15/52 - Sliding Doors (2) - Prologue

[Note: All the following people lived within 10 miles of where we currently live. As noted in the previous post, John, Ida, and Eugene and Walter, Minnie, and Gertrude are also BURIED within 10 miles of where we live, in church graveyards about 5 miles from each other.]

John Daniel was born on May 6, 1872, and married Ida Mary Rogers (born on May 1875) on December 15, 1892. They proceeded to have 13 children.

”On September 12, 1921, a young African American boy named Eugene Daniel turned sixteen. Although he didn’t attend school, his days were full, as he spent his hours working on his father’s farm on Farrington Road in New Hope Township, North Carolina. He was never alone at home; the eighth born out of thirteen children — five boys and eight girls — Daniel worked on the farm alongside his parents and siblings and helped to raise the younger members of the family. Though large and labor-oriented, the family was close-knit and “fun-loving.” They were largely independent, as the father, John Daniel, owned his own farm, but they still connected with members of the larger New Hope community when they ventured into town, visited the county seat of Pittsboro, or took their produce to market.” (UNC Department of American Studies Honors Thesis by Morgan Vickers, https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/concern/honors_theses/cn69m818r)

Walter Robert Stone was born in 1880, and his wife Minnie Moore was born in 1882. Walter and Minnie were married in 1902 and had two children, Gertrude and Ernest. Gertrude Stone was born on April 15, 1904, and her brother Ernest Frank Stone was born two years later, on November 12, 1906 (the 1920 Census record has Ernest's age incorrectly).

Both families had been in North Carolina for generations. The families lived next door to each other and the children grew up together. (In the Census record, John Daniel is listed on the page immediately after the Stone family, and then the rest of the Daniel family continues on the next page.)

Gertrude and Ernest attended Pittsboro schools; Gertrude attended High School. None of the Daniel children attended school, although they could all read and write.

Both families lived anonymous lives typical of farming families in the early 1900s. The families only appeared in the local newspapers twice before September 1921. In January 1921, Ernest was "badly kicked" while "cranking a car." In May 1921, Gertrude performed at the High School's baccalaureate ceremony, performing a piano solo, "Over the Top," by Rolfe. Despite their prolific numbers, the Daniel family never appeared in the local newspaper.

Until September 1921.

To be continued.