New MHA President

Congratulations to Carol Lassiter for being elected the next President of the Murfreesboro Historical Association ! 

I think she is an excellent choice.  Carol has worked tirelessly for the association in the past, and I believe MHA will really benefit from her direction.

Brady C. Jefcoat (1916 - 2013)

It was announced at the Annual Meeting last Friday that Brady C. Jefcoat, founder of the Jefcoat Museum, had died the day before (April 11, 2013).

Although I found Mr. Jefcoat difficult at times, he was an interesting personality and I admired his unbridled passion to collect.

His obit in the NewsObserver described how he came to amass such a huge collection :

Born June 12, 1916, in self described “dirt poor” conditions in Orangeburg, South Carolina, Mr. Jefcoat went on to acquire vast wealth, which in death he has, for the most part, left for the public good. Brady’s family came to North Carolina and settled in Raleigh when he was five years old. Described by many as brilliant throughout his life, Brady early on also showed immense aptitude for creativity and hard work. Beginning in his early 20s, Mr. Jefcoat started buying small, inexpensive lots in the area of Western Boulevard and Gorman Street, and building houses on them. Using, for the most part, discarded construction material, and in many cases second hand items, he built 17 houses at night and on weekends, after running his own plumbing business during the day. He became a landlord of significant note, and saved all of the rent he collected. Mr. Jefcoat would go on to acquire more than 54 acres of land in the Swift Creek area of Wake County, on which he built his final residence in 1970, which he shared with his wife, Lillian, who died of breast cancer in 1972. ....  Mr. Jefcoat may be best remembered for partnering with the Murfreesboro Historical Society in Hertford County, NC to create the largest privately run museum in the state, the result of more than a half century of robust antique collecting described by some as obsessive, if not maniacal. Focusing primarily on old-style, crank phonographs and music boxes, Mr. Jefcoat amassed one of the rarest collections in the world. However, he didn’t stop there. He collected with equal vigor such things as antique bed pans, centuries old rat traps and civil war grave markers, among other things.

Old music box collectors never die .... they just wind down.
Rest in peace, Mr. Jefcoat.

 

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/04/13/2821851/brady-jefcoat.html#storylink=cpy

More Letterhead ... Including a Chewing Gum company

A few more examples of local ephemera.

The first one is for a chewing gum company agent in Scotland Neck !  Anyone have additional information about the Southern Sweet Gum Company ?

 

W.H. White & Co., Sweet Gum and Pepsin

Chewing Gum, The Southern Sweet Gum Co.

Scotland Neck NC 1898

 

 

Williams & Garrett, General Merchandise,

Ahoskie NC 1898

 

 

J.W. Godwin, Horses and Mules,

Kentucky Mules a Specialty, Ahoskie NC 1909

 

 

 

MHA Annual Meeting - April 12, 2013

Mark your calendars: 

• Historic Murfreesboro Commission, Spring Meeting, Friday April 12, 2013
• The 47th Annual Meeting of the Murfreesboro Historical Association will take place at noon on Friday, April 12, at John's Seafood Restaurant, 315 East Main Street, in Murfreesboro.  Speaker will be Reid Thomas, Restoration Specialist, NC State Preservation Office in Greenville.   Elections of MHA Officers and Board Members will be held during the Annual Meeting.  (Personal note - it would be helpful if Annual Meetings were not always held in the middle of a weekday.  It makes it difficult for working members to attend. )  Cost is $15 per person, with a stated deadline of April 5.
• Jefcoat Museum's Annual Pork Fest will be held on Saturday, May 18, 2013 at the Brady C. Jefcoat Museum.  Cost is $10.00 per person.

Murfreesboro Businessmen of Long Ago

 

 

And another piece of local ephemera: 

 

 

 

Murfreesboro Merchants', Business and Professional
Men's Association
Murfreesboro N.C.

 

 



More Ephemera

A few more examples of local ephemera (letterhead).

J. Lawrence Harrington & Co.,
Aulander NC, 1909

 

 

Tyler, Futrell & Co., General Merchandise
Roxobel NC, 1909 

 

 

 People's Bank of Murfreesboro NC
1906

 

 

Historic Murfreesboro NC Ephemera

It was great to see so many friends in Murfreesboro !

Last night I gave a short program for the Friends of Whitaker Library at Chowan University .  The talk was entitled The Stuff of History: Why Research and Academic Institutions Collect Ephemera. Unfortunately, I had a few "technical difficulties" with the PowerPoint, so I thought it might be helpful to add some of the images here to the blog.  Hopefully everyone will enjoy seeing the items in more detail (click on the image to see enlargements).

Most of the ephemera downloaded (over the next few weeks) will be historic letterhead from Murfreesboro and nearby communities. If you have additional information about the businesses or individual owners represented ----  please leave comments.  We would all like to learn more about these former local business leaders.

The letterhead has been found in various collections, and offers a fascinating snapshot of a place or time. Scholars of this subject point out that the rich illustrations and elaborate printing of commercial letterheads, billheads, and envelopes correspond with the dramatic rise in industrialization in America. According to one expert, the period 1860 to 1920 represents the heyday of commercial stationery. As commercial artists influenced the job printing profession, the illustrations became more detailed and creative.

R. Sewell, Wholesale and Retail Dealer in Groceries

Murfreesboro NC 1898

D.C. Barnes, Attorney and Councelor at Law

Murfreesboro NC

Fentress Lumber Co. Manufactureres, J.E. Fentress, Manager

Murfreesboro NC 1898