EXPLORER FUNDS REPAID; DISTRICT ATTORNEY WON'T TAKE CRIMINAL ACTION
Friday, October 27, 2006
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
District Attorney Jay Gaither has decided not to take criminal action against the wife of a Hickory police officer who has repaid $101.50 investigators say she took from the department's Explorer program.
The decision came after Gaither reviewed a police investigation that looked into allegations that withdrawals made with the Explorer credit card were improper, said Hickory Police Chief Floyd Lucas.
Gaither's office will not take criminal action because the adviser repaid $101.50 for the one withdrawal deemed "inappropriate" by investigators and resigned from the program, Lucas said.
Lucas said the investigation began in May, when Sgt. Bob Winters, who supervises the department's community service unit, was reviewing Explorer bank statements and noticed numerous cash withdrawals made with a credit card issued to the program.
Lucas said police investigators found that Celeste Crump, the program's volunteer adviser and wife of veteran officer Danny Crump, had made several withdrawals with the credit card. Police investigated whether 11 of them benefited the program.
Neither Celeste Crump nor Danny Crump returned repeated messages left for them at the police department.
Lucas said a $101.50 withdrawal from an automatic cash machine in Myrtle Beach was an "inappropriate action" because the card was used to withdraw money that was not used for the Explorer program.
Crump told investigators that the credit card issued for Explorer-related purchases looked similar to her personal card, and she used it by mistake, Lucas said.
Gaither said money withdrawn in the 11 transactions totaled about $500.
The 10 other transactions were not deemed inappropriate because investigators could not conclude that the cash withdrawals were not Explorer-related purchases, Lucas said.
Gaither said Crump also told investigators that she advanced her own money to the Explorers and made withdrawals with the program's credit card to reimburse her expenses.
Investigators also questioned Danny Crump, who advised the Explorer group with his wife. Crump said he did not know about the transactions, Lucas said, and passed a polygraph test about the missing funds.
The police department completed its internal investigation within 10 days, and the results of the investigation were passed on to Gaither's office, Lucas said.
On Sept. 21, the district attorney notified the police department that Celeste Crump would not be charged, Lucas said.
Gaither said his office would not take criminal action because Crump had repaid the funds, and the investigation showed the withdrawal was a mistake.
Lucas and Gaither said Crump did not receive preferential treatment because her husband is an officer. "This wasn't treated any different than any other government, city or private individual would have been treated," Gaither said.
Danny and Celeste Crump have resigned as advisers to the Explorer program, Lucas said, but Danny Crump remains with the Hickory police as a patrol officer.
Lucas said the Explorer program, which exposes teenagers to careers in law enforcement, is sponsored by the Hickory police but does not receive taxpayer money. The funds taken, he said, came primarily from dues paid by Explorer members.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
and may not be republished without permission.
10/26/06
No charges for man who said he aimed at squirrel, hit teen
Thursday, Oct. 26, 2006
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer
Staff Writer
Authorities will not press charges against a man who shot a teenager while trying to shoot a squirrel.
Casey Miller, 17, told authorities he was walking through Burke County woods Saturday with a friend when he heard the crack of a rifle. He said he heard another shot a second later and felt stinging in his right leg and buttocks, said Sgt. Alan Cobb of the Burke County Sheriff's Office.
Miller told officers he yelled, "I believe you shot me," and asked the shooter to stop firing, Cobb said.
Ted West, 58, of Valdese told authorities he was following squirrels through the scope of his .22-caliber rifle from a window in his nearby home and didn't see Miller, Cobb said.
West took Miller to Valdese Memorial Hospital, where he was treated and released Saturday evening, Cobb said.
The Sheriff's Office and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, which confiscated the rifle and investigated the shooting, decided the shooting was accidental and do not plan to press charges against West, Cobb said.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer
Staff Writer
Authorities will not press charges against a man who shot a teenager while trying to shoot a squirrel.
