As early as the 1860s, Major William T. Sutherlin began selling off portions of his property on and around Green Street. In 1874, George W. Swain acquired Lot no. 2 (of four) on the block of Green Street bordered by Sutherlin Avenue and Chestnut Street. Two years later, the deed transferred to C.W. Womack and W. Heidelberg “in the style of Womack and Heidelberg … Lumber dealers in the city of Danville”. The transfer was likely for the purpose of commissioning Womack and Heidelberg to build a home on the property. Eighteen months later, the lumber dealers sold the property back to George and Mary Swain for $4,000, significantly more than the $900 that the property was worth the year before, but whether this house is the one at 906 or at 912, it isn’t exactly clear. In 1880, a triangular shaped portion of Womack’s lot was purchased by Swain, including 52 feet fronting Green Street, for $50. It’s possible 906 was built shortly thereafter. As the Swains owned a home directly opposite the house built here, it is conceivable that this smaller home was maintained for the purpose of investment or rental income. Records do not indicate who lived here during the home’s earliest days, but by 1889 the property was the home of J.P. Barksdale, also a tobacconist. The Barksdales, who rented the home from the Swains, were here only briefly before relocating to Roanoke.
In 1890, Mr. Swain sold the home to W.M. Whiteley for, $1,750. William Monroe Whitley was born 9 September 1859 to Joseph and Martha Pritchett. William married Elizabeth Maria Womack (daughter of C.W. Womack) in January 1889. One year later, the couple’s only child, William Ellis Whiteley, was born in the home. The family retained ownership of the home for ten years until losing it as the result of a loan secured in July of 1898 in order to pay off a debt. The loan was defaulted, and the house went up for auction, being purchased in February of 1900 by Nathan P. Robertson.
Nathan Penick Robertson was born in Person, North Carolina on the 27th of November 1869 to Edwin Johnson and Jane Dorothy Rogers Robertson. He married Blanche Aileen Tuck on the 21st of November 1896. Four children were born to the couple while living in the home: Cecil Minor in 1897, Wallace Glenn in 1899, LaVaille in 1902, and Oscar Pederson in 1904. The family sold the home in 1905 and relocated to Norfolk. An interesting article appears in the Norfolk Virginia Pilot of 1914 regarding LaVaille who was apparently struck by a carriage after jumping from a streetcar. It seems he was chased by the conductor and leapt from the tailboard of the streetcar directly in front of a carriage which subsequently ran him over. He suffered only some bruises. In 1936, while visiting his uncle in Chapel Hill, he went out to fetch some water from the stream and didn’t come back. His family believed he had suffered a brain hemorrhage, though his death certificate says he drowned. He also was stricken with epilepsy, a condition which may or may not have been a contributing factor.
It was Mollie Turner who purchased the home in 1905 and sold it a year later to R.H. Henderson who owned the house next door at 912 Green Street. The house seems to have stood vacant for a time. The Census of 1910 lists no residents here that year. In 1911, Mr. Herndon sold the property to Lysander B. Conway, Sr., father of Powhattan Fitzhugh Conway of 134 Sutherlin Avenue and 833 Main Street. Mr. Conway died a year after purchasing the house, and the property was inherited by his children. It’s unclear if any of them lived here or if they used it as rental property. By 1919, the house and lot entered chancery and Lysander Jr. was given leave to sell the home, which he did, to V.G. Smith who sold it two months later to Walter Pollard, a grocery store owner. Pollard did live here with his wife Lottie and son Walter, Jr., but not for long. A year later, in June of 1920, Mr. Pollard sold the house to M.L. Callahan who owned the home for two years before selling it in November of 1922 to brothers Benton R. and Clem Dewitt Covington. Two years later, Clem conveyed his half interest in the property to Benton.
Benton was born in Caswell, North Carolina on October 6, 1884. In 1925, he married Mary S. Woodward. Mr. Covington was manager of Danville’s A&P Supermarket. Though he lived in the house in 1927, according to the city directory, by 1930 he was living on Broad Street and the house was used as rental property. The Covingtons held onto the property until 1940 when the couple divorced. That year the house was purchased by John R. Davey who would be the first owner/occupant who would spend any significant time here.
John Reed Davey was born on August 8, 1887 in Toshes (or Tarsus, in Pittsylvania County) Virginia to James Bastian and Margaret Virginia Yeager Davey. Mr. Reed arrived in Danville at the time he purchased the house to take a job as a telegrapher with the Southern Railway. He married Pearl Virginia Pleasents in 1915, and the couple had six children. Mr. Davey died suddenly in December of 1968 from a heart attack. Pearl continued to live in the house until 1977 when she sold it to Rena Sylva.
The house changed hands every two years subsequent to Ms. Sylva’s purchase of the home, until 1982 when it was acquired by Dale M. and Debra Stewart who owned the property for the next twelve years. From 1998 until 2009 it was the property of William H. Smith. It was recently acquired by new owners whom we welcome to the neighborhood.
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
