Ready to hear how the area now known as Kittrell is connected to the first Thanksgiving?
THE first Thanksgiving.
The one that happened in 1618, a full four years before the Pilgrims and Native Americans celebrated the first successful harvest in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621.
Leave it to WIZS’s Bill Harris and local historian Mark Pace to make the local connection in their tri-weekly TownTalk segment called Around Old Granville. Monday’s discussion was a continuation of “First Families” of the area that now includes the four counties of Vance, Granville, Warren and Franklin.
According to Pace, a man by the name of John Woodlief gets the credit for the very first Thanksgiving that took place at Berkeley Plantation on the banks of the James River southeast of Richmond. It is Woodlief’s grandson, Thomas Woodlief, who leaves Charles City, VA and settles in the vicinity of what is now Kittrell way back in 1754, when the Colonies were still under British rule.
Woodlief is just one of numerous notable surnames that pop up in research of local history, but sometimes genealogists and historians have to do a bit of detective work to find useful tidbits about people who lived and worked in the area almost three centuries ago.
Kittrell is another family name that predates the birth of the United States. The earliest Kittrells came pretty early, Pace said, back in 1727. Then Jonathan Kittrell purchased 300 acres or so in the area along Tabbs Creek around 1760.
Another well-known family was the Eaton family. “The Eatons would definitely qualify as one of the first founding families of this area,” Pace said.
William Eaton first settled up in the northeast corner of the old Granville County along the Roanoke River – a ferry bearing the family name operated from the 1800’s to the early 1960’s near Littleton in Warren County.
Eaton also built the first courthouse and the first jail – with his own money – in Granville County
and he built Locust Hill on Old County Home Road in Vance County.
“It was actually THE county home” at one time, Pace noted. Eaton died in 1759 and his children were influential in the area for the next hundred years or more, up until the Civil War.
Locust Hill burned in 1976. Pace remembers the year vividly because it was the year he got his driver license. He and his younger brother tootled out to Locust Hill and the brother snapped a pic of the old home with his Polaroid.
“About two weeks later, it burned down…my brother took the last picture of it,” Pace said. He said the back portion of the home could easily date back to the 1740’s – “It wouldn’t surprise me,” Pace said.
One son, Thomas Eaton, was a general in the American Revolution. He was captured during the Battle of Brier Creek in Georgia, and legend has it that when he was captured, the British sympathizers confiscated his prized boots, made specially to fit his quite narrow foot. Fast forward to a post-war “sit down” Eaton was summoned, along with one of his captors, who returned the long-lost boots to Eaton.
And although Pace said he can’t confirm what happened, the story goes that Eaton proceeded to whack the captor over the head with said boots. So much for letting bygones be bygones.
There’s a stately home in Warrenton – the William Eaton home – that still stands today that belonged to a son of Thomas Eaton.
William Eaton, an attorney and prominent politician, wrote a book called “How to be a Good Lawyer” which Pace said was a bestseller in the 1830’s and 1840’s.
The Eatons have a connection with Osborne Jeffreys, who was born in Williamsburg, VA in 1716.
Jeffreys was a captain in the North Carolina Colonial militia for Granville County, said Harris, and owned several plantations in the area, which included grist mills, a tannery, a shoe-making business and taverns. Jeffreys also was active in the politics of the area. Like many early settlers, Pace said Jeffreys “owns land all over the place…he comes here (early) and gets the best land” for himself. He built Portridge on some of his land holdings, which was located between what is now Louisburg and Franklinton. It was at Portridge that the first church of England was built in the area. The building is long gone, but the cemetery remains. It contains many unmarked graves, but the names on some stones are legible.
Jeffreys and his wife, Patience, had a daughter named Elizabeth. She married Charles Rust Eaton, another descendant of the original William Eaton.
A dozen or so families in Colonial North Carolina, he said, intermarry and create what Pace calls an oligarchy – “they’re the ones who run things,” he explained.
Listen to the entire discussion at wizs.com.
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The Local Skinny! Live Nativity At North Henderson Baptist Church
/by WIZS StaffPastor Eddie Nutt invites the community to a live nativity presentation at North Henderson Baptist Church on Friday, Dec. 6 and Saturday, Dec. 7.
There will be three presentations offered between 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. both nights – lasting just about a half hour each.
Most of the characters will be portrayed by children, Nutt said on Tuesday’s segment of The Local Skinny! A narrator will read from the Gospels as the children act out the story of Jesus’s birth in Bethlehem.
This is the first time in several generations that the church has put on a live nativity. The idea was born when several church members had a desire to do something new for the community, Nutt said, “a different type of outreach to remind people of the true meaning of what Christmas is all about.”
There will be refreshments served – including fresh popcorn from a brand-new popcorn machine – and folks can come inside to shake off any winter chill in the air.