Casey Miller, 17, told authorities he was walking through Burke County woods Saturday with a friend when he heard the crack of a rifle. He said he heard another shot a second later and felt stinging in his right leg and buttocks, said Sgt. Alan Cobb of the Burke County Sheriff's Office.
Miller told officers he yelled, "I believe you shot me," and asked the shooter to stop firing, Cobb said.
Ted West, 58, of Valdese told authorities he was following squirrels through the scope of his .22-caliber rifle from a window in his nearby home and didn't see Miller, Cobb said.
West took Miller to Valdese Memorial Hospital, where he was treated and released Saturday evening, Cobb said.
The Sheriff's Office and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, which confiscated the rifle and investigated the shooting, decided the shooting was accidental and do not plan to press charges against West, Cobb said.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
10/25/06
Familiar lineup on ballot
INCUMBENT MCDEVITT, EPLEY FACE OFF AGAIN FOR BURKE SHERIFF
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
MORGANTON -- A two-term incumbent and a former sheriff are repeating Burke County election history. Again.
Democratic Sheriff John McDevitt and Republican Richard Epley are running against each other for the third time since McDevitt took the election, and the job, from then-incumbent Epley, in 1998.
Both candidates have said they want to focus on the issues this year and that they don't want a repeat of the last two races, where campaign spending and animosity reached all-time highs.
"Everyone says they want to keep it clean," McDevitt said. "What can be said that hasn't already been said?"
Said Epley: "It's been nasty, and it's been dirty, and I don't want to put my family through that."
In 1998, the candidates spent a combined $100,000 on campaigning - a Burke County record - and Epley lost the election with 49 percent of the vote to McDevitt's 51 percent.
Epley immediately announced his plans for a rematch in 2002, a race that cost the candidates about $200,000, doubling the price tag from the previous race. McDevitt defeated Epley with 53 percent of the vote.
This year, Epley said he's going to concentrate more on making contact with voters than raising money. So far, he's run a considerably less expensive campaign.
According to the most recent campaign finance reports, filed on June 27, Epley had raised $1,754.90 since Jan. 1. The report shows $1,115.97 in expenditures. Epley said he has raised about $10,000 more since then.
McDevitt, meanwhile, had raised $72,226.95 since Jan. 1, 2003 and had spent $53,467.71, according to a report submitted July 7.
*
What they're saying
Since losing the race in 1998, Epley has built a successful private police and security company in Morganton. The experience, he said, has allowed him to work with county residents on a grassroots level.
He wants to see more cooperation between other law enforcement agencies and the Sheriff's Office, better response time and more attention crimes such as drug dealing, larceny and breaking and entering.
Epley also said he plans to combat illegal immigration by securing grants that would provide officers the training to identify and detain illegal immigrants.
"Terrorists can get in here just like they can anywhere else," he said.
McDevitt said he's paying attention to all those things and encourages voters to look at his eight years in office.
"I stand on my record," he said. "It speaks for itself."
McDevitt, a 31-year law enforcement veteran, touts his officer-training program and effectiveness of officers in the Rutherford College and Hildebran satellite offices.
He lists accolades his office has won, including an award from the International Narcotics Enforcement Officer's Association for a federal drug investigation.
Collaboration between the Sheriff's Office and state and federal agencies was nonexistent when Epley left office, McDevitt said. Now, he said, the State Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms work out of the same building.
"It's the best it's ever been, without a doubt," McDevitt said.
Not true, said Epley. He said he had established good working relationships with state and federal agencies, including the Department of Social Services and the SBI, and said all agencies he worked with had an open invitation to use desk space within the Sheriff's Office.
"We had people from all over the country that we had been working with," he said. "I don't know where (McDevitt) got this idea that he has better federal working relationships that I did."
*
What others are saying
Voters are used to seeing McDevitt and Epley's names on the ballot, but Warren Daniel, chairman of the Burke County Republican Party, said he doesn't think all voters have already decided who they'll pick at the polls.
