARD

Mrs. Pattie Carroll Whichard, 86, of Sacramento, Calif., formerly of Raleigh, died Tuesday in Sacramento.  Graveside services 11 a.m. Friday, Oakwood Cemetery, Raleigh.  Dr. Frank Pisani.

Surviving: a son, Rev. H. Walter Whichard, Jr. of Sacramento, Calif.; a daughter, Mrs. L. W. Sheriff of Venice, Fla.; a grandchild; a great-grandchild.

The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Virginia, Thursday, November 9, 1972, p. A-16:

MRS. WHICHARD, 86, OF OLD N.C. FAMILY

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Mrs. Pattie Carroll Whichard, 86, formerly of Norfolk and a member of an old North Carolina family, died Tuesday 2 p.m. in a hospital.

A native of Raleigh, she was a daughter of Owen J. and Mrs. Mary Southerland Carroll and widow of H. Walter Whichard, Sr.

She was a member of Old St. Paul’s Episcopal Church of Norfolk and a former president of its Women’s Auxiliary.

She was one of the founders of Norfolk Travelers Aid Society and the Norfolk Community Fund, now the United Community Fund.

She was formerly active on the board of the Norfolk Society of Arts and the Norfolk Chapter of the American Red Cross.

She is survived by a son, the Rev. H. Walter Whichard of Sacramento, with whom she lived the last two years; a daughter, Mrs. L. W. Sheriff of Venice, Fla.; a grandson, Bruce MacSwain of Virginia Beach; and a great-grandson.

A funeral service will be held Friday at 11 a.m. in Oakwood Cemetery, Raleigh, by the Rev. Frank Pisani.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that contributions be made to St. Mary’s College, Raleigh.

Issue:

N56–––i.––– Carol⁶ Whichard married L. W. Sheriff.

N57–––ii.––– Henry Walter Whichard, Jr. was born on March 16, 1915.  The Rev. H. Walter Whichard was appointed Vicar of St. James Episcopal Mission (now Church), Lincoln, California, in May, 1964, and he served in this capacity until June 12, 1966.

N19. LEE ROY⁵ WHICHARD (Willis R.⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born April 30, 1880 in Whichard’s Station, near Stokes, Pitt County, North Carolina; died November 15, 1961 in Pitt Memorial Hospital, Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina; and was buried in Whichard Cemetery, near Stokes, North Carolina.  He married first Lena Woolard on January 22, 1902 in Carolina Township, Pitt County, North Carolina.  She died in 1909.  He married second Clyde Tripp, who was born about 1891 in Bonnerton, Beaufort County, North Carolina; died April 22, 1976 in Pitt County Memorial Hospital, Greenville, North Carolina;and was buried in Whichard Cemetery, near Stokes, North Carolina.

Marriage of Lee Roy Whichard and Lena Woolard

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Thursday, January 23, 1902, p. 1:

WHICHARD-WOOLARD.

On Wednesday afternoon, 22nd inst., at the home of the bride’s father, Mr. W. K. Woolard, in Carolina township, Mr. LeRoy Whichard and Miss Lena Woolard were married by Rev. W. O. Winfield.

They were attend(ed) by J. L. Mooring with Miss Bertha Woolard and J. H. Woolard, Jr., with Miss Leroy Mooring.  The wedding march was play(ed) by Miss Susie Keel.

After the ceremony the bridal party left for the home of the bridegroom’s mother, Mrs. M. A. Whichard, where the reception was held.  An elegant wedding supper was served to a large number of guests.

The couple received some very handsome bridal presents.

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Wednesday, November 15, 1961, p. 20:

LAST RITE THURSDAY FOR L. ROY WHICHARD

Mr. L. Roy Whichard, 81, prominent merchant and farmer of the Stokes community, died at Pitt Memorial Hospital Wednesday morning at 12:50.  He had been critically ill for the past ten days.

Funeral services will be conducted at the Wilkerson Chapel Thursday afternoon at 2:30 by his pastor, the Rev. Charles F. Middleton.  Burial will be in the Whichard Cemetery near the home.

Mr. Whichard spent all his life at Whichard in the Stokes community and was a member of the Stokes Missionary Baptist Church.  A past master of the Greenville Masonic Lodge No. 284, A. F. & A. M., he was a member of the Greenville Chapter No. 50, Royal Arch Masons, the Hiram Council No. 18, Royal and Select Masons, the Bethlehem Commandery No. 29, Knight Templer, and the Sudan Temple at New Bern.  He was married to Lena Woolard of Stokes and she died in 1909.  He later was married to Miss Clyde Tripp of Robersonville, and she survives.

Also surviving are three sons, W. Kenneth Whichard of Greenville, Clifford Whichard of the home, and Lindsay R. Whichard of Raleigh; two daughters, Mrs. E. F. Gunter of Richmond, Va., and Mrs. Frances W. Van Dyke of the home; 8 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren.

