Chadbourn's Sunny South Colony - Columbus Co., NC - Misc.



                       Chadbourn's Sunny South Colony

During the early 1890s Joseph Brown, a local businessman, began what would
become the largest strawberry market in the world. Realizing the value of
cutover timberland for agricultural use, he organized with the help of
Chicago-based Farm, Field and Fireside's newspaper publishers the
"Chadbourn Excursion to the North Carolina Sunny South Colony." For $28.45
potential farmers from the midwest could travel round-trip to Chadbourn to
view parcels of forty to eighty acres being sold for $10.00 per acre. The
sale of the land was profitable, and resulted in the relocation of about
160 families to the northeast and southwest of Chadbourn.

Strawberry production was enthusiastically adopted by the new farmers. In
1895 six hundred crates of strawberries were shipped north by refrigerated
rail car. By 1905 the production had grown to 350,000 crates. Then disaster
sruck in 1905 when a railroad scheduling snafu caused a panic among the
Colony. Although compensated for their losses by the railroad, the farmers
turned to other crops as World War I necessitated the production of more
"patriotic" crops. Coupled with the strawberry weevil which also took its
toll, production slumped. Even so, from 1895 to 1925 Columbus County
produced 250 million quarts of strawberries - enough to fill 30,000 rail
cars. As the years went by the Colony turned more toward a less
labor-intensive crop - tobacco. (Columbus County North Carolina -
Recollections and Records, Columbus County Bicentennial Commission, Edited
by Ann Courtney Ward Little, Whiteville, 1980)

A list of surnames of the Sunny South Colony heads of family was prepared
in 1930. The names are listed here alphabetically along with the previous
state or country of residence.

Surname, first name if known, previous residence

     Alendorf

     Bailey, Elroy

     Bailey, Lou

     Baily, Russell

     Barber (Pennsylvania)

     Bates, Charlie (Illinois)

     Beaudix (Iowa)

     Beckster (Minnesota)

     Bence

     Bennett

     Berry (Pennsylvania)

     Blakeley

     Boege (Missouri)

     Boughner (Nebraska)

     Brower

     Bums

     Carter

     Case, Charles

     Case, George

     Case, Orland (Michigan)

     Case, Orrin

     Casey

     Caster

     Chapin

     Christie, George

     Clark, C. (Illinois)

     Clough (Iowa)

     Colburn (Kansas)

     Cotton

     Coultas, Frank (Illinois)

     Crawford, John (Iowa)

     Crawford, Raymond (Iowa)

     Crook

     Damien

     Dowless

     English

     Fea (Michigan)

     Frail

     Friedman (Ohio)

     Gay

     Gibbs

     Gonser (Indiana)

     Goodrich, Harry (Iowa)

     Hammond

     Hampton

     Harley, David (Iowa)

     Harnley, Andrew

     Harnley, Ben (Illinois)

     Harnley, Joe (Illinois)

     Haycock

     Hester

     Hodgson

     Hopkins

     Horton, George (Iowa)

     Horton, Orr (Iowa)

     Howe (Michigan)

     Hunt, Ed

     Huske (Michigan)

     Huss (Michigan)

     Johnson, Guy

     Johnston, Homer

     Johnston, S. W.

     Jordan (Idaho)

     Keith (Michigan)

     Klink (Michigan)

     Koon, J.T. (Nebraska)

     Leonhart. M. F. (Iowa)

     Lesane

     Lindless

     Lineaux

     Linsey

     Lloyd (England)

     Loman (Pennsylvania)

     Long (Michigan)

     Lorne (Missouri)

     Lowe, W. E. (Nebraska)

     Lufkins

     Marenis (Wisconsin)

     Marshall

     McPhail

     Meeks

     Miller (Indiana)

     Mills

     Moors (Michigan)

     Morris (South Dakota)

     Newland, James (Iowa)

     Newland, John (Iowa)

     Oldfather

     Parmalee (Michigan)

     Payne

     Penn

     Perrin, Isaiah

     Perrin, Peter

     Peterson

     Pifer, E. A. (Canada)

     Porter (Illinois)

     Potter

     Pullin

     Ramsbottom, Charles (Missouri)

     Ramsbottom, Thomas (Missouri)

     Ramsbottom, William (Missouri)

     Reid (Minnesota)

     Riley

     Rollinson (Iowa)

     Schultz (Iowa)

     Scotney (Michigan)

     Sessoms

     Shafer

     Shaver

     Sheppard (Ohio)

     Skinner

     Smith

     Squires

     Staley

     Stallneck

     Starke, Stuart

     Stolen

     Stonehouse

     Strole

     Stubbs

     Thomas, John

     Thompson, George (New Mexico)

     Tipton (New Mexico)

     Trask (Illinois)

     Vinson, Harry