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Miscellany

Memories of Home

By Shirley Jones Mallard 

Charred timbers mark the spot today where once stood the home of the Carney Andrews family. They were the first to own the house, followed by Isaac and Bessie Mae Hardy (1938-1945), Percy and Lucille Perry Vickers (1945-1956) and Susan Barnett (1999-present). This is the story of the home at 507 North Greensboro Street in Carrboro which burned beyond repair on October 1, 2000.

It was the year 1900 when Carney Bradford Andrews purchased a lot on the Greensboro-Chapel Hill Road (North Greensboro Street) from I. S. Weaver. The lot extended through to Oak Avenue and contained one acre. Mr. Andrews needed a home for his wife, the former Inez Lloyd, and their children, Herbert, born in 1896, and Pauline, born in 1900. Sometime between 1900 and 1904, the brother of Inez Andrews, Robert Lloyd, built the house with a parlor, dining room, kitchen and bedroom downstairs and two bedrooms upstairs. In 1904, Inez died, and Mr. Andrews took the children and returned to his family home at White Cross. He rented the house on Greensboro Street to a Mr. Mann. The next year he courted and married Nannie Cook, a daughter of Duncan Cook of Cedar Grove. They remained at White Cross until 1910. By this time the Andrews family had increased in number by four. The children of Carney and Nannie Andrews were Vivian, Evelyn, Hamlin and Lois. Because Mr. Andrews felt the Carrboro schools were better than those in the country, he moved the family into the house on Greensboro Street when Lois was two weeks old and sent the older children to the local school. There would be seven more children born to the Andrewses: Bennie Jean, Raymond, Karl, Everett, Phillip, Harry and Nannie Elizabeth. There were now fifteen people who called the house at 507 N. Greensboro home.

The boys slept in one upstairs room and the girls had the other. There were three double beds in the boys’ room, two double beds and one single in the girls’ room. The attic could be entered through the boys’ room. The attic held grand items, especially clothes which the childreen donned to perform plays for their own amusement. The downstairs bedroom had two double beds, one for the parents and one for toddlers or sick children, and a cradle for the newest baby. There was a very spacious central hall, large enough
for a wardrobe and washstand in the back part, with a large chest of drawers plus a hall-tree with mirror and storage for boots in the front hall. In the summer, when it was so hot, the children would make pallets and sleep in the hall. “Papa” had a sofa on the back porch where he took his naps. In back of the house were the barn, hog pen, privy and well.

In order to feed and clothe his growing family, Carney Andrews worked very hard. He ran a grocery store not too far from the house, situated where Fitch Lumber Company is located today. He always planted a large garden and the children helped him. They had grape vines, a pecan tree and all sorts of fruit trees, including Winesap apple, pear, peach and damson. All the children helped can or preserve the produce for the winter months. There was always a cow for milk and butter, which the girls churned, pigs for meat, chickens for eggs and meat and a horse to plow the garden and pull the buggy. Everyone had to work. Wood was cut, meals were prepared, dishes washed, laundry done. After the work was done the children played or the family would gather in the parlor to sing as Mr. Andrews played the piano. On Sundays, Mr. Andrews took his children for a long walk in the afternoon, probably so Mrs. Andrews could rest. The neighborhood children would join them. It was a joyful outing.

The late Vivian Cook Andrews described another special time for the Andrews family. She said that in the Andrews’ house, preparations for Christmas would begin by carefully washing the windows and curtains, then cleaning the rest of the house.

The fresh curtains were tied back with something Christmasy, often with greenery. The house was decorated with boughs of cedar and mistletoe. The Christmas tree was usually a spindly cedar tree which was adorned with popcorn, paper chains and small candle holders which were attached to the limb of the tree by clips much like today’s clothes pins. The tree was always placed on the hearth in the dining room.

Nannie Andrews baked many pies: sweet potato, apple, mincemeat and chess. She always cooked ham and other fresh pork from their own hogs for the holidays. If there was new snow on the ground, they had snow cream. Christmas was a time for visits with family and friends. When the cousins came calling, they said, “Christmas gift!” as a form of greeting. Mr. Andrews took his children to visit his White Cross relatives and took them gifts from his store, such as cheese or candy. Santa Claus might bring a doll for the girls and a cap pistol for the boys. The older children usually received something new to wear. The girls might get a fluffy outing gown or silk stockings. Santa also brought mixed candy, nuts and an orange (Christmas was the only time of the year when oranges were available in this area).

