Monroe, North Carolina - Miscellaneous History: 2012-07-29

Houston Family

Hugh McCombs Houston 1817-1901

David John Houston (1718-1763) - first to settle Anson
William Elliott Houston (1742-1822)
John M. Houston (1784-1877)
Hugh McCombs Houston (1817-1901)
Robert Virgil Houston (1846-1914)

Houston family trees trace back to John Houseson (1475-1525) born in Dublin, Ireland. The name seems to have evolved to Houston with John Houston (1611-1671) born in Scotland and died in Philadelphia. Houstons were among the Ulster-Scots who streamed into Lancaster County, PA after its separation from Chester County, PA in 1729. William E. Houston's father David John Houston (1718-1763) obtained a Blunston Land Warrant in Pennsylvania in 1737 to settle in Cumberland Valley. He moved to Anson County, NC in 1751 and settled midway between Davidson's Creek and the Irish settlement, on 640 acres adjoining James Huggen.

Hugh McCombs Houston (1817-1901) was the son of John M. Houston (1784-1877), born in Hays Creek, VA, and Elizabeth Potts (1792-1831), born in Meckenburg County (later Union). John M. Houston's father William Elliot Houston (1742-1822), was born in Concordville, PA and died in Providence, Union County, NC. William E. Houston married Margaret Williams on December 23, 1767 in Providence Presbyterian Church, Mecklenburg County, NC.

Other children of John and Elizabeth included: John Patterson (1814-1895); Emily married John Condor; Nancy Agnes (1813-1895) marrried Thomas Ditmas Winchester; Susannah (b.1822) married Willis Elkins; Margaret (b.1825), never married; Ambrose Potts married 1) Eliza B. Lawson and 2) Martha A. Nichols; John C.; and William McKee Houston (b.1824) married Mary C. Watson.

Hugh McCombs Houston, born April 13, 1817 in Mecklenburg County, married Margaret H. Reid on November 6, 1840. Their children included: William M. (1840-1850), Ellen Elizabeth "Ella" (1841-1916) married David Franklin Armfield (1841-1865), Martha Margaret (1843-1911) married Leslie A.W. Turner, Robert Virgil (1846-1914) married Celestia Alice Covington, John R. (1851-1852), Solomon C. (1852-1857), Hugh L. (1856-1857) and Alice M. Houston (1858-1863).

In 1900, H.M. Houston 82, was head of household; others in the home were his sister Margaret Houston 75, nephew Clarence 24 and servants Thomas Soul, Mary Funderburk and Cora Caswell.

Robert Virgil Houston 1846-1914

Robert Virgil Houston (1846-1914) was born in Monroe. In 1868 he married Celestia Alice Covington (1852-1889). Children of R.V. and Celestia were: Hugh McCombs (1869-1933), David Anderson (1871-1939), Ellen F. (1873-1949), Clarence Eustace (1874-1926), Lola (1881-1912) and Celestia C.”Lessie” (1888-).

After his wife’s death in 1889, R.V. married Nancy E. “Nannie” Stroud in 1891. They had three children: Margaret Reid born in 1892, Robert Stroud (1894-1944) and Octavia (1897-1979).

“Mr. R.V. Houston enjoys the distinction of being the oldest original citizen of Monroe. He is 56 years of age, and no one has lived in Monroe so long as he. Though very young at the time, he volunteered in Company C. 10th N.C. Artillery under Capt. C.M.T. McCauley. He has ever been an enthusiastic Confederate. He has subscribed $50 to the proposed Confederate monument for the county, and has in other ways shown his love for the cause. After the war he engaged in merchandising under the firm name of Houston & Co. He has since been engaged in farming, and now s one of the largest planters in the county. He now operates more that twenty plows. Mr. Houston, though enjoying wide popularity, has never sought office, though if he had turned his attention to politics there is no doubt he would have achieved large success in that field. He spends his time quietly in looking after his large property interests and in directing his farms. His has fine conversational powers, is a natural wit and never fails to entertain and amuse any crowd in which he may fall.” (Stack & Beasley's Sketches of Monroe and Union County 1902)

Robert V. Houston Obituary (posted on confederatevets.com)

Robert V. Houston was a Confederate veteran, and his old comrades never had a more helpful friend nor one who did more to make life more pleasant for them. In the meetings of his Camp he made the most obscure member feel that all barriers between comrades were burned away by the fires of fellowship and good will. He had a kindly word, a helping hand for the unfortunate comrade. His heart was big, and his comradeship and good cheer will long be missed.

Mr. Houston was a native of Monroe, N.C., and the only son of the late H.M. Houston, one of the most prominent citizens of his county. He was born in 1848 and was but a boy when he joined Capt. C.M. McCauley's company, 10th Battalion of North Carolina Artillery. He was not only a good soldier and a kind companion to his comrades in arms, but a prominent man in civic life, having been mayor of Monroe for a number of years. He also represented his county in the legislature and ever stood for the things that tended to the progress and betterment of his community. He was educated in the best schools of his section, and his fine mind and great sense of humor made him welcome in any circle.

Mr. Houston was twice married, his first wife having been Miss Lessie Covington, daughter of Maj. D.A. Covington, a prominent citizen of Union County. Of this union there are three sons and two daughters surviving. His second marriage was to Miss Nannie Stroud, of a prominent family of South Carolina and great-granddaughter of the distinguished soldier and minister, Rev. Humphrey Hunter, of Mecklenburg fame. She survives him, with a son and two daughters.

