EARLY HISTORY OF MAIDEN, NORTH CAROLINA

As Remembered

Mr. John F. Carpenter

Jan. 12, 1894 *** Aug. 30, 1979

Maiden as a town started about 1800, but before that, there is a lot of history, especially concerning manufacturing industries in this neighborhood, that needs to be covered.

In 1797, John Fulenwider established an iron forge, or iron works, over on the site of the old Providence Cotton Mill. During the war of 1812, it is recorded that he furnished a superior grade of iron for the Federal Army. Alfred Propst, who resided several miles north of this forge, had a big blacksmith shop, and he concentrated on making horse shoes and horse shoe nails. During the war between the states, he furnished many hundreds of pounds of these items to the confederacy made from this Fulenwider forge.

The ore for this forge came from the site known as “Buckhill”. The quality of the ore was so superior, that some say it was of meteoric origin, and others say that it was a natural formation, but they hauled it from this site, to the forge, by eight team wagons. There it was dumped into a big melting pot heated by charcoal. This created a big charcoal business that was concentrated in what was known as the Pineywoods section, where many people built pits to make this charcoal.

Another industry that created a lot of business was the Daniel Finger oil mill. It was located south of Maiden and some of the stones from that mill are still seen at the entrance to St. Matthews Church. This mill produced cotton seed oil and flaxseed oil. Oil was shipped to points as far away as Spartanburg, S.C. Receiving stations, where growers could bring in their seed, were established in Morganton, Charlotte, and Shelby.

Another business, a blacksmith shop, which was operated by Mr. Rob Bolick, father of Mr. Bill Bolick, was located down on Maiden Creek. He was succeeded in the business by his son who moved the shop to town. More will be said about Mr. Bob Bolick later in these comments.

Another business that should be mentioned was a tan yard established by Mr. H.F. Carpenter, grandfather of Mr. John Carpenter. It was located up near St. James Church, and later included a cotton gin, a wool card and a flour mill. The business complex flourished so well that he found it impossible to run it from the water supply that flowed in a little creek known as First Creek. In order to overcome this, they accomplished what was considered a big engineering feat at that time, by damming up the water in Pinch Gut Creek, thereby giving them sufficient water supply. It also led people living in that area to declare that they had accomplished the impossible by running water uphill.

So you see by these accounts, there was quite a bit of industry in the area, which in turn caused the town of Maiden to come about.

The actual founding of the town began around 1880, when D.M. Carpenter went down into South Carolina, studied textile manufacturing, came back and with his father, H.F. Carpenter, established a corporation and built the old Maiden Cotton Mills. This first mill was located on the lot just back of First Union National Bank, and operated there for many years. It started with 2220 spindles and later on added more.

After a number of years this corporation built Providence Cotton Mills on the site of the iron forge. The water power used to drive the hammers in the iron forge was utilized to drive the original equipment installed there. When the mill was expanded a short time later, the water supply was not sufficient, so they installed steam engines to run the entire plant. The flywheels on these engines were about 12ft. in diameter, and the engine ran one drive shaft throughout the plant, which in turn drove the individual machines.

The Providence Mill business was fairly successful, so in 1889 they expanded the business.

Since these business establishments in and around the town were becoming more and more successful, interest began to grow among the affected people to form a town, and they begin to make plans to incorporate it.

At this time all of the property that was to become the town of Maiden was owned primarily by three individuals, H.F. Carpenter, Marcus Boyd and Solomon Schrum. Mr. Carpenter owned everything east of the railroad and north of East Main Street extending as far north as the St. James section. Mr. Boyd owned everything south of Main Street on both sides of the railroad, extending to Canslers’ crossroads. Mr Schrum owned west of the railroad and north of West Main Street, with a small parcel crossing over West Main in the section of what is now north of Surry Industries. So you can see that the original town boundaries, as laid out, were on these three farms.

Mr. H.F. Carpenter deeded a little more than 500 acres of his property, which was all in the northeast section, to the town, to be used as an incorporated town. The Marcus Boyd property, at this time, was entailed. Mr Marcus Boyd had married a younger woman before his death, and when he died, he entailed the property to her for her lifetime, so therefore it could not be acquired or sold. This property remained this way until 1910, and then was subdivided and sold off. The Schrum property was sold off a individual pieces of property to the future owners.

Now the location of the town was selected on the basis that a railroad was being built and at that time it was to be desirable to locate it in the center of town. And at this particular time it was the end of the line, and remained that way for well over a year, while the line was being built between Maiden and Newton. It was customary for the train to come up one day and return to Lincolnton the next day.

