(Trigger warning: This article describes an incidence of suicide.)

In June of 1884, Charles H. East acquired the property at 432-434 Chestnut Street from W.P. Bethell for $400, upon which it may be presumed Bethell shortly after built the double house that stands there today. Four years later, in October of 1898, East sold the property to W.W. Waddill for $1,400.

Walter Wood Waddill was born on the 14th of December 1848 in Clarksville, Virginia. After the death of his father, sometime prior to 1870, Walter, his brother, Edward, and his mother arrived in Danville, where the brothers engaged themselves as “bookdealers”. By 1880, the two “merchants” along with their mother were living on Patton St. Walter married Sally Page Acree in 1881, and the couple set up house next door to Edward and his family. By 1900, while Edward was engaged in books and printing, Walter had branched off on his own. His death announcement of September 20th, 1904 described him as “one of the leading real estate and rental agents in this city”.  It does not appear that Mr. Waddill ever lived in the home, but rather maintained it as investment property.  Not long before his death in 1904, Waddill purchased the Crumpton home at 344 West Main Street which was demolished in 1971 to make way for parking behind Averett’s new library.

Upon Mr. Waddill’s death, after unsuccessfully seeking help in Philadelphia for an orthopedic ailment, the Chestnut Street property passed to his three children; W.W. Waddill, Jr., Roland Waddill, and Edith Waddill Smith who maintained the home as rental property until 1946 when the home was divided and sold as two separate units.

During the years that the property was owned by the Waddills, the duplex was home to William Cooper, a preacher, and his wife and four children, while Jean Fox lived next door with her two sons, Harry and William. Harry was a property owner in his own right, having been left several investments when his father died, including the house at 900 Green Street.

Orget Thompson, a postal clerk, and his wife Dana, a dressmaker, lived here in 1920. Another seamstress, Virginia King resided here with her mother in 1930. From at least 1935 until the Waddills sold the property in 1946, 432 was home to Arnett P. Talley. It is unclear if Arnett was any relation to the Talleys of 126 Chestnut Street. It is nevertheless a coincidence that three families by that name  have lived so nearby. Mr. Talley was an assistant manager in a coal yard, while his wife, Lucille, worked as a saleslady for the same company. They lived in the home with their four teenage children.

In 1946, the children of W.W. Waddill sold 432 to James H. and Evangeline G. Newman and 434 to Edmond Thomas and Arline B. Glidewell.

Edmund Thomas Glidewell, Sr. was born on the 26th of August 1885 in Pittsylvania County but spent his childhood in Caswell county, North Carolina. He was a teenager when he arrived in Danville, and found employment with the city Water Gas and Electric department. He married Arline Ardell Burton in 1911, and the couple had three children, including Evangeline Burton Glidewell who lived next door with her husband, James H. Newman.

James Hurdle Newman was born in Milton, North Carolina on the 13th of February 1909. Like Mr. Waddill, James was a well known and successful real estate agent, though he began his career as a bookkeeper. To supplement his real estate income, he also worked as a broker for Keystone Brush Co. of New York. He married Evangeline in May of 1936, and the couple had one daughter,  a redhead named Martha. In the early days of their marriage, they lived at 912 Green Street.

Evangeline was born on the 20th of February 1915 in Danville. In 1933, at the age of 16, she participated in the Miss America pageant as Miss Virginia and came in at 4th place. She competed for the top spot using her talent of singing. Though she did not win, her participation won her many offers including a screen test for RKO Studios (which she turned down). When she was interviewed by the paper in 1954 regarding her recollections of the contest, her husband was asked what it was like having a beauty queen in the house. His reply: “We like it because she continues to be just as lovely at home as when she went to Atlantic City.” From 1934 until 1969, she worked for L. Herman’s Department store and then Thalhimers in Danville as a buyer for accessories. She later became assistant manager of the store. In 1969, she received a promotion which took her to the Winston-Salem headquarters where she became a buyer for the region. She retired in 1979.

In 1964 the family was living on Fairmont Circle. On the 15th of April, James was supposed to have picked his wife up from work but failed to do so. It seems he dropped her off and then, skipping work, returned home. Mrs. Newman having finished her shift and seeing her husband nowhere in sight, asked a coworker for a ride. James had been suffering from a bout of depression, and, perhaps feeling that something was wrong, she asked her friend, Mrs. Adkins and her husband who had driven them, to help her search the house. To their horror, they found James in the garage, a plastic bag over his head and a hose connecting the bag to the exhaust pipe of his car. He had been dead some six hours.

A year later, Evangeline sold her half of the Chestnut Street house to Mary George Prillaman. Born in 1909 in Hawkinsville, Georgia, Mary arrived in Danville about 1950, the wife of George Russell Prillaman whom she divorced in 1946 after three years of separation. Mary was a talented musician who taught piano. She was employed by the Register Publishing Co. Inc. and worked as editor of the women’s section of the paper. Mary lived in the home until her death in 1982, a victim of lung cancer, leaving her half of the house to her daughter, Suzanne Wiltshire. A year and a half later, Suzanne sold the home to Charles and Marie P. Lane.

Marie Pulliam Lane was born November 3rd, 1926 in Florida but moved at a young age to Semora, North Carolina where she attended Archibald Murphey High School. She worked for C&P telephone company (later Verizon) and Revco Pharmacy (CVS). Her obituary of 17 September 2010 describes her as someone who “loved people, never met a stranger, and was always willing to help friends and family regardless of the sacrifices she might have to make to help out.” Upon Marie’s passing, the home passed to her son, Jon Lane III who sold it in 2011 to Lawrence Meder.

With their daughter no longer living next door, and now widowed (Mrs. Glidewell died in 1960), and with his health failing, Evangeline’s father, Edmond Thomas Glidewell, transferred the home to their unmarried daughter, Mary “Jane” in September of 1964. Jane was born in 1924 in Danville and worked for the city. She had lived for many years with her parents, caring for them in their old age. Mr. Glidewell died just one year later.

Jane held onto the house until April of 2005 when she sold it to Fred Meder who owns it today. Jane left the Chestnut St. property to move to Roman Eagle where she died in July of 2006.

The duplex is once again in the hands of a single family and is undergoing careful 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