The Greek Revival Foursquare home at 596 Holbrook Avenue was built in 1903 originally as a frame dwelling. The property on which the house sits was acquired by Otelia Jefferson following the death of her husband, John G. Jefferson. The property was purchased by James Massey Seegar in 1902, and it was he who commissioned the construction of the dwelling, though it looks significantly different today than it did at the time of its construction.

James Seegar came to Danville from Maryland. Born in 1864 in Centerville, Maryland, his parents were James Massey and Frances Ann Hopper Emory Seegar. The Seegars lived in Baltimore for a short time before moving to Danville in 1895. James was a partner in L.C. Clarke & Co., merchants of hardware, guns, and sporting goods with a storefront at 332 Main Street. A year later, James married Annie W. Graves of Caswell, North Carolina. Annie was born in 1872, the fourth of eleven children born to William Griffin and Rebecca Anne Lea Graves. The couple had three children, only one of whom survived childhood. Frances Emory was born in 1896 and passed away at the age of 13.  William Graves was born in 1903 and died sometime the following year. James “Buddy” Massey Seegar, Jr. was born in 1902

In 1914, a fire occurred, damaging the home. In the course of making the necessary restorations and repairs, the exterior was altered and the stucco facing was added. In 1929, Mr. Seegar left Clarke & Co and joined Virginia Hardware on Lynn Street. The timing, however, was bad. The stock market crashed soon after, and the country (and much of the world) entered the Great Depression. Seegar applied for help through the Homeowners Loan Act of 1933 which was enacted to help distressed homeowners keep their homes during financial hardship. The loan allowed them to stay in the home another few years, but by 1938, it was too much, and he fell behind in the payments. Home Owner’s Loan Corp. took the house and sold it to new owners in October of 1938 at which time Mr. Seegar and his family moved to Watson Street. In 1946, Mr. Seegar and his wife moved to Winston-Salem to live with their son, Buddy. A year later, Mr. Seegar passed away after a brief illness. In 1963, Anne, too, died.

After the Seegar’s removal from the Holbrook Avenue home, the bank auctioned the property and George Preston Richmond became the new owner.

George was born on the 4th of May 1896 in Caswell County, North Carolina, the eldest child of James Henry and Mary Ellen Walker Richmond. George was a veteran of World War I, having been drafted in 1916 and serving through the armistice. He married Nellie Virginia Hopper in Danville in June of 1921. Nellie was born in 1895 to James Terrell and Ada Mary Landrum Hopper of Rockingham County, North Carolina.

The Richmonds moved to Danville shortly after their marriage and lived on Park Street for a time. They had four daughters: Rachael, born in 1924; Dorothy born in 1927 (she married William Carrington Stephens in 1948); Nancy born in 1930; and Kathryne in 1932.

Mr. Richmond was the owner and operator of Richmond Oil Co.

The couple lived in the Holbrook Avenue house for almost forty-five years. Mrs. Richmond passed away in 1981 of thyroid cancer. Four years later, Mr. Richmond, too, passed.

The home was then sold to Charles Lovelace before being purchased by Larry and Sherry Goff who owned the home until 2003. It is presently the home of Todd Lilly.

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
1991 Danville Historical Society annual Holiday Tour