Alice E. Sink - Wicked Lexington, North Carolina

PRAISE FOR ALICE SINKS WRITING

Sink has taken her memories and channeled them into five years of research and writing that resulted in her book The Grit Behind the Miracle, which chronicles the true story of the Infantile Paralysis Hospital that was built in 54 hours in 1944. Jill Doss-Raines, the Dispatch

Throughout the rare glimpses from 1900 to around the early 1950s, Sink stuck to one consistent theme in Kernersville. Sink portrayed the sense of community. Brandon Keel, Kernersville News

Community abounds in a colorful new book about the history of North Carolina boardinghousesa travelers guide to a lost place that was small-town and worldly at the same time. Lorraine Ahearn, Greensboro News & Record

A very highly recommended addition for academic and community library collections, Boarding House Reach could serve as a template for similar studies for other state. Midwest Book Review

Boarding House Reach reminds us of one of the most important truths of life: There are no ordinary people! Every story here is fascinatingand every one importantly belongs to history. Fred Chappell

Hidden History of the Piedmont Triad recounts a number of interesting stories from throughout the Triadfrom historic people and places to lesser-known colorful slices of life. Jimmy Tomlin, High Point Enterprise

In Hidden History of the Piedmont Triad, Sink writes about Lexingtons downtown dime stores. She describes how each counter was like a different department of the store, with a candy counter and comic book section popular with childrenand makeup counters that carried old-fashioned items such as Tangee lipstick and Evening in Paris perfume. Vikki Broughton Hodges, the Dispatch

Did you know that a nightclub in High Point once hosted the likes of Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington? Have you heard the story of Lexington native, John Andrew Roman, put to death on circumstantial evidence, or the local World War II fighter plane pilot who flew eighty-two missions to prevent German fighters from attacking American bombers? Therse are but three of the many little-known storiesfound in Hidden History of the Piedmont Triad. Arbor Lamplighter

[Hidden History of the Piedmont Triad]covers people, places and events that have been forgotten. Ryan Gay, lifestyles editor, Kernersville News

In Hidden History of the Piedmont Triad, author Alice Sink rediscovers the quirky stories of the Piedmont Triadtying North Carolina into the rest of world history. Our State Magazine

Hidden History of Hilton Head offers a lively array of historical tidbits and tales. From beautiful poems written by renowned locals to the songs that guided the slaves to freedom and time-tested regional recipes, author Alice Sinks collection truly encompasses the spirit of the Lowcountry The History Press (Charleston, SC)

The premise of No [Wo]man Is an Island is outstanding! I laughed out loudeven hollered a few timesdont remember doing that since Raney and Walking Across Egypt. I can see it as a TV sitcom if the PC police wouldnt kill it. Carol Branard

Thank you for Hidden History of the Western North Carolina Mountainswhich is not really hidden. I knew almost all the stories and information and even some of the recipes. But then Im supposed to, as an old Haywood County boy. Great to see it all in a book! Fred Chappell

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC 29403

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2011 by Alice Sink

All rights reserved

First published 2011

e-book edition 2013

Manufactured in the United States

ISBN 978.1.62584.120.9

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Sink, Alice E.

Wicked Lexington, North Carolina / Alice Sink.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

print edition ISBN 978-1-60949-309-7

1. Crime--North Carolina--Lexington--History--Anecdotes. 2. Corruption--North Carolina--Lexington--History--Anecdotes. 3. Criminals--North Carolina--Lexington--Biography--Anecdotes. 4. Lexington (N.C.)--History--Anecdotes. 5. Lexington (N.C.)--Social conditions--Anecdotes. 6. Lexington (N.C.)--Moral conditions--Anecdotes. 7. Lexington (N.C.)--Biography--Anecdotes. I. Title.

HV6795.L49S46 2011

364.10975668--dc22

2011013957

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

For the Lexington Senior High School graduating class of 1958.

It was a very good group!

Contents

Foreword

Alice Evans Sinkremember the last namehas produced a very well-done work of writing and fact gathering that is much more than just the wicked in the title.

Its about Lexington and Davidson County, people and events, and as one born and raised in Davidson County, plus someone who spent forty-four years in and around the newsroom of the countys daily newspaper, I was surprised and pleased at all the new things I learned and the old things with which I was refamiliarized.

The interest it will raise in you is a tribute to Alices work in producing it, and I hope you enjoy it. And theres some fun stuff in there too.

And about Alices last name: as a disclaimer, I should tell you that were related. She married my fifth cousin once removed, giving my family an upward thrust.

Joe Sink

PREFACE

A Word from the Author

I was born, reared, married and gave birth to my children in Lexington, North Carolina; in fact, I lived there all my life, except for the past twelve years. As a child, I sat on the front porch of my paternal Grandmother Evanss boardinghouse and listened to all the town talk from my aunts and the boarders. They never missed a beat! While pretending to play with my dolly, I was really taking in every word they were saying, storing the gossip in my brain, I suppose, until adulthood when I would become a published writer. Actually, although I did not remember actual names and dates when I started writing Wicked Lexington, North Carolina, the archives of the hometown newspaper, the Dispatch, gave me all the details I neededand more!

I can still hear the loud, wicked volume of the towns electric siren, which announced dinner hour for factory and mill workers and also blew a certain number of times to give the townspeople a signal for the neighborhood where a fire truck would be heading through. This sometimes caused traffic problems because locals hopped in their cars or trucks and arrived at the scene about the same time as the firefighters.

Some of the articles in this book mention my uncle, Dr. G.C. Gambrell, county health officer, and his trips to the local jail to treat those incarcerated.

I was a Lexington neighbor of Frances Holt McKay, who invited me into her William R. Holts Homestead home one day and showed me the upstairs bedroom door with iron brackets where the Holt daughters were kept safe from the Federal soldiers who occupied the house in 1865.

I remember when the Confederate Soldier Monument stood in the middle of the intersection of Main and Center Streets; cars moseyed around it, occasionally causing minor fender benders.