His death occurred at his home, in Monroe, on January 17, 1914, and as a soldier of the cross he met the last great enemy, death, unafraid.

R.V. Houston House circa 1870 - 201 Lancaster Avenue (National Register)

"Believed to have been built by D.A. Covington as a wedding gift for his daughter Celestia and her husband R.V. Houston, who were married in 1868, this two-story frame house is the finest local example of the typical Greek Revival/Italianate dwelling popular in the mid-19th century in North Carolina. It appears on the 1882 Gray's Map of Monroe, and an 1884 deed records the transfer of the house from Covington's widow to their daughter Celestia Houston. Robert V. Houston (1846-1914), member of a prominent Monroe family, first engaged in the mercantile business and later in farming, becoming "one of the largest planters in the county." In the early 20th century, he served a term as the city's mayor. By this time, however, he had apparently moved to another house, his first wife having died in 1889 and Houston having remarried.

"Between about 1890 and 1905, when Houston sold the house to Seaboard Airline Railway employee Thomas B. Sale, the house was rented to Fetna Heath Crow and later to dry goods merchant A. Levy. The Sales sold the house in 1910 to 0.M. Saunders, whose family retained ownership until 1979.

"The house features a two-story, single-pile, center-hall main block which is topped by a pedimented side gable roof. One- and two-story gabled ells extend to the rear of the main block in a complex configuration; a one-story semi-hexagonal bay is located on the northwest elevation of the two-story rear ell. A two-tier pedimented portico with square classical posts extends from the center of the symmetrical three-bay facade. The main entrance has a Victorian door with diamond and lozenge pattern three-part transom and wide sidelights. Windows contain a variety of sash, including two over two, one over one and six over six. Brick chimneys with corbelled caps are located in interior end, interior and exterior rear positions. Decorative elements include elaborate cornice brackets, a scroll-sawn balustrade on the second floor of the portico, round-arch louvered attic vents in the gable ends of the front block, and rectangular louvered vents with cutout ornament in a rear wing. The house stands at an angle to the intersection of Lancaster Avenue and Parker Street, facing northeast." (National Register)

R.V.'s sons David and Clarence Houston

D.A. Houston 1871-1939

C.E. Houston 1874-1926

David Anderson Houston, “senior member of the firm D.A. Houston & Brother, was born November 19, 1871, and was educated at Trinity College, North Carolina. After graduating with the degree of A.B. in June 1891, he was elected assistant instructor and Treasurer of the College, and served for two years. He then went to Mt. Airy, N.C., and engaged in the drug business. He remained there three and one-half years. In 1895 he was granted license to practice pharmacy by the State Board. In 1897 he returned to Monroe, his ‘native health,’ and opened up a large and select line of drugs in the Houston block. Since his return to Monroe he has been a factor in the progress of the city. He has served as director in the Monroe Oil & Fertilizer Company, the Henderson Roller Mill and the Perpetual Building & Loan Association. He has served one term as alderman of the city.

“In September 1900, he admitted into partnership with him his brother, Clarence E. Houston. The junior member is also a native of this city, and was born November 22, 1874. He was educated at Trinity College and afterwards entered the Maryland College of Pharmacy in July 1900. He is a member of the State Pharmaceutical Association and is an up-to-date Pharmacist. He is an unmarried man of pleasing address, and adds much to the popular favor of Houston’s Drug Store.

“D.A. Houston & Brother deal in everything kept in a first-class drug store, and pay especial attention to filling prescriptions day or night. These gentlemen are grandsons of the late H.M. Houston [President of People’s Bank of Monroe] and are divisees of very valuable property interests under his will, D.A. Houston being one of the executors. In every particular this firm is a strong one. Their large and growing trade is not the result of chance, but of their methods of doing business. They study their trade and strive to please their patrons. Mr. Carl Blakeney is connected with this popular store, and his urbane and magnetic manners so impress customers that they always come again when wanting anything in the drug line.” (Stack & Beasley)

The Gloucester Hotel

“In 1898, just after the American naval victory at Santiago, Messrs. Gresham & Jamison, the well known hotelists and caterers, completed their preparation for the opening of their new hotel in Monroe. No name for the house had been selected, and while the names of commanders and warships were on every tongue, some one suggested that the new hotel be named for the Gloucester, one of the American ships which bore a conspicuous part in the battle of Santiago. Mr. Gresham adopted the suggestion and the splendid little hotel became the Gloucester, and under the skillful hands of Messrs. Gresham & Jamison it soon became famous. It was elegantly furnished throughout and its guests sat down to a table unequaled in this section, and little surpassed by the large hotels of the city. When other enterprises took the owners away, Mr. J.J. Lindsey leased the building and furniture and continued the business for a year.

