Bertie County NcArchives History .....Windsor - A Center Of Entertainment During The Early 20th Century 
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Gerald Thomas gerald_thomas00@comcast.net January 11, 2019, 3:44 pm

WINDSOR – A CENTER OF ENTERTAINMENT
DURING THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY
by
Gerald W. Thomas

Windsor, as the governmental, commercial, and societal center of Bertie County,
has during its history, often been the site of varied entertainment events.
During the 1800s – even before the Civil War – circuses and travelling road
shows occasionally visited the town and entertained residents. For example, the
Circus and Western Gymnastics Arena Company produced a show in Windsor on August
25, 1841, touting its “Scenes in the Circle” performance that included
horsemanship, vaulting, tumbling, air diving, juggling, balancing, and cavalry
maneuvering. The show also featured a “Good Band of Music,” singing, and “banjo
playing.”


	Windsor’s taverns, saloons, and hotels served as primary sites of entertainment
during the nineteenth century, catering mostly to male patrons – local residents
and travelers. Gatherings at those locations were highly interactive and
frequently involved consumption of significant quantities of alcohol. Often,
patrons who had been drinking became rowdy and disruptive, and were escorted
from the premises. Occasionally, alcohol-fueled men became involved in violent
confrontations and altercations, some ending in serious injuries and even death.
Such behaviors were negative aspects of a common form of entertainment in
Windsor – drinks at a local bar. The situation became so concerning that
numerous citizens desired that the sale of alcoholic beverages be terminated
throughout the county. The citizens considered the matter a moral issue which
had become intolerably problematic by the early 1880s. Subsequently, state and
national laws enacted during the first decade of the 1900s would prohibit the
manufacture and sale of liquor.2
During the early 1900s, an increased emphasis on the more refined, artful forms
of public entertainment emerged in Windsor. By the end of the century’s first
decade, a group of amateur actors – the Thespians of Windsor – had been
organized and was delivering performances which greatly pleased audiences in the
Roanoke-Chowan region. Mrs. Rosa K. Winston, wife of Judge Francis D. Winston of
Windsor, organized and directed the troupe.1 On Tuesday, August 3, 1909, the
Windsor actors presented a play, Nan, the Mascotte, to Washington County
residents at the Plymouth opera house. The Roanoke Beacon reported that the play
was “deep, strong, but all the actors were equal to its demands.” Mrs. Winston
impersonated Nan – her performance was described as “the best … seen for years”
at the opera house. Through Winston’s efforts, “the actors were brought to the
point of perfection.” Mrs. Winston’s brother, Stephen K. Kenney, played the
comedian, Deacon Smartweede. Arthur C. Mitchell, as Edward Van Spread, “was
simply great.” Other actors were Mary Manning, Mrs. Frank M. Allen, Gladys
White, James B. Nicholls, John H. Matthews, Charles F. Lyon, Bryant Bazemore,
Claude Pierce, and Archie Hobbs. Miss Constine Morris, accompanist, kept the
audience entertained with music. Gladys White, Ethel Pierce, Viola Hayes, Arthur
C. Mitchell, and Claude Pierce sang during the evening. Emma Flanagan’s dancing
was superb and according to the newspaper, had “never …  been surpassed” before
in Plymouth. Six days later, August 9, the Windsor troupe presented the play to
a large audience in the Williamston Town Hall. The Martin County audience was
equally pleased with the performances as had been the people in Plymouth.
A year later, on Wednesday evening, August 10, 1910, the Thespians presented the
play, Leah, the Forsaken, to a large crowd in the theater of the Williamston
Town Hall. “Leah, the Forsaken” was a play written during the 1800s. The play
was set in an Austrian village in the early 1700s and centered on Rudolf, the
Christian son of a town’s magistrate, who fell in love with Leah, a Jewish girl
travelling through the countryside. The play’s theme dealt with the love of the
young Christian man for the Jewish girl. His devotion to her was strong, but,
because of his people’s prejudice, he was urged to forsake Leah. Tensions and
confrontations arose in this love story when a self-serving imposter accused
Leah of infidelity. Her champion, Rudolf, became her most zealous persecutor.
Yet, by braving murder, banishment, and a curse, the melodramatic hearts of the
characters found a grace of their own.
Mrs. Winston played Leah and was the star of the play. According to The
Enterprise, Williamston’s hometown newspaper, Winston “was all that could be
desired … a magnetic stage personality.” Claude Pierce, as Rudolf, the Christian
lover, was “very clever … and … effectual.” Moses B. Gillam played Nathan, a
disguised Jew. Gillam’s acting was “so fine” that the members of the audience
“began to hate him from the first, as it was he who planned the separation of
Leah and her lover. Other members of the cast were Bryant Bazemore, Joe Dempsey,
Arthur C. Mitchell, Copel Hoggard, S. F. Freeman, D. W. Sessoms, Miss Willie
Pugh, Mrs. George R. Bryant, Mrs. Frank M. Allen, Miss Emma Morris, Miss Alice
Morris, Philemon Allen, F. Craig, Miss Hortense Sessoms, and Miss Anna May
Freeman. William C. Manning, editor of The Enterprise, noted: “Never before in
the history of the stage in Williamston has so splendid a play as ‘Leah the
Forsaken’ been presented here.” Manning concluded: “The return of the Windsor
Dramatic Club [the Thespians] with any play which it may choose to present will
please a Williamston audience.”

