Author Archives: Michael Helms

A Civil War Soldier Writes Home

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Lieutenant Samuel Smith wasn’t from North Carolina. The civil war military campsite near Warrenton, North Carolina must have felt like a foreign country (partly because it was). It’s almost certain that the August heat would have been worse than anything he experienced in his hometown of Steuben, Maine.

But Samuel Smith wrote a letter to his parents that Friday August the 28th, 2863, and I was lucky to find this letter and its original stamped envelope. The text follows, with my thoughts below.
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This Desk is No Child’s Play

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You’re forgiven if you think this is a child’s desk, because I thought the same thing when I bought it. Measuring only 31″ tall by 24″ wide by 20″ deep, it looks every bit the part of a child’s desk, right down to the child’s crayon and pen marks inside the drawer. It wasn’t until I showed it to a knowledgeable friend of mine who works with antique furniture that its true origins emerged.

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Buckhorn Lithia Water Co.

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This is a tale of not one, but two North Carolina towns. And a business. And a rural institution.

Country auctions are a staple of rural communities. Most of them are the same; the estate of a deceased member of the community laid out in rows on their lawn, driveway, and anywhere else there’s space. A troop of local Boy Scouts, the Ladies’ Auxiliary, or some other community group with a stand selling food and drink. An eager throng of potential buyers eyeing the goods for that elusive “treasure”. And the auctioneer’s chanter; part salesman, part showman and on-the-spot expert on anything and everything being sold. If you’ve never been to an auction, I highly recommend it.

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Warren County Tobacco Grading Chair

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It’s not difficult to like Warren County. Perched at the top of the state and bordering Brunswick and Mecklenburg Counties in Virginia, Warren County is home to the towns of Warrenton, Norlina, and Macon.

I stumbled across a yard sale just north of Norlina today, and an otherwise uninteresting collection of sundry household goods revealed an interesting treasure: this chair.

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