This time of year it’s not uncommon to have late afternoon thunderstorms. Thankfully, these storms usually blow themselves out as quickly as they spring up. When I was a small child though, these storms terrified me.
During the time I’m referring to, we lived with my great grandparents for several years out in the country between the towns of Richfield and Gold Hill. There were no streetlights. No neighbors houses visible from our windows. There were only trees in every direction until you got a quarter of a mile up the driveway. When these storms hit they usually happened at night so you couldn’t tell what was going on outside. It was black as pitch unless lightning briefly lit up the yard. The roof of my grand grandparents house was tin and it would make horrific noises when the storm picked up. At 4 years old my imagination ran wild and in my mind’s eye I could see the wind peeling it off like a can lid and sucking us out into the air.
A storm this week that produced hail, damaging winds, a heavy downpour, and possibly a weak tornado.
During these storms my great grandmother adhered to certain rules. While the storm was raging outside, the TV was turned off and everyone was gathered in the living room. There was no raucous behavior or raised voices. Most of the time during these storms my great grandmother would just sit in her chair and read from her old bible until it passed. She was never scared, she was never alarmed. Once the storm had passed, we would evacuate the room and get back to whatever we were doing. Watching tv, eating dinner, playing with toys.
I never really thought much about that practice and had almost forgotten it until a storm this week blew through and I got trapped under an overpass waiting on the hail to stop. As I was sitting there watching the marbles fall from the heavens and bounce off the road, my mind decided to take me back to those years.
I don’t know why my great grandmother did what she did. I don’t know the belief behind it because I never thought to ask. I also have never heard of anyone else’s family observing this “thunderstorm etiquette” either.
My great grandmother was a Christian woman who had been raised in a “Missionary Baptist” home with parents who discouraged things like playing cards and reading comics in the newspapers, regarding them as unprofitable or downright sinful. I can only assume that my great grandmother’s practice of being quiet and still during storm must have come from them as well. Maybe as a display of reverence or respect to the one who “rides upon” the weather. Like Job laying his hand over his mouth when the Lord spoke to him from the storm. Perhaps it was practical as well though. My great grandmother was born during the depression and spent her early years probably close to poverty with her parents and her numerous brothers and sisters in rural Rowan county. Back then there was no weather radio, no cell phone alerts for tornados. Probably not even a fire house siren the town where they lived could crank. Turning off appliances or unplugging them could be to spare them destruction if lightning were to “run in”. During a dangerous storm, gathering together the family in one place would have been a sure way to know everyone was safe and accounted for. Being quiet during a storm would be a good way to listen and be attentive to what was going on outside. They didn’t have a TV or radio when she was a child, but probably later in life when they did, they would turn them off just like my great grandmother did when I was a “youngin” at her house.
There are many things I wish I had asked my great grandmother before she passed on, but when you’re a kid you just don’t think to. It’s only later you realize the opportunities you missed.
I did some internet sleuthing to see if anyone else’s family ever acted like this and didn’t find much, but it seems the even though the practice isn’t very notable, it wasn’t confined to one skin color or state.
It might not look like much today, but the history of this little Iredell county church goes back over 200 years. It is also unfortunately somewhat murky.
As best I can discover, the earliest use of this land tied to what it would become was in the late 1790’s when Methodist evangelists began a series of protracted camp meetings in the area. These seemed to grow in fervor and attendance and even became host to Francis Asbury, a famous Methodist bishop and prominent figure in the “Second Great Awakening”. One of the remaining proofs of these meetings is a letter that Asbury received from another evangelist in August of 1802 informing him of the “great and glorious work” taking place.
“At a quarterly-meeting held in Iredell County, which began the thirtieth of July, and continued four days, the power of the Lord began on Friday about sunset, under an exhortation, and continued till Monday twelve o’clock without intermission. The groans of the distressed went up on Friday night from all parts of the camp, and increased till ten o’clock the next day, when many found the Lord precious in the pardon of their sins. “On Saturday afternoon, while Brother Douthet was at prayer, the mighty power of the Lord came down; many hard-hearted sinners fell to the ground and cried to the Lord for mercy as from the belly of hell. The slain of the Lord were many, and numbers that fell rose again with the new song. The next morning was an awful time–some shouting praise to the Lord, others screaming for mercy, and the whole congregation seemed thunder-struck.“
Moss died in 1826 and was buried in the church yard.
