Howell Family Research: February 2018

Monday, February 26, 2018

Arlie Virginia Howell 1913 - 1934

1913 -- birth in October
1914 -- brother Garland is born
1916 -- sister Pauline Melissa is born
1918 -- sister Blanch is born
1920 -- sister Lois is born
1920 -- residence Boon Hill, Johnston, North Carolina
1920 -- Historical Insight, Sears, Roebuck and Company
1920 -- Historical Insight, Nationalization of 4-H programs
1921 -- brother Thad is born
1924 -- brother Paul Coolidge is born and died
1926 -- brother Roland is born
1928 -- brother Haywood is born
1930 -- residence New Hope, Wayne, North Carollina
1931 -- sister Alline is born
1933 -- sister Eula Evelyn is born
1934 -- untimely death and burial

She was on this earth for only 20 years. She was the eldest of 13 children born to Fristus and Katie Howell. Fristus was 41 years old and Katie was 18 when she was born. I don't really have much information about her life, but what I have is here.

Arlie Virginia Howell
Mini Pedigree from Ancestry.com

1913 -- birth in October, the first of 13 children

I don't have a birth certificate for Arlie Virginia. I suspect she was called by her middle name, since it seems that everyone else went by middle names. I think they used the first name in formal instances, and the middle name was the more familial and informal name.
According to North Carolina Vital Records, birth certificates are available in 1913. I tried to access a birth certificate, but am unable to at this time. It isn't available for a Great Niece online, I have to fill out a form and send in a check (what? nobody uses checks anymore?). If I do this, I will update this post, or create a new post.

1914 to 1920

Brother Garland is born, and sisters Pauline, Blanch and Lois are born. I don't have much information about this bit of time.

1920 -- residence Boon Hill, Johnston, North Carolina

1920 Census, Boon Hill Lower Precinct, Johnston North Carolina

In this census, which I covered in detail when I wrote about Fristus and Katie Watkins Howell here, we find the family of six living on a farm outside of Princeton, Johnston NC. Arlie is six years old.

1920 -- Historical Insight, Sears, Roebuck and Company

Credit: Historic Catalogs of Sears, Roebuck and Co.
1896-1993/Ancestry.com

1920 -- Historical Insight, Nationalization of 4-H programs

October 7, 1921, Marlinton, West Virginia. Credit: Library of Congress
from Ancestry.com Historical Insights

Youth who participated in 4-H programs learned skills related to farm animals, soil, tools, cookery, and housekeeping.

Did Arlie participate in 4-H programs?

1921, 1924, 1926, 1928

Brothers Thadius, Paul Coolidge, Roland and Haywood are born in this decade. She was aged 8, 10, 12, and 14 years old. She was just 10 years old when her baby brother Paul Coolidge was either stillborn or died just after birth. He is buried in Johnston County North Carolina.

1930 -- residence New Hope, Wayne, North Carollina

1930 Census, New Hope, Wayne County, North Carolina

Again, I covered this census in great detail in the blog about Fristus and Katie Watkins Howell, here. Be sure to check it out. Arlie is 16 years old, here.

1931, 1933

1930 ad, Ford Tudor Sedan
Gasconade County Republican, Owensville MO
11 September 1930, page 5
Downloaded 21 March 2017 from Newspapers.com

Sisters Alline and Eula Evelyn are born when she was aged 17 and 19 years old when these little sisters were born.

1934 -- untimely death and burial

Nurse image, source unknown

No social security death index, it seems she didn't have a social security card. It was a bit early for that. She was only 20 years old when she died on a cold February day in Goldsboro, Wayne County North Carolina. She is buried on the family plot in Johnston County NC.

1934 death certificate for Arlie Virginia Howell

She died at Goldsboro Hospital in Goldsboro NC
She lived at 609 Simmons street in Goldsboro
Her birth date is 2 October 1913, Johnston County NC, age 20
Occupation is worker in the Cotton Mill
parents F.H. Howell born NC, Katie Watkins born NC
Informant was Miss Louise Watkins who lived in Goldsboro NC. This would be the Aunt Lou that my dad talked about. She was Katie's sister, who was married to Ernest Buck.
She is buried 2 February 1934 in Princeton, Johnston County, NC
the cause of death is acute diffuse purulent peritonitis caused by an abortion. This means the infection spread throughout the membranes of her abdomen and which then spread to her blood, she went into septic shock, her organs shut down causing death. Apparently an autopsy was performed. I cannot decipher the answer to the question "What test confirmed diagnosis?"

Gravestone for Arlie Virginia Howell
from FindaGrave
photo by A.Price

Later in 1934, there was a major strike at the cotton mill in Gastonia NC. This is about a four hour drive from Goldsboro, today. The National Guard got involved, using tear gas. Here is one of several photos of that event. Now that I've had a chance to peruse the photographs, there seems to have been several mills involved. I can't include the photos here, but this is the first page of a search for this subject, check it out!