“On the first of last January [1902] Mrs. Mamie F. Gaddy, of Wadesboro, an experienced hotelist, assumed charge of the Gloucester. Under her management the high standard first set has been fully maintained, and the house is now enjoying a large patronage, and everywhere receives the warmest appreciation from the traveling public. Beside the regular business, many travelers make it a matter of convenience to spend the night there rather than at adjoining towns. The two things so dear to the traveling man’s heart the Gloucester gives—a good bed and a good table. Persons wishing to come to Monroe for the benefit of the fine water will find pleasant living at the Gloucester. A rate of $10.25 per week is given with a special rate per month. Mr. Robt. B. Flake, an experienced young hotelist, is assistant manager.” Stack & Beasley (Sketches of Monroe and Union County)

Houston-Redfearn House – 506 S. Church Street 1874

“The earliest portion of this house was apparently constructed c.1874 by B.F. Houston (1821-1897), a prominent Monroe businessman and early land developer. At the time of his death in 1897, Houston was no longer living in the house, which he willed to his daughter Mary Houston Redfearn, wife of Randolph Redfearn (1865-1932), a businessman and real estate developer.

Randolph Redfearn 1865-1932

The Redfearns, who were married in 1887, may have been living in the house when it was remodeled in 1892. They certainly were responsible for remodeling and expanding the house about 1905. The earliest portion of the house appears to have been a T or L-shaped, two-story frame Italianate house with a hipped-roofed, single-pile front section and hipped rear ell.

“The cornices on the south elevation retain their Italianate brackets. With the 1905 remodeling came a full-width, colossal portico with widely-spaced, fluted Corinthian columns set on brick pedestals. Centered in the hipped roof of this portico is an unusual dormer with flanking sheet-metal domed turrets topped with urns and finials set on pedestals. The entablature of the portico has a variety of mannered ornament, including paired consoles over the central columns and paired stubby pilasters over the corner ones. Underneath the porch, the entrance has stained glass sidelights and transom and flanking Palladian windows with stained glass. On the second floor under the porch is a shallow balcony with a single door that has stained glass sidelights.

“At the north side of the house is an Ionic-columned porte cochere with swag-ornamented frieze. Also on the north elevation is a two-story, three-sided bay with a dormer and cornice similar to that of the front portico. This bay has a beveled, leaded glass window. At the rear of the house is a two-story wing with a sleeping porch on the second floor. There is also a jerkin-headed rear dormer, a hipped-roofed one-story kitchen wing and, on the southwest corner, a one-story sunroom.

“Garage - Rear of 506 S. Church St. ca. 1920. Two-story frame double garage with standing seam tin roof. Rear of garage has gable and shed-roofed wings.

“Small barn - Rear of 506 S. Church St. ca. 1900.
Gable-roofed frame barn with shed wing and attached cold frame.”

Houston

Benjamin Franklin Houston was born March 9 1824 in Mecklenburg County to William Houston (1782-1870) and Elizabeth Lingo Grey (1785-1842) who died in Waxhaw. His grandfather William was born in Pennsylvania in 1750 but came to Mecklenburg County.

B.F. Houston married Mary Elizabeth “Lizzie” Hudson on December 21, 1865. She was the daughter of William Hudson and Permelia Andrew Winchester. B.F. and Mary Houston had William Cyrus (1867-1965) married Nina Adams, Mary Elizabeth (1868-1930) married Randolph Redfearn, and Florence May Houston (1870-1904) married William Baxter Pfifer.

In the 1860 Union County Census, 36-year-old B.F. Houston was recorded with farmer William Houston 78, E.A. Armfield 20, W.H. Phifer 17 and D.F. Armfield 19.

1870 census: B.F. Houston and family were noted in Sandy Ridge, Union County, post office Wolfsville; B.F. 46, Elizabeth 27, Cyrus 3 and two-year-old Mary.

Redfearn
Randolph Redfearn (1865-1932), husband of Mary Houston, married 1887, was manager of Monroe Hardware Company. Randolph was the son of Townley Redfearn,of Anson County, and Permilla Austin of Union County. According to Stack & Beasley, “Mr. Redfearn studied at Wake Forest College and came to Monroe in 1883. He is of good business judgment and fine integrity. Within recent years he had put much money in real estate, having constructed more than fifteen houses at a cost of from $2,500 down, for rent in the town.”

Union County Courthouse - National Register of Historic Places

1913 Postcard

Preservation North Carolina photo

Statement of Significance

Union County was formed on December 19, 1842, from parts of Anson and Mecklenburg Counties. Five county commissioners were named in an act passed by the General Assembly in January 26, 1843. The new commissioners were directed to select a site for the county seat to be named after former President James Monroe and there to erect a courthouse. The town of Monroe was to be situated no more than two miles from the center of the new county. As they were unable to purchase the site first chosen, High Hill, the commissioners then selected the present site of Monroe. The first courthouse was erected on the public square located in the center of town. It served the community for forty years.

On February 16, 1885, the General Assembly authorized the county commissioners to sell the old courthouse at the same time they authorized bonds to be sold for the new courthouse. On March 4, 1885, the Union County Board of Commissioners appointed W.H. Fitzgerald and C.N. Simpson "to correspond with architects and builders for plans and specifications” for a new courthouse. They were to ascertain the probable cost and to examine other courthouse designs in the state for suitability. The committee was also to look into the printing of bonds to finance the building. When the board of commissioners met on September 7, 1885, it was announced that the contract had been awarded to J.T. Hart* for the sum of $20,500. The courthouse, constructed in 1886, is unusual in that it is surmounted by a cross. The placement of the cross was attended by some opposition from those who thought this secular use of a cross was sacrilegious. The north and south wings were added in 1922.

