The William Bethel Hill House, 120 Holbrook Avenue

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In 1907, Mathew Pate Jordan sold to William Bethel Hill an undeveloped portion of his property at 130 Holbrook Avenue.

Mr. Hill was born October 18th, 1871, a native of Greensboro, North Carolina. He married Bessie West Miller in 1904. William’s father, William H. Hill was a partner in the foundation and establishment of Dan Valley Mills on the northside bank of the Dan River. William, Jr. became secretary-treasurer of the firm upon the passing of his father, soon after which appointment he became vice-president and served the company for twenty-five years. He was also vice-president of Piedmont Mills in Lynchburg, and later in his career he organized the Vansco Grain and Feed Company, of which he was manager at the time of his death in November of 1952, having died of complications following a fall.

In 1911, in preparation to remove to a more conspicuous location at 1026 Main Street, the Hills sold their Holbrook Avenue home to Bushrod Henry Sparks.

Mr. Sparks was a native of Madison County, Virginia and practiced as a doctor of medicine in Charlottesville. Born in 1852, he married his wife, Eva Fitzhugh Conway (no apparent connection to Powhattan Fitzhugh Conway of 134 Sutherlin Ave and 833 Main Street). Ironically, Mr. Sparks’ was featured in several newspaper advertisements for Warner’s Kidney and Liver Remedy as a proponent of the same which he used to treat his Bright’s Disease. The articles ran from 1911-1914. Sadly he passed away in 1914 of what we know today as nephritis.

It’s not clear Mr. Sparks ever lived in the house on Holbrook Avenue. Neither did he own it long. In 1913, he sold it to Robert C Harrison who, just a year later, sold the property again to Harry Wooding, Jr.

Harry Jr. was son of the former mayor of Danville. Harry Jr. was born on the 19th of January 1884 in Danville and he was educated here. He became a lawyer and was admitted to the bar in 1905. Mr. Wooding retired from law when his health began to suffer. From June of 1936 until his death in September of that same year, he was confined to his bed. Sitting beside him at the time of his death was his doctor, S.E. Hughes. The two gentlemen were discussing a book when the “patient’s heart gave out and he exhaled his final breath”, leaving behind his widow and his aged father, the former mayor who by that time had taken residence in the home. He would pass away two years later.

Harry Jr. married Elnora Mae Waller Wooding of Danville in 1912. She would survive him by twenty-five years. The couple had no children, and when Harry died, her sister Elizabeth Waller Harrington, divorced, moved in to keep her company. When Elnora died in 1961, the property was left to Elizabeth. By that time the house had been divided into three apartments addressed as 118, 120, and 122 Holbrook Avenue, and the two sisters, with the additional income of Elizabeth’s job as a personal director at a downtown department store, maintained a comfortable living.

By 1977, the house became too much for Elizabeth to maintain, and it went up for auction. It was purchased by Alcoholic Counseling Services of Danville as an apparent investment. They sold it a few months later to Frank and Fannie Aiken.

Francis James Aiken was born on the 29th of April 1910 in Edgefield, South Carolina, the eldest of two children born to Henry H. and Sarah Elizabeth McElveen Aiken. He attended Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina and was engaged in textile manufacturing as a career, founding Southeastern Textile Machinery Inc. in 1972.

In 1929, Frank married Evelyn Byers, and the couple had three children; Francis James, Jr., William Robert, and Barbara Ann. The couple divorced, however, and in 1950, Frank (Francis) married Frances Belle Turner. He passed away on the 19th of August 1999, leaving the house to his wife, Frances, known as “Fannie”.

Fannie sold the home in 2003 to William and Cynthia Mitchell. In the course of the next three years, the house changed hands twice more before being purchased by Eugene A. Stewart who maintained and resided in the home until 2022 when it was acquired by the Wilmington Savings Fund Society. It was purchased five months later by Jeannine Pederson.

The house is currently undergoing renovation.

Sources:
Census and Vital records found at Familysearch.orgImages and vital information, including biographical sketches found at FindaGrave.comDeath 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