The Enterprise, August 12, 1910.

	The following week the Windsor Ledger reported on the Thespians’ reception in
Williamston. “[I]t goes without saying that the glad hand was extended [by the
people of Williamston] and a crowded house greeted our players. The entire
troupe was entertained by the good people, all, showed every hospitality
possible. … Williamston and Windsor are mighty good friends.”
	The Thespians was likely the first group of its kind in Windsor during the
early twentieth century. Obviously, Rosa K. Winston, as the group’s director,
invested considerable time and energy into its organization, selection of
persons as actors, and rehearsals.
The troupe performed other plays during the next few years. On April 18, 1912,
the Thespians presented Sleepy Hollow to a “good house” of spectators in
Edenton. The next evening, Mrs. Winston and her actors performed the play in the
opera house in Plymouth. The Roanoke Beacon (Plymouth) reported that “the house
was packed.” The actors were “well trained” and the play “was much enjoyed by
all fortunate to see it.” In March 1913, Mrs. Winston desired to take the troupe
and accompanying orchestra to Williamston to perform “Sleepy Hollow.” The
Thespians were scheduled to perform at the Williamston Opera House on Friday
evening, April 4. However, logistical obstacles seemingly were preventing travel
to Martin County. The Enterprise reported on March 28, 1913, that waters in the
Roanoke River were running high and the bridge over Conoho Creek had been washed
away. The anticipatory citizens of Williamston hoped that arrangements could be
made to bring the Windsor actors to their town. The parties devised a solution
to the travel dilemma – motorized boats would transport the troupe, the Aulander
orchestra, and equipment from Speller’s Ferry (Bertie County) down the Roanoke
River to the wharf at the town of Williamston. “Friends” of the group would
utilize their automobiles to ferry Winston’s party to the opera house. The play
was rescheduled for Monday, April 7. The play was performed on that date
“without a hitch.” The Enterprise reported that “the Aulander Orchestra was a
splendid addition to the troupe. The orchestra was led by William G. Mitchell
who was assisted by Andrew J. Dunning, L. T. Dunning, Edna C. Dunning, Misses
Evelyn and Lillian Dunning. The paper further reported that the performers
“delighted the audience throughout the evening. … One of the most attractive and
pleasing features … was the singing of Misses Annie May Freeman and Margaret
Manning.” Following the play, some members of the audience went to the Masonic
Hall and spent a pleasurable hour dancing to music furnished by the Aulander
Orchestra. “It was a charming evening for Williamston people and they were glad
to have the Bertie people in their midst.”
Seven months later, Mrs. Winston and the Thespians were performing another play,
Coast Folks. On Friday evening, November 14, 1913, the Thespians presented the
play in Williamston (a favorite location of the troupe). The Windsor group
arrived at the town by “gas boat” during mid-afternoon and spent time strolling
along the streets and shopping. A “fair-sized house greeted” the troupe that
evening. The Enterprise reported that Mrs. Winston’s acting and the selection
from Rose Maid sung by Foy Allen Sawyer were the “attractive features.”
It is not known how long the Thespians continued to exist and perform. During
November 1916 the troupe was still active as it gave a reception at the armory
in Windsor. Quite possibly, the Thespians disbanded about 1917 when the United
States entered the “Great War” in Europe and a number of the troupe’s members
became heavily involved in activities within Bertie County to support the
nation’s war efforts. Specifically, Rosa K. Winston served as Chair, Woman’s
Committee, Bertie County Council of Defense; Bertie County Food Administration
executive committee; Windsor Township, District 1 food administration committee;
and Secretary, Bertie County Chapter of the American Red Cross. Moses B. Gillam
served as Chairman, Bertie County Exemption Board (“local draft board”) and
Arthur C. Mitchell served as the board’s clerk.
Mrs. Winston may have continued producing plays well into the 1920s. On April 9,
1928, she directed a pageant, The Gates Are Open, at the Sixth Annual Eastern
Carolina Exposition and Automobile Show at Goldsboro. (The exposition was
sponsored by the Eastern Carolina Chamber of Commerce to further commercial
interests in the eastern section of the state.) The pageant was based on the
economic awaking of eastern North Carolina which was “growing in the dark and
more or less asleep.” Mrs. Winston had visited a number of towns in eastern
North Carolina in developing a theme/plot for the pageant.
Mrs. Rosa K. Winston was a highly accomplished entertainer and performer. In
addition to her acting and directing skills, she was a classical pianist and
capably played works by Beethoven, Mozart, and Bach. It is not known where and
when she received training in the arts (acting, singing, and playing musical
instruments). Clearly, she deserves tremendous recognition for bringing polished
forms of artful entertainment to the citizens of Windsor and the surrounding
region. 
	About the time that Rosa K Winston began producing plays, the cinema industry
got its start in New Jersey. During the end of the nineteenth century a few
entities began making movies in that state. In the 1910s, “moving pictures”
companies were making silent movies across the nation. By the mid-1910s, movies
were being shown in Windsor. Claude Pierce (a member of the Thespians), managed
the theater, Pho-To-Sho – very likely the first “moving picture” facility in
Windsor. Pierce secured the popular film, The Battle Cry of Peace, for
presentation at his theater on November 17, 1916. The movie was a 1915 silent
war drama produced and distributed by Vitagraph Company of America. The movie
was based on the book, Defenseless America, by Hudson Maxim. The showing of the
feature movie in Windsor was an event of some note, about which the Hertford
County Herald reported “Pierce should be congratulated” for obtaining the film
for show. Pierce hired a Norfolk orchestra to play “special music” at the
movie’s showing. Surely, the citizens of Windsor were grateful to be able to
enjoy such a movie in their “little town.”
	

