Wayne County, NC - Heritage Series Reprinted with permission of the Mount Olive Tribune and cannot be reproduced without permission. Elliot is Still Alive "Our Heritage" By Claude Moore Friday, May 15, 1992 One of the thrills of a historian who has a real interest in historic preservation is to see a young couple find an old building, purchase it and restore it, making it into a comfortable home. This is the case of the old post office, store and depot at Elliott on the Seaboard Coastline one mile west of Turkey on Highway 24. Ricky and Teena King Autry have taken this 90-year-old building and have converted it into a charming home. Elliott is an historic site and is located on the edge of what was once the large grove of a plantation home called "Mount Pleasant." "Mount Pleasant" was built originally by James Faison, a soldier of the American Revolution, and passed on to his son William Faison, then to his son, Captain Edward L. Faison, and then to his daughter, Florence Faison, the wife of U.S. Senator Marion Butler. The original "Mount Pleasant" was burned by the Union Army in 1865 and the next home was soon rebuilt and was burned in 1935. In the 1850's the old plank road was built between Warsaw and Clinton but fell into disuse. In 1886-87 the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad built a line on the plank road right-of-way. The railroad depot was called "Summit" but when a post office was located here it was renamed "Elliott" for Dr. Elliott Lee of Clinton. The first building was used as a store, depot and post office and it soon was too small and was moved to the rear of the present building. The present building was built in 1902 according to Aldine Holland, a local historian and honorary mayor of Elliot, who found the date on one of the timbers. The building is two and one half stories. The Autrys purchased the building from the late Mrs. Olivia Holland Ellis in 1985. They did not change the outside lines of the building, but inside they have a large living room, a dining room, kitchen, a bedroom and bath downstairs. Upstairs they have three bedrooms and a bath. They have a few relics and artifacts on display. The Autrys have a young child. The post office was located in the store. The first postmaster was Mrs. Cornelia Faison, the wife of Captain Edward L. Faison, and she served from 1886 to 1892. For a time the post office was discontinued until 1910 and then Pocahontas Bumgardner became postmaster. She was succeeded in 1912 by Gustav Plataetschke, a native of Poland who married a local lady, Sallie McGee. Besides the store at Elliott he also operated a store at Turkey. Mr. Plataetschke remained here until his death in 1925 and he was succeeded by Walter V. Brinkley (1923-1932) and from 1932 to 1940 Percy Collins served as postmaster of Elliott. The U.S. Mail was originally carried by the trains. The store was later operated by Clarence Faulkner and later Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Ellis. This restoration by the Autrys keeps alive the memories of this historic spot in Sampson County. ============================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. The electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Guy Potts ==============================================================