Perhaps the most noteworthy event that took place at the courthouse was the visit of Marshal Ferdinand Foch, who was commander-in-chief of the allied armies during the final months of the First World War. Marshal Foch spoke from a platform on the east lawn of the courthouse on December 9, 1921, and decorated the colors of the 5th and 17th Field Artillery Regiments from Fort Bragg with the fourragere of the Croix de Guerre for conspicuous bravery with the American Expeditionary Forces.

The Union County Courthouse, a fine example of Victorian civic architecture, is especially notable for the skillful integration of the later addition with the original construction. Particularly striking is its elaborate cupola which is a prominent landmark.

Physical Appearance

The Union County Courthouse is a large two-story brick structure 'With a low hip roof surmounted by a large cupola. The original section, built in 1886, consisted of a five-bay main block with a two-bay wing on each side. In 1922 the building was increased by the construction of two additional three-bay wings. All of the architectural detail of the original section was faithfully reproduced in the wings, to such an extent that on the exterior there is no indication that the whole building was not constructed at one time.

The main block is somewhat taller than the wings. The front and rear facades are identical, having projecting three-bay pedimented central pavilions. Each pavilion feature s a one-story arcaded wooden porch with a mansard roof surmounted by an intricate iron cresting. Above the porches are three tall arched windows with decorative stone archivolts and key stones. The walls of the main block on either side of the pavilion have arched windows with stone impost blocks and key stones on the second floor, and segmental heads with decorative brick and stone surrounds on the first. This latter treatment is repeated throughout the rest of the fenestration. The wings are topped by a solid balustrade above a heavy bracket cornice like that of the main block.

The large cupola, rectangular in plan, is perhaps the most interesting feature of the building. Resting on a low molded base the first stage features pairs of small, almost square windows with segmental heads. Above this is the main section with each face treated as a tabernacle with rusticated corners, fluted pilasters and a round-arched louvered vent. The tall sloping roof of the cupola has convex sides and a "dormer" containing a clock on each face. At the top of the cupola is a large cross.

The first floor of the interior has an axial hall with stairs rising to the floors above at the north and south ends. These feature massive newel posts, turned balusters, and molded rails. All of the offices on this floor are simply finished with plastered walls and vertically sheathed wainscot.

In the second floor of the center section of the building is the courtroom, a very large and impressive space. There are five arched windows down each side. The wall bays are divided by pilasters which support a full entablature of which the frieze is ornamented with garlands and cartouches. The room contains the usual courtroom furniture and appointments.”

Survey and Planning Unit Staff, John B. Well III, Supervisor
State Department of Archives and History
April 26, 1971

----------------------
-NCSU Libraries, North Carolina Architects & Builders
-Catherine W. Bishir (A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Piedmont North Carolina)
-The Union County Courthouse built 1887-88, was designed by Thomas J. Holt.
C.C. Hook and his son Walter were the architects for the 1922 additions; George M. Tucker, contractor.

Photos posted above were not part of the National Register nomination. They are from The Heritage Room, North Carolina Postcard Collection, UNC Collection and Preservation North Carolina.

Gaston Meares House circa 1898

Gaston Meares House circa 1898 - 110 S. College

"The best example of Queen Anne design surviving in the district is the Gaston Meares House. In 1896, Seaboard Airline engineer Gaston Meares (1870-1938) and wife Juanita Stewart Meares attended the Columbian Exposition in his Chicago, bringing back the plans for this house, purchased from an exhibit showing the latest in residential design. Their residence was constructed soon after their return [George Franklin Barber (1854-1915) as architect]. The one and a half-story, frame Queen Anne style house sits in the center of a substantial, wooded corner lot. Its picturesque design features a high pyramidal roof from which spring fishscale-shingled gables at the northwest, southeast and southwest corners. High in the front plane of the roof is a large, gabled dormer which originally had round-arched windows, but now has a pair of rectangular ones. Dominating the corner of the house is a one and a half story, conically-roofed attached tower ringed below its eaves with a band of multi-pane windows.

The most dramatic aspect of the building is an engaged, u-shaped porch that curves to follow the outline of the tower. Richly ornamented with Queen Anne decorative elements, this veranda has turned columns between which are spaced knob-topped posts joined by a railing of turned balusters. Semi-circular spindle screens are attached to the columns, forming oval and circular patterns above the railings. A small portico projects from the porch at the front entrance, its tympanum decorated with applied garlands.

Tall chimneys with corbelled caps project from the roof on either side slope. The front door has large sidelights and a transom. Windows on the front of the house are one over one, on the rear two over two. The foundation of the porch, originally on piers with lattice between, has been filled in. While the exterior of the house is basically unchanged, the interior was remodeled in the 1920s, including the finishing of the upper level and removal of spindle-work screens. The house presents a two-room deep, center hall plan. Playhouse; rear of 110 N. College Street; ca. 1900 - One-story, gable-roofed frame playhouse.” (National Register)

Preservation NC photo

Gaston Haywood Mears was born in Whiteville, the son of John Mears (1850-1890) and Asenath Carter. On December 11, 1895, Gaston Mears married Juanita Stewart (1879-1925) of Union County and made Monroe his home.

The 1910 Monroe Census found G.H. Meares 40, Juanita 31, Juanita 4, Elizabeth 2, sister-in-law Mary Stewart 21 and brother-in-law John Stewart.

Daughter Juanita (1905-1988) married Gilbert Hall Efird (1902-1990), son of Jacob E. and Fannie Efird of Monroe; Efird owned marble yard.