Nutt said it’s special to see church members who are willing to give their time to create a production like a live nativity. It shows they care for their community and they want to share the love of Jesus Christ, he added.
He admitted his relief that a real live donkey has been secured to take part in the live nativity.
“Because I was the closest thing they had until they got a real one,” he joked.
North Henderson Baptist Church is located at 1211 N. Garnett St.
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WIZS Radio Henderson Local News 11-26-24 Noon
/by WIZS StaffClick Play to Listen. On Air at 8am, 12pm, 5pm M-F
WIZS Radio ~ 100.1FM/1450AM
Sheriff’s Office: Two Drug Arrests Made In Separate Vehicle Stops
/by WIZS StaffPress releases from Vance County Sheriff’s Office
The Vance County Sheriff’s Office made two drug arrests Monday in two separate vehicle stops.
TownTalk: Alert Christmas Parade Is Coming
/by WIZS StaffLooking for some good old-fashioned entertainment to help get you in a festive holiday mood? Check out the Alert Christmas Parade, set to kick off at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 14.
That’s right, A-lert, the community that’s just over the Franklin/Vance County line beyond Epsom.
Larry Ayscue is one of this year’s parade organizers, but he also is credited with being the original organizer of that first parade 34 years ago.
“I would love to get the word out, just come and see it – check it out and see what you think of it,” he said on WIZS TownTalk. He wants to promote participation in the parade, as well as inviting spectators to come out and enjoy the eclectic variety of entries.
Unlike Christmas parades that are held inside town or city limits, Alert’s parade isn’t fettered by rules and regulations.
“Alert is not a town,” Ayscue said. “I always tell people, don’t come expecting a town – it’s just a little community.”
No forms to fill out, no official lineup to follow translates into good, old-fashioned fun, with “a lot of hollering, wavin’ and carrying on,” he said.
“We’ve had people to tell us that they’d rather be in that parade than any other one they’ve ever been in,” he added. “It’s just a lot of fun.”
Melanie Bobbitt helps Ayscue and his wife, Nancy, out and maintains a Facebook page complete with photos from previous parades and other information to promote the event, which had a pretty humble beginning.
“It started out as a kind of a joke,” Ayscue said, when he and others were putting in tobacco. It was summertime hot, and Ayscue said he made a comment that Alert ought to have a Christmas parade, any reason to think about cooler weather. Later on in the year came the questions: Well, are we going to have a parade? Are we? Ayscue checked with the Franklin County Sheriff’s office and “everybody gave me the ok.”
And what was supposed to be a one-shot deal has become a tradition like no other. Ayscue explained that a lot of older folks simply weren’t able to get out and go to town to watch parades, so the parade came to them.
Over the years, there have been some pretty interesting entries in addition to the usual firetrucks, church floats and children dressed up in Christmas costumes.
Ayscue has fond memories of one particular entry in the parade a few years ago. “It was the prettiest little thing,” he said, describing a goat hooked to a cart, both decorated up for the occasion.
“Anyone who has anything they’d love to put in the parade,” he said, should just show up by 1 p.m. at the intersection of Alert and Jordan School roads. The parade route is about 1.5 miles, ending at G.F. Ball Road.
For more information, contact Bobbitt at 919-497-6081, Nancy Ayscue at 252.458.1600 or Larry Ayscue at 252.343.9275.
“I believe you would thoroughly enjoy it if you come out,” Ayscue said.
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Cooperative Extension With Michael Ellington: Community Gardens
/by WIZS StaffListen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 11:50 a.m. Mon, Tues & Thurs.
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Program For Low-Income Residents Offers Help With Winter Heat Bills
/by WIZS StaffThe Low-Income Energy Assistance Program provides a one-time annual vendor payment to help eligible families pay their heating expense. If you received a LIEAP payment in 2023-2024, someone in the household was disabled and receiving services through the Division of Aging and Adult Services OR households containing a person aged 60, an automatic payment will be generated to that same account this fiscal year. It is not necessary to re-apply. The state mailed notices in October 2024 to each family from the 2023-2024 pre-populated application information, according to Cassandra Hart with the Vance County Department of Social Services.
The notice contains instructions about how to report changes to the department. The recipient can contact or return the notice with changes to their local DSS office within 10 business days. If the recipient does not contact or report any changes to DSS, the information from the 2023-2024 LIEAP application will be used to approve the household for 2024-2025 benefits. The recipient will be informed that an automated LIEAP payment was approved.