If Epley is successful in getting his message to voters, Daniel said, residents will see a man who is committed to law enforcement and the people in the county. "It's not about Richard Epley, it's about Burke County."
Arthur Davis of Morganton, a lifelong Democrat, said he'll support Epley if he wins but is impressed with McDevitt, particularly his commitment to fighting drug-related crime and his community involvement.
"You don't have to run around and make him do his job," he said. "He'll get up and go (to a crime scene) even if the middle of the night."
Richard Epley
Party: Republican
Age: 50 Birthplace: Burke County
Occupation: CEO of United Special Police and Security
Elected offices: Burke County sheriff, 1994-1998
Family: Wife, Sandra R. Epley; sons Nicholas and Dillion; daughter, Jessica
Education: Associate's degree in police science, Western Piedmont Community College, 1984; bachelor's degree in criminal justice, Gardner Webb University, 1986
Religious/civic involvement: Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church; Valdese Rotary Club; Marine Corps League; member of the Catawba Valley Masonic Lodge; former chairman of the Burke County Republican Party
Why running: To confront drug-related crime more aggressively, bring positive change to the sheriff's department and better response time within the county. The budget has increased but there has been no growth in the number of officers answering calls for service, and I'd like to see better service to Burke County residents.
What are the top issues facing the Burke County Sheriff's Office?
The top three issues facing the sheriff's office are immigration, methantheline and property crime.
John McDevitt
Party: Democrat
Age: 51 Birthplace: Blue Ridge, Ga.
Occupation: Burke County sheriff
Elected offices: Burke County sheriff, 1998-present
Family: Wife, Cathy Cooper McDevitt; sons Thomas and John; daughter, Caitlin
Education: Associate's degree in police science, Western Piedmont Community College, 1975
Religious/civic involvement: N.C. Sheriff's Association; National Sheriff's Association; National Drug Enforcement Committee; president of Blue Ridge Police Executives; Burke County Law Enforcement Retirees; Fraternal Order of Police; Smoky Mountain Police Executives; Burke County Homeland Security, board member of Burke County Criminal Justice Advisory Board; executive member of the Piedmont Council of Boy Scouts; board member of the Western Piedmont Community College Criminal Justice Advisory Board; member Oak Hill Methodist Church; Oak Hill Ruritan Club; Table Rock Shooters; Morganton Men's Club
Why running: To continue professional and credible law enforcement services to all the residents of Burke County. The sheriff should be the emissary of goodwill between all law enforcement agencies, and cooperation between the agencies in Burke County is at an all-time high. During the past eight years as sheriff, I have been able to acquire more than $2.7 million in federal grants, state grants and alternative funding, and I would like to continue these various programs.
What are the top issues facing the Burke County Sheriff's Office?
The top three issues facing the sheriff's office are salaries, manpower and vehicles.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
and may not be republished without permission.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
MORGANTON -- A two-term incumbent and a former sheriff are repeating Burke County election history. Again.
Democratic Sheriff John McDevitt and Republican Richard Epley are running against each other for the third time since McDevitt took the election, and the job, from then-incumbent Epley, in 1998.
Both candidates have said they want to focus on the issues this year and that they don't want a repeat of the last two races, where campaign spending and animosity reached all-time highs.
"Everyone says they want to keep it clean," McDevitt said. "What can be said that hasn't already been said?"
Said Epley: "It's been nasty, and it's been dirty, and I don't want to put my family through that."
In 1998, the candidates spent a combined $100,000 on campaigning - a Burke County record - and Epley lost the election with 49 percent of the vote to McDevitt's 51 percent.
Epley immediately announced his plans for a rematch in 2002, a race that cost the candidates about $200,000, doubling the price tag from the previous race. McDevitt defeated Epley with 53 percent of the vote.
This year, Epley said he's going to concentrate more on making contact with voters than raising money. So far, he's run a considerably less expensive campaign.
