Does any one have information on Rebecca Evans who was teaching at Smith's Schoolhouse between 1907 and 1910 At 10:18 AM 7/31/2006, you wrote: >FORGOTTEN PLACES IN PITT COUNTY—PART V >Rochdale and Other Places Near Bell Arthur > > The following is a small history of > some of the villages and communities that once > lay in Beaver Dam Township, now called Bell > Arthur Township. In 1900 Rochdale (or Cobb’s > Store) was considered the social and commercial > center of Beaver Dam Township. It was located > on the Stantonsburg Road, eight miles west of > Greenville or nearly six miles east of Farmville. >Cobbdale, which was a large stock farm occupied >by B. P. Cobb, was located about one mile north >of Rochdale, and Arthur (now Bell Arthur) was 1½ >miles south. Smithtown was 1½ miles northeast >of Rochdale, and Marltown was three miles >south. Poketink (or Nicholstown) was located >about four miles southeast of Rochdale, and >Grimmersburg was about four miles south. > Now that I have you thoroughly lost, I > want to begin talking about Cobb’s Store (or Rochdale). > About the year 1872, J. C. Cobb erected > a little store on his farm and had each of his > boys work in it to gain business > experience. The store grew and was a > successful business and his sons went on to own > their own stores. By 1888, the store was known > as J. C. Cobb and Son; Robert J. Cobb remained > with his father as a junior partner. > On June 28, 1888, a post office was > established in Cobb’s Store known as Rochdale > with Robert J. Cobb as postmaster. The post > office remained there until October 1891 when > the post office was closed. The post office > was opened again in August 1894 with Charles L. > Tyson as postmaster, but was closed in January 1897. > Cobb’s Store was eventually sold to C. > D. Smith which was probably when the Rochdale office reopened the second time. > Very little is known about the Rochdale > area other than it was a farming community. At > Smithtown, the seat of the Ivy Smith, Mills > Smith, and Jesse L. Smith families, there stood > a schoolhouse known as Smith’s Schoolhouse. >Built by 1869, it became the social center of >the community. It was here that religious >services were held several times a week, Sunday >school was held each Sunday, and choir practice was held one night a week. > Some of the remembered teachers at > Smith’s Schoolhouse between 1907 and 1910 were > Miss May Brooks, Miss Dell Clement, Miss Mary > Joyner, Miss Rebecca Evans, Mrs. D. K. Smith, and Miss Lena E. Gary. > Besides the religious ceremonies, > Smith’s Schoolhouse was the site for public and > political gatherings. There was also a Woman’s > Betterment Association which held basket > parties at the schoolhouse to raise money to > help fund the school. The Association helped > buy the schoolhouse an organ in 1908, with Mrs. > L. W. Smith as the first organist. > In September 1907, the Norfolk and > Southern Railroad built a rail line through > Beaver Dam Township and opened a station there > known as Cobbdale, since it was near Cobbdale > stock farm. The station was moved to Arthur a few years later. > In April 1909, the Rochdale and > Smithtown boys organized a debating society, > known as the Phoenix Debating Society, that met > every Friday night. In November 1909, a farm > club was organized at Smith’s Schoolhouse by G. > C. Hedgepeth of Nash County, and by 1910 the > Rochdale boys had organized a baseball team. > In January 1910, C. D. Smith almost > lost his store by fire. It seems that Mrs. > Smith, who clerked in the store for her > husband, went out to pick up wood to put in the > heater late one night and saw a lot of > smoke. She looked to the top of the store and > saw flames coming through the shingles near the > stove flue. She rushed to the store and > gathered up all the books and valuable papers > and then gave the alarm. In a few minutes a > dozen men had arrived and soon had a line of > buckets going from the well to the roof. >With persistence the fire was put out and damage >to the store was mainly by water on the goods. > In March 1911 the Dramatic Club of > Smithtown presented a drama in Smith’s > Schoolhouse, the proceeds going for the benefit > of the Christian Church in Arthur. > The final end of Rochdale came when, in > February 1912, the old store once known as > Cobb’s Store and later as C. D. Smith’s Store > was moved to Arthur by L. A. Fulford. Arthur > soon became a bustling town and Rochdale began > to fade into just a place name in the forgotten past of Pitt County. >—Roger Kammerer >Greenville Times >July 31, 1996 > > > >==== NC-PCFR Mailing List ==== >Post to this mail list at: [email protected] >Visit the PCFR website at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncpcfr >Browse our rich collection of old family >photographs, private documents, and public records. > >============================== >Find your ancestors in the Birth, Marriage and Death Records. >New content added every business day. Learn more: >http://www.ancestry.com/s13964/rd.ashx > > >-- >No virus found in this incoming message. >Checked by AVG Free Edition. >Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.10.5/403 - Release Date: 7/28/2006