During those years, people stayed in tents and it’s likely a brush arbor was erected on the property, as was the custom of many meetings in the area that later became churches. When the meeting became a “church” is up for debate. One source I have found claims Asbury organized the church himself in 1800. A flag inside the church lists 1799. A third option relates to the arrival of a reverend originally from West Virginia named William Moss. Moss had been a circuit rider from 1788 until 1799. Arriving with his family in about 1802, he purchases a large tract of land from a John Huey near the meeting space and eventually the camp meeting tract as well from another man named William McKarahan, setting aside an acre “…for the use of the Methodist Episcopal Society…”. Moss is probably the first established minister of the congregation and it’s for him the building would be named, called first “Moss’ Meeting House” and eventually just “Moss Chapel”.
The church’s roll was never as large as the crowds which attended the camp meetings. The area where the building was erected has never been heavily populated, and many people came from parts further off to see and experience the revivals. But, the church continued on. Today however, it is not a standard church, but is used for special occasions and intermittent revivals and services with preaching every third Sunday of the month. The graveyard is also still in use.
One other interesting fact is that the Iredell County Heritage books mention that in 1852 the predominantly white church lists three free black members. Jane Graham, who was a free widow, Margaret A Lock who was free and single, and another woman named Allis Morris.
Here Be Interred the remains of The Rev. William Moss, Elder in the M. E. Church; For his uncommon piety and meekness, for the benevolence of his temper, and the simplicity of his manners, He was deservedly beloved & esteemed, an excellent Preacher; But whose best Sermon was the constant example of an edifying life. After preaching the Gospel 38 years he finished his course and life together in the 61st year of his age, 11th October 1826.
I’ve seen this building several times over the past several years driving around but it always looked well kept and tended so I didn’t think of it as abandoned. Unfortunately, water damage has recently started to split the front of the house and caved in a portion of roof. I thought now might be the last chance to see it before it completely collapses.
Over the years, I’ve developed a knack for looking at a property and realizing that there’s more to it than might be readily evident to your average rubbernecker. Recently, on a trip down some back roads in Yadkin county a chance glance at a piece of land turned up something amazing.
Seen from the farm field behind the cemetery.
I knew from the way the clump of trees was divided from the farm field on three sides that it had not been plowed like the rest of the property for a reason. I assumed maybe there was a tobacco barn or some sort of shed there in the past, maybe even a house. But my wife was quick to point out that as we blew by she was able to see there were some tombstones sticking up out of the brush. Even though I was wearing shorts, I knew I had to at least get some kind of idea the extent of what my wife had identified. I learned very quickly that there was a curtain of thorns protecting the whole cemetery. And I suffered dearly pushing through them to be able to read one stone.
This stone gave me the details I needed to find out whether these were documented burials or if this was that rarest and choicest of all burying grounds for explorers and local history junkies: one that there was no written record of. With a name, a birth date, and a death date in hand, I started looking. Nothing on Find A Grave. Nothing on the county cemetery survey I did find 2 brief mentions of possible cemeteries that would match this one in an old list of county cemeteries. However, there was no mention of number of burials, names, or even the location of those cemeteries. This, for all intents and purposes was a “lost” cemetery. And I had to explore it.
The “front” of the cemetery bordering the road.Representative of the thorn problem.
But there was one major problem. The thorns. In order to get in deep enough to see how many graves there might be and to get close enough to read any details that might be left on them, a lot of work was going to have to be done. In North Carolina there are actually some interesting laws on the books in regard to accessing old burials for research and the like, but the best way to go about this kind of thing is always just to ask directly. Luckily, the county GIS had the relevant information and I already had an email out to the property owner that night.
I was overjoyed when I got a reply back with permission to clean up the property. I knew I would be in for at least a full morning of knocking down thorns from trees and pruning them down to the ground. But, I worked quicker than I thought I could and it really amounted to about 4 hours of hard labor and sweat in order to at least create enough pathways to access all the graves and possible burials I could see.
Looking better.
With enough space to explore I decided the next thing I wanted to do was create a rough map of every burial I could find and document any information left on the stones. This was something I had never done before, and with no other tools available to me but a small tape measure and a 100 foot surveyors tape I had to devise a way to get a relatively usable picture of the graveyard. What I decided to do was use graph paper as a way to keep my measurements somewhat uniform and measure off each line of stones and burials individually from grave to grave. After measuring from one stone to the next I would stop to make notes about the disposition of the stone and any information on it. This took about another 2 hours. What I ended up with is far from professional but serves it’s purpose. It allowed me to catalogue and count the number of burials, tie those burials to dates and names, and get an idea how the cemetery progressed as time went on.