Arlie Virginia Howell 1934, 609 Simmons St
Google Maps view

Note the proximity of her parents who lived a few blocks away (toward the mid-upper right of the screenshot). The Cotton Mill, known as Borden Cotton Mill, or Goldsboro Cotton Mill, or Wayne Cotton Mill, was a few block the other direction on Ash street, in the lower right corner of the screenshot.

Arlie Virginia Howell 1934, 609 Simmons St
Google Maps Satellite View

Arial view of the same house

Arlie Virginia Howell 1934, 609 Simmons St
Google Maps Street View

It looks like a cute little house, perhaps abandoned today, by the looks of it. According to Realtor.com, it is 1800 square feet with 3 beds and 2 baths on a lot less than 8,000 square feet.

I checked the Goldsboro City Directory for 1934, and I did not find Arlie Virginia Howell. I searched and found 119 Howells, both related and unrelated, but nothing for Arlie nor Virginia. So, when I ran a search for the house number, it came up with two hits. The first one, on page 120, is for Jason W. Herring and his wife Maggie T, a sheet metal worker for Roscoe G. Shipp. His house is listed as 609 Simmons. The second one on page 233 at the bottom is for Ruth W. Wilson who is renting the same address. Hmmm. the line above is Ruth W. Wilson renting another address on S. Herman. Am I wrong in assuming that they are renting this place to live in? Or, since she is renting two places, maybe SHE is the owner and is renting the places out?

I did find, in the same directory, page 307, that the Goldsboro Hospital was on 307 N. Herman in Goldsboro. Let's check that address out. My goodness, that hospital was only a block or three from Arlie's house.

Goldsboro Hospital 1934
Google Maps street view, image April 2017

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Resources

FindaGrave https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/46234901
Millican Pictorial History Museum, Textile Strikes 1934 North Carolina http://millicanpictorialhistorymuseum.com/product-category/textile-mill-events/1934-strike/
The General Strike of 1934 http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-newcentury/5165
Borden Cotton Mill https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borden_Manufacturing_Company
Realtor.com https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/609-Simmons-St_Goldsboro_NC_27530_M53617-63130
Goldsboro City Directory 1934 http://www.ancestraltrackers.net/nc/wayne/hills-goldsboro-city-directory-1934.pdf

Monday, February 5, 2018

Fristus Howell, Sheriff of Wayne County?

1930s

The story as I have heard it from my father, is that his grandfather Fristus Howell was a Sheriff in the 1930s. While he worked in that capacity, he carried and used this rifle. This blog is about my attempt to get official corroboration. It's not that I don't believe my dad, nor other Howell kin, but that there is a lot I don't know, and I am curious about.

Rifle belonging to Fristus Howell
photo by Bill, rifle in his possession

Is the title of Sheriff for the county? Was his job some other position that carried the convenient title of Sheriff, perhaps a deputy law enforcer? I ask this, because in the past those women who cared for any invalid was called a nurse even though they had no training in that field.

Did he go out on raids to knock down moonshine stills?

What was going on in this area of the country in the 1930s? Cotton was the primary cash crop for Johnston county, with over 85,000 acres of cotton and only 10,000 acres of tobacco. However, after the great depression of the 1930s, the cotton cash flow died out.

"And today, not a single cotton or textile plant remains in oepration in either Selma nor Smithfield." In the early 1940s, the economy was such that farmers still used mostly mules to work the land and get the produce to market. -- excerpted from About Johnston County History

"... law-enforcement officials [were] in a constant battle with alcohol producers, sellers and consumers [from 1908 to 1933]."

"...farmers in the 1920s were suffering under a postwar agricultural depression that brought dramatic fluctuations in cotton and tobacco prices. According to the US Census Bureau, the number of mortgaged farms in the county [nearly doubled in five years]. Cotton farmers tried to make up for their losses by overproducing -- a practice that only served to drive market prices even lower."

"The stock market crash of 1929 and Great Depression that followed intensified the hard times farmers were already experiencing." With Federal crop controls and the boll weevil infestation, cotton was no longer the king. Many farmers turned to tobacco growing even though it was not quite profitable. -- from Johnston NC Heritage

Moonshine then and now

Johnston County officials pose with confiscated illegal liquor
outside the courthouse in Smithfield in 1951
The News & Observer

According to this article in the NewsObserver website, Johnston County deputies were aided by township constables, and cut down about 10 stills per month. That would be 2-3 every week. But the interesting part is the "Township Constables." Could this be the position Fristus held?

Apparently, moonshinin' is still a thing (see what I did there?)

