Mail's Here!

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3/8/05

Thank you for your Web journal. I am a native of Ahoskie, graduated 1961 from A.H.S. and 1965 from East Carolina College. My last surviving parent moved away from Ahoskie in 1976 and I/we have lost touch with many in the old town. I was surprised in 1990 when I returned for my Mom's funeral service how many people showed up, even after 14 years of disconnect.

My interest in Ahoskie has been renewed some in 1996-99 when my daughter attended ECU and I made Ahoskie a regular stop on my trips from Fort Washington, Maryland to Greenville.

Currently I just "hit" various Internet sites (your web journal will be added today) and get my news accordingly.Enough of this short introduction. Add my name and email address to your list of interested persons.

AGAIN, THANK YOU.

Alan W. Ritter
Fort Washington, Maryland

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3/9 I too left the Roanoke-Chowan several years ago (1983) and have been trying to work my way back ever since. I now reside in Cary, N. C. and yet that is still over two hours away from home - too far. I miss the herrings, the fresh out of the field peanuts, the smell of fresh plowed up peanuts, and many other great things about that area.

I do hope to return some day, but don't know when that can or will happen. I will look forward to reading your journal and appreciate you including me on the mailing list.

Louis C. Johnson
Cary, N. C.

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3/10 I've been away from Ahoskie, St. Johns, and yes Poor Town for 42 years. I'm coming home to retire in another few months. I never was bored there growing up. Like you, we climbed things.

When I was small, my mother ran the snack bar at the Ahoskie Drive-In for a couple of summers. We lived right across the highway in front of the theater. Mama started making home made chili to go with hot dogs. It wasn't long before people were standing 4 deep in line during the intermission waiting to get into the snack bar. She had to hire someone to help wait on customers. It was phenomenal. My dad worked at Red Hollomon's Country Store each evening after he finished farming for the day. That store sat facing the intersection and the road to Poor Town.
Now I realized how much I loved those days and the people in those communities.
I'm bookmarking your site.

Angela Futrell
Ahoskie High, Class of '63

3/12 Hi Marvin,
I guess the mystery of the "light" (lantern?) visitation seen on the railroad tracks in Poor Town was not interesting and/or solved when you were in school? We used to pack my car with classmates and drive to the track at Poor Town looking for the light. One night we saw it and everyone pee'd on themselves. I'll never forget that night. We had several "screemers" in the car. What fun!
I love old pictures from the 40's, 50's. I hope you'll have more to post.
-Angela

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3/16 I was born in ahoskie and lived there for 18 years until i went into the AIR FORCE (army AF then dec.46)i was too young to remember it as poor town but i am sure if there are some of the older folks are still around i and my brother roy were known as the peanut boys for we sold peanuts for many years until we were old enough to take a better job.

back during the war we would meet the troop trains that stopped in town and sell peanuts to the troops it was a good time in those days.my father was a barber for as long as we lived in ahoskie,and then he moved to powellsville until his passing was well known for fishing and hunting(roy c holloman).there are so many things about ahoskie that i would be here for several mounts talking about them but just wanted to say hello and tell you how much i enjoy all those letters from poor town.

i spent 20 years in the AF retired and now live in arkansas where my wife is from,i have a sister living in ahoskie now and my mother is still there and now is at the gardian care nursing home.98 years old and still going and still as wonderful as ever,i will bet you a cup of coffee if you were to see her she would give you a big smile and wave at you

her name is (blanche holloman).my sisters name is doris parker and was married to dallas parker also a barber for many years in ahoskie.i have been going to long will stop for now and the next time will add a little more.my email .(chl@alltel.net) poor town boy,

calvin h. [Calvin Harrell]

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3/17 Hi Marvin,

Bobbie Gregory sent me the link to your website. I consider her my "distant cousin & e-mail genealogy buddy"! on the Manley side. I enjoyed reading your tidbits, and I LOVED the photos! My father, who died a few years ago, was a photographer and I am forever grateful for all of the pictures I have of our family. By the way, I am a VIRGINIA native ...My mother was born in Cofield. Now, if I have my history correct what is now North Carolina and West Virginia were originally part of Virginia , so Virginia is just bringing family back home!

I sent the link to your site to two of my mother's sisters who now live in NY. I hope they enjoy it as much as I did.


Michael-Lynn [Hale] (Despite the name, I am female.)

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4/2 I grew up in Nansemond County, VA (5/31/47) and all my relatives on my mother's side were from "the line" area of VA and NC...Nansemond & Southampton Counties, VA and Gates County, NC...into Gatesville, Bertie, Hertford, Perquimans,etc.

Some of my family lines are: Jones, Copeland, Saunders, Everett, Davidson, Austin, March, Howell, Lawrence, Weatherly, Sumner, Darden, Lee, King, etc.

Native American ancestry is SOOOO interesting! I have always loved to learn of their traditions. (Billy Jack was a good movie!) :o) I think their spiritualism is fascinating. I've been to several POW-Wows that they hold each year in Chuckatuck (I remember the Meherrin tribe was there & I've seen where their school house was in NC). I graduated from Chuckatuck High School. I now live in Newport News, VA, outside of Busch Gardens, Williamsburg.