Most of the burials here that can be identified are Johnsons with a small number of Pattersons and a single young man with the surname Ladd. The Pattersons represent some of the earliest burials that can be identified, with John Patterson and his wife Edith being laid to rest in the mid-1800’s. John’s family was already a well established American one by the time they arrived in North Carolina. I’m unsure of when that would have been, but it was likely the mid to late 1700’s, as John and his siblings were born in Bladen county after 1740. Their father would have come from Maryland where three generations of his family had lived before his sons branched out into NC. They were in America at least as early as 1672, and possibly earlier. They may have also been called Pattison.
Ashley Johnson’s grave marker.
I haven’t found the exact point of contact, but there has to be some blood tie, likely via marriage that brings the Pattersons and Johnsons together in what it is now Yadkin county. The oldest identifiable grave is a Johnson, an Elizabeth Johnson who died in 1846. I unfortunately have found almost nothing about her in records, and wouldn’t know who her husband was if it weren’t on her stone. Her husband Ashley is almost as much a mystery. Due to the naming conventions of the day, the amount of “Ashley Johnsons” in the area is not a small number, and the older census records have less information on them which means that any attempt to track him or his family further back involves a lot of guessing and inferring.
But my favorite stone, and the one which has caused me the most confusion is not even nearly the oldest. That stone is half sunk in the ground, but the most ornate in the cemetery. It belongs to someone named “Leuah Johnson”. Leuah is hard to track through local history and genealogy. Her name is unique enough that it ought to be easy to find in records, but what happens is just the opposite- people collecting census data spelled names phonetically or sometimes just completely wrong. If her husband’s name hadn’t been included on her stone I might not have found her at all, but the wife of John G. Johnson was actually named Verlinda Louisa Messick Johnson, and it makes sense how people might call her Leuah, but still strange it was included on her tombstone.
Also of note are at least 4 of the children of Andrew Johnson and his wife Lydia Jane Ray All who died before their first birthday. The Johnsons lived in the area around the turn of the century but eventually moved to Mount Airy where Andrew worked as a book keeper. He died there of in 1918 due to what would be later called the Spanish Influenza. He was 56 at the time. His wife Lydia made it to 90 years old before her death in 1960.
Thomas Patterson is another notable burial. He was born 1803 to John and Edith Patterson who are also buried here. He married a woman named Jane who died when Thomas was 50. At the time of her death there was another woman named Rebecca Ladd who was living in the household with her children. Possibly as a servant, possibly for other reasons unknown. At whatever rate, Thomas ends up marrying her 2 years later. Around that time Thomas is also caring for his “lunatic” uncle Isaac Patterson, who may very well be buried here as well. Thomas died in 1885 at the home of his step-grand daughter Mary Reece, who would have been Jane’s daughter from her previous marriage.
Biblical Recorder, November 4th, 1885.
Record & Landmark October 16th, 1885
I haven’t found a good way to display what I have collected on this cemetery so I’m simply going to post it as is. I have attempted to contact the county’s historical society to see if they have any more information about this cemetery and to offer them what I have, but have never received a reply. Below the survey map I will include information and a picture of each burial. I had hoped to clean up my results but the original survey was in April, 2023 and as I’m writing this up in June the cemetery has already grown up so much as to be inaccessible again.
My crude survey of the cemetery. Each grid square represents roughly 1 ft. Burials were measure right to left so may not be completely accurate if measure from one diagonal line of burials to one below or beneath it.
Possibly a fieldstone. (Seen at right of #1)
Infant Daughter of A + LJ Johnson, Born March 12th, 1902 Died March 13th, 1902 1A. Possible footstone.
Sarah A Daughter of A + LJ Johnson Born May 16th 1901, Died May 17th 1901 2A. Footstone.
Infant son of A + LJ Johnson Died August 5th, 1900 3A. Footstone.
Burial Depression Very likely another child of A + L.J. Johnson, who lost 5 children by the time of the 1910 census. 4A. Possible footstone.
Blanche daughter of A + LJ Johnson Born May 2nd 1890 Died October 24th 1890
Jacob D Johnson Born May 13th, 1835 Died July 10th 1871 6A. Footstone marked J.D.J.