With a house full of children, one might expect noise and confusion, but such was not the case. Mr. Andrews ran a “tight ship.” If two of the children had a spat, one usually went to his father to complain.

Mr. Andrews would tell the offended child to go out and get a switch so he could take care of the guilty party. When the child returned with the switch, Mr. Andrews would say it was only fair to switch both of them. The father rarely, if ever, actually used the switch. His “punishment” was to set the two siblings on his knees and sing silly songs to them, such as “Froggy Went a’Courting.” It soon became a giggly time with animosity forgotten.

The Andrews family attended Carrboro Baptist Church. Mr. Andrews directed the choir and his daughter Vivian played the piano. Those were happy days.

Sad days came in 1921, when Nannie Cook Andrews died. She was only forty-six years old. Suddenly her oldest daughter Vivian, at age sixteen, had to quit school and take care of the house. She grew up in a hurry. All the older children had to help around the house and tend the younger children. One time, some officials from the orphanage in Oxford came to Mr. Andrews and put pressure on him to let them take all the children back to the orphanage. This he absolutely refused to do. Well-meaning neighbors would ask him for one child or another. His answer was always, “If you take one, you have to take them all.” The children, who had heard the conversation, were both relieved and proud of their “Papa.” Mr. Andrews tried very hard to run his home so that no one could find fault and take his children away from him.

The neighbors were extremely kind to the motherless family. Some of the women made clothes for the children. Others would invite them over for dinner. Vivian stayed at home while her brothers and sisters went to school. When they returned home, she would have a snack ready for them, sometimes baked sweet potatoes, sometimes sweet custard. Vivian also made clothes for the family. She gave her sisters their haircuts; Mr. Andrews took care of the boys’ hair. When they reached dating age, Mr. Andrews gave them a curfew of 10:00. Younger children had to be in much earlier. “Papa” always had to meet the date, and he had no problem calling time on any young man who was in the house when he should be leaving. When Raymond reached dating age, he was the only one who could then stay out till 10:00. Mr. Andrews would go to bed but not to sleep. When he heard one of his boys come in, he’d ask who it was. Raymond would tell his name and go on upstairs. Some of the younger ones would slip in later and when Mr. Andrews asked for a name, they would answer, “Raymond”. The next morning, Mr. Andrews would tease the boys and laugh about it.
In 1921, soon after the death of Nannie Andrews, the house, which had been wired for electricity for quite a while, was finally hooked up to the power source. The family had electric lights for the first time, which meant that they had a single light bulb hanging from a cord in the middle of each room. Later, about 1925, the house was connected to city water. The back porch pantry was converted into a bathroom with only a commode in it. The boys rigged up an outdoor shower by tapping into the existing water pipes. Laundry was still done outside using a wash board, washtubs and water from the well. The family had a telephone as far back as the children can remember. It was a hand-crank wall phone which hung just inside the front door. It was used only for emergencies or to talk with the Andrews family in White Cross. It was probably one of the first phones in Carrboro and was shared with the neighbors.

The children soon reached the age to go off on their own. Herbert, Pauline, Evelyn, Hamlin, Lois, Bennie Jean, Raymond and Phillip were married and Harry was in the Army. Mr. Andrews’ baby girl, Nannie Bette, finished high school. She, Vivian, Karl and Everette were still at home when Carney Andrews suffered a ruptured appendix and peritonitis. He was taken to Watts Hospital in Durham, but it was too late. The father of thirteen died December 11, 1937. The house on Greensboro Street was sold, and another family moved in to make their own memories.

Today there are many descendants of Carney Andrews and his two wives living in and around Carrboro. They have a wonderful heritage and lovely shared memories of the home on North Greensboro Street.

Sources: Interview with the late Vivian Cook Andrews, 1991.
Conversations with surviving Andrews children, October-November 2000:
Evelyn A. Haynes, Lois A. Ham, Jean A Wright, H. Raymond Andrews, Harry D. Andrews. Conversation with daughter-in-law Margaret B. Andrews, November 2000. Orange County Register of Deeds, Deed Book and Page 57-494, 106-235, 108-202, 121-204 157-277, 1143-251, 2013-524. Orange County Register of Deeds, Deed of Trust Book and Page 87-17, 91-67.