Advertisements for The Battle Cry of Peace.

	The Red Cross Theater in Windsor served as a venue for various entertainment
events. The play, An Arizona Cowboy, by Herbert K. Betts and Company was
presented at the theater on January 29, 1923. The Gypsy Girls Quintet performed
on January 19, 1924. The National Trio presented two short plays during the
evening of February 6, 1924. Also, Emilie Rose Knox, a violinist, gave a recital
five days later. In July 1924, singer, impersonator, and entertainer Julia
Culbreth of Washington, D.C. gave a show. Obviously, other plays, concerts, and
recitals were performed at the theater during the 1920s.
	Throughout Windsor’s history, music and dancing have been favored and popular
pastimes. Dances most often complimented other events, including weddings,
political dinners and rallies, and celebrations. Oftentimes, bands, orchestras,
and vocalists – from within Bertie County and other locales – performed at
events. For example, a well-attended ceremony in June 1887 was held to
commemorate the letting of a contract to build a new courthouse in Windsor.
Following the day’s events and dinner, the Lewiston Band and Edenton Band
occupied the upper porch of the American hotel and entertained the crowd for the
evening. Three months later (October 1, 1887), at a related ceremony for laying
the cornerstone to the new courthouse, the Edenton Cornet Band, marched through
the principal streets of Windsor and then to the courtyard, where it “played a
soft and beautiful air.” A reunion of Confederate veterans was held at the
courthouse in Windsor on August 6, 1891. For the occasion a dance was “given by
the young people” during the evening at J. R. Moody’s hotel. Five years later,
the Elizabeth City Band journeyed to Windsor “to furnish music” for the
unveiling of the Confederate monument. In the mid-1920s the Riverside Serenades
of Windsor perform at social gatherings.
	The above paragraph conveys only a few examples of people in Windsor being
entertained by musical performers. Such events surely occurred in the town on
hundreds of occasions throughout the years.
Furthermore, musical groups – including the Windsor Choral Society – were formed
by the town’s citizens. Mrs. Foy Allen Sawyer, wife of Dr. Charles J. Sawyer,
served as president of the Windsor Choral Society which was comprised of
twenty-five members. The society met each Monday evening to learn and rehearse
both sacred and secular music. The society performed on May 25, 1925, in Windsor
at the district meeting of the Frank Byrd Chapter of the United Daughters of the
Confederacy. On November 20, 1920, the society “present[ed] … an old fashion
entertainment called ‘A Page from the Past.’” Members dressed in costume to sing
and two “living pictures [silent movies] and two tableaux” [a group of models or
motionless figures representing a scene from a story] were presented to vary the
program. The “best musical talent of Windsor” was represented.
The society (like the Thespians of Windsor) also entertained audiences at other
towns in the Roanoke-Chowan region. On Monday, July 4, 1921, the society
presented a comic opera, “A Nautical Knot,” at the Richard Theater in Ahoskie.
On December 19, 1922, the society performed the Beantown Choir at the Strand
Theater in Williamston. By 1926, the Windsor Choral Society had begun “putting …
music” in some public schools in northeastern North Carolina. It is not known