Small unmarked fieldstone.
Lucinda Johnson Born October 27th, 1810 Died May 25th, 1890 Stone broken off of pedestal. 8A Footstone marked L.J.
Hutchins Johnson Born May 13th, 1808 Died April 28th, 1867 9A Footstone marked H.J.
Fieldstone. 10A. Small fieldstone. 10B Small grave depression.
Elizabeth, wife of Ashley Johnson. Died May 7 1846. Aged 57 years, 9months, 4 days. 11B. Unmarked footstone.
A.J. Johnson Died 1868. Aged 88 years, 2 months, 24 days.
Fieldstone.
Fieldstone.
Fieldstone.
Fieldstone. 16B. Large toppled fieldstone with roots growing over it.
Thin jagged fieldstone with small stump in front of it.
Large weathered and fallen stone undermined by animal, partially buried, broken. Two divided inscriptions on it. Daughter Born ? 26 1850 James a son born June 22 1841?
Ring of flat stones in ground, possibly marking a grave or a portion of an old wall/divider.
Fieldstone.
Fieldstone.
Fieldstone with grave depression. 22A. Footstone.
Fieldstone.
Fieldstone.
Fieldstone with grave depression in front.
Fieldstone.
Miles Ladd Born December 22nd, 1842 Died September 25th, 1861 27A. Footstone marked M. L.
Edith, wife of John Patterson. Died May 20th, 1848. Aged 78 years, 8 months, 9 days. 28A. Footstone.
John Patterson Died April 1st, 1850. Aged 77 years. 29A Likely footstone.
Fieldstone with grave depression. 30A Possible foostone.
Fieldstone.
Fieldstone.
Weathered tombstone, no details visible.
Leuah, wife of Jno G. Johnson. “GONE TO REST”. Stone partially sunk under root, other details obscured.
Small stone enclosure with fieldstone marker.
Small stone enclosure.
Unmarked cut stone.
Fieldstone.
Fieldstone with small grave depression.
Shaped stone, weathered and illegible.
Fieldstone.
Fieldstone possibly reads “J.G. Johnson” 42A. Possible footstone.
Badly weathered cut stone. “Jane……on…….1864”
Small square stone.
Thomas Patterson Born May 24th, 1803 Died October 2nd, 1885. “Among the dead, lies at rest, An honest man who now is blest” Large depression in front of stone.
Jane, wife of Thos Patterson Died March 30th, 1853. Aged 54 years, 9 months, 28 days.
Rebecca Patterson wife of Thomas Patterson Born September 25th, 1805 Died December 27th, 1877
F? W.P. Most likely a “Patterson”. 18?9. Possibly “1859”. Can’t make heads or tails of this one. It almost looks like “1959” which makes little sense. Poorly marked and weathered stone. 48A. Likely footstone.
Fieldstone.
Fieldstone.
and 51A. Two small fieldstones close together with small depression in front of them.
I haven’t been able to find a full history, but one can assume like many local churches St Matthew’s started as a revival or brush arbor meeting. By 1839, forty three people in total are requesting from the North Carolina Lutheran Synod someone “to break unto them the bread of eternal truth, to baptize their children, and instruct their youth.” By the next year the church is part of the synod. I’m not sure what the original building may have looked like but it was probably more modest than this one, which was likely built to replace the original in the late 1800’s.
The building in 1985 (Digital Davie)The church in 2023.
I have heard by word of mouth though have been unable to confirm that the church may have close in the late to mid 1950’s. Finding written records has been a chore due to the fact that there is another “Saint Matthew’s Lutheran” in the next county. That church is still in operation. Today it’s not used very often, though I believe the Synod still somewhat maintains the property. The first burial in the cemetery I could find was 1843. Burials continue on the property with one even taking place this year.
It’s been difficult finding much information about this little church in print. In fact the only reason I know when it was built is the cornerstone has an inscription with the date September, 1907. It may have also served a dual role as a colored school in the 1920’s/1930’s. The land was originally granted to David Anderson, Franklin Edwards, and Henry Jones of the African AME Zion Church of Davie County in February of 1901. It’s assumed it took the intervening years to raise money and formalize plans for the building. The grantor was a William Leach of Buncombe county. Leach lived with his wife Della (Steel) on Jefferson St in Asehville and was a railroad brakeman. He was also likely from Davie County originally and the land was a family tract, as an adjoining property was also owned by a Mary Leach.