According to the most recent campaign finance reports, filed on June 27, Epley had raised $1,754.90 since Jan. 1. The report shows $1,115.97 in expenditures. Epley said he has raised about $10,000 more since then.
McDevitt, meanwhile, had raised $72,226.95 since Jan. 1, 2003 and had spent $53,467.71, according to a report submitted July 7.
*
What they're saying
Since losing the race in 1998, Epley has built a successful private police and security company in Morganton. The experience, he said, has allowed him to work with county residents on a grassroots level.
He wants to see more cooperation between other law enforcement agencies and the Sheriff's Office, better response time and more attention crimes such as drug dealing, larceny and breaking and entering.
Epley also said he plans to combat illegal immigration by securing grants that would provide officers the training to identify and detain illegal immigrants.
"Terrorists can get in here just like they can anywhere else," he said.
McDevitt said he's paying attention to all those things and encourages voters to look at his eight years in office.
"I stand on my record," he said. "It speaks for itself."
McDevitt, a 31-year law enforcement veteran, touts his officer-training program and effectiveness of officers in the Rutherford College and Hildebran satellite offices.
He lists accolades his office has won, including an award from the International Narcotics Enforcement Officer's Association for a federal drug investigation.
Collaboration between the Sheriff's Office and state and federal agencies was nonexistent when Epley left office, McDevitt said. Now, he said, the State Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms work out of the same building.
"It's the best it's ever been, without a doubt," McDevitt said.
Not true, said Epley. He said he had established good working relationships with state and federal agencies, including the Department of Social Services and the SBI, and said all agencies he worked with had an open invitation to use desk space within the Sheriff's Office.
"We had people from all over the country that we had been working with," he said. "I don't know where (McDevitt) got this idea that he has better federal working relationships that I did."
*
What others are saying
Voters are used to seeing McDevitt and Epley's names on the ballot, but Warren Daniel, chairman of the Burke County Republican Party, said he doesn't think all voters have already decided who they'll pick at the polls.
If Epley is successful in getting his message to voters, Daniel said, residents will see a man who is committed to law enforcement and the people in the county. "It's not about Richard Epley, it's about Burke County."
Arthur Davis of Morganton, a lifelong Democrat, said he'll support Epley if he wins but is impressed with McDevitt, particularly his commitment to fighting drug-related crime and his community involvement.
"You don't have to run around and make him do his job," he said. "He'll get up and go (to a crime scene) even if the middle of the night."
Richard Epley
Party: Republican
Age: 50 Birthplace: Burke County
Occupation: CEO of United Special Police and Security
Elected offices: Burke County sheriff, 1994-1998
Family: Wife, Sandra R. Epley; sons Nicholas and Dillion; daughter, Jessica
Education: Associate's degree in police science, Western Piedmont Community College, 1984; bachelor's degree in criminal justice, Gardner Webb University, 1986
Religious/civic involvement: Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church; Valdese Rotary Club; Marine Corps League; member of the Catawba Valley Masonic Lodge; former chairman of the Burke County Republican Party
Why running: To confront drug-related crime more aggressively, bring positive change to the sheriff's department and better response time within the county. The budget has increased but there has been no growth in the number of officers answering calls for service, and I'd like to see better service to Burke County residents.
What are the top issues facing the Burke County Sheriff's Office?
The top three issues facing the sheriff's office are immigration, methantheline and property crime.
John McDevitt
Party: Democrat
Age: 51 Birthplace: Blue Ridge, Ga.
