In January of 1920, T.S. Williamson sold a portion of his large lot at 137 Holbrook Avenue to B.K. Jones. It was certainly Jones who commissioned the one-story Greek Revival home to be constructed at what then became 141 Holbrook Avenue. Three years after purchasing the property for $3,500, he sold it to C.B. Pritchett for $15,500.

Charles Bernard Pritchett was born in Keeling, Virginia in 1889 to Dr. Charles Wesley and Clay Keesee Pritchett, who later occupied a home and medical practice at 624 Main Street (on the lot American National Bank now occupies). Charles the younger followed in his father’s footsteps, and, after receiving his education, became a doctor of dermatology and urology. Charles and his wife, Effie Shepherd Leake Pritchett moved to the Holbrook Avenue home shortly after their marriage. (They spent the first two years of their marriage with Charles’ father’s family on Main Street.) The couple lived in the home for a short time, however. Four years after moving in, they sold the property to Annie Spencer. In 1930, Dr. Pritchett relocated to Hopewell, Virginia for a time. He passed away of a heart attack in 1950 while visiting Denver, Colorado. His remains were returned to Danville, and he was buried in Highland Park Cemetery.

Annie Carr Clark Spencer was a widow of 58 when she purchased the home on Holbrook Avenue. She shared the home with her daughter, Barbara Carson and her two children John and Ralph. Born in 1868 in Danville to William Thomas and Barbara Jane Freeman Clark, Annie had lived in Danville her entire life. She married John Dillard Spencer in 1891, and the couple had four children together. John was a well known and respected tobacco man and, at the time of his death, was vice president of D. H. Spencer Sons Tobacco Company. While visiting his brother in Martinsville on July 21, 1905, he was shot in the mouth by an intruding burglar who woke him from his sleep. The wound was not fatal, but he developed an infection and was sent to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore where he passed away. Annie was thereafter left to raise her four children, ranging in age from one to eight years of age, on her own.

Barbara was in her thirties when she came to live with her mother on Holbrook Avenue. Annie, by all accounts, did not particularly need the help, as she was described as having enjoyed wonderful health for the whole of her life. Perhaps, however, Barbara did need help in the years when her children were young—or perhaps she simply wanted the company. Her husband, Vice Admiral John Hazard Carson, was a career naval officer who served in both world wars and in Korea. Consequently, he was often away from home for long periods of time.

By 1939, Barbara was living in Dahlgren, Virginia, site of the United States’ first naval proving ground (established in 1918). That autumn, Annie left for a trip with her friend Mrs. J.E. Perkinson in order to visit the “historic shrines in Virginia”. That first night, the two women spent the night with Barbara in Dahlgren. The following morning, they started out with the intent of visiting Wakefield, Stratford Hall and “other places of prime interest”.

“While in the car, Mrs. Spencer was suddenly overcome by a heart seizure which proved almost immediately fatal. Members of her family were prostrated by the news because Mrs. Spencer had enjoyed unusually good health and had been normally active…”

Barbara, along with her three sibling who lived in Raleigh and Richmond, inherited the Holbrook Avenue home equally, and in January of 1940 they sold the home to Grasty Crews a local lawyer and real estate investor.

John “Grasty” Crews was born in Danville in 1892 to James Dabney and Ella Pettus Grasty Crews. He went to school in Danville and attended university in Detroit, where he studied law. He remained in Michigan for a few years following his education but returned to Danville in 1916. The United States, having (controversially) joined the war effort, Grasty was eager to sign up. Upon completing his service, he returned home, and in 1919 he married Susie Boyd Roberts of Mecklenburg County, Virginia. The couple had one son, John Grasty, Jr. Grasty passed away in 1951 at the age of 59 of tuberculosis, leaving the house to his wife.

Susie continued to live in the house until she sold it in 1981 to Richard D. Giles. Susie died in 1990 at 98 years of age.

For six years the house was the home of the Giles family. Richard Duane Giles was born June 27^th, 1952 and married Carolyn Gayle Pruitt Ball on September 16, 1977. In 1987, the Gileses sold the home to Phyllis B. Acker, who lives there today.

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