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

Laptop Troubles

2-5-2011 Update:  Once again I've fixed my laptop.  This time the fix should last.  At least I hope it does.

1-25-2011 Update: Laptop's down again.  Looking at trying to get another one around 2-4-2010.

1-4-2011  Update: I was able to fix a laptop that I had.  Family research has began again.

12-3-2010 Great news! I was able to recover my Family Tree Maker files from my ailing laptop hard drive.  I installed Family Tree Maker on my desktop and made sure everything was still their.  Everything's good to go.

My next step is to get another laptop to continue my family research.  I'm going to work on getting one in the next couple of months.  I'm also going to start posting information again.  Stay tuned.

Wordless Wednesday: Sidney Fink's Friend (Jason Brown)

I'm not sure who the friend is or when it was taken.  I just thought this was a neat picture.

Update:  The guy in the picture has been identified as Jason Brown. Thanks to Betty Duncan and her father.

Ewart/Euart Main Library Research

I started out last Saturday on a quest to find more information on John Ramsey Euart (b. 1863 d. 1941) at the Charlotte Library main branch (downtown Charlotte, NC).  Initially I was looking for a specific paper that mentioned John Ramsey Ewart in the Charlotte Observer.  I uncovered a hint while searching on Ancestry.com and found a Statesville, NC paper with his name in it. (more on that story later).

Mecklenburg Main Library

Once at  the library I start my search on microfilm.  It didn't take me long to find what I was searching for.  While I was there I thought I'd do some further researching and see what I could find. I started with the librarian's help finding John Ramsey Euart's death certificate.  She was having trouble finding it and said this was a first for her,in all her years as a librarian she'd never had a problem locating a death certificate. At this point the librarian became interested in my search and offered to help. She brought over a book that had the Ewart Mecklenburg History and it provided the answers that I needed.  This was a tremendous find. (I'll share more on that later too.)  It had the Ewart history going all the way back to Robert Ewart, who was born around 1700.

I'll begin to share my findings here in the blog as I fill in the blanks in my family tree. Check back often.

The book with the answers.

James Macklin Gentry 1916 - 2004

James Macklin Gentry was born July 13th, 1916 to Noah Macklin and Luzeny Elizabeth Gentry in Abingdon Virginia.  He had 5 sisters: Cora, Sarah Elizabeth, Hattie L., Rose Ellen and Mary Emmaline Gentry. He went by Jim Gentry. Jim went to school until the 6th grade and spent the rest of his childhood helping his father with the farm in Abingdon, VA.

 Jim is on the left.  Not sure which cousin is on the right.

Around 1939 Jim decided to move to Kannapolis, NC to seek a higher paying job at Cannon Mills.  While in Kannapolis he boarded in a house right down the road from  Ruby Hamilton.  They met one day as she was  being photographed in her yard. A short time later they started dating.  In 1941 Jim decided to join the Army Air Corps.  He sold his car to the woman that owned his boarding house.  Jim wasn't required  to serve in the Air Corps due to being the only male in his family.  He broke off his relationship with Ruby Hamilton not knowing if he would make it back from the war.

Jim joined the Army Air Corps on the 30th of  May 1941 with the 66th Bomber Squadron.   They deployed to the European Theater of Operations (ETO), being assigned to VIII Bomber Command in England during the summer of 1942. Source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/66th_Missile_Squadron).  His duty when he joined was to pull planes in and out of the hangers and re-fuel the planes.  He had PT (physical training) every morning.

 Jim is on the far left.

Jim didn't really care for the PT so when he discovered that cooks didn't have to do PT every morning he  made the switch to Squadron A, 211 BU.  He made the rank to Sergeant and became the head cook.  He was the only person with the key to the ice cream.  Jim was Honorably Discharge on the 7th of  October 1945. He received several medals ; the Good Conduct Medal 1943, American Defense Service Medal, European African Middle-eastern Service Ribbon, Distinguished Unit Badge GO 78, 5th of  Nov 1943 and the Distinguished Unit Badge GO 56 the 12th of July 1944.

 Jim is on the right.

Upon being discharged he met and was engaged to a woman from Abingdon, VA. Once back in Kannapolis, NC, he ran back into  Ruby Hamilton and broke off the engagement he had to the other woman.  One year after their reconnection they decided to get married.