how long the Windsor Choral Society continued to exist. Possibly, its influence
continued well into the 1930s. In early April 1939, a representative of the
Windsor Choral Club gave a solo performance during a meeting of the Woman’s Club
in Williamston.






	


	By the 1920s, Windsor had become a popular location with young people for
dancing. Surely, the town and its residents experienced the impacts of numerous
societal and technological changes which transpired across the Nation. The
decade of the 1920s, often called the “Roaring 20s,” also witnessed changes in
musical styles, and relatedly, dance styles. Jazz became quite popular and
dances such as the Charleston, foxtrot, waltz, and American tango became the
craze. Dance music began to dominate popular music. A craze for dancing satiated
the public, including in Windsor. Further, improved, paved roads and the
increased availability of automobiles to residents of the Roanoke-Chowan region
allowed people to travel farther (and quicker) for their social entertainment.
Dances were regularly scheduled and publicly promoted. Young people dressed
exquisitely to impress fellow dancers. Regional newspapers routinely published
accounts of dances held in Windsor and at times identified persons who attended
the dances. 

Windsor residents Edna Brown, Jonathan Stokes, May Nicholls, and Moses Gillam
dressed for an evening on the “dance floor.”


Image of a demonstration of the popular mid-1920s dance, the Charleston.



Windsor merchant, G. T. Davis, stocked a variety of musical instruments during
the music and dance craze of the early 1920s. Advertisement from Hertford County
Herald, March 24, 1922.

	At times dances in Windsor got out of control. Following is an account of a
dance held in a tobacco warehouse in the town in September 1929. The account was
published in October 4, 1929, edition of The Independent (Elizabeth City).
Hot Times in The Town on the Cashie
Windsor, small county seat of Bertie is not such a slow place after all if we
believe the Ledger,
weekly newspaper of that place. Here is a dance in Windsor as reported by the
venerable Ledger.
A dance was held in a Windsor tobacco warehouse last Friday night.
"It was some dance," said one young woman who attended it. 
"The orchestra came from a tent show and they were tired. The couples did not
start dancing but sat around until almost 12 p. m. when the Windsor policeman
left[,] the fun began.
"Three fist fights took place on the dance floor in less than one hour. 
"One of the fights was a free-for-all in which several dozen of the young men
engaged. In one of the fights a youth pulled out a blackjack in one hand and a
pistol in the other, but he was too drunk to use them so friends took them away
from him. 
"He then started feeling in his other pockets for a bomb or a knife, so I left."
"It was some dance" the young lady repeated.
There is a town ordinance against script dances in Windsor because they have
been so rough in the past.
	Today, information available from sources which were generated roughly a
century ago clearly reveal that during the early 1900s, the residents of Windsor
and the surrounding area enjoyed – both as participants and spectators – various
forms of artful entertainment. The information conveyed in this paper obviously
does not present comprehensive accounts of the various forms of such
entertainment. Rather, it provides glimpses into one aspect of Windsor’s rich
history. 


