REYNOLDA - 1923- 1936
Memories of Bynum Fulcher, Jr
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MY MEMORIES OF REYNOLDA AND ITS PEOPLE FROM 1923-1936
My first memory of being at Reynolda was in May, 1924. I, along with my father, mother and two sisters were at Reynolda House for the funeral of Kathrine Smith [Reynolds]
Johnston. While we were there I remember thinking that I had been there before.
My grandfather was the night watchman there and he said that I started going with him to work when I was three years old. I had an army cot that I slept on. This was kept
in the room behind the elevator. The usual place for sleeping was in the hallway.
This place was always cool in the summer and warm in the winter. My grandfather's name was William E. Fulcher and he watched twelve hours a night, seven nights a
week. His pay was $25.00 a week.
My grandfather carried a Smith and Wesson revolver in a shoulder holster. He also had a German Collie dog named Lady to go with him.
We didn't see much of Mary and Nancy. They would come through sometimes i the evening. Most often we would see them playing tennis or passing in the automobile.
There was a room in the basement that was used for a workshop. This was behind the room where the hot water tank was located. In this room was a work bench, some
lumber, two airplane engines and two propellers. Smith would sometimes come with friends to this room and plan on building an airplane. This was before he made the
flight from England to China.
One night not long after Smith was married to Libby Holman, he called my grandfather from the kitchen steps. Smith had a gun in his hand and said that he had heard
metal hit metal. He was disturbed. My grandfather told him that the noise was the metal lid on the underground water reservoir which was located at the end of the house.
My grandfather checked this reservoir every night to be sure that the water supply was good.
Then on July 4, 1932, I helped John Frazier carry drinks and food to the boathouse for an evening party. When John and I left the boathouse we saw the party group
coming down the lawn. After this I had supper and went to bed about 9 p.m. It was the next morning after daylight that I learned that Smith had been shot during the night
and had died.
Pluma Walker was the maid that helped fix for the party. One more thing about Pluma was that her husband was chauffeur for Mr. Will Reynolds.
Ray Kramer was also in the house but not at the party. Ray had been there for some time teaching Smith to speak French. Ray and I had spent several evenings on the
lake boating.
My best memories are from the time when Dick and his wife, Blitz, lived there. As soon as Dick and Blitz returned from their honeymoon they came flying down the steps to
let us know that they were home.
One thin that I enjoyed doing was caddying for Dick on the nine hole golf course at the back of the house. He paid 50 cents a round which was good money then. One
evening he came to me and asked me to go with him in his Chrysler Touring car. I didn't know where he wanted to go, but I went anyway. We went to see Clint Warton who
was the superintendent of the farm. Dick wanted a dog house built with four sections, also with a fenced lot for each section. Of course I asked right then for the job of
feeding the dogs. I was paid $10.00 a month for feeding and watering the dogs once a day. This was real good pocket change for me.
On Christmas Eve he came down and gave me $5.00. Then, during the night while I was asleep he left me a wool sweater and a pair of high top boots at the foot of my bed.
One day when Dick was gone off, my cousin Bob and I wee going to fish in the lake. Dick's wife Blitz saw us and wanted to know where we were going. We told her that we
were going fishing. She said that she wanted to go with us. We said OK that we were going to catch some minnows for bait and would meet her at the boat house in an
hour. We had a great time fishing. Blitz hooked a nice bass but it fell back in the water and she said "Oh damn". That is the first time that I had ever heard a woman say
that bad word. She then took us to Summitt Street Drug Store for an ice cream sundae. We sure enjoyed this as it was the first time that we had ever had sundae on
Monday!
Of the help at Reynolda House there was Pluma Walker, a maid. Then there was John Frazier. I guess you could call John a housekeeper. John was also my fishing
buddy. John Carter was the butler and Margie, his wife, was a maid. Later on Margie was the cook for Mary. Then there was Harvey Miller, Ed Lash and Albert Wharton.