I don’t know when it closed, but it was at least being used for things such as family reunions in the 1970’s. A mention of the pastor being a “Sonny Turner” appears in a newspaper in 1979 in regards to preaching at a revival in Charlotte.
People are also occasionally still buried on the property with the most recent being in 2017. Unfortunately, the graveyard is not well cared for and there are many unmarked, unknown, and possibly lost stones.
Agnes Gaither, the last burial from 2017.The church in March of 2023.
To err is human, to forgive divine, but I would have had trouble with this one.
I came across Charlie Tulbert’s marker today recording some stones for Find A Grave.
I can only imagine the family gathering to mourn the passing of a loved one and realizing that the mason botched his name. I don’t know, maybe they took it in stride and it provided a little levity on a difficult day. Maybe (hopefully) they got a discount for the stone.
The phonetic spelling of names has caused a lot of problems for people doing genealogy and other kinds of historical research, especially in old census documents where people were being asked their name and some couldn’t spell it themselves. As an example, Charlie Tulbert’s parents are listed as “Tolbert” in records. So maybe the mason who inscribed this stone can be forgiven.
But was Charlie’s name Talbert, Tulbert, or Tolbert?
I stumbled upon this old Elk’s Lodge in Wilkesboro in March of 2023. I had hoped to go back for more pictures, but by June it had already been demolished.
This building was the original meeting place of lodge #1846 of Wilkesboro, NC. It was vacated in 2016 and sold to a developer in 2020 for $200,000 The lodge currently meets at a smaller building on Cherry Street in town. The house-like structure in the first picture was originally just that. The home of P.W. Eschelman. He built it for his family in 1923. The Elks took ownership in 1955 and eventually expanded the structure to meet their needs. The large facility hosted a number of amenities, including a 75 seat bar downstairs, a lounge upstairs, and seating for up to 275 diners. Lunch and Dinner were readily available in it’s heyday, with buffets quite often.
The lesson here is when you see something, see as much of it as you can, because tomorrow is uncertain.
Sometimes, the old buildings survive and prosper. This is one example from Union Grove, NC.
The Union Grove General Store in 2023And the same store, likely taken in the mid to late 1950’s. (via Iredell County Library)
This little building was once part of the Union Grove school but was moved across highway 901 when the new school building was built and turned into a small family grocery/gas station by Zeb and Betty Speece. It sat empty for a number of years but was purchased in 2009 by Josj Cockerham as part of a mulch and landscaping business and was eventually opened as the Union Grove General Store.
Many of our old buildings don’t survive but for this one, so far the passing of time has been kind to it.
Windsor’s Crossroads is a community in the southwest corner of Yadkin county, NC and you’ll be forgiven if you haven’t heard if it. It’s a small, rural area centered on the meeting of Buck Shoals Road, Hunting Creek Church Road, and Windsor Road. It doesn’t have a Wikipedia entry or any sort of written history as far as I can tell, but has a rich past that includes some of the oldest churches and graves in the county. It was also an eyewitness to Stoneman’s Raid, and he burned down the local mill at Buck Shoals in April 1865. More recently, it has become known for it’s blossoming Amish community, who began settling in the area in 1985 and eventually built a general store called Shiloh in 2006. Today, that store and the other Amish businesses bring in tourists and revenue from all over the state and even from out of state.
But we need to go back before that, to an unknown time, in an unknown year, though prior at least to 1936. A year in which a number of families in the area decided to start a chapter of a social organization called the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, or simply the “National Grange.” Most people reading this will never have heard of it, but the National Grange was a big deal in it’s day. Founded just after the Civil War as an agricultural advocacy group, it’s purpose was to encourage local families to see to the well-being and improvement of their local communities. Sometimes this meant dabbling in politics as well, and the organization had considerable lobbying power in it’s heyday. In modern times, the decline in farming nationally has meant a decline in Grange membership, and it’s a shadow of what it used to be. Indeed, there is no Grange at Windsor today, though its spirit of community service is now carried on by the local Ruritans. But in 1957, the Grange at Windsor’s Crossroads was formidable and active.
I’d be remiss to talk about the Grange without also talking about the place they met. Originally a two story school building constructed in 1916, the school had been a victim of consolidation in the county during the mid 1930s and was closed, though the school board had retained ownership of it. Post-closing, the Grange rented it as space for meetings but the building was mostly empty and deteriorated during those decades.