Obituary of Clyde Tripp

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Friday, April 23, 1976, p. 14:

WHICHARD

Mrs. Clyde Tripp Whichard, 85, widow of L. Roy Whichard, died in Pitt Memorial Hospital Thursday.

Funeral services will be conducted at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Wilkerson Funeral Chapel by the Rev. Thurman Griffin, pastor of the Stokes Baptist Church, and the Rev. Willis Wilson, pastor of Reedy Branch Free Will Baptist Church.  Burial will be in the Whichard Family Cemetery near Stokes.

Mrs. Whichard, a native of Bonnerton, had lived in the Whichard’s Station community since 1912 and was a member of the Stokes Baptist Church.

She is survived by three sons, W. Kenneth Whichard of Greenville, Clifford S. Whichard of Stokes, and Lindsay R. Whichard of Williamston; two daughters, E. F. Gunter of Richmond, Va. and Mrs. Carr Allen of Greenville; a sister, Mrs. William F. Stokes of Stokes; ten grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren.

The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 7-9 Friday night.

Issue:
Of Lee Roy Whichard and Lena Woolard

N58–––i.––– Mary Louise⁶ Whichard, born August 31, 1903; named as a survivor of her half-brother Clifford S. Whichard in his obituary in The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Friday, August 11, 1989, p. A-14.  Louise married Edward F. Gunter.

N59–––ii.––– Willis Kenneth Whichard, of whom below, born May 28, 1906 in Whichard’s Station, Stokes, Pitt County, North Carolina; died January 13, 1980 in Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina.

Issue:
Of Lee Roy Whichard and Clyde Tripp

N60–––i.––– Clifford Steiner⁶ Whichard, of whom below, born May 19, 1915 in Pitt County, North Carolina; died there on August 10, 1989.

N61–––ii.––– Lindsay Russell Whichard, of whom below, born November 30, 1919 in Pitt County, North Carolina; died March 27, 1997 in Pitt County, North Carolina.

N62–––iii.––– Frances Whichard, named as a survivor of her brother Clifford S. Whichard in his obituary in The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Friday, August 11, 1989, p. A-14.  Frances married a first a Mr. Van Dyke and then second Carr Allen, who was born in Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina about 1914, he was 64 when he died on April 17, 1978.  He was buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Greenville, North Carolina.

Obituary of
Carr Allen

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Tuesday, April 18, 1978, p. 8:

ALLEN

Mr. Carr L. Allen, 64, died Monday.

Funeral services will be held Wednesday at 2 p.m. in the Wilkerson Funeral Chapel by the Rev. Tommy Evans, pastor of Piney Grove FWB Church and the Rev. Thurman Griffin, pastor of Stokes Baptist Church.  Burial will be in Greenwood Cemetery.

Mr. Allen, a Pitt County native, had spent most of his life in Greenville, where he was a service station operator.  He was a member of the Withlacoochee Tribe No. 35, Improved Order of Red Men, and a veteran of World War II, having served in the European Theatre and been awarded the Silver Star Medal.

Surviving him are his wife, Mrs. Francis Whichard Allen; a stepson, Van Van Dyke of Greenville; a stepdaughter, Mrs. W. M. Welborn of Mooresville; three brothers, Howard G. Allen of Greenville, W. Shelby Allen of Grifton, and D. Reynolds Allen of Fort Charlotte, Fla.; four sisters, Mrs. Leon Smith, Sr. and Mrs. Edwin Coates, both of Greenville, Mrs. John E. Wilkerson of Farmville, and Mrs. John Lang of Port Charlotte, Fla.; and three step-grandchildren.

The family will receive friends at the funeral home tonight from 7:30 to 9 p.m.

N20. ERNEST BRYANT⁵ WHICHARD (Willis R.⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born July 2, 1884 in Pitt County, North Carolina; died October 21, 1929 in Stokes, Pitt County, North Carolina; and was buried in the Whichard Family Cemetery, near Stokes, Pitt County, North Carolina.  He married Ida Gertrude Mooring on October 22, 1907 in Carolina Township, Pitt County, North Carolina, daughter of Guilford and Josephine Mooring.  She was born April 26, 1881; died June 23, 1935 near Stokes, Pitt County, North Carolina; and buried in Whichard Family Cemetery.

Marriage of Ernest Bryant Whichard and Ida Gertrude Mooring

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Wednesday, October 23, 1907:

WHICHARD-MOORING

Tuesday afternoon at the home of ex-Sheriff G. M. Mooring, in Carolina township, his daughter Miss Ida and Mr. Ernest B. Whichard were married by Elder M. T. Lawrence.  Mrs. Levi Holliday played the wedding march as the couple entered the parlor, and “Hearts and Flowers” during the ceremony.  A large number of relatives and friends were in attendance upon the marriage, and the couple received many handsome presents.

The bride was married in a beautiful dress of white silk, and soon after the ceremony this was changed to a handsome brown coat suit.  The couple left on the evening train for a bridal tour to northern cities.