NOTES

1. Rosa Mary Kenney married Francis Donnell Winston in St. Thomas’ Episcopal
Church in Windsor on May 30, 1889. Rosa was born on January 26, 1870, in Maine.
Her father was Stephen Bartlett Kenney, a United States Navy surgeon. She died
on February 10, 1944, and was buried in the St. Thomas Episcopal Church
cemetery. Francis Donnell Winston – a lawyer, judge, state legislator, and
lieutenant governor of North Carolina - was the son of prominent lawyer and
planter, Patrick Henry, Sr., and Martha Elizabeth Bird (Byrd) of Windsor. He was
born October 2, 1857, and died January 28, 1941. He was laid to rest in the St.
Thomas Episcopal Church cemetery.

2. During the spring of 1881, Bertie County commissioners refused to issue
licenses to liquor dealers by a unanimous vote. Reportedly, there was “Universal
joy” throughout the county over the decision. By the mid-1890s the question of
liquor sales was again a debated issue within the county and particularly in
Windsor. On July 8, 1897, Bertie County’s board of commissioners met to address
the matter. Area residents were thoroughly aroused – an estimated two thousand
people came to Windsor for the meeting. The Honorable James E. Moore (Martin
County) appeared before the board on behalf of the “saloon men.” The
commissioners refused to grant licenses to sell liquor. The next day, the Bertie
County Alliance – a group of businessmen – publicly endorsed the board’s
decision. “Whereas, The Board of County Commissioners, for Bertie County, N. C,
refused license to sell liquor at its July session; therefore, be it Resolved,
That the Bertie County Alliance heartily approve the action of the Board, in
refusing to license the liquor traffic. … That we return thanks to the Christian
ministry for their able efforts in behalf of the course. A. J. Cobb, Secretary.
A. W. Snell, President.”
	Throughout North Carolina in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries,
state lawmakers allowed many municipalities to regulate the sale of alcohol
through dispensaries controlled by local commissioners. Less than five years
after Bertie’s commissioners denied the issuance of liquor licenses, eleven
saloons were operating within Bertie County. Five of the establishments were
located in the Town of Windsor. But, more universal changes, other than local
ordinances, were on the horizon across North Carolina.
	In 1903 the newly organized Anti-Saloon League urged North Carolina’s
Democratic-controlled legislature to prohibit the manufacture and sale of
alcohol. The lawmakers acted by passing the Watts Act which prohibited the
manufacture and sale of “spirituous liquors,” except in incorporated towns.
Windsor was an incorporated town. In 1905 legislators passed a law that extended
prohibition to incorporated towns of fewer than 1,000 inhabitants. Windsor’s
population exceeded that limit; as a consequence, the town’s merchants were
still allowed to sell liquor. 
Excessive drinking by some individuals was a problem on Thursday, August 5, 1906
– the annual Confederate Veterans Day in Windsor. The town’s “open bars” were
apparently quite busy. Half a dozen men were arrested for drunkenness during the
day’s festivities – a day considered “sacred” by many individuals in Windsor.
The town’s citizens were dismayed as more than five hundred “ladies and girls”
had come to the town for a pleasurable event. About 1,500 men and boys “were
taking rest and recreation in the old town … [and] were entitled to a peaceful,
quiet, orderly day.” The Windsor Ledger proclaimed that those in attendance “had
a right to expect that sobriety and good conduct would mark … the day’s outing.”
The editor further elaborated that “the [liquor] law was disgraced by … drunken
men who before being locked up were reeling drunk and profane on the street.”
The editor emphatically concluded: “Unless our authorities can retain greater
control over the sale of liquor on public days then it should be stopped in
Windsor.”
By 1909, prohibition was the law in the state of North Carolina and remained so
until 1935. Furthermore, in 1913 the United States Congress passed a statute
making it illegal to transport liquor from “wet states” into “dry states,” such
as North Carolina. Six years later, the Eighteenth Amendment of the United
States Constitution established prohibition as federal law. However, national
and state laws did not totally eliminate the consumption of alcohol by persons
who came to Windsor for entertainment. Certain Bertie County citizens began
making and selling illegal liquor – “moonshine.”




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