Emsley Alexander Armfield House and Family

E.A. Armfield

Emsley Alexander Armfield (1839-1915) was the son of Needham S. Armfield (1833-1909) and Margaret Houston. Needham was son of David (1756-1845) born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, son of William (1720-1812) also of Bucks County but died in Guilford County NC, son of John (1695-1792) born in England and died in Greensboro Guilford County NC.

Emsley married Rachel Phifer (1845-1932) on March 18, 1863 in Thomas, Georgia. Rachel was the daughter of Matthew Pfifer and Drucella Houston of Guilford County.

1860 Union County Census, rural post office, E.A. Armfield 20 was living and farming with William Houston and B.F. Houston. At that time, E.A. Armfield’s personal estate was valued at $14,000.

1870 Monroe Census: E.A. Armfield 30 was listed as a farmer; value of real estate $4000, value of personal estate $5000. In the household were: Rachel 25, Ella 7, Alice 4, Franklin 1/mo, along with domestic servants David Watts 65, Mary Rogers 25 and Mary Dickson 11.

By the 1880 census: Emsley (dry goods merchant) 40, Rachel 35, Ella 16, Alice 13, Frank 10, Davis 7, Horace 5, Rufus 2, niece Mary Stewart 14 and servant George Alsbrooks 33.

By 1900, added to the household were Wilma 19, Lina 16 and Emsley 14.

Children: Ella (1863-1945) married William Spencer Lee, Alice (1866-1944) married William Crow Heath, Frank 1870-1962) married Mary Lucille Armfield, Davis (1872-1911) married Annie English Ragan, Horace (1875-1942) married Ora S. McCain, Rufus (1878-1918) married Lola Houston, Wilma (1881-1964) married Julian Walter Laney Sr. (1880-1959), Lina (1883-1959) married Samual Howard Hudson and Emsley A. (1886-1963) married Ruth Russell.

National Register:

E.A. Armfield House ca. 1875 - 507 S. Church Street (I could not find a photo of the house.)

E.A. Armfield purchased the lot on which this house was constructed in 1875 and it appears on the 1882 Gray's Map. Armfield was a horse and mule dealer in business with N.S. Ogburn in the 1870s and 80s. In 1890 he opened a stable at the corner of Church and Jefferson Streets, taking in his sons Davis and Rufus in 1897. Rufus, and later his widow, lived in the house in the 1920s. As built, the house appears to have been a central hall, single pile, gable-roofed frame residence with a stepped-shoulder end chimney. The five-bay front elevation has six-over-six sash and a central doorway. Sanborn maps show a porch around the front and sides of the house. The current front door and sidelights, as well as the gabled front portico with Tuscan columns, appear to be 1950s additions. In the pedimented gable ends are vertical beaded flushboarding. A one-story, screened porch has been added to the north elevation, and a two-story central ell on the rear has been surrounded by one-story additions.

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“E.A. Armfield, clerk of the superior court, is one of our best known men, having been in business in the county for more than 30 years. He completed his education at Trinity College in 1858 and then taught school and worked in a bank at Greensboro until 1860, when he moved to Georgia and engaged in farming. He resided in Georgia for 10 years, barring the time he was following the Confederate flag in other States. In 1870 he returned to North Carolina and located in Monroe. He at once went into the mercantile business, in partnership with Mr. A.A. Laney, and continued in that business until 1889. The firm of Armfield & Laney did an immense business and contributed much towards the growth of Monroe. In 1889 Mr. Armfield moved to the country and again engaged in farming and dealing in stock. In 1898 Mr. Armfield was elected by a big majority and is making a fine clerk."

E.A. Armfield and Sons' Livery Stables - (Stack & Beasley 1902)

"This firm is composed of E.A. Armfield, Davis Armfield and Rufus Armfield. The senior member began dealing in horses and mules in 1870. Later on, he and N.S. Ogburn became associated together and continured for several years in the stock business. Mr. Ogburn finally became the sole owner and Mr. Armfield gave his entire attention to his other business. In 1890 he opened up again at the present stand, corner of Church and Jefferson streets. In 1897 he took in Mr. Davis Armfield and in 1899 took in Mr. Rufus Armfield. The two latter now have the active management of the business....Besides their sales stable, these gentlemen own a large gin, saw and grist mill six miles south of Monroe and also run a large farm." (Stack & Beasley's Sketches of Monroe and Union County)

Frank Armfield - 1870-1962

“Frank Armfield was born in Union County May 24, 1870. He graduated at Trinity College. At Trinity he won the debater’s medal of his society and orator’s medal in a general contest. He attended Neff College of Oratory at Philadelphia and later went to Yale, where he received special mention by President Hadley. He took the law course at the University of North Carolina and was admitted to the bar February 1894.

Mr. Armfield located in Monroe and succeeded from the very first. He is a well-equipped, all-around lawyer and the firm of Armfield & Williams enjoys a large practice. As a lawyer he is the soul of honor and courtesy; manly in defeat and modest in victory. He served one year as mayor of Monroe, but declined re-election.

Mr. Armfield is a member of the North Carolina Literary and Historical Society and writes excellent poetry. Some of his poems have appeared in the New York World, Atlanta Constitution, Charlotte Observer and other papers. He is now engaged in the preparation of a volume of poems for publication.” (Stack and Beasley's Sketches of Monroe and Union County 1902)

Oakwood Cemetery

Frank Armfield married Mary Lucille Armfield, daughter of Wyatt Jackson Armfield of Guildford County. They were buried Oakwood Cemetery, High Point, Guilford County, NC.