Occupation: Burke County sheriff
Elected offices: Burke County sheriff, 1998-present
Family: Wife, Cathy Cooper McDevitt; sons Thomas and John; daughter, Caitlin
Education: Associate's degree in police science, Western Piedmont Community College, 1975
Religious/civic involvement: N.C. Sheriff's Association; National Sheriff's Association; National Drug Enforcement Committee; president of Blue Ridge Police Executives; Burke County Law Enforcement Retirees; Fraternal Order of Police; Smoky Mountain Police Executives; Burke County Homeland Security, board member of Burke County Criminal Justice Advisory Board; executive member of the Piedmont Council of Boy Scouts; board member of the Western Piedmont Community College Criminal Justice Advisory Board; member Oak Hill Methodist Church; Oak Hill Ruritan Club; Table Rock Shooters; Morganton Men's Club
Why running: To continue professional and credible law enforcement services to all the residents of Burke County. The sheriff should be the emissary of goodwill between all law enforcement agencies, and cooperation between the agencies in Burke County is at an all-time high. During the past eight years as sheriff, I have been able to acquire more than $2.7 million in federal grants, state grants and alternative funding, and I would like to continue these various programs.
What are the top issues facing the Burke County Sheriff's Office?
The top three issues facing the sheriff's office are salaries, manpower and vehicles.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
and may not be republished without permission.
School's security beefed up after antique gun is found
Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2006
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer
Staff Writer
Security at a Catawba County high school will be increased after the discovery Tuesday of an unloaded, antique pistol in an unassigned locker.
Officials at Bunker Hill High School received an anonymous tip Tuesday morning that a gun was being stored in a locker, said Maj. Coy Reid of the Catawba County Sheriff's Office.
Authorities monitored the locker from a nearby classroom for several hours, Reid said, but no student tried to open the locker.
The locker was not assigned when school started in August, he said.
Authorities do not have any suspects, Reid said.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer
Staff Writer
Security at a Catawba County high school will be increased after the discovery Tuesday of an unloaded, antique pistol in an unassigned locker.
Officials at Bunker Hill High School received an anonymous tip Tuesday morning that a gun was being stored in a locker, said Maj. Coy Reid of the Catawba County Sheriff's Office.
Authorities monitored the locker from a nearby classroom for several hours, Reid said, but no student tried to open the locker.
The locker was not assigned when school started in August, he said.
Authorities do not have any suspects, Reid said.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
10/24/06
Man who admitted killing woman gets more than 9 years
Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2006
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer
Staff Writer
A Caldwell County man who admitted killing his girlfriend two years ago will serve more than 9 years in prison.
A Superior Court judge in Lenoir on Monday sentenced Bryan Keith Hoyle, 35, to a minimum of 114 months, or more than nine years, and a maximum of 12 years, said Lt. Chris Brackett of the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office.
Hoyle admitted to the Sept. 24, 2004, slaying of 27-year-old Elizabeth Christina Runion and pleaded guilty to a second murder charge, Brackett said.
Runion disappeared in late September 2004. Her body was found wrapped in a blanket and partially covered by brush eight months later near Globe Road in northern Caldwell County, Brackett said.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer
Staff Writer
A Caldwell County man who admitted killing his girlfriend two years ago will serve more than 9 years in prison.
A Superior Court judge in Lenoir on Monday sentenced Bryan Keith Hoyle, 35, to a minimum of 114 months, or more than nine years, and a maximum of 12 years, said Lt. Chris Brackett of the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office.
Hoyle admitted to the Sept. 24, 2004, slaying of 27-year-old Elizabeth Christina Runion and pleaded guilty to a second murder charge, Brackett said.
Runion disappeared in late September 2004. Her body was found wrapped in a blanket and partially covered by brush eight months later near Globe Road in northern Caldwell County, Brackett said.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
10/20/06
The Dart: What would the walls say if they could talk?
HOME OF FORMER SLAVE STILL STANDS
Friday, October 20, 2006
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
STARTOWN -- The skeleton of a rusted mattress leans in the corner of the antiquated wood cabin. Upstairs, two dressers haphazardly stand in the middle of the master bedroom, the drawers strewn across the floor.
The tin roof, built with the house in the late 1800s and preserved to near perfection, has kept out the rain, the snow and summer's harsh sunlight for more than 100 years.
Now, it catches golden and orange leaves falling from the trees in this thickly wooded plot of land less than a mile off Joe Johnson Road in Catawba County, where The Dart hit last week.