143 gallons of non-tax paid alcohol
from JoCoreport.com

Illegal

in 2016, a local Johnston County man was arrested for selling illegal moonshine.

... reportedly found a large moonshine still, 4402 gallons of mash and 143 gallons of moonshine. The moonshine had an estimated street value of $20 per gallon or a total of $2,860. from JoCo Report website

Legal

It is now legal for some licensed people to create their own moonshine to sell. According to Johnston County blog,

Distilleries were outlawed in North Carolina in 1909, 11 years before Prohibition went into effect. After Prohibition ended in 1932, the state permitted breweries and wineries to operate, but continued to ban the manufacturing of spirits. That ban was lifted in 1979. Before Prohibition, North Carolina had more distilleries than any other state.
-- Johnston County NC blog

So, although prohibition ended, moonshine was still illegal, which meant that local law enforcement would recruit men like Fristus Howell to help track down and confiscate the illegal booze.

Is it legal to make moonshine?

Moonshine law, legality and home distilling laws vary from state to state and each has its own implications for home distillers. Obtaining the correct state and federal permits for your distillery is essential before assembling or operating your still. Unlawful distilling can result in heavy fines and even imprisonment.

Due to tax laws, alcohol distribution laws and some statutes left over from Prohibition, distilling without proper permits is illegal under Federal law. Some states offer small-time distillers, such as those producing spirits for their own consumption, special permits which supersede Federal law. Other states require Federal permits before offering additional state permits. Every state requires additional licenses before selling spirits, as there are heavy tax implications and special rules and guidelines for alcohol sales. While some states will enact penalties simply for owning or a still, other states allow stills to be owned and used for non-alcoholic purposes, such as the production of essential oils. from HillBilly Stills website

I have tried to look up a list of past sheriff's in Wayne county, and found an account of the origin of the office of Sheriff, found here.

An artistic depiction of a historic sheriff on a horse.

An old illustration of a depiction of an old Sheriff -- the Shire Reeve
from History of the Sheriff

Below is one email I received when I inquired about Fristus Howell as Sheriff of either Wayne County or Johnston County in 2005.

Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2005 4:52 PM
To: heritagecenter@johnstonnc.com
Subject: Sheriff
I was told that my great grandfather was Sheriff in the 1930's. I think
it would have been in Johnston County.
Where should I go to find any record of Fristus Haywood Howell working
as Sheriff?
Thank you,
J'Anette
You may be able to confirm that your ancestor was a sheriff in Wayne County by calling the office of the Sheriff (919-731-1007).

From: Wingate Lassiter <mailto:wingate.lassiter@johnstonnc.com>

Sent: Monday, June 27, 2005 11:08 AM
Subject: RE: Sheriff
Checked our various files and came up empty. Couple of sheriffs who did
serve Johnston County during the 1930s had the last names of Barber and
Rose. Also, the name of Fristus Haywood Howell did not come up in our
Smithfield Herald obituary database. Perhaps your great-grandfather
lived and served in another county.

Below is the email I just recently rec'd from Johnston County when I again inquired about the office.

There is not a Howell on our sheriff list, so your great-grandfather was probably a deputy sheriff. I’d be interested in knowing about any stories handed down in your family about still raids, prohibition, etc. We are in the process of putting together a moonshine exhibit to open in mid to late February. Do you know his full name? I checked Fristus Howell in our databases, and absolutely nothing came up. Best wishes,Todd Johnson

K. Todd Johnson Executive Director Johnston County Heritage Center PO Box 2709/241 E. Market Street Smithfield, NC 27577919-938-4708 todd.johnson@johnstonnc.com

What I deduce from this email is that there was prohibition, some moonshine distilling and raids.

Johnston and Wayne Counties
Family Search website

Map of Wayne County North Carolina with
Municipal and Township Labels
Wayne County Wikipedia

Law office, Goldsboro, April 1938

Sites of interest from Wikipedia

Cliffs of the Neuse State Park is a state park located near the city. It covers 751 acres (3.04 km²) along the southern banks of the Neuse River. It has a swimming area, several hiking trails, fishing areas, a nature museum, and picnic areas. The cliffs rise 90 feet above the Neuse River.
Waynesborough Historical Village is a reconstructed "village" located near the original site of the town of Waynesborough. It is home to historical Wayne County buildings ranging from various periods of time. These buildings include a family home, a medical office, a one-room school, a law office, and a Quaker Meeting House.
Herman Park includes a recreational center, miniature train, tennis courts, picnic shelters, a turn-of-the-century park house, gazebo, goldfish pond, fountain, and children's playground.
The Oheb Shalom synagogue's Romanesque Revival building is one of fewer than a hundred nineteenth-century synagogues still standing in the United States, and the second oldest synagogue building in the state.^[16]