Households not included in the target population will be able to apply following regular LIEAP application policy. Regular application policy is as follows:
This program is being administered by:
Vance County Department of Social Services
500 N. Beckford Dr. Ste. C
Henderson, NC 27536
office 252.492.5001 ext. 3900
fax 252.438.5997
email Vance.County.DSS@vance.nc.gov
Applications may be submitted by mail, email, fax, dropped off, in person, or online (epass.nc.gov/),
When applying, the following information may be needed to determine eligibility:
Heating bill-If the bill is not in applicant’s or other household member’s name, the applicant must provide a written statement from the person whose name the bill is in (must be 18 or older), stating that applicant is responsible for payment of the heating expense.
(Originally published on WIZS.com on November 18, 2024.)
Longtime VGCC President, Dr. Ben F. Currin, Dies
/by WIZS StaffDr. Benjamin Fleming Currin, long-time president of Vance-Granville Community College, died on Nov. 23, 2024. Under his leadership, VGCC grew from a single campus to four campuses, doubled its enrollment and saw its Endowment Fund swell to $5 million. He was 88.
Ben was born on November 13, 1936 in Granville County to Sophia Hunt Currin and Elam Ray Currin. He attended the public schools of then Oxford City Schools. He graduated from Oxford High School in 1955 and earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees from UNC-Chapel Hill. He is survived by his wife, Betsy, a son, George and a granddaughter, Catherine.
According to his obituary, “Ben was a man of the people and had the rare ability to relate to and care about people from all walks of life. He and Betsy devoted their lives to education—he was a teacher, school principal, school superintendent, and community college president.”
Current VGCC President Dr. Rachel Desmarais sent a message to staff and board members on Sunday afternoon to share the news of Currin’s passing. “It is with sadness that I communicate with you this weekend,” the statement read. “I know that some of you worked with him or went to college when he was president,” Desmarais stated. He held a variety of positions in public schools systems across the state, beginning in 1959 in Durham as a teacher and coach. He rose through the ranks and became the youngest principal in the state just a couple of years later when he was named principal at Eureka Elementary in Wayne County. By 1970, he was named superintendent of Rocky Mount City Schools and led the school system for more than a decade.
Currin was named VGCC president in 1981 and retired in 1998. During that time, VGCC experienced exponential growth.
In 2016, Ben received the I.E. Ready Award, the highest honor given by the North Carolina Community College System, which recognizes individuals who have made significant, statewide contributions to the establishment, development or enhancement of the community college system. Currin also was a Mason and a Shriner.
A graveside service will be held at Elmwood Cemetery in Oxford, North Carolina, 530 Hillsboro St., at a date and time to be announced.
Brown-Wynne Funeral Home is handling arrangements. View the full obituary at dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/raleigh-nc/benjamin-currin-12104838. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Dr. Ben F. Currin scholarship at Vance-Granville Community College, or to Transitions LifeCare.
In an article about the I.E. Ready award written in 2016, WIZS News spoke with L. Opie Frazier Jr. about Currin’s accomplishments. Frazier was chair of the VGCC board of trustees for many of the years during Currin’s tenure as president, and Frazier called Currin “a godsend” as part of the written nomination for the award. “His greatest asset was his emphasis on students. The second was his enthusiasm. His successes are many – for example, the satellite campuses started under his leadership and the scholarship program that grew dramatically – because he wanted the best for students, and his enthusiasm helped him win friends at various levels to help him grow the college and serve more students,” Frazier wrote.
In remarks at the 2009 ceremony at which Currin received The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, Dr. J. Reid Parrott Jr., retired president of Nash Community College, cited the positive impact Currin had on VGCC. “I want to tell you, I’ve been doing this community college stuff a long time, and there is no president of all 58 of our schools that has transformed an institution as quickly and as magnificently as Ben Currin did at Vance-Granville,” Parrott said.
The Local Skinny! 3rd Annual Vance County Camp Meeting
/by WIZS StaffIt’s called a camp meeting, but it’s not the type of camp meeting that Scott Matthews’s granddaddy Jesse held, always the week of the Fourth of July under a tent on the grounds of Forest Hill Baptist Church.
Back then, it could be 100 degrees, with 1,000 percent humidity, Matthews said, half joking half serious. “I can remember some hot days,” Matthews said on Monday’s segment of The Local Skinny!
The third annual Vance County Camp Meeting will be held all next week in the comfortable surroundings of McGregor Hall, and Matthews said he couldn’t be happier to head back home to lead the gathering. Things kick off at 7 p.m. nightly on Monday, Dec. 2 and continue through Friday, Dec. 6.
A few years ago, several pastors encouraged Matthews to bring the camp meeting concept back to life. The first year, there were nine churches involved, he said, but last year’s camp meeting had close to two dozen pastors who attended on multiple nights.
Scott and wife Becky spend most of the year traveling the country preaching and singing as Matthews Family Ministries, which includes the couple’s two daughters. They recently returned from Phoenix, AZ and then turned around and headed to Jacksonville, FL.