Las but not least there was the cook Mattie Duffy. Mattie told me one evening that she was tired and if I would sweep the kitchen for her each evening she would give me
something for Christmas. I did this and she gave me a quarter. My grandfather said that I ought not take the quarter since Mattie fixed my supper every night.
After Mary purchased Reynolda, Dick moved out. Mattie went to cook for him and his family.
There was a colored community on the place called Five Row. This was where Silas Creek Parkway runs and about 1/4 mile south of Reynolda Road. I remember a few
people that lived there: Henry Miller, John Wharton, Jim Lash, Jim Holmes, Ellis Pledger, George Wharton and Ben Bohannon are some.
Monroe Wharton and his family lived in the area behind where Old Town Club is now. They had a church which they used during the week as a school.
Of the white people that lived on the place there was Robert Conrad who was landscape manager; Irvin Disher in charge of greenhouse; Lester Fry was a foreman; Robert
Gibson was electrician; Stewart Waynken, office manager; Adrian Sigman dairyman; Ed Dancy, heating plant operator; James Mahoney and Barney Shields, plumbing;
Blanch Gunn was head housekeeper; The Nelsons; Ollie and Allen Sapp; Shober Hendrix, electrician; The Wayfields, and of course, there was Dr. D. Clay Lilly who was
pastor of the church.
In 1936 my grandfather had a stroke and had to retire. Up until then he always received his pay in cash. But then for retirement they started to pay by check with a $10.00
raise per week. It was my job to pick up the check each week. I told Mr. Sapp, the office manager, that my grandfather could not sign the check since having the stroke and
he didn't know what was going on. Mr. Sapp told me to sign the check and they would cash it.
One more than, my wife, Lois was born on this place. Her father, Herman Speas, worked at the dairy. That was where I first saw her when she was three and I was six. She
said later that she never would have seen me if my grandfather hadn't had bowlegs.
WILLIAM E. FULCHER ( -1939)
by Bynum Fulcher, Jr.
William E. Fulcher was the night watchman at Reynolda from 1918 to 1936, retiring only because of a severe stroke that prevented him from continuing.
He worked from 6pm to 6am, 7 days a week. Each night he made rounds in the main village each hour, alternating long and short routes. During the long
round he walked around the house, down to the barn, by the boathouse, then to the new barn, laundry and ice house, back up to the greenhouses and finally
back to the house. During the short round he simply walked around the house, checking doors and ensuring that everything was locked and quiet. A clock
system that required him to make three key punches every two hours documented each round.
Deputized by Forsyth County, he wore a badge that said "Reynolda #1." To further demonstrate to any possible intruders that he was serious about keeping
the peace and protecting the people and materials of Reynolda, he also wore a Smith and Wesson revolver in a should holster and was accompanied by
Lady, a German Shepherd.
Most often his rounds were made on foot, but if he heard a gunshot or there was a special reason to go over there he would check the outlying farms or the
area behind the church.
Between rounds he stayed in the basement, often his young grandson Bynum, Jr. would be waiting for him there.
He began work at Reynolda about 1915 or 16, working on the landscape crew and in the quarry. He was badly injured while working on the steam powered
rock crusher. He had been trying to put the belt back on the rock crusher while it was still in operation. Something went wrong and it flipped him, putting him i
the hospital. His grandson, Bynum Fulcher, Jr. remembered that Katharine Reynods had said that "she never wanted him to be fired and that he'd always
have a job here", and he did.
During the three years of his retirement, before his death in 1939, he received retirement pay of $35 per week, even though he had only made $25 a week
while he worked.
Before coming to work at Reynolda he worked for R.J. Reynolds grading factory sites Before that he graded roads, using mules, and also worked for the
railroad putting lines into the mines in West Virginia.
He did not live in a Reynolda cottage although he lived nearby on Greenvalley Road, a small road just off Polo Rd. about 1/2 mile beyond the polo fields. He
lived in an old farmhouse on a small farm which he owned.