Speaking of canoeing....I LOVE to fish. Matter of fact, I'm suppose to meet a friend of mine next week to go "dipping" for herring, up around Petersburg.

I have very little info on my Jones side of the family and it's such a difficult name to trace. My g'great grandmother was Lavenia J. Jones born 1828 in NC. On 2/1/1855 she marr. Taylor Smith Davidson in Gates, NC. Her parents were Wiley and Matilda Jones who marr. in 1829 in Gates, NC. Lavenia had a sister name Edith Jones, born 1832 who marr. 2nd, Jacob Austin. Do you know of anyone who has done extensive research on the Joneses?

You asked how I heard about your web site. You aren't going to believe this one! A distant cousin who lives in CA! Her family, the Perrys, were from up around Gates and she sent me your site with a little note, stating that I'd probably enjoy it. And, she was right! :o)


Patricia Buck

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4/3 MARVIN I AM A TRUE-BLUE POOR TOWN GIRL. MY FAMILY FARM WAS PARTLY LOCATED ON BONNER'S BRIDGE ROAD. I HAVE A PHOTO OF MY MOM,ARTIST REBECCA T ASKEW, AND OTHER FAMILY WALKING THE ROAD WHEN IT WAS A DIRT ROAD. I ALSO HAVE TWO PHOTO'S OF THE CHURCH THAT WAS DESTROYED WHEN IT WAS ACROSS THE ROAD FROM RED HOLLOMAN'S STORE. I AM NOT REAL SURE OF THE NAME OF THE CHURCH...

...I AM SO HAPPY TO SEE THIS BEING DONE. HOW CAN I HELP? PRISCILLA ASKEW NEWTON

4/4 AM IN GREENVILLE, NC. ...HAVE BOUGHT A SODA AT THE STORE IN COFIELD IN ONE OF YOUR PHOTO'S WHEN I WAS FIRST LEARNING TO DRIVE. WANT TO ORDER THOSE NOTE CARDS. MY MOM HAS NOTECARDS. HER CARDS SHOW THE HEAD OF A MULE. MOM TOOK a lot OF PHOTO'S FOR HER ART WORK. I AM TRYING TO GO THROUGH THEM TO SEE WHAT I CAN FIND. SHE WANTED ME TO DO HER RESUME THE OTHER DAY TO SEND SOME OF HER ART WORK TO VA. SHE IS A MERE 84.

PRISCILLA ASKEW NEWTON

4/5 MARVIN, THE STORE I STOPPED AT WAS THE ONE ON THE CORNER. IF YOU TURNED LEFT YOU WENT BACK TO WINTON, RIGHT? IT HAS BEEN SO LONG. WAS THE ROAD IN FRONT OF THE STORE TO TUNIS? NOW WE HAVE FUN STORIES OF TUNIS. MY MOM, HER COUSIN, MEVELYN BELL GINN, AND MEVELYN"S DAD, LOVED THE RIVER. ALWAYS FISHING. MEVELYN DROPPED THE CAN OF WORMS, AND STEPPED OUT OF THE BOAT TO GET THEM. ONLY PROBLEM WAS THERE WAS NO SHORE. ALL THEY SAW WAS MEVELYN'S HAT FLOATING. SHE WAS TEASED ABOUT THAT FOR YEARS. MEVELYN HAD A BROTHER AT TUNIS, RANDOLPH BELL. THE NOTECARDS ARE A REDUCED PICTURE OF JUST A MULE'S HEAD. I THINK SHE HAS SOLD MOST OF THE CARDS. I WANT HER TO REPRINT SOME THINGS, BUT WE ALL ARE IN A BUDGET CRUNCH. SHE HAS LOVELY PICTURES OF A ROOSTER AND A RABBIT IN THE SNOW HERE WITH ME. SHE HAS WON PAGES OF AWARDS OVER THE YEARS. HER AUNT, ETHEL TAYLOR RAN A PHOTO SHOP AND TAUGHT ART IN THE EARLY 30'S ON MAIN STREET IN AHOSKIE. HER SHOP WAS IN THE BACK OF HER BROTHER'S FURNITURE STORE. THAT WAS THE BUILDING THAT WAS LATER WHITE'S STORE-- AND SAM'S CLUB FOR A WHILE.

DO YOU KNOW OF A HOME ON HE MAIN ROAD INTO COFIELD THAT HAD A WALL DESTROYED FROM A FAULTY HOOK UP OF A GAS HEATER OR STOVE. THE ACCIDENT WAS MY FIRST HUSBAND'S FAULT.