But for more than 100 years, the roof - and the house it covers - have stood, witnessing the changes that have marked those years.
Jim Saine, a banker from Startown, started buying land in the neighborhood, including the cabin, because it was easily accessible to his wife's job in Newton and his job in Charlotte. He moved to a house across the street from the cabin 14 years ago.
"I've often wondered about the stories this house could tell," he said. He already knows many of the stories:
Former slave Octavia Shuford, who was born Octavia Powell in Catawba County 19 months after the Civil War erupted, bought the 18-acre property from J.E. Johnson in two separate purchases in 1905 and 1914, according the original deeds.
One portion of the property, about 10 acres, was sold to Octavia for $150, Saine said. The property markers, the deeds show, began "at a dead and down locust on the east bank of a branch" on one tract and at "a dead black oak" on the other.
Octavia's parents plucked cotton on nearby land, and even after the war had ended, she continued to pick the crops with her husband and their children for decades, said granddaughter-in-law Sarah Shuford of Hickory.
Octavia and her husband, Albert Shuford, were in their 20s when they began building their wooden home not long after they got married, Sarah Shuford said. They chopped trees from the woods and carried water from the nearby spring.
"How in the heck did they have the knowledge to build a house like that at their age?" she said.
As the Shuford family grew, they expanded the original two-room structure into a four-room cabin, which included the kitchen. Electricity came after the end of World War II, Saine said.
Sarah Shuford, 84, remembers "Mother Octave" cooking grand meals in the kitchen, many of which she would share with neighbors and friends.
After dinner, she said, the family would gather in the parlor and would dance as Gracie, one of Octavia's seven children, would play the pump organ.
"Some of them would be barefooted and would have to wash their feet before they'd go to bed because their feet got so dirty from dancing," she recalled.
As the children got older, they began to leave Catawba County for jobs elsewhere in the county, Shuford said. Some stayed nearby, but opted for more modern homes than the cabin.
So, when Octavia died on Nov. 20, 1946, she left behind a cabin full of her things and a lot of memories. Shuford and Saine said no one has lived in the house since then, but thick and tattered canvas curtains still hang from the kitchen windows. The carcasses of an old refrigerator, rusted tin cans and a metal stove stand nearby.
"I don't know what a Victor Junior is," Saine said of the pastel white and blue stove standing in the middle of the room, "but it looks like it's in pretty good shape."
Saine said he thinks it's incredible that the cabin is so well-preserved after more than 100 years of wear-and-tear and six decades of abandonment.
He walks around the cabin, pointing out the stone chimney climbing the side of the building. Saine found some extra pieces of rock, he said, and is saving the slabs in case he chooses to restore the cabin after he retires.
Shuford said she hopes he does. "I'd love to see it like it was one more time."
The Point of the Dart
The idea behind the Dart is simple: We're looking for the kind of news the media don't usually report. We throw a dart at a map of one of the counties in the Catawba Valley, and we'll write about what's happening at that spot. We hope this feature will bring out stories that too often are ignored and will help you meet some of your neighbors in the region.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
and may not be republished without permission.
Friday, October 20, 2006
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
STARTOWN -- The skeleton of a rusted mattress leans in the corner of the antiquated wood cabin. Upstairs, two dressers haphazardly stand in the middle of the master bedroom, the drawers strewn across the floor.
The tin roof, built with the house in the late 1800s and preserved to near perfection, has kept out the rain, the snow and summer's harsh sunlight for more than 100 years.
Now, it catches golden and orange leaves falling from the trees in this thickly wooded plot of land less than a mile off Joe Johnson Road in Catawba County, where The Dart hit last week.
But for more than 100 years, the roof - and the house it covers - have stood, witnessing the changes that have marked those years.
Jim Saine, a banker from Startown, started buying land in the neighborhood, including the cabin, because it was easily accessible to his wife's job in Newton and his job in Charlotte. He moved to a house across the street from the cabin 14 years ago.