REYNOLDA ESTATE FACTS AS I REMEMBER
by Bynum Fulcher, July 7, 2009
The entire estate was once about 1200 acres.
The office staf consisted of Lindsey Sapp, Mrs. Nelson and Miss Gunn
Baltimore Trust Rep. was Stewart Warnkin
Green House- Irvin Disher
Landscape- Robert Conrad, and his foremen were Lester Fry and C Adams
Plumbing was maintained by James Mahony and Barney Shields
Farm Manager was Clint Wharton
Dairy Manager was Warfield
Creamery was Advian Sigman
Carpenters were Bert Shuping and _____ Petterson
Paint Crew were the White Brothers
Electricians were Robert Gibson and Shober Hendricks
Pastor for Reynolda Presbyterian was Dr. Clay Lilly
Night watchman was W.E. Fulcher, his shift was 12 hrs long, and seven nights a week
Mechanics were George (Buck) Wharton, Allen Sapp, Robert Huffman and Emery Sapp
Teamsters - Monroe and John Warton
Heating Plant operators were Mr. Isley and Ed Dancey
Blacksmith Shop- Louis Boger
Polo Barn and Field were Mr. Reid and Ed Anderson
The quarry was at what is now the intersection of Silas Creek and Reynolda Rd.
Most of the African Americans who worked on the farm lived in an area called five row. It was named five row because the first five houses were built in a row. Later
houses were built on both sides of the street. A school was built for the "five row" residents which was also used as a church.
Water for these buildings came from a pipe near the center of this area. The location of five row was just south of Reynolda Rd where Silas Creek Parkway runs now.
There was a black woman named Bailey who lived in the five row community and she had two baby boys. One was named Abraham and the other was Lincoln. I wondered
how this could happen since she had no husband! I asked my Pa about t his, and he said that Ben Bohannon lived next door. One day Pa and I were driving around the
Lake Road and met Ben with a tow sack on his back. He ran into the woods and put the sack down beside a tree. Pa said, "Ben what is in that sack", and Ben said "I don't
see any sack!"
One evening we were waling from the Green House to Reynolda House. About half way we met Aunt Mandy, she was grinning like a mule eating briars. She lived in five
row and was noted for stealing. She had a plate covered over with a cloth. We found out later that it was our supper!
Mattie (the cook) always cooked our supper and placed it on the hall window sill outside the Kitchen. Mattie fixed another supper for us on our 6 o'clock round. We picked
up milk at the dairy, Buttermilk for Pa and chocolate for me.
The power heating plant had a beautiful smokestack. It was torn down when the Babcocks took over When it was in use, heat and hot water was produced with three large
and one small furnaces. The small one was used in the summer to heat water. They had someone around the clock in winter to work there.
In the summer they had one man in the daytime for the small furnace. My Pa went there at 8:00 pm and 2:00 am to fill the hot water tank. I helped with this at 8:00 pm.
They had a small track in the floor to carry the small coal cars to bring the coal in and to take the ashes out. There were no stokers. The coal was purchased by the train
carload, and was unloaded near where the Children's Home is today.
Payday was Saturday, noon at the post office. There was a siren on the silo at the cow barn which was blown. This was also blown in case of fire. On the village phone
system one could dial a number for a fire. This would show on the telephone control at the house, which number was tripped. As I slept nearby, I could hear the "clickity
click" of anyone calling. In the case when the fire siren went off, they ran to this panel to see which number was tripped so they would know where the fire was. The fire
equipment was kept at the power plant.
Water came from two artesian wells near the golf course. Then to pumps nar the East end of the house, then into an underground reservoir at the east end of the house.
Smith Reynolds had a motorcycle and he rode it in the grass plot between the boathouse and the dam. Round and round, and wore the grass off and made the ground
slick.
The family had two Rolls Royces. Their driver was Cleve Williams. Both Rolls were sold about 1930. I remember Cleve driving a 1928 Buick. He and his family lived in a
house near the power plant.