The Ayres House at 968 Main Street sits on a plot of land purchased in 1874 from Jacob Davis by George Craghead Ayres. George was acting as trustee for “Sallie K. Ayres, wife of David Ayres, a feme covert” – a married woman who could not own property in her own name. The home was completed quickly, as it is shown on the 1877 Beers map less than three years later. George and David Ayres were brothers and partners in a tobacco manufacturing enterprise on Main and Bridge Streets. Not much is known about the Ayres family.

In 1904, George Ayers, once more acting on behalf of his sister-in-law, Sallie, sold the home to Rorer A. James. Mr. James was born in Brosville in 1859, the son of John Craghead James. He attended Virginia Military Institute and, after graduating, went on to serve as a chairman of the Institute’s board of visitors, even serving as its chair for several years. After graduating from the Virginia Military Institute, he went on to attend the University of Virginia, where he studied law.

Rorer James was a politician. He began his career in the house of delegates in 1891 where he served for two years before being elected to the state senate. Here he served for eight years before being named chairman of the state Democratic committee. In 1892, Mr. James married Ann Marshall Wilson. Mrs. James was educated first at the Powell School for Girls in Richmond and then at the Randolph Finishing School in Baltimore. The couple had four children. It is worth noting that Rorer was the brother of Dr. John James whose family lived for many years at 939 Green Street.

In 1899, Mr. James purchased the Danville Bee and for many years owned both the Bee and the Register. In 1921, he was just preparing a larger plant, having only recently cleared the land and receiving the approval on his architectural plans when the news came suddenly and unexpectedly of his sudden passing of a heart attack. His newspaper legacy was thereafter passed on to his son, Rorer, Jr.

Mrs. James continued to live in the house until her death in 1938, when her sister sold the property to Nora Moseley Wiseman, the daughter of Edward G. Moseley of 840 Main Street and the wife of Plumer Wiseman, son of Henry Adolphus Wiseman, Jr. of 842 Main Street.

Plumer was educated at Danville Military Institute and then went on to Purdue University where he earned a degree in civil engineering. He went on to work as a registered engineer and as a steel contractor. During the 1930’s he served as regional director of the Civil Works Administration. Plumer died in 1944 of a coronary occlusion further complicated by the onset of pneumonia. Nora continued to live in the house until she passed away in 1980 at the age of 92, having outlived her husband and three of her four children.

The house was subsequently sold to Julian and Rebecca Griffin before it was acquired in 2007 by its present owners.

Sources include:
Original deed records
Alexandria Gazette; Alexandria, Virginia; “Rites for Colonel James”; 8 Aug 1921
The Bee; Danville, Virginia; “Long Illness Ends Life of Mrs. R.A. James, Sr. …”; 28 Mar 1938
The Times Dispatch; Richmond, Virginia; “Plumer Wiseman, Aged 63, Dies in Danville …”; 31 Dec 1944
Genealogical information found at Familysearch.org