🔊 Hear The Story

The home at 169 Holbrook Avenue was built by Richard “Button” Graham sometime around 1895 for Dan and Mamie Echols Overbey.

Daniel Alonzo “D.A.” Overbey was born on the 2nd of September 1853 in Mossingford, Charlotte County, Virginia, the youngest of six children born to Captain Isaac J. Overbey and Martha Elizabeth Hunt Overbey. Dan came to Danville in 1877 and here entered the mercantile business, eventually establishing the firm of Overbey and Anderson which, over time, evolved into Overbey Swanson Brothers.

As reluctant public acceptance of the commercial ice business at last evolved into growing popularity for the novelty-turned-necessity, Mr. Overbey gave up the mercantile business in favor of ice, organizing the Danville Ice Company, over which he served as president.

As tangential interests, Mr. Overbey was a member of the boards of directors for the Danville Traction and Power Company, Riverside and Dan River Cotton Mills Co., and the Danville Lumber Company. He was also involved in First National Bank as its vice-president and served as vice-president, as well, of Danville Knitting Mills.

Mr. Overbey married Sallie E. Shepherd of Danville in 1876, and the couple had three children, including William Daniel Overbey, Fannie Overbey, and John Edwin Overbey. Sallie died in January of 1891.

In April of 1895, D.A. married Mary Cabell “Mamie” Echols of Fayette, West Virginia, and it was around this time that Mr. Overbey purchased the house at 169 Holbrook Avenue.  Six children were born to this marriage, including daughters Mary, Elizabeth, Martha, Virginia, and Margaret. In the middle was one son, Daniel Alonzo Overbey, Jr.

The Overbey story includes one rather exciting adventure: On December 11, 1902, Mr. Overbey was travelling with his wife and children along Main Street in a horse-drawn carriage when the horse, for reasons unknown, spooked and started to run at break-neck pace and only stopped when it collided with the unoccupied carriage of James Penn. The Overbey carriage was overturned and damaged, but thankfully was disengaged from the still frantically running horse. Mr. Overbey whisked his family to safety, while an onlooker, Mr. Howard Barksdale, caught the horse and returned it to its owner.

In 1912, the D.A. Overbey family moved down the street to 605 Holbrook Avenue (you can read more about the Overbeys and their homes here), which was a substantial brick Italianate house that was razed in 1976 to make way for the apartments that stand there today. It was D.A.s son (from his first marriage) John Overbey and his wife Annie who purchased the home.

John Edwin Overbey was born on September 9, 1886. He was educated in Danville Public Schools and attended Danville Military Institute. He worked with his father in the ice business, and took over as president when his father retired from that enterprise. In 1911, John married Annie Dovel of Front Royal, Virginia. Annie was born March 4, 1880, the youngest of 13 children born to Harrison Charles and Elizabeth Adaline Ruffner Dovel.

Like his father, John took residence in the home as a newlywed, but the couple did not stay long. Eight years later, in 1920, the Overbeys sold the home to James Pinckney Harrison who had been the acting trustee for the Sutherlin Estate and had overseen the sale of much of the property on Sutherlin and Holbrook Avenues.

Mr. Pinckney was born at “The Wigwam” his family’s home in Amelia County, Virginia in 1852 where his father was “a noted educator” according to James’ obituary. Having been educated in law and graduating with honors from the University of Virginia, James spent two years teaching before coming to Danville where he established himself as an attorney. In 1879, he married Mary Jane Davis, also of Amelia County,(the daughter of one of his medical professors) and the couple had two children, Lucy Landon Harrison born in 1881 and Donald Skipwith Harrison born a year later (died in 1918 from the flue epidemic).

In 1886, Mary Jane died and shortly thereafter, James was married to Caroline Rivers Harrison. Caroline was born in Charles City, Virginia in 1856 but spent much of her childhood in Richmond. She first married Jaquelin Ambler Douthat in 1879, but Mr. Douthat died in 1881 from an accidental shooting. According to an entry on Rootsweb.com, James Harrison and Mary Jane kept rooms in a house (at 644) Jefferson Street. Also living in that house was Jaquelin Douthat and his wife, Caroline Rivers Harrison. When Jaquelin died, Caroline returned to Richmond, but, having family here in Danville, she would return fairly regularly. The trip was somewhat grueling as she traveled from Charles city to Norfolk by boat in order to catch the train. She then had to get a coach for the remainder of the trip where she would be met by her family. On one occasion, it was James who met her and there confessed his love. Her response was hardly what he had hoped for. Used to staying in the Jefferson Street house  it was no longer proper for her to do so as she would be sharing a roof with a man who had professed his love for her, so she turned right around and returned to Charles City. Eventually, of course, she relented and the couple were married in 1886. They had six children together. It may be prudent here to note that James Pinkney and Caroline, having the same last name, were third cousins once removed. It is impossible they were unaware of the connection. The Harrisons were a well known and influential family throughout Virginia and even the U.S. 9th president of the United States, William Henry Harrison was James’ first cousin twice removed (three generations removed from Caroline) and third cousins of 23rd president Benjamin Harrison. We’ve written about the Harrison family before. For more information, see the posts on Sara E. Harrison of 941 Green Street, and Dr. Isaac Carrington Harrison of 507 Holbrook Avenue. There is also a very interesting Wikipedia article on the family, including those who lived in Danville.