"I've often wondered about the stories this house could tell," he said. He already knows many of the stories:
Former slave Octavia Shuford, who was born Octavia Powell in Catawba County 19 months after the Civil War erupted, bought the 18-acre property from J.E. Johnson in two separate purchases in 1905 and 1914, according the original deeds.
One portion of the property, about 10 acres, was sold to Octavia for $150, Saine said. The property markers, the deeds show, began "at a dead and down locust on the east bank of a branch" on one tract and at "a dead black oak" on the other.
Octavia's parents plucked cotton on nearby land, and even after the war had ended, she continued to pick the crops with her husband and their children for decades, said granddaughter-in-law Sarah Shuford of Hickory.
Octavia and her husband, Albert Shuford, were in their 20s when they began building their wooden home not long after they got married, Sarah Shuford said. They chopped trees from the woods and carried water from the nearby spring.
"How in the heck did they have the knowledge to build a house like that at their age?" she said.
As the Shuford family grew, they expanded the original two-room structure into a four-room cabin, which included the kitchen. Electricity came after the end of World War II, Saine said.
Sarah Shuford, 84, remembers "Mother Octave" cooking grand meals in the kitchen, many of which she would share with neighbors and friends.
After dinner, she said, the family would gather in the parlor and would dance as Gracie, one of Octavia's seven children, would play the pump organ.
"Some of them would be barefooted and would have to wash their feet before they'd go to bed because their feet got so dirty from dancing," she recalled.
As the children got older, they began to leave Catawba County for jobs elsewhere in the county, Shuford said. Some stayed nearby, but opted for more modern homes than the cabin.
So, when Octavia died on Nov. 20, 1946, she left behind a cabin full of her things and a lot of memories. Shuford and Saine said no one has lived in the house since then, but thick and tattered canvas curtains still hang from the kitchen windows. The carcasses of an old refrigerator, rusted tin cans and a metal stove stand nearby.
"I don't know what a Victor Junior is," Saine said of the pastel white and blue stove standing in the middle of the room, "but it looks like it's in pretty good shape."
Saine said he thinks it's incredible that the cabin is so well-preserved after more than 100 years of wear-and-tear and six decades of abandonment.
He walks around the cabin, pointing out the stone chimney climbing the side of the building. Saine found some extra pieces of rock, he said, and is saving the slabs in case he chooses to restore the cabin after he retires.
Shuford said she hopes he does. "I'd love to see it like it was one more time."
The Point of the Dart
The idea behind the Dart is simple: We're looking for the kind of news the media don't usually report. We throw a dart at a map of one of the counties in the Catawba Valley, and we'll write about what's happening at that spot. We hope this feature will bring out stories that too often are ignored and will help you meet some of your neighbors in the region.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
and may not be republished without permission.
Police say 85-year-old was killed after driving wrong way
Friday, Oct. 20, 2006
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer
Staff Writer
LENOIR A man was killed Wednesday after he drove his pickup truck into oncoming traffic in Lenoir, police said.
Richard Harris Graham, 85, of Lenoir turned out of the driveway from his Harper Avenue office shortly after 5 p.m. and into the path of a Ford Explorer, said Lenoir police officer David Ingle. Graham died before officers arrived, Ingle said.
The driver of the Explorer, 21-year-old Sheena Dean Nelson of Lenoir, was treated and released from Caldwell Memorial Hospital on Wednesday. Police are still investigating the wreck.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer
Staff Writer
LENOIR A man was killed Wednesday after he drove his pickup truck into oncoming traffic in Lenoir, police said.
Richard Harris Graham, 85, of Lenoir turned out of the driveway from his Harper Avenue office shortly after 5 p.m. and into the path of a Ford Explorer, said Lenoir police officer David Ingle. Graham died before officers arrived, Ingle said.
The driver of the Explorer, 21-year-old Sheena Dean Nelson of Lenoir, was treated and released from Caldwell Memorial Hospital on Wednesday. Police are still investigating the wreck.
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
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