The building in the 1950’s.
But things changed in 1955 when the Grange managed to purchase the property. The transaction required a legislative act by the NC General Assembly and approval from the county school board, but the deal was eventually done. The local Grange set out to renew the old building, and they even won a national award for their work in the process. By 1957-58, when most of today’s story takes place, the building was being used twice monthly for Grange meetings plus picnics, classes, and other community functions.
Today, the building is a lasting monument to the work of those who were members of the Grange, and many descendants of the original members are now continuing that work as part of the Ruritans.
The building in February, 2023. Author’s photo.
It was likely in this building during one of the bimonthly meetings that someone must have brought up the problem of the lack of medical care in the community. The residents of the area had no options for healthcare locally and were likely forced to drive all the way to Yadkinville or farther to see a doctor. Talk of securing a local physician went on for several years, but it wasn’t until the meeting of January 7th, 1957 that serious discussion began and it was decided that night to attempt to recruit a doctor for the local area (if possible) within just six short months. A committee was formed.
The meeting following that, a member from the Boonville Grange was brought in to talk about what that small community 20 miles north had to do over the course of two years to secure their own doctor, and it seemed what it boiled down to was providing a medical building. That posed a problem for Windsor’s Crossroads. The money to construct such a building wasn’t available, and the ability to get the money was dependent on having the promise of a doctor to fill the space they were going to construct. Because of this, it was decided to write to the North Carolina Medical Care Commission, likely to ask for a tax-exempt revenue bond to pay for a new medical building. But while they were waiting and growing anxious to hear from the NCMCC, something happened.
Irvin George Scherer was born in Kansas City, Kansas in 1929 the son of George and Dovie Scherer. Raised in what must have been a deeply religious family, Irvin felt the call to missionary work, but due to medical problems was never able to follow that path. Instead, he decided to take up medicine, earning his degree from the University of Kansas.
In 1954, with a degree in hand, and through unknown circumstances, he met and married his wife Lois Anita Varner, who was a resident of Asheville, NC. He quickly put his degree to use as he joined the Navy that same year and would serve his country as a Naval doctor from 1954 until 1957. And it’s in 1957 during the last weekend in February that Dr. Scherer knocked on the door of a Grange member in the community of Windsor’s Crossroads.
Scherer during his college years.
Scherer had been stationed in Charleston, SC but was to be discharged June of that year. On his weekends he and his wife would make the drive to the Asheville area and look for places nearby where he might take up a practice of his own once his hitch was over. It was during one of these weekend excursions to Yadkinville that Scherer had asked another doctor he met in Knight’s Drug Store about possible opportunities. The unknown doctor had pointed him to Windsor’s Crossroads and so he came to the small community to see what was needed and if there might be a place for him.
The excitement must have been palpable, as the other members of the Grange were called to come meet Dr. Scherer, and they eventually paraded him through the community. For his part, Dr. Scherer and his wife even looked at a promising house they might take if he were to move to the area. There are moments in life where things seem to fall into place, and providences which tell us our path is correct, and this must have been the case for all parties involved on that day in 1957.
The Scherers in 1957
But there was still the problem of a medical building. This was discussed that first day, but despite the difficulties, in the end all parties decided to proceed in the good faith that any obstacles could be overcome. A week later on March 1st when Dr. Scherer returned with his credentials, and to quote the Grange account, he “not only cast his lot with us as a physician, but also as a spiritual and civic minded citizen, determined to join hands with all of us…” And so, Windsor’s Crossroads now had a doctor, if not a doctor’s office. But on that very night plans were already being formalized for a building. A modern building with room for reception, nurses, doctor’s offices, examination rooms, a lab and drug storage, and even two restrooms. But how would this all be accomplished by July and ready for Dr. Scherer after he was discharged from the Navy? The money simply wasn’t available. It was estimated at least $10,000 (a little more than $100,000 in today’s money) would be needed for the lot and the building. For several days afterward the pace must have been feverish as the people of Windsor’s Crossroads explored their options.
Lois Varner, 1957.