The couple were both in their old age when they moved into the Holbrook Avenue house. Mr. Harrison had been bedbound, having suffered partial paralysis since at least 1915 (one account places it ten years earlier). He passed away in the home on the 20th of April 1925 from “paralysis agitans”, medical parlance for Parkinson’s disease.

Neither was Caroline’s health strong. Her own decline began about the time she moved into their Holbrook Avenue home. The last years of her life having been spent in the constant care of her husband could not have been made easier in such a large home. About eighteen months later, on the 30th of October, 1926, Caroline Rivers Harrison Harrison died.

For the two years that followed, the house stood vacant. In 1927 it was purchased by E.W. Arnett.

Eugene “Willard” Arnett was born December 13, 1882 in Danville to Eugene Samuel Arnett and Mamie Dixon Arnett. He was educated at Danville Military Institute and then at Randolph Macon Academy. He worked in the real estate business.  In 1909 he married Perdita “Perdie” Butler, a native of Mountain City, Tennessee. The couple had six children.

Shortly after purchasing the home, Mr. Arnett divided the property and built the Arnett Apartment building on the rear of the lot. Until the 1930s, the Arnetts kept boarders, but after their son, Eugene, Jr. married Mary Ellis Slaughter in 1937, the family shared the home with the newly wedded couple.

The following year, Eugene, Sr. died on January 15, 1968 in Memorial Hospital of a “cerebrovascular accident” following a brief illness. Three weeks later, on  February 9th, Perdie died peacefully in her sleep from causes unknown. The house was left to Eugene Jr.

Eugene, Jr. was born June 13, 1912 in Danville. He attended the College of William and Mary and then the University of Virginia, where he earned his medical degree. He served his internship at Duke University before setting up practice in Danville. He was married twice, first to Mary Ellis Slaughter in 1937, and then to Viola Kendrick in 1960. It’s unclear what happened to Mary. The couple did have one child in 1939 who took Mary’s name but whom they called “Bootsy”. Shortly after installation in the Holbrook Avenue home, Eugene, Jr., signed up for active duty in the Air Force and served as a surgeon during World War II. He was stationed in various U.S. bases and then in December of 1943 he sailed to Hawaii and then to Saipan followed by Ie Shima (Iejima). He returned home having been honorably discharged in August of 1945, having served three years.

It seems that Mary Ellis left Eugene shortly after his return. There are no accounts of her after 1945. According to the Social Security Death Index, she eventually moved to Pasadena, California, where she died in 1996.

Clues as to why she may have left are provided in several run-ins with the law that Dr. Arnett experienced in the years following his return. Perhaps he suffered from PTSD, as many soldiers did, and, being a surgeon, he would have had a first hand account of the worst a war could do to a human body.

In 1948, Dr. Arnett was charged with rape after forcing a young woman into his car on Main Street near Jefferson Avenue. They made their way down Jefferson Avenue and then to Five Forks, where the car was stopped. She climbed out the window and ran, but an accomplice, O.C. Pickerall ran after her and dragged her back to the car. (Arnett stated she forced her way in.) The two men then drove to Dr. Arnett’s medical office located at the Stonewall Apartments. Picerall there forced himself upon her more than once, and then Arnett “made such an attempt, but was not altogether successful”. Arnett was acquitted on grounds of it being impossible to provide the necessary evidence. The victim was accused of lying and a local clergyman dressed as a police officer was said to have appeared at her door pressuring her to drop the charges. Dr. Arnett did confess to striking her. He also added that they all had been drinking, and that the following morning he had observed that the skin was off four of his knuckles and that “his pants were all messed up.”

In December of 1955, Dr. Arnett was involved in a collision at Avondale Drive and Howeland Circle. When police arrived, they found him “drinking and disorderly”. He was fined $50 and had his license suspended for ten days, but he was charged an additional $50 for cursing at the policeman.

In 1956, Dr. Arnett was involved in an automobile accident. When police came to attend the scene, they found him drunk and disorderly.

Two years later, Dr. Arnett was indicted by the Corporation Court grand jury on 28 counts of violating the state narcotics drug act. He had been writing prescriptions for known drug addicts and writing the prescriptions out to patients who had died. He was sentenced five years for each incident, but the judge agreed to grant mercy and to allow the sentences to be served concurrently if Dr. Arnett would agree to give up his license and get treatment for his illness (alcoholism and depression). He had confessed during the trial to having been charged with domestic violence. A year later, Dr. Arnett was freed under the condition he never return to Danville or to Pittsylvania County.

In 1960 he married his second wife, Viola Kendrick.

In 1961, Dr. Arnett spoke with the papers regarding the prevalence of venereal disease in nursing homes. He was employed as the administrator at the time of Hilltop Nursing HOme.

In 1968, he was charged with two fines of $50 each for searing on the phone.

In 1970, the retired physician was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and with threatening the life of James Thomas Webb, 22, of 626 North Main Street. The incident was connected to an assault on Carolyn Webb of 460 W. Main, which incident resulted in a $100 fine which he paid escaping jail time on the city farm.

In 1971 he was arrested again on two warrants for disorderly conduct and threatening language.

In 1979, Viola won a suit of divorce.

In 1980, the home was sold to settle Dr. Arnett’s debts. (He passed away in 1996 in Sutherlin, Virginia at the age of 85.) Luis Abreu was the new owner, and he and his wife took on the task of restoring the then dingy and faded home into something bright, airy, and comfortable. Mrs. Abreu was the daughter of the Shadricks (themselves descendants of H.W. Brown) who were well known in the 80s for their many restoration projects.

 

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
Rootsweb