50 Years

Herb and Edna Stott

The Early Years of Edna Louise Holder

On May 27, 1926, Percy Clarence Holder and Delilah Ann (Annie) Buchanan were married in Broadway, NC at the home of the Baptist pastor. Edna Louise Holder was born June 22, 1927, in Broadway, NC.

My Dad worked at the sawmill until he lost 2 fingers and a thumb on his left hand in an accident at the sawmill. He then went to a job at the Sanford Furniture Factory making furniture. He had two sisters, Gladys and Maggie, and four brothers, Tom, Harvil, Jim, and Frank. He dropped out of school after 6th or 7th grade to help support his family.

My Mother completed 11 years of school. A 12 grade was added much later. She had 3 sisters, Mamie, Ethel, Lela and 2 brothers, Ralph and Alvin.

We lived in a rented house and when the Stock Market Crashed in 1929, the furniture factory closed, since new furniture was not a top priority during the Depression. With no income to pay the rent, my Dad moved us to my Cousin Ida’s house for a short time.

He was soon given an opportunity to purchase a small grocery store with one gas pump (Texaco) and a room at the back of the store. There was also a house next door to be rented out. Mr. McBride, the owner, wanted to move back to Lakeview, NC.

With no more than a handshake agreement, Dad would pay off the $600 in small payments. I can remember trips to Lakeview to take money until it was all paid.

The three of us lived in the one room, with a bed, table, oil cook stove, pie safe (for storage) and very little else. My Mother had a sewing machine in front of the door so that she could see customers come in. She made all of our clothes and most of the material came from the 100 lb sugar sacks and flour sacks from the store. Sugar and flour was weighed and sold by the pound, or ½ pound, as the customer requested. The sacks were washed and boiled in a wash pot outdoors (we still have that pot on our deck in which we grow flowers) to get the lettering out and to make them white. Bleach was unheard of.

While my Mother looked after the store, Daddy picked up an old truck cheaply and with a helper (Bryant Marks, who wife’s name was Rhoda who did our laundry while Mom had to look after the store) went out in the woods to cut trees and haul logs for extra income. It was heavy physical work that may have contributed to his early death at age 62, on August 11, 1963.

In the late 30’s Dad added an addition to the back and side of the building so that we had better living quarters. Being an only child, I led a very sheltered life. They were very protective that I would not get into trouble. Often times it was lonely. I loved books and read everything I could find, I still do! Also growing up in the store, I learned letters and numbers from the products and could read at an early age.

My Grandmother Holder was a large woman and Grandmother Buchanan was a small person, so, as a child, I called them “Big Grandmother” and “Little Grandmother”.

Little Grandmother’s birthday was July 12 and each year, until her death, all the family gathered to celebrate. Each family brought food and I well remember all the good food. Since my parents lived in the store, my Mother always took banana sandwiches. There was always sliced bread and a stalk of bananas in the store. The other families lived on farms and brought meats, vegetables, etc. but the banana sandwiches disappeared very quickly. I remember my Aunt Lela’s coconut pies. They were wonderful.

After graduating from High School in June, 1945, I entered Hardbargers Business School in Raleigh in September 1945 and graduated in August, 1946.

I began work immediately with J. B. Hunt and Sons, a construction equipment dealer, as bookkeeper. I had a wonderful boss, Mr. George W. Bunker, a Yankee from Boston, who had been in Raleigh a “lifetime”, but still had a Boston accent and was a delight to work for. I couldn’t have had a better beginning job experience. Co-workers became dear friends, so much so, that the three ladies were attendants in our wedding- Ernestine Brafford, Evelyn Stanley and Mary Frances Dillard.

Ernestine was instrumental in Dad & I meeting on a blind date that she had arranged and as the expression goes, “The rest is History”. I will always thank her for the most wonderful friend and lifetime companion, the very best Husband and Father in the World!