It was during this time that Maiden experienced one of its most tragic and frightening accidents. A fireman, allegedly drunk over the weekend, fired up the boiler early on Monday morning, got it to red hot heat, then remembered that he had failed to put any water in the boiler. As he proceeded to add water, the engine exploded and threw parts all over town, some as far away as the site of the Ethan Allen property. Mr. D.M. Carpenter, father of Mr. John Carpenter, was sleeping in a small building, located where the present W.F. Smith building sits, and a piece of the engine, weighing approximately 300 pounds, fell on the edge of this building, missing Mr. Carpenter by about 6 feet.

It was about this period in time when Mr. John and Charlie Gaul establishes a furniture manufacturing plant where the town maintenance building sits. They made a lot of different things, including coffins, that were sold by Rabb-Carpenter Mercantile Co. This company was located in the building that now houses the C&H Grand, and Ramona’s Crafts. At the time this business was organized, it was the largest mercantile company in the county, including Hickory, and Hickory at this time as already a small town. This business stocked groceries, hardware, men’s clothing, ladies’ clothing, furnishings and dry goods of all kinds. It also included in it’s business a millinery shop. This shop was the influencing factor that brought Mrs. Sue Betty Carpenter to Maiden. She met Mr. Frank Carpenter, and later after her marriage to him, they together established their own ready to wear and dry goods store.

In 1893, the Union Mill was organized by D.M. Carpenter and Associates. And since there were so many stock holders in it, they decided to call it the Union Mills. This business was operated by this corporation until immediately after World War One, when it was taken over by another syndicate. Down through the years this syndicate eventually became the Ruddick Corporation, which now also owns the Harris Teeter Stores.

One of the most common questions is, where did Maiden get it’s name. There are three theories in regards to this question. Mr H.F. Carpenter held to the theory that three maiden ladies lived at the head of Maiden Creek which was a spring in Caldwell township. This spring became known to the area residents a Old Maid’s Spring, and from that the creek got its name, Maiden Creek.

Dr. Hodges held to the theory that maiden cane grew on the banks of the creek, and therefore influenced the local residents to refer to the creek as Maiden Creek.

But I, (Mr. Carpenter) held to another theory. My father and me, both being interested in genealogy, made a number of trips into Penn., and in hunting up some of our ancestors, found in Lancaster County, deeds made to Raseurs, Killians and Zimmermans (which later became Carpenters), with boundaries on Maiden Creek, so I’m inclined to believe that the name was brought down by those early settlers.

The town of Maiden was incorporated actually on March 7, 1883. The first mayor was J.P. Rabb. He was a partner in the Rabb-Carpenter Mercantile co. The first commissioners were Alexander Keener, Alexander Cline and Amzie Stine. The name of the town was selected from the Maiden Creek Post Office.

Maiden Creek Post Office was in the home of Mr. Bob Bolick down on Maiden Creek, and was officially the Maiden Creed Post Office. When the time came to select the name for the town, there was some controversy in selecting the name, since some wanted to call it Boydville, Schrumtown or Carpenterville, or some similar name. But the managers of the major companies decided not to use either of the suggested family names, so they took the name of Maiden Post Office, after the original name of Maiden Creek Post office, and incorporated the town as Maiden.

When the postoffice moved to town, Mr. Ed Schrum, son of Solomon Schrum, had established a mercantile business in town, in a small wooden building. He was appointed the first postmaster. The office was at time political , and part of the “spoils” system, so there were changes often in appointments. Mr. D.M. Carpenter was one of the early postmasters.

He also built the first brick building in town, which was a house that is now the old Kitty’s Flowers building. Mr. D.M. Carpenter deeded him the property for an agreement to attach on to the east wall, which was later done when the Rabb-Carpenter building was built. So there still remains a common wall between this building and the one occupied by the C&H Grand Store.

Jim Lohr established one of the early businesses, and later left town. Another was by Jim Holshouser, who later moved his business to Rockwell. Frank, Pinkney and Logan Rabb were early business owners. Mr. Pink Rabb, one of the earlier leaders, resided in a home that stood on the site of the present Baptist parsonage. Mr. John Boyd built a building just back of the Rabb-Carpenter business, which was used for many years a s Barber shop, Post office, Lee Dry Cleaners and the Maiden News. This was one of the earliest brick buildings erected in the town. Esquire England built a flour mill that was located where the present town maintenance building now stands, and operated it for a number of years. He later sold it to C.F. Williams and D.M. Carpenter. They remodeled it and made it into a more modern plant and operated it until around 1911. At about that time they built a cotton gin next door. Now there was an earlier gin operated for a number of years just back of where the Northwestern Bank now sites. There was another gin operated by Macon Smyre and Elias Sigmon located just north of town, which also grew into a prosperous business for a number of years. 