4/6 MOM WAS FRIENDS WITH MARIE AND RAMONA. DIDN'T ROMONA DIE ABOUT A YEAR AGO? I HAVE A PHOTO OF MY SON WHEN HE WAS SIX THAT MARIE TOOK. HE'S 40 NOW. THE EVENT WITH THE GAS COMPANY WAS IN 1961. I THINK THE HOUSE WAS ON THE MAIN STREET AREA OF COFIELD, AND I BELIEVE IT WAS BUILD IF CINDERBLOCKS. I KNOW SOME OF THE BELLS STILL LIVE IN TUNIS IN A HOUSE ON THE LEFT NOT FAR FROM THE WATER. MEVELYN LIVES IN MURFREESBORO NOW. FRANK BELL WAS HER FATHER AND A WELL KNOWN FIGURE AT TUNIS BEFOR HE DIED I THE 70'S. MEVELYN WORKED IN WINTON FOR YEARS. I WORKED THERE ONE SUMMER WITH THE FOOD STAMP PROGRAM. SHE DOES NOT KNOW ANYONE NOW. SHE BOUGHT A COTTAGE AT TUNIS ONE TIME. SHE LIKED TO WATCH THE BEARS PLAY ACROSS THE RIVER IN THE MORNING. HER NEPHEW, BO BELL LIVES ON THE EARLY STATION ROAD. HE LOVES THE WILDLIFE OF THE AREA...HE HAS MADE TAPES THAT ARE WONDERFUL. I HAVE TRIED TO persuade HIM TO HAVE THEM EDITED AND SOLD. HE HAS PICTURES OF EVEN ALLIGATORS IN THE AREA. THERE ONE GOOD SCENE OF HIM STEADY AFTER A MOSSCIN (SP?)SNAKE THAT GAVE ME THE CREEPS JUST WATCHING. ONCE BO JUMPED OFF THE WINTON BRIDGE. HE SAID HE NEARLY DROWN. HE HAS TAKEN CANOES DOWN ALL THE WATERWAYS IN THE COUNTY. IF YOU EVER WANT TO CONTACT HIM HIS NUMBER IS 252-209-5485. WE ARE DISTANT COUSINS. HE IS ALSO COUSIN TO THE BELLS AT TUNIS. I HAVE ONE PHOTO OF MEVELYN AND HER HUSBAND AT TUNIS, COMPLETE WITH THE FAMOUS STRAW HAT. IF YOU WANT TO SHARE A MAILING ADDRESS, I WILL SEND THE COPIES OF THE PHOTO'S THAT MIGHT INTEREST YOU. MY FATHER USE TO NET HERRING FISH AT TUNIS. HE WOULD THEN RIDE AROUND AND GIVE THEM TO PEOPLE WHO DID NOT HAVE A LOT. WE WOULD COOK THEM FOR OUR FAMILY GATHERINGS IN THOSE BIG IRON POTS TILL THEY COULD BE EATEN , BONES AND ALL. FORGIVE MIS-SPELLS. COLLEGE DID NOT SOLVE THAT PROBLEM!!! HAVE A GOOD DAY. PRIS

4/14 Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an
injury to one's self-esteem. That is why young children, before they are
aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily; and why older
persons,
especially if vain or important, cannot learn at all. -Thomas Szasz,
author, professor of psychiatry (1920- )

The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender,
religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down
inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers. Dave Barry

Silence will save me from being wrong (and foolish), but it will also
deprive me of the possibility of being right. -Igor Stravinsky,
composer (1882-1971)

An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision. -James McNeill
Whistler, painter (1834-1903)

We despise all reverences and all objects of reverence which are
outside the pale of our list of sacred things. And yet, with strange
inconsistency, we are shocked when other people despise and defile the
things which are holy to us. -Mark Twain, author and humorist
(1835-1910)

Drama is life with the dull bits cut out. -Alfred Hitchcock, filmmaker
(1899-1980)

Moral certainty is always a sign of cultural inferiority. The more
uncivilized the man, the surer he is that he knows precisely what is
right and what is wrong. All human progress, even in morals, has been
the work of men who have doubted the current moral values, not of men
who have whooped them up and tried to enforce them. The truly civilized
man is always skeptical and tolerant, in this field as in all others.
His culture is based on "I am not too sure." - H.L.Mencken

What a strange machine man is! You fill him with bread, wine, fish, and
radishes, and out comes sighs, laughter, and dreams. -Nikos
Kazantzakis, poet and novelist (1883-1957)

The function of the imagination is not to make strange things settled,
so much as to make settled things strange. -G.K. Chesterton, essayist
and novelist (1874-1936)

Men make counterfeit money; in many more cases, money makes counterfeit
men. -Sydney J. Harris, journalist and author (1917-1986)

We confess our little faults to persuade people that we have no large
ones. -Francois de La Rochefoucauld, writer (1613-1680)

Authority without wisdom is like a heavy axe without an edge: fitter to
bruise than polish. -Anne Bradstreet, poet (1612-1672)

Heaven is where the police are British, the cooks French, the mechanics
German, the lovers Greeks, the drinkers Australian and it’s all
organised by the Swiss.

The road to wisdom? Well it's plain and simple to express: Err and err
and err again, but less and less and less. -Piet Hein, poet and
scientist (1905-1996)

"Searching is everything - going beyond what you know. And the test of
the search is really in the things themselves, the things you seek to
understand. What is important is not what you think about them, but how
they enlarge you." -Wynn Bullock, photographer

"Searching is everything - going beyond what you know. And the test of
the search is really in the things themselves, the things you seek to
understand. What is important is not what you think about them, but how
they enlarge you." -Wynn Bullock, photographer
FROM RON LUPTON