Monroe's Artesian Water

Early 1900s - ( from Stack & Beasley book)

"Not the least among the attractions of Monroe is its unexcelled artesian well. It is not a panacea for every ill that afflicts humanity. It is not the 'Fountain of Life' for which thousands have so eagerly sought for centuries--a certain shield for 'all the evils that wait on mortal life, from pain and death forever;' but it is a most excellent remedy for indigestion, dyspepsia, all kinds of gastric and kidney troubles, rheumatism, lassitude, debility from overwork, that 'tired feeling' that comes upon one when the season is changing from snow and ice into the balmy sunshine and gentle breezes of spring; in fact, were we to state in this article how many cures have been made by this water in the last two years, since it began to be used, it would sound like fiction or a tale from the Arabian Nights.

"Distilled and compounded in Nature's own laboratory, more than one thousand feet beneath the earth's surface, it is far beyond the reach of baccilli or fever germs, and there is no recorded case of typhoid fever in our city since this water came into general use, except in cases where they continued to use common well water. As it gurgles up from the fountain depths in two streams of 1028 and 968 feet deep, through solid slate rock, it bursts into the cistern and water mains, limpid and sparkling, clear as crystal and almost absolutely pure.

"The official analysis, made by the State Chemist, is as follows: Total solid matter in solution, 11.9 grains per U.S. gal. Total solids consist of: Calcium bicarbonate, 7.47 grains per U.S. gal; sodium chloride, 1.98 grains per U.S. gal; organic matter, soluble silica, magnesium sulphate, 2.45; iron bicarbonate, free carbonic acid gas, .36 cubic inches per gal; no sulphur present as gas. By this analysis is shown that the Monroe Artesian water is unsurpassed by any other in North Carolina, or as to that, in the South.

"The city fathers have erected a nice pavilion, hard by the well, where all who choose can go at any time of the day or night and drink the water as it comes from the well, and thus obtain all the benefits that it gives. The water is better at the well than from the mains, as some of the healthful gases escape before it gets from the cistern into the water pipes and to the houses.

"Knowing the great value of this water, we cannot see any peculiar reason why parties from the malarial sections should go further up the country to spend the summer, and endure hard beds and rough fare of some watering places when they could come here and enjoy all the comforts of home in Monroe's excellent private houses and first class hotels. Monroe is high enough above sea level to be free from malaria--the climate is delightful--very few sultry days in summer and not many excessively cold ones in the winter--good graded roads running in various directions, affording lovely drives--splendid livery accommodations--fine churches--good music--hospitable and clever people, who will extend a genuine, old fashioned Southern hospitality to all who come in their midst. We might say much more in this article, but we do not consider it necessary, as we know if you come to Monroe once, you will be a constant visitor thereafter. We are willing to let the following testimonials concerning the water speak for themselves: [excerpts follow]

"Dr. Ashcraft's Statement...prior to the use of the Monroe Artesian water, the town was visited almost every year by an epidemic of that dreaded disease, typhoid fever. Since the town has been supplied with this pure water, typhoid fever is unknown to us, except now and then an isolated case, where the water has not been used...The water is a wonderful patent remedy in gouty and rheumatic conditions...corrects digestive failures.

"I have been drinking Monroe artesian water about six weeks and it has entirely cured me of dyspepsia. I have been railroading in Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina for twenty-two years and I pronounce the Monroe artesian water the best that I have ever used and cheerfully recommend it to all who may be suffering from indigestion and kidney troubles. -J.S. Morris, Engineer S.A.L. Railway

"The people of Monroe should get upon their knees every night and thank Almighty God for blessing them with such incomparably fine water. -Hon. T.A. McNeill, Judge of the Seventh Judicial District of North Carolina, Lumberton, NC

"Mr. J.J. Moody, of this city, an ex-Confederate soldier, bearing in his body the baneful effects of exposure in camp and field during those dreadful years of war, also the numerous wounds received in battle, has for years been almost a physical wreck, unable to work, sometimes too feeble to walk around, and in consequence his digestive organs completely out of gear so that he could eat nothing, only the lightest kind of food, and then suffered almost death from indigestion and dyspepsia. About two years ago he began drinking the artesian water...today he is strong and healthy as he was in the hey day of his young manhood.

"The State Sanitary Chemist, after an examination of water of various towns and cities says: 'Monroe has the finest water in the State.'

"It gives me pleasure to say that I have been using the Monroe artesian water for some time and pronounce it a splendid water...It only needs to be known in order to attract people to your splendid young city to live. - Geo. G. Shannonhouse, Conductor on Atlanta Special

"...We make a specialty of supplying this famous water, carbonated and plain, for drinking purposes. We use it exclusively in every bottle. Our ales and soda waters are as good as the very best, because we use only the best materials and are very particular that cleanliness is used extravagantly. They cost no more than the common kinds and are far superior. Our specialties are ginger ale and carbonated water, put up in 5-cent bottles. - Monroe Bottling Works"

Stack & Beasley - Sketches of Monroe and Union County 1902

Thomas J. Shannon House 1901 - 406 W. Franklin Street

Photo included in Stack & Beasley's Sketches of Monroe and Union County

In 1900, Thomas J. Shannon (1868-1907), who ran a general store, purchased a lot on which he built this Queen Anne/Classical Revival style house.