“I’m just excited for everybody to come together, Becky said. “It’s always good to see everybody there in Henderson and just have a great week of worshipping the Lord.”
A 1000-seat climate-controlled auditorium in early December is the perfect venue to bring people from different churches and denominations to hear the nightly preaching and musical performances that will be offered.
The speakers “have no axes to grind, no agendas to push,” Scott said. They are interested in delivering “messages that encourage the people of God to do more for the cause of Christ right now is what these guys will bring. We’ll try to make it (McGregor Hall) a church every night,” Scott said. “Come on out and join us.”
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WIZS Radio Henderson Local News 11-25-24 Noon
/by WIZS StaffListen On Air at 8am, 12pm, 5pm M-F
WIZS Radio ~ 100.1FM/1450AM
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TownTalk: Around Old Granville – First Families Part Two
/by WIZS StaffReady to hear how the area now known as Kittrell is connected to the first Thanksgiving?
THE first Thanksgiving.
The one that happened in 1618, a full four years before the Pilgrims and Native Americans celebrated the first successful harvest in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621.
Leave it to WIZS’s Bill Harris and local historian Mark Pace to make the local connection in their tri-weekly TownTalk segment called Around Old Granville. Monday’s discussion was a continuation of “First Families” of the area that now includes the four counties of Vance, Granville, Warren and Franklin.
According to Pace, a man by the name of John Woodlief gets the credit for the very first Thanksgiving that took place at Berkeley Plantation on the banks of the James River southeast of Richmond. It is Woodlief’s grandson, Thomas Woodlief, who leaves Charles City, VA and settles in the vicinity of what is now Kittrell way back in 1754, when the Colonies were still under British rule.
Woodlief is just one of numerous notable surnames that pop up in research of local history, but sometimes genealogists and historians have to do a bit of detective work to find useful tidbits about people who lived and worked in the area almost three centuries ago.
Kittrell is another family name that predates the birth of the United States. The earliest Kittrells came pretty early, Pace said, back in 1727. Then Jonathan Kittrell purchased 300 acres or so in the area along Tabbs Creek around 1760.
Another well-known family was the Eaton family. “The Eatons would definitely qualify as one of the first founding families of this area,” Pace said.
William Eaton first settled up in the northeast corner of the old Granville County along the Roanoke River – a ferry bearing the family name operated from the 1800’s to the early 1960’s near Littleton in Warren County.
Eaton also built the first courthouse and the first jail – with his own money – in Granville County
and he built Locust Hill on Old County Home Road in Vance County.
“It was actually THE county home” at one time, Pace noted. Eaton died in 1759 and his children were influential in the area for the next hundred years or more, up until the Civil War.
Locust Hill burned in 1976. Pace remembers the year vividly because it was the year he got his driver license. He and his younger brother tootled out to Locust Hill and the brother snapped a pic of the old home with his Polaroid.
“About two weeks later, it burned down…my brother took the last picture of it,” Pace said. He said the back portion of the home could easily date back to the 1740’s – “It wouldn’t surprise me,” Pace said.
One son, Thomas Eaton, was a general in the American Revolution. He was captured during the Battle of Brier Creek in Georgia, and legend has it that when he was captured, the British sympathizers confiscated his prized boots, made specially to fit his quite narrow foot. Fast forward to a post-war “sit down” Eaton was summoned, along with one of his captors, who returned the long-lost boots to Eaton.
And although Pace said he can’t confirm what happened, the story goes that Eaton proceeded to whack the captor over the head with said boots. So much for letting bygones be bygones.
There’s a stately home in Warrenton – the William Eaton home – that still stands today that belonged to a son of Thomas Eaton.
William Eaton, an attorney and prominent politician, wrote a book called “How to be a Good Lawyer” which Pace said was a bestseller in the 1830’s and 1840’s.
The Eatons have a connection with Osborne Jeffreys, who was born in Williamsburg, VA in 1716.
Jeffreys was a captain in the North Carolina Colonial militia for Granville County, said Harris, and owned several plantations in the area, which included grist mills, a tannery, a shoe-making business and taverns. Jeffreys also was active in the politics of the area. Like many early settlers, Pace said Jeffreys “owns land all over the place…he comes here (early) and gets the best land” for himself. He built Portridge on some of his land holdings, which was located between what is now Louisburg and Franklinton. It was at Portridge that the first church of England was built in the area. The building is long gone, but the cemetery remains. It contains many unmarked graves, but the names on some stones are legible.
Jeffreys and his wife, Patience, had a daughter named Elizabeth. She married Charles Rust Eaton, another descendant of the original William Eaton.
A dozen or so families in Colonial North Carolina, he said, intermarry and create what Pace calls an oligarchy – “they’re the ones who run things,” he explained.
Listen to the entire discussion at wizs.com.
CLICK PLAY!