Calvin Samuel Ewart - R.I.P.

 

Calvin Samuel Ewart

ROCKWELL - Mr. Calvin Samuel Ewart, 75, of Rockwell, passed away on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011, at his residence.

Mr. Ewart was born May 19, 1936, in Rowan County, son of the late Samuel Baxter Euart and Maude Johnson Euart. He was a 1955 graduate of Rockwell High School and was employed by White Packing Company for 29 years. He had also worked at Kern Rubber Company for 17 years where he retired as a Tape Winder in 2009.

Mr. Ewart was a lifetime member of Rockwell United Methodist Church, where he served as Superintendent of the Sunday School and Chairman of the Board, and was involved in JV Hall Sunday School Class, United Methodist Men. He enjoyed all aspects of working at the church.

He enjoyed camping, fishing, gardening and loved his family.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by brother James Ewart and sister Mary Veach.

Mr. Ewart is survived by his wife, Jackie Walker Ewart, whom he married July 21, 1956; sons John Calvin Ewart of Rockwell, Samuel Dean Ewart and wife Lori of Faith; grandchildren Ashley Page and husband Tim, Emilee Ewart, Samantha Ewart, Colby Ewart, Derek Ewart, Joshua Ewart, Lauren Ewart, Weston Ewart; and great-grandchild Austin Page.

Service: The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 31 at Rockwell United Methodist Church, conducted by Rev. Warren Miller, pastor, and Rev. Bill Currie. Mr. Ewart will lie in state 30 minutes prior to the service. Burial will follow at Brookhill Memorial Gardens.

Visitation: The family will receive friends at Powles Funeral Home from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 30.

Memorials: May be made to Rockwell United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 337, Rockwell, NC 28138.

Powles Funeral Home is assisting the Ewart family. Online condolences may be made at www.powlesfuneralhome.com

Published in Salisbury Post on December 30, 2011

Source:  http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/salisburypost/obituary.aspx?n=calvin-ewart&pid=155249392

Calvin was my Grandpa Ewart's (Ed) brother. He has help me out tremendously on my family research. You will be missed.

Gentry/Ewart Family Tree site now formatted for Smartphones

Now when you visit the Gentry/Ewart Family Tree website from a smartphone you'll see a slightly different optimized view. Now you don't have to scroll around the page to see all the information. This should allow for a better user experience. Be sure to bookmark on your smartphone. Enjoy.

Note: You won't see any of the the links on the right or the twitter feeds on the smartphone version.  You can bookmark the twitter page at www.twitter.com/gentryfamtree.

Wordless Wednesday: Authur Earl Hopkins

Authur Earl Hopkins - the gentleman on the right
Born: 03 Sept 1902
Death: 20 Aug 1963
Relation: Grand Uncle of Wife
Link to tree.

John Ramsey Euart / Ewart 1863-1941

John R. and Darcus Euart

John Ramsey Euart started out as John Ramsey Ewart on 20 July 1863 in Mecklenburg County, NC. He was the son of Joseph Ramsey Ewart II and Mary Elizabeth Barnett.  He had for brothers: Samuel Knox Ewart b. 1851, William Layayett Dixon Ewart b.1847, Silas Septimus Manly Ewart b. 1853 and Joseph Walter Phar Ewart b. 1847.  His father, Joseph Ewart II and grandfather, Joseph Ewart died the year he was born.  According to the 1870 census his mother was keeping house while three of his brothers were working on the farm in Huntersville, NC.

Sometime in the 1880's and 1890's John ran a distillery near Rock Cut, NC (Source: The Landmark Newspaper).  This area was somewhere in Iredell County, NC. John was arrested November 5, 1895 by Duputy Marshal R. P. King with a warrant and charged with illicit retailing (selling liquor).  This story was carried in The Landmark (Statesville, NC Newspaper) and the Charlotte Observer.

 November 6, 1895 Charlotte Observer

John's mother died in 1896. Two years later on October 10th, 1888 John married Darcus Luella Brigman b. 1870. John and Darcus had the following children: Samuel Baxter Euart b. 1907, Mary Jane Euart b. 1890, Lottie Irene Euart b. 1894, John Ramsey Euart II b. 1898, Dexter Brite Euart b. 1899, Darcus Lille Euart b. 1903, Joseph Florence Euart b. 1905 and Robert William Ewart b. 1911.

 1910 Census

According to the 1900 census John and Darcus lived in Huntersville, NC and John was farming. By 1910 John and Darcus were living in Concord, NC on Misenheimer Avenue. At this time John Sr. was still a farmer. John II, age 14, was a doffer at a cotton mill.  A doffer was one who changed the spools once they were full. Lottie, age 15, and Brite, age 11, were both spinners.

 

Odell-Locke-Randolph Cotton Mill (Most likely the mill they worked at)

By 1930, according to the census, John Sr. and wife had moved to the Gold Hill Township in Rowan County, NC.  They were renting a house and living on a farm where John Sr. was still a farmer. At this point John Sr. was 66 and Darcus was 59.  In this census is when his name was taken as John R. Euart. According to my Great Uncle Calvin Ewart John Sr. and Darcus moved around many times. It is believed that John Sr. changed his last name to stay out of trouble with the law. There are many generations of Euarts' from and in the Rockwell area that still have the Euart last name.  My Grandpa (Ed Ewart) and his brother (Calvin Ewart) changed there last name back to the correct spelling of Ewart.

When John Sr. and Darcus were older they separated and John Sr. moved to Spartanburg, SC to live with his daughter.  John Sr. died 11 Jun 1941 in Spartanburg, SC of a Stroke and his body was brought back to Rowan County, NC to be laid to rest at Lower Stone Cemetery in Rockwell. Darcus died 20 Jul 1943 of a stroke. She was laid in rest next to her husband.