The only two business that survived, that most of use remember, were the roller mill business and the gin that stood behind city hall. The gin operated for a number of years by Mr. Banks Finger, and the roller mill passed into the hands of Mr. G.D. Drum who developed two major brands of flour which are well known today, Carolina Maiden and Southern Biscuit.

Among other early business was L.S. Caldwell and Son that flourished and furnished much of the lumber used in some of the older homes. Mr. George Keener was another early business owner. He operated at a plant down near the present Cannon Mills across from the Railroad Depot. He also furnished much of the lumber used in older homes and older businesses.

Mr. Barney Spratt came to town and organized our first bank in 1907. It started its operation in the Boyd Building located just back of the Rabb-Carpenter business which was mentioned earlier.

There is an interesting sidelight that should be mentioned concerning Mr. Spratt and Mr. George Keener. Mr. Spratt was very interested in aviation along with Mr. D.M. Carpenter. So they decided to buy some ashen lumber, and get Mr. Keener to process it, and they together would go into the aviation business. Unfortunately, when the wood, piano wire, turn buckles, etc. were all on hand, and stored at Mr. Keener’s business, a fire hit the business and among other things, destroyed the material for the aviation project.. Needless to say that was the end of aviation venture.

Other early businesses were a livery stable operated by Mt. George Keener, and also one operated by Mr. Pick Taylor that eventually turned into our first automobile taxi business.

The first church in town was Memorial Reformed Church, and its parsonage was located where the telephone exchange now stands. The first cemetery was the one which is now owned by the town.

The earlier settlers of the town dominantly Reformed and Lutheran. This resulted in a number of union churches shared by these two groups. The oldest church that played a prominent part in the community was located just out of town. It was St. Matthew, organized around 1837 in a brush arbor. Some of the local residents had tents there, and the annual meetings were a very important event of their lives. Among the early tent owners was Mr. John Carpenter, great grandfather of John F. Carpenter. It was in Mr. Carpenter’s tent that the idea of Catawba College was born. During one of the meetings there, a prominent church lay leader, an attorney by the name of McCorkle, expressed a concern for the difficulties experienced by potential ministers in getting a proper education to prepare them for the ministry. So the question was born, why not organize a college in our midst for these people to attend.

So you see Maiden has contributed considerably to business, industries and educational institutions. As an example, we have provided two presidents to Lenior Rhyne College, Dr. Voight Cromer and Dr. Raymond Bost. One president to High Point College, Dr. Dennis Cooke and one Chancellor to the State University system, Mr. John Harrelson. As a matter of information, his parents lived in the John Carpenter residence.

The first Baptist Church was located on the lot next to the Legion Building. The First Methodist was located on its present site. Both of these were established in the 1890's. These were followed by many other churches, which indicated that church life was a very important factor in our early resident’s lives.

In the field of education, there was very little in the early years. The first schools were commonly referred to as “script” schools. One of the first was located on the lot that Mr. “Buz” Finger later built on. The teachers in a “script” school or subscription school were paid for three months by the parents of the children attending. Next was the Union School built on the Hunsucker property just back of Union Mills. The third school was located on property adjoining Mr. Anderson Finger on the present South D. Avenue. Rev. C.E. Heavner was principal of that school. Later the South Fork Baptist Association organized a school up near the stand pipe, and it was known as the South Fork Institute. It had facilities for boarding students from out of town. Its staff consisted of a principal and four teachers, which made it quite an institution for its time. Among its principals was Rev. O.L. Springfield. He had two daughters and a son who made well known for their musical ability. Mr. Lomar Stringfield, the son, was the founder of the first North Carolina Symphony Orchestra.

One of the earlier recreation spots was the Providence Mill pond. When Providence Mill was built, the owners attempted to run it on the power from the small pond used for the forge business. So in 1893, after the plant was completed, they enlarged the Providence Mill pond extensively and it became a popular place in both summer and winter. The present town water reservoir covers the same area.

The bringing of the first electric power to town is an interesting story. When the Union Cotton Mill was built, it was operated entirely by steam, developed by burning wood. Many people in this area earned their livelihood by supplying this wood. At one time, it was not unusual to see wood stacked three cords high for the entire length of the block the mill is located on, which was literally thousands of cords of wood. 

The owners of the business were anxious to reduce costs and find a better way to run the mill, so they signed up with the Southern Power Company, (and was among one of the first signers) to furnish electricity to run the mill. So you can imagine the reaction of all those wood cutters when they saw the Southern Power Company running three fairly small wires from Great Falls, S.C., to Maiden, to run this entire mill. Great Falls, by the way, was the first Southern Power Plant which later became Duke Power.