 Jim's picture taken with Ruby's neighbor.

Rather than having  a traditional wedding, Jim and Ruby decided to marry without telling anyone right away.  Ruby told her father she was going to Abingdon,VA to visit Jim's parents but instead they snuck off to York, SC to get married.

In 1948 there first son Mike was born in Abingdon, VA. The family spent the first couple months of  Mike's life in Abingdon, VA.

 Jim, Ruby and Mike.

Around 1951 Jim went to a watch makers school in Spencer, NC and a jewelry school in Charlotte, NC.  From 1953 until 1956 he was a Kannapolis Transit Bus Driver.

Kannapolis, NC Transit paper article with Jim Gentry in the picture.

In 1954 their second child ( my father) Stephen was born and In 1959 their third and final child (my aunt) Debbie was born.

In 1956 Jim got a job at the Hefner VA Medical Center as a nursing assistant.  On his daily drive to the VA hospital from Kannapolis, NC he noticed a house for sale in China Grove,N.C and in 1960 Jim and Ruby bought the house.

 Jim Gentry 1965.

Jim worked for the next 25 years at the Hefner VA Medical Center and retired from their April 4, 1982.   He spent his retirement raising gardens and tinkering with anything that had a motor. Lawnmowers, go karts,etc.

After a brief illness James Macklin Gentry died May 15th, 2004 at Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, NC.  Jim is laid to rest at West Lawn Memorial Park Mausoleum, China Grove, NC.

My memories of my grandpa:

 Jim Gentry and Randy Gentry (me).

I use to spend many weekends and summers at my Grandparent's house.  When I was around the age of  6 or 7 my grandpa taught me to ride a bike. I remember helping in the garden, husking corn to store for winter and getting the green beans ready to bottle.  I would cut the grass with the riding lawn mower while my grandpa would use the weed-eater.  There were many days we would enjoy eating watermelon outside during the summer months.  At dusk when I was younger Grandma, Grandpa and I would sit outside in the back yard in lawn chairs watching  lightning bugs light up the sky as the sun set.

On the weekends we would watch the race together.  His favorite driver was Bill Elliot.

One time he fixed up two riding lawn mowers for me and my brother to ride and built a small track in the field behind the house to race them on.

 Jim, Randy (me) and Darren Gentry (my brother).

We would go shopping together and my grandpa would always ask the cashier how old he looked.  They always guessed a younger (incorrect) age and he would giggle and tell them how old he really was.

Some weekends we would go to the flee market with my Great Uncle Rob (Hamilton).  Other times during the summer we would go to the Charlotte Motor Speedway and check out the classic cars with Rob. These day when I go, looking back ,I am amazed that they were able to walk around that track all day looking at cars.

Tuesdays and Thursdays were wrestling night on TV.  When I was around the age of 16, we would order  pay-per-view wrestling events on Dish Network.

Another thing my grandpa would do that a lot of people probably don't know is hum and make up silly songs.  It was kind of annoying at the time but it  is a great memory for me now.

He is responsible for my love of wearing hats.  He always wore a hat while outside and also most of the time when we went shopping.

At the age of 18 I owned a 1987 RX7 that didn't have working A/C.  My Grandpa and I went to Moorseville, NC to look at Chevrolet S10s.  We  test drove an S10 together,  I didn't think anything of it when he asked me if I liked the truck.  I said "I love it" and he said we should get it.  That was a major surprise considering I was just expecting to go look at trucks not actually buy one.  I was ecstatic when I got that truck and I still have It. I love my S10 to this day, probably mostly because it reminds me of my grandpa and intend to keep it for the rest of my days.

I'm glad my wife got to meet my grandpa. At the time we weren't married yet and my grandpa liked her long hair.  He said I should marry her.

About two weeks before he passed away, I told my grandpa that I was planning to join the Air Force. He didn't really like the idea of me joining, however, he was one of my inspirations to join.

I really miss my Grandpa and think about him often. He's one of the few people that were always proud of me, even though I hadn't accomplished much at the time.  I think he'd definitely be proud of me now.

 

Grandpa and I around the year 2000

Wordless Wednesday: Sidney Adolphus Fink

Faith, NC Centennial

Sidney Adolphus Fink
Born: 30 Jan 1894
Death: 25 Dec 1976
Relation: Great Grandfather
Link to tree.