"This firm is composed of T.J. Shannon and F.M. Welsh. Mr. Welsh resides in South Carolina and is the father-in-law of Mr. Shannon. The latter first began selling goods at Jefferson, S.C., but moved to Monroe in 1894. Shannon & Co. do a wholesale and retail mercantile business in hardware, dry goods, shoes, notions, etc., and also deal largely in wagons, buggies and farming implements. Their principal stores are in the Shute building, at the corner of Franklin and Hayne Streets. They run a livery stable on Franklin Street and a grocery store at the corner of Church and Franklin Streets. They also have a retail store at Jefferson, S.C. Mr. Shannon, aside from his other enterprises, deals largely in stock and cattle and farms considerably. He is a very busy man and a splendid business man." (Stack & Beasley's Sketches of Monroe and Union County 1902)

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"Its patterned slate roofs with sheet-metal ornamental ridges have intersecting hipped sections with pedimented gables on the northwest, northeast and southwest corners, the latter two over three-sided bays. These gables have patterned tongue and groove sheathing. At the southeast corner the roof pushes out into a round corner bay over the projecting second story porch. This porch has turned columns in pairs, a spindle fringe and a railing with balls set between the balusters in a garland pattern. The main porch runs across the front of the house and has Tuscan columns, though the railing is like that of the second floor. Over the front steps is a small portico with diagonal board patterning in its gable end. Underneath the porch
are two large diamond-shaped windows. Other windows on the house are one over one. At the west side of the house is a rectangular bay window, and at the rear a one-story, gable-roofed wing. There are interior and exterior end chimneys, both with corbelled caps." (National Register 1987)

Dr. J. M. Belk House 1903 - 401 S. Hayne Street

Dr. John Montgomery Belk House 1903

The largest and most impressive of the Neo-Classical Revival residences built in Monroe during the first two decades to the 20th century, this massive frame house was erected in 1903 for Dr. John Montgomery (J.M.) Belk (1864-1928), a South Carolina native, who with his brother W.H. Belk founded what was to become the largest chain of department stores in the southeast United States.

J.M. Belk received his medical degree from New York University and practiced medicine in neighboring Anson county for a number of years. His older brother, William Henry Belk, had moved to Monroe and opened a general store in 1888. Dr. Belk gave up his medical practice in the mid 1890s and moved to Monroe to join his brother in the business world. They quickly moved to open stores throughout North and South Carolina, with 38 stores operating in the two states by the time of the doctor's death.

In 1895 W.H. Belk moved to Charlotte where they had recently opened a large store, leaving his brother in charge of the Monroe store, but they often exchanged places as they took active roles in the management of the chain's operations. Dr. Belk also served the community, being a member of the city school board and the board of trustees of the Ellen Fitzgerald Hospital; the philanthropies of the Belk brothers are also well known.

The remarkably intact house, known locally as the "Belk Mansion", features a two-story, double-pile, center-hall plan main block covered by a slate hipped roof with a widow's walk. The roof extends over an engaged two-story, full-facade portico with monumental composite Order fluted columns. There is also a one-story Ionic order full wraparound porch with a porte cochere on the south elevation and a turned balustrade on both the deck and the roof. A two-story semi-circular bay on the north elevation and a two-story semi-hexagonal bay on the south also have turned balusters on the roof. Two small gabled dormers are located on the side and front slopes of the hipped roof; those on the front flank a larger gabled dormer with a Palladian window and a balustraded balcony. These dormer windows light a full attic.

On the first floor of the three-bay facade, one-story semi-hexagonal bays flank the entrance, which has a double-leaf door between full-size one over one sidelights and below a three-part transom in a paneled surround. The transom and upper sash of the sidelights have stained glass. Tall corbelled-cap brick chimneys are in interior end and interior positions, and a wide frieze is decorated with a dentil course. Extending across the rear is a one-story, L-shaped wing with an engaged porch which has turned posts and balustrade and wood lattice between brick piers. A semi-circular walk leads to the house from the sidewalk; a high hedge runs along the north edge of the property, to the line of the east edge of the house where a chain link fence begins. (National Register)

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John Montgomery Belk was born in Lancaster, SC on July 12, 1864. His parents, shown here, were Abel Nelson Washington Belk (1833-1865) and Sarah Narcissus Walkup, who were married November 22, 1859. "During the Civil War when Union troops came thought Lancaster county, they caught Able. They thought he had hidden his Gold from them. They held him underwater in Gills Creek to get him to tell where it was hidden. Instead he was drowned." (ancestry.com)

A.N.W. Belk and Sarah Walkup had three children: Thomas Milburn Belk (1860-1875), William Henry Belk (1862-1952) and John M. Belk (1864-1928). These young boys were ages five, three and one when their father was killed in 1865.

John Montgomery (J.M.) Belk married Hallie Bennett Little (1871-1918) in 1890. By the 1910 Monroe Census, John M. and Hallie J. Belk had a house full of daughters: Nellie 19, Sadie W. 17, Mabel C.15, Daisy 12, Hallie May 10, Henry 8 and one-year-old John Elizabeth.