Obituary of Ida Gertrude Mooring

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Monday, June 24, 1935:

MRS. WHICHARD DIES AT STOKES

Funeral Services Conducted From
Late Home This Afternoon at 3:30

Mrs. Ida G. Whichard, member of an old and prominent family of near Stokes, died suddenly at her home Sunday morning as a result of a heart attack.  She was 54 years old.

Although Mrs. Whichard had been suffering from heart trouble for some time, she appeared to be in customary health when she retired Saturday night.  She got up Sunday morning ahead of the remainder of the family to prepare breakfast, and when the others got up a few minutes later, they found her dead on the back porch.

Funeral services were conducted from the late home this afternoon at 3:30 o’clock by Rev. A. W. Fleischmann, pastor of Memorial Baptist Church of Greenville, and burial was made in the family cemetery near Whichard’s.

She was the widow of the late Ernest B. Whichard, who died in 1929.  She was the daughter of the late Guilford Mooring, who for a number of years was sheriff of Pitt county, and Mrs. Josephine Mooring.

Mrs. Whichard was a native of Pitt county, and a member of the Stokes Baptist Church.

She is survived by four sons, Willis G. Whichard, Chapel Hill; Ernest B. Whichard, Herman and Benjamin Whichard of the home place; two daughters, Ida G. and Mary Whichard of the home place; one brother, T. M. Mooring of Rocky Mount.

Pall bearers were: Roy Fleming, Cecil Whichard, Kenneth Whichard, Clifford Whichard, William E. Mooring and Mortimer Bonner.

Obituary of Ernest Bryant Whichard

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Monday, October 21, 1929, p. 1:

E. B. WHICHARD DIED TODAY AT STOKES HOME

Well-Known Citizen
Succumbs to Illness
Extending Over a
Period of Few Days

Ernest B. Whichard, one of the best known citizens of the Stokes community, passed away at his home this afternoon at 12:20 o’clock.  He had been in a critical condition several days and death was not unexpected.

Funeral services will be held from his late home tomorrow afternoon at 1 o’clock by Rev. L. R. O’Brian and Rev. B. A. Cowan.  Burial will be made at the family burying ground, and members of Stonewall Masonic Lodge, No. 296, will be in charge of services at the grave.

Mr. Whichard was the son of the late Willis R. Whichard and Mrs. Mary Amanda Whichard, the latter still living and was a native of this county.  He is survived by his mother, his wife, two daughters and four sons, Misses Ida and Mary, Willis G., Ernest, Jr., Herman and Benjamin, and four brothers, and one sister, C. L., W. R., H. W. Whichard of Norfolk, L. R. Whichard of Stokes, and Mrs. S. M. Jones, of Bethel.

Issue:

N63–––i.––– Willis Guilford⁶ Whichard, of whom below, born August 11, 1908 in Pitt County, North Carolina; died November 29, 1972 in Watts Hospital, Durham, Durham County, North Carolina.

N64–––ii.––– James Bernice Whichard, born February 1, 1910; died June 9, 1919 in Stokes, Pitt County, North Carolina.

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Saturday, June 14, 1919:

CARD OF THANKS.

Friends have been so exceedingly kind to us, and so many expressions of sympathy have come on the sorrow that recently visited our home by the accidental death of our little son, that we take this method of returning thanks to every one who was so thoughtful of us.

Mr. and Mrs. E. B. Whichard –– Stokes, N. C.

N65–––iii.––– Ernest Bryant Whichard, Jr., of whom below, born June 16, 1912.

N66–––iv.––– Ida Gertrude Whichard, of whom below, born June 16, 1912; died on March 23, 2004.

N67–––v.––– Herman Mooring Whichard, born August 12, 1914; died August 17, 1976 in Veterans Hospital, San Diego, California.  He married Robbie ?.

Obituary of Herman Mooring Whichard

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Wednesday, August 18, 1976, p. 12:

WHICHARD

LAS VEGAS, NEV. –– Mr. Herman M. Whichard of Las Vegas, Nev., died in the Veterans Hospital in San Diego, Calif. Tuesday.  Funeral arrangements are incomplete.

Mr. Whichard was formerly a resident of Stokes.  He was retired from the Air Force and was a World War II veteran.  He was employed by the City of Las Vegas.

Surviving are his wife, Robbie Whichard of the home; two brothers, E. B. Whichard of Robersonville and Benjamin Whichard of Sacramento, Calif.; and two sisters, Mrs. Ida Whichard Blottner of Norfolk, Va. and Mrs. Mary Whichard Krape of Radcliff, Ky.

N68–––vi.––– Mary Elizabeth Whichard, of whom below, born April 9, 1916.

N69–––vii.––– Walter Hassell Whichard, born February 9, 1919; died June 20, 1920.

N70–––viii.––– Benjamin Oscar Whichard, of whom below, born January 21, 1921.

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