The house at 140 Chestnut street (formerly 418 and then 148 Chestnut Street) was probably built about 1895 by George A. Watson for the purpose of speculation. The property on which the house was built was first made available in 1893 at the time Major Sutherlin was selling off portions of his land on what would become Sutherlin Avenue and Chestnut Street. George A. Watson acquired the property in that same year and in May of 1895 sold it to Jonathon P. Swanson for $1,000. Swanson sold the property two weeks later for $2,600. The new owners—and first occupants—were Cary A. and Minnie Howard.
Cary “Allen” Howard, Jr. was born in Blackwell, Caswell County, North Carolina 1847, the second child born to Cary Allen and Elizabeth Scott Blackwell Howard. Elizabeth died when Cary was only three years old, leaving behind nine children between the ages of 22 years and 11 months. She was buried in the Farish family plot near their farm in Blackwell, North Carolina. In the census of 1870, Allen (as he was called) and his family were living in Pelham, North Carolina. Allen, Jr. married Mildred “Minnie” Isabella Turner in January of 1872.
Minnie, born in 1852, was the oldest of 12 children born to Marcus Aurelius and Mellissa Virginia McNeil Turner, also of Caswell County, North Carolina. Minnie and Allen also had a large family, and it was with their eight children that they moved into the Chestnut Street home in 1900.
Allen was a farmer before his arrival in Danville in 1900, at which time he entered the leaf tobacco business. At the time of his death, he was employed by Liggett & Meyers Tobacco, Co., all the while maintaining the family farm in Caswell County.
Of their eleven children, only eight survived to adulthood. Their second child, a daughter, only lived six months. Their fourth child, also a daughter, died at the age of three. Another son died in infancy.
At least one of their children married into one of Danville’s more connected and well-respected families. In 1901, Janie married James Wood Bouldin, the son of Edwin Edmunds and Lucy Lyne Edmunds Bouldin of 636 Holbrook Avenue.
On the 15th of February, 1920, while walking home, Allen collapsed suddenly on the street near his house and died. No cause was ever identified.
Six years later, yet another tragedy would befall the family. In July of 1926, H.A. Davis, a sales agent for the Ford Motor Company in Norfolk, was visiting Danville. He had spent all the previous day driving around town showing off his bright blue Lincoln touring car. Having heard that Virginia Howard might be looking to purchase a new car, Mr. Davis arrived at the Howard home on Chestnut Street at about 9:30 in the evening hoping to persuade Virginia into taking a ride with him. Of course he hoped she would be so impressed with his Lincoln that she would want to purchase one of her own from him. Virginia, who was employed during the week as an assistant to the City Treasurer, had been out working on the Caswell farm that Saturday and was tired, but others of the family who wished to accompany her on the excursion at last talked her into going. Accompanying the 35-year old Virginia were her sister, Ruby (34), her brother Allen’s wife Ella (42), and Ella’s daughter Katherine (19). The group chose the “Martinsville Pike” which, in 1926, was “a newly-concreted stretch on which has been recently thrown open, carrying the smooth road beyond Bachelor’s Hall.” The party, with the top down, drove as far as Liberty Heights pool in Martinsville and then made their way back. Davis was known to drive fast, and seeing a chance to show off what the vehicle could do on the mile-long straightaway of the Martinsville highway, opened the car up and put down the gas. At about 11:40, driving at about 75 miles per hour, and rounding a curve just beyond Bachelor’s Hall, the car missed a detour at the point of a curve in the road and crashed. It was later determined that a light, which was supposed to have been lit to warn of the detour where the main road had not yet been quite finished, either had not been lit or had been knocked out by a previous driver.
The crash left Virginia and Mr. Davis dead and Ruby severely injured with a compound fracture to her leg. At the scene of the accident, Ella told police that she had tried to prevail upon Mr. Davis to drive at a safer speed. The car missed the curve, slid on breaked wheels for about 264 feet before rolling over. Mr. Davis’ died instantly of a broken neck, while Miss Virginia suffered a crushed skull and internal injuries from the impact and was still breathing when help arrived. Dr. Bruce James was summoned, along with one of Townes’ Funeral Home’s ambulances as well as a hearse. By the time the ambulance arrived, Virginia had passed. Despite Ruby’s extensive injuries, her first thought was for her sister, and it was she the ambulance met upon their arrival as she guided them to her sister’s side. By the time her sister was pronounced dead and Mr. Davis, too, Ruby was in shock. Remarkably, Ella received only bruises and scratches in the accident, while her daughter suffered a broken collar bone. The following day, a funeral was conducted from the house.
Needless to say, Minnie, whose health was not strong since the death of her husband, was prostrated by the news. She and her grandson, Allen, just 14, had been worried when the car had not returned that evening, but, with nothing to do but wait, had elected to get what sleep they could, leaving the lights on should the party return. In the morning, the sad news was delivered them.
Minnie continued to live in the home with her daughter Ruby until her own death in September of 1939. Her immediate cause of death was a heart condition, but she had suffered a steady decline over the last many years of her life both in her health and in her mental state. Dementia was a contributing factor of her death, as her death certificate indicates.
After the death of their parents, the house then fell to the children, and, by a Deed of Gift made on the 21st of September, 1939, just eleven days after their mother’s death, the children unanimously elected to give the house to Ruby.
Whereas the said party of the second part (being Ruby) during the last several years, and during the feebleness of her mother in her old age, has constantly, untiringly, and faithfully nursed and cared for her mother, on account of which the parties of the first part (her five surviving siblings) feel that she is entitled to the full and complete ownership of the estate of Minnie T. Howard.
About 1950, Ruby started dealing in antiques. She remained in the Chestnut Street home until her death in 1978. It’s possible she had a reverse mortgage on the home, as Region First National and Merchants Bank took the home in 1979 and subsequently sold it to Elwood and Rebecca Cook and Junior and Hilda Pickeral. Nine months later it was sold again to Charles Harrington Jr. who has owned the home since that time.
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
United States Tobacco Journal, vol. 93, pg. 7 ; 1920
Census, Directory, Newspaper, and other information compiled by Paul Liepe