Background History from 1987 National Register Nomination

A Portion of Gray's 1882 Map of Monroe, Union County, NC - Click to Enlarge

Although the town of Monroe was incorporated by the state legislature in 1844 as the county seat for Union County (established 1842), its historic built environment, for the most part, reflects the period of growth and development which began in the early 1870s. While the city as a whole has a few buildings dating from the incorporation period, most notably the former Monroe City Hall (National Register, 1971), the Monroe Residential Historic District contains only two buildings thought to have been constructed prior to the Civil War. One is an outbuilding and the other, the Laney-Lee House, was enlarged and remodeled in the early 20th century, so that only some original interior trim attests to its early date.

For Monroe, like many small and medium-sized towns across the state, the arrival of the railroad was essential for the town's growth and progress. It was in 1874 that the Carolina Central Railway Company completed its line between Wilmington, the state's major seaport, and Charlotte, a southern Piedmont city which was eventually to become the state's most populous.

The station which was established at Monroe enabled the town to become a trading center for Union and the surrounding counties, notably Stanly to the north and Chesterfield and Lancaster across the border in South Carolina. The economies of all four counties were based primarily on agriculture, and farmers were now able to ship their agrarian products to far-flung markets much more easily and to purchase a diversity of goods not produced on the farm or locally available. The Georgia, Carolina and Northern Railway was incorporated by the state legislature in 1887, and by 1892, it had linked the growing town of Monroe with the major city of Atlanta, thereby opening even greater markets for the products of Union County and its neighbors.

In its maturation after the railroad's advent, the town of Monroe sits squarely in the context described by Sydney Nathans in The Quest for Progress: The Way We Lived in North Carolina, where he, following the lead of Walter Hines Page, delineated two types of North Carolina towns in the 1870s and 1880s. The first group included those which remained "in the grip of the past, their sleepy tone and leisurely habits set by former planters." Monroe was among a second group, characterized thus,

"Other towns were hubs of enterprise, with reputations for business and energy .... It was in these go-ahead towns, which were smaller in scale but identical in ambition to the dynamic cities of the North and the Midwest, that money was pursued without shame, that idleness was scorned, and that the ideology of progress took root."

Nathans goes on to discuss the growth of the middle class in these towns and their effect on the towns' development through, first, their establishment and support of a wide assortment of stores and services, and, secondly, the construction of large and stylish residences located in gracious settings of commodious lots enhanced by a variety of shade trees and other plantings.

Finally, the impetus that stimulated the development of areas such as the Monroe Residential Historic District is stated graphically by Nathans,

"The widening network of railroads, the dramatic expansion of industry, and the gradual growth of towns and cities brought a new measure of well-being to middle- and upper-class North Carolinians. Reflected in proud new civic and commercial buildings, that wealth also found expression in private residences and suburban development."

Unlike the planned suburban neighborhoods where a certain uniformity of architectural style, materials, scale and physical relationships occurs, the areas and buildings within the Monroe Residential Historic District exhibit a great deal of physical variety. All of the variant elements reflect the evolution of the area over a period of seventy years and contribute to its richness as a picture of that evolution.

Not surprisingly, the houses erected in Monroe during the period of significance employed many of the nationally popular styles of the time, as well as more traditional local patterns. In the former case, the railroad had made the popular architectural styles and the requisite building materials accessible to local builders and potential owners.

As Nathans pointed out in describing Hickory, North Carolina, "The coming of the railroad to the town in the previous decade {1870s} had brought new prosperity and put the community's home builders and buyers directly in touch with the latest trends of the era. On the railroad came the newest pattern books for homes. At sawmills nearby or far away, orders could be placed for elaborate manufactured moldings, factory-produced woodwork and doors, even for entire stairways. Carolina's traditional house-box-shaped, two-story—gave way to homes more modish and decorative."

After the Civil War, textiles became the dominant factor in the town's economic base, sped by the arrival in 1874 of the rail line linking Wilmington and Charlotte.
Growth and development in Rockingham accelerated after this event, and the area within its historic district experienced its greatest period of construction. In contrast, the growth of Monroe in the last quarter of the 19th century was based much less on manufacturing (its first cotton mill opened in 1890) than on trade. But with the exception of the inequality in the number of surviving antebellum buildings, the districts are similar architecturally and spatially, with houses in the popular architectural styles of the late 19th and early 20th centuries located on streets radiating in three directions from the central business district.

The area incorporated by the state legislature for the town of Monroe consisted of a rectangular grid-plan tract of 75 acres—30 chains (1980 feet) by 25 chains (1650 feet)—centered around a courthouse square bounded by Jefferson, Hayne, Franklin and Lafayette (now Main) streets.

In February 1861 the town was enlarged with an addition of land to the west of the original boundaries, and several other additions were made over the following 20 years, to the south, east and west.

Most of the tracts added were owned by a handful of individuals and families. They included merchant and builder J.D. Stewart, who erected several important brick commercial buildings in the central business district during the 1870s and owned land in the west and southwest areas of the district. Another merchant, J.R. Winchester sold many lots in the late 1870s and early 1880s to individuals wanting to build on Washington and Crawford streets and Lancaster Avenue. The widow of Monroe mayor and Union County state senator D.A. Covington owned substantial tracts between Lancaster Avenue and Church Street, as well as land on Houston Street east of Church Street. Attorney and one-time Union County representative to the state General Assembly. M.T. McCauley owned an estate which included land located in the eastern portion of the district. MORE...

Gray's Map image was not included in the nomination report.