Enter George Hoots. Hoots was a former member of the Grange at Windsor’s Crossroads who now lived in Statesville, and he had two things the community needed. First was the small lot next to the community building, which Hoots owned, and the second was his ability as a general contractor. Hoots was not only a home builder and contractor, but co-owner and vice president of Statesville Wood Products, which would probably have been in the same general area the Godfrey Chip Mill is today, and specialized in treated lumber. He was a well known home builder and had the ability and capital the Grange needed. Probably only a week after Dr. Scherer left, the Grange members made a car trip down to Statesville to see Hoots. Hoots agreed to help in some capacity, and Dr. Scherer was telephoned from Hoots’ office to set up another meeting. On April 6th, both Scherer and Hoots would be present at the Grange, and a deal was struck. Hoots proposed that if the community could acquire the first $3,000, he would finance the rest and Scherer could pay it off in installments. This seemed like a reasonable and advantageous agreement, but even so, Windsor’s Crossroads did not have $3,000. In the end the problem was solved, as they always were, as a community. With 33 cosigners, plus Dr. Scherer, Windsor’s Crossroads took out a bank note. This happened on April 21st. On April 22nd, construction started.
The first shovel full of dirt is removed for construction. Likely by J.S Thomasson.
The foundation laid, Tennessee Crabapple stone is used on the front façade.
The 25 x 46 foot building was not the rival of any local hospitals or clinics, but it was to have everything Dr. Scherer and the community might need. And even reading about it these 66 years later, you can feel the excitement that must have been present as the work was progressing. And the work didn’t take long. It was that rarest of construction projects that seemed to go just as planned.
Dr. Scherer with his first nurse, Dorothy (Wood) Wagoner.
Dr. Scherer was discharged from the United States Navy on June 26th, 1957. On June 27th, he was moving his wife and son into a house provided by a Grange member. By July 1st, the keys to the new building had been delivered into his hands. On July 8th, he opened his practice at Windsor’s Crossroads. The small community in southwest Yadkin county now had its own doctor. The plan to find and situate a physician in less than a year would have seemed like a pipe dream had it not actually happened.
Miss Betty Myers, 4-H pie baking champ, and Ray Madison, Grange improvement project chairman stand in front of the new medical building.The building as it appears today, as seen from the front of the community building. It is now a private residence. (author’s photo, February, 2023)A Google Street View image from the front of the building. Though it has been remodeled and is now a private home, the stone chosen for the front is still visible. The upstairs and barn roof are a modern addition to the original structure.
Dr. Scherer would remain in the clinic building for almost 20 years, serving the local community he had pledged himself to. His presence was no doubt a welcome one, and I’m sure that everyone remembered the seeming whirlwind that had blown up around his coming and the construction of the clinic.
Dr. Scherer and Dr. Ward.
Dot Wagoner followed Dr. Scherer to the new location and became it’s office manager.
By the 1970’s, things had changed. People were more mobile, were driving more. The population of the surrounding area had grown. In addition to adding another physician named James S. Ward (also a Navy man) to the clinic at the Crossroads in 1975, Dr. Scherer was also spending at least some time at Hoots Memorial Hospital in Yadkinville. The number of patients was growing and the original building was likely not capable of keeping up. So in 1976 with donations and the blessings of the surrounding towns of Harmony and Union Grove, a new clinic was to be built that could provide care for the rural residents, not just of Windsor’s Crossroads, but of a tri-county area that lacked medical access. To that end, in addition to a $175,000 loan from the Farmer’s Home Administration, residents in three counties raised another $17,000 to see the new medical clinic built.
Groundbreaking for the new medical park.
At the end of April, 1976, the Tri-County Medical Park opened on highway 901 between Union Grove and Harmony, a little over 7 miles down the road from the old building at Windsor’s Crossroads. Dr. Scherer continued to see the same patients he had as well as many new ones from the surrounding communities.
Dr. Scherer’s former office at the Tri-County Medical Park, and the park’s sign above. February, 2023. Author’s photos.
Dr. Scherer retired in 2009 and would pass away in 2014 after a life of service, most of it to the people of this area. Besides birthing babies and treating colds, he was remembered for teaching bible school lessons at church and at rest homes. He also served for a while as the county medical examiner.
The practice at Tri-County Medical Park would eventually close after his retirement. The building remains, but today it is empty. Another building in the park is still home to a dentist’s office.
First and foremost, this story was told to me by the members of the Grange at Windsor’s Crossroads. Many of the pictures are also theirs. They put together two complete scrapbooks of their accomplishments for 1957, which are not just limited to their efforts to secure a physician. There are many interesting photos and articles they saved that tell the story of the Windsor’s Crossroads community. Most of what you have read in this article is from that account, and if you would like to know more, I highly suggest you check out the complete books.