John R. Euart's Death Certificate

 Headstone at Lower Stone Cemetery

John Ramsey Euart Stories by Becky Smith (Ewart).

Story 1

John R. Euart was on a horse and wagon. They had crossed the river around high rock and revenuers stopped them once they were on the other side.  They said "These papers give us the right to search your wagon". Ramsey reached behind him and pulled out a gun and said "This gun says you don't have the right."  This was a guy that was riding with John R. Euart that told Ed Ewart about this story later.  He was a boy or teenager at the time. 

Story 2

Revenuer or the law went to John R. Euart's house to search for moonshine.  There was a barrel and his wife sat on the barrel with her dress covering it. They searched the house and didn't find the barrel of moonshine and left empty handed.

My Relation

Me - Randy Gentry
Becky Ann Ewart - Mother
James Edward Ewart - Grandfather
Samuel Baxter Euart - Great Grandfather
John Ramsey Euart - 2nd Great Grandfather

Link to John Ramsey Euart's Tree

Cannon Mills Kannapolis NC History

I've decided to include Cannon Mills as part of one of my stories because of the long history it has with different parts of my family.

Name of Company

Cannon Mills was purchased four times, and had four names.

• Cannon Manufacturing Company (1888–1921)
• Cannon Mills Company (1921–1983)
• Fieldcrest-Cannon Corporation (1983–2001)
• Pillowtex Corporation (2001–2003)

Cannon Manufacturing Company

In 1887 James William Cannon founded the Cannon Manufacturing Company in Kannapolis, North Carolina. His goal was to produce a basic textile product instead of yarn making or a product in which another company could produce. His company produced towels that were sold under the brand name “Cannon Towels”. Ten years later, he opened another mill in Concord, North Carolina.

In the year 1905, Jim Cannon designed and purchased 600 acres (2.4 km²) of land in northwestern Cabarrus County, North Carolina. The land was formerly used as a cotton plantation. He laid out a plan for a small mill village with homes for the workers. By 1907, the first mill was completed just west of what was Town Lake. The mill, known now as Plant 1, was opened in 1908 after a brief two-year cotton shortage.

By January of the next year, the Cannon Manufacturing Company had employed 840 people in its single Kannapolis plant. James William and his company not only built hundreds of homes for the mill workers, but also a world-class YMCA facility. At that period, it held the largest membership in the world. He also donated land and money for school construction and education. That year, the first school, McIver was opened. Cannon erected stores, businesses, and churches. Cannon also donated funds to the Cabarrus County Government to improve the main road leading to Kannapolis from Concord. In 1917, James Cannon arranged a life insurance policy for all Cannon employees. This had never yet been done for employees of a company.

Nineteen twenty-one was an important year for the Cannon Mills Company. A strike occurred in the localized Charlotte, North Carolina area, affecting all textile mills in this area. Charles A. Cannon was already in charge of Cannon Mills affairs, since his father was trying to recuperate from ill health. The correspondence between James W. Cannon and his son reveal that Charles was doing an exemplary job handling affairs and not recognizing the union activities. On June 1, 1921, the members of the United Textile Workers Union of America went on strike. Employees starved as the union failed to support the strikers. Although Cannon called the National Guard to "keep the peace," the strike ended because union official fled town after union corruption. Cannon Mills did not unionize during this attempt, which left the whole World War I generation skeptical of labor unions.

 

Cannon Mills, Co. Plant 1 Kannapolis, NC

J.W. Cannon was recently elected as Chairman of the Board and his son, Charles Albert, was made president of the Company. Later that year, Jim Cannon developed an unknown illness in the winter of 1921. He was reported dead at 6:00pm on December 21, 1921. Ironically, he died at the same time as when the afternoon whistle blows for quitting time at the mill. He was buried at Oakwood Cemetery in downtown Concord. The Cannon Manufacturing Company was left to its president and the youngest son, Charles. By the time of J.W. Cannon’s death, the population of Kannapolis was roughly 6,000 citizens and the mill had employed about 15,000 workers.

Source and the rest of the history


Family members that have worked at Cannon Mills:
Stephen Randall Gentry Sr
James Macklin Gentry - tree link
Ruby Claywell Gentry (Hamilton) - retired from CM
Pauline Barnhardt (Hamilton)
Robert Warren Hamilton - retired from CM - tree link
Jake Barnhardt - retired from CM - tree link
Claude Wilson Hamilton - retired from CM - tree link
Claude William Hamilton - tree link
Clara Hamilton - tree link
Lula Hamilton - tree link
Jack Hamilton - retired from CM - tree link
Charlie Hamilton - retired from CM - tree link
Ollie Cauble - tree link
Will Yost - retired from CM - tree link
Charles Tilley - retired from CM - tree link
Vance Tilley - retired from CM - tree link
Lee Tilley - retired from CM - tree link
Marvin Tilley - retired from CM - tree link
Woodrow Tilley - retired from CM -  tree link
Sidney Adolphus Fink - tree link

Grandma Gentry Cannon Mill House Stories

Grandma Gentry was born in a mill house on North Popular St., Kannapolis, NC In 1923. These were houses owned by Cannon Mills and rented out to employees. At the time there was an outhouse in the back and the house water was located on the porch. The average electric bill was less than $1. Grandma's job was to fill up the tea kettle on the back porch when she was young.

Claude Wilson Hamilton once got in a fight will a fellow employee and the mill made Claude move out of the house. She said she thinks the man said something about Lula Hamilton, his wife. Fortunatly Claude had been injured working in the mill earlier in his career and was guarenteed a lifetime job their. Eventually Claude retired from Cannon Mills.

Cannon Mills House 1912