141 Sutherlin Avenue was originally a portion of the estate owned by Major William T. Sutherlin. The lot was sold in 1894 by James P. Harrison, trustee for the Berryman Green Trust, to F.X. Burton and remained undeveloped up to the time his widow, Mrs. Alice Burton sold it in 1906 to Maggie P. Watson and her husband James Carson Watson. Mrs. Burton, whom we’ve discussed extensively, had acquired at the time of Sutherlin’s sale in 1899, several lots, including (the Strother house) to the rear of Sutherlin which fronted Chestnut Street.

It’s unclear if there is any relation between Mr. James Watson and either John Thomas Watson, the famous brickmaker of Danville (of 899 Pine St, now 125 Chestnut Street, and for whom Watson Street was named) or Walter Douglas Watson of 116 Holbrook Avenue. Mr. Watson was the youngest of six children born to Reverend James Carson and Annie Correll Watson of Amelia County, Virginia. Born in 1867, James was a young boy when his mother died. His father remarried in 1877, and the family eventually found their way to Martinsville, where James appears on the 1900 Census. He married Annie Price, a Danville native, in 1897, and the couple purchased the lot of land on Sutherlin Avenue in 1906 to build their home. Watson was employed as a bookkeeper for a manufacturing company and was a founder and eventual president of Morotock Manufacturing Company (which would eventually become Dan River Fabrics). The couple shared the house with their two children and Annie’s mother, Louise Price. In September of 1911, the couple sold the home to Sallie Belle Griggs, the wife of J.H. Griggs.

James Henry and Sallie had been living at 808 Green Street prior to their 1911 purchase of the Sutherlin home. Whether they actually lived here is unclear but very likely. James, along with his brother Archie, were principals in the organization of the Danville & Western Railway. Sallie owned the property independently of her husband, which was not unusual in the case of successful businessmen who wished to protect their real property in the event of bankruptcy. Married women’s property rights passed in the first half of the 19th century did not grant women the right to keep and manage their own property so much as it protected it from the misuse of their husbands. Such laws also made it possible for husbands to shield their property from creditors by placing it in their wives’ names. (Virginia was among the last of the states to offer women any real protection, passing laws to the detriment of women, financially and professionally, until around 1910.)

The Griggs were not here long before they moved once again to a home on S. Main Street, roughly where the main entrance to the hospital is presently located. In 1918, they sold the home to W.O. Williams. Although Mr. and Mrs. Williams owned the home for only a couple of months, their connection with the house, and to Danville, is worth mentioning.

William Overton Williams was the son of Dr. Thomas Edward Williams and Wilanna Overton Pollard Williams of Hanover County, Virginia. Dr. Williams died in 1908 while trying to extinguish a fire that occurred during a thunderstorm. His death was mourned by many who had benefitted from Dr. Williams dedication to “relieving the distresses” of those who suffered, whatever their race. William and his brother, Thomas, relocated to Danville in 1900. Here William worked as a manager of the National Biscuit Company, and it was here he married his wife Nancy Thomas.

In 1923, Mr. Williams and his wife were dining in the home of  Mrs. W.O. Strange of 724 Main Street (site of the present day post office). The Strange home was a large one, and when Mr. Strange died in 1904, his wife, Annie, decided to take on boarders. In 1920, Mrs. Strange had five members of her own family and eighteen boarders. Among the boarders was Ben C. Coleman, an automobile licensing inspector who was related to the Cabell and Wooding families. The Williamses were boarding next door, but liked to dine with Mrs. Strange.

On the afternoon of October 9, 1932, as Mrs. Strange, several members of her family and Mr. and Mrs. Williams were just finishing up their midday meal, Mr. Coleman entered the room with a large revolver and shot Mr. Williams. Mrs. Williams, in an effort to shield her husband, suffered two bullets to her back. Both fell to the ground, where Mrs. Williams cried for someone to save her husband, and where Mr. Williams tried in vain to convey a message which he failed to do and expired minutes later.

As the house erupted in commotion, Mr. Coleman walked quietly and calmly to his room, sat down upon his bed, and fired one last bullet into his head. When the police and medical attendants arrived, they retrieved Mr. Coleman’s body and found in his hand a letter, written by Mr. Williams to Mr. Coleman, which one of the policemen began to read aloud. The words “confession” and “betrayal” were read and clearly heard before the letter was confiscated by another of the policemen who refused to disclose or clarify what it said or meant. Mrs. Williams did survive, but it was never divulged what Coleman’s motive was.  The letter was later determined to have been written by Coleman himself and signed by Mr. Williams whom witnesses had seen being pressed by duress to sign by an angry Mr. Coleman. The shooting was deemed not to be premeditated but decided upon just moments before it happened, when Mr. Coleman, who had decided to walk downtown, changed his mind and reentered the house from the porch.

Why the Williams did not hold onto the Sutherlin Avenue home, however, it is unclear. They owned the home exactly two months, from July 3 to September 3, 1918 when they sold it to William A. Robins, a veterinarian, and the son of Frederick Robins of 812 Green Street who left Danville to move to Richmond with his wife’s family, but who, after her death in 1920, returned and took up occupancy with his son in the Sutherlin Avenue property.

Dr. Robins was born in 1887 in Richmond, Virginia. He married Bessie Clarke of Danville in 1913. The couple lived in the home for over thirty years. Mr. Robins died in 1945 of a cancerous infection of the neck from which he had suffered for nine months and which had defied all attempts at treatment.

When Mrs. Robins passed away in 1951, the house was passed down to the Robins children, and Elizabeth Robins Link and her husband bought out the interest from her siblings. They held onto the house for about six years before selling it to Glenn Jones and Alberta E. Cox, who sold the home a year later to Robert M and Gypsy Rose Mustain. In 1997 the house was purchased by Edward and Rebecca Rinn, and for many years stood empty until it went into foreclosure in 2015. It was purchased in 2016 by Karmen Teague and is presently undergoing restoration.

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