The first physician in town was Dr. Alex Ramseur. He was followed by Dr. Paul Klutz, Dr. J.S. Lattimore, Dr. J.C. Whitesides, Dr. W.G. Bandy and many others since that time. But at times Maiden was without a physician, and depended on doctors from out of town.

The first telephones were installed in 1890, and they had no outside connection with any other town. They were installed in offices of mills, and two residences connected with the mills. This telephone system had only one wire, and the circuit was completed by using ground wire or the earth as the other conductor.

The first car in town was a 1903 Poe-Hartford, which was a right hand drive. It had a clutch somewhat like what was on a Model “T”, and if you started at East maiden and ran full speed, you could reach 16 or 18 miles per hour by the time you reached the present site of the Baptist Church. Of course this was only possible if the chain held together, since it was a chain drive. The chain gave so much trouble that extra links were always carried along for repairs.

In other areas of early transportation, Mr. George Keener ran the Livery Stable and made available buggies and horses for rent, or you could also hire a driver. The freight was also hauled by teams and wagons owned by Mr. Keener. The going prices for a trip to Newton in a buggy with a driver was $1.00. Mr. Keener started the business at his residence on West Boyd St. and later built a fairly large building on the lot where Mauney Insurance now stands. As mentioned earlier, Mr. Pick Taylor also owned a livery stable and offered the same service, but primarily concentrating on passenger service.

The first electric lights in the town were in the old Maiden Cotton Mills, that operated on a generator that ran only when the mill ran. Later Southern Power ran power from Union Mills to Maiden Cotton Mills, and the line ran by Mr. D.M. Carpenter’s home and he had lights installed. This was the first house in town to have electric lights. Around 1916 the power company came to town and installed an electrical system to make it available to all residents.

Water and sewer services were installed in the town in 1923. When this project was being installed, a bond referendum for paved roads was passed under Governor Morrison’s term, and the trenches for the water and sewer system had to be expedited in order to get ready for paving.

The first movie that came to town was a small projector, almost like a toy, and a film strip about 10 feet long. The strip was cemented together, and it showed a man getting off a train, as it made its complete cycle. This was brought to town by a traveling man. This was followed later by another man bringing to town a full length movie, entitled “The Great Train Robbery”. This caused quite a bit of excitement by those who saw it. Of course there was no sound, and everyone did not read well, so he read the commentary as he showed it.

Mr. Avery Cooke established the first movie house in a tin building that sit where part of the fire dept. now sits. This new establishment cased so much criticism that he named it the “Rum” theater. His sign outside carried that name.

The first barbers to come to town were traveling barbers with a chair mounted in the back of a buckboard or horse drawn hack. As he drove around town, he stopped to cut hair as the business dictated. If you had a suitable chair, he would cut your hair in your own home.

The first dentist did exactly the same way. Dr. Ralph Little of Newton would come down once a week and fill the needs of the community from the back of his buckboard with a foot pedaled drill. This, of course, was fairly rough dental procedure as compared to today’s modern equipment.

The next big move in the textile industry was in 1916 when a partnership was formed between J.Smith Campbell, B.M. Spratt, W.S. Murray and George Whisenant. They cut down the timber, sawed it without dressing it, built a facility, installed the equipment and was producing yarn in 30 days. That was the beginning of the Carolina Mills, which has grown to be one of our biggest county industries.

There have been a lot of influential men, and successful businesses that have contributed to the growth and success of the town. It goes without saying that due to the success of such businesses as have been mentioned, many more businesses were formed and have made their contribution also. The are Clay Manufacturing Co., Superior Chair, Lawing Manufacturing Co., E.F. Rose Co., Null Manufacturing Co., Woonsocket Textiles, Ethan Allen, P.J. McRee Building and Supplies, Liberty Cotton Mills, Cannon Mills, Whisenant Trucking Co., and other related plants. There would have been very little progress made within the town without these industries and their leaders.

The town has produced its share of ministers that have gone out from the community. Educators have been mentioned earlier, and we have produced our share of these. In the business field, we have had some outstanding men and women. It is also worth mentioning that we have had legislators, county officials and others that have done well in their field.

This all goes without saying that we have carved our place in history very well since the town was organized in 1883. There are so many people and families that have contributed to this history that is worth mentioning some of them. It is impossible to name all of them but mention should be made of the countless Bolicks, Caldwells, Carpenter, Laney, Williams, Parkers, Wilkinsons, Heffners, Whisenants, Fingers, Keeners, Rudisill, Hoyles, Ellises, Hawns, Harbinsons Whiteners, Harvels, Cooks, Clines, and many more. Can anyone name them all? All of them had a part in making Maiden a good town and to truly live up to the name “A Town with a Future”.

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