The history of the property at 120 Chestnut Street originates with Witcher Jones who built his stately Italianate home on the corner of Main and Chestnut Streets in 1875, early enough for his house to show up on the Beers map of 1877. On April 2, 1884, Mr. Witcher sold his property, including 70′ fronting Main Street and 262 feet running parallel to Chestnut Street. The new owner was Orlando Wemple and his wife Elizabeth Frances Pinnix Wemple.
Both Orlando and Elizabeth were natives of Caswell County, North Carolina. 24 year old John married 20 year old Elizabeth in Yanceyville in April of 1872. It was the Wemples who changed the form of the house at 903 Main Street from an “L” shape to its current symmetrical layout. Mr. Wemple, a tobacconist and partner with Wemple and Ellyson, died in September of 1914 of kidney failure at the age of 66. In November of 1922, Mrs. Wemple died of cancer. The house then fell to their daughter Mary Wemple Hagedorn who brought the suit to chancery for reasons that are unclear. The Wemples had several children, including 45 year old Blanche who never married. It’s possible there was some debt owing and that the house was meant to pay that debt. The 1923 deed which awarded Mary the property did so in exchange for $21,350. A year later she sold the rear 48′ of the lot, that which fronted Chestnut street, to S.A. Shadrick (misspelled Shadrach in the deed) for $1,000.
It was no doubt the Shadricks who built the home that stands presently at 120 Chestnut street, and for the next 42 years, the family name would be associated with the property.
Samuel Alfred Shadrick was born in 1871 in Culpepper County, Virginia to James Madison and Emma Terry Shadrick. Dr. Shadrick arrived in Danville in 1900 to practice dentistry after graduating from the Baltimore Dental College. In 1909 he married Sallie Runyard Brown, the daughter of H.W. Brown of H.W. Brown, Florist. The couple had two children, Terry Thomas and Samuel Henry Dr. Shadrick was a veteran of the Spanish-American War and had served as captain of infantry. He later became head of the State Spanish War Veterans’ organization and was active in the National Guard. Dr. Shadrick retired from dentistry in 1941. Sallie died in 1946 of uterine cancer. Dr. Shadrick died in 1954 of heart disease. The house subsequently passed to Thomas.
Thomas Shadrick was born in Danville in 1921. Thomas was a verteran of World War II and was present on the beaches of Normandy during the D-Day invasion. He married Myrtle Carter in June of 1950. Shortly thereafter, he took over the florist business from his grandfather and uncle. He maintained the shop for 58 years. Thomas and Myrtle had one daughter, Sallie Brown Abreu, who still lives in Danville today. Mrs. Shadrick died in 2014, and Mr. Shadrick passed away two years later at the age of 95.
In 1966, the Shadricks sold the Chestnut Street home to the First Presbyterian Church who maintained it as a home for their pastors. The Danville Redevelopment and Housing Authority acquired the property in 2016 and refurbished the home. It was purchased in 2018 by Jacqueline Talley who moved here with her husband as newlyweds while he pursued a career in medicine. The house is presently for sale.
Sources:
Census and Vital records found at Familysearch.org
Images and vital information, including biographical sketches found at FindaGrave.com
Death notices and other information found in the Danville Register, Danville Bee and other newspaper archives at Newspapers.com and GenealogyBank.com
Census, Directory, Newspaper, and other information compiled by Paul Liepe
