Radios in 1930 in Level Cross, Back Creek, and Coleridge

A census record shows a wide range of information about a family and community. One of my favorite bits of information that can be gleaned from the 1930 census is whether or not a family possessed a radio.

One of the column-sets of information the census taker recorded.
Lists whether a home was owned (O) or rented (R), the value of the home or cost of rent, whether the family owned a radio (R), and if the family lived on a farm or not.

While invented in the late 1890's, the radio did not start to become popular until the 1920's. As more households began to own radios, more radio stations began popping up. So, a snapshot of who owned radios a decade or less from their first initial boom in popularity can really show a lot about what kinds of things interested a family or community.

For this post, I thought I would highlight the people who owned a radio in the Level Cross township. Out of 110 houses, however, only two owned a radio though: Talton Cox, who lived with John Robins' family, and Minnie Causey's family.

House of Joseph Sawyer and John Robins, located on Coltrane Mill Road. John Robins' household has a radio.

Household of Minnie Causey, located on Highway 70.

Both households, were on a farm. Talton Cox was 59 years old and a lodger in a home (a duplex) that was being rented. Minnie owned her home and was an 87-year-old widow. Talton Cox was an engineer. Minnie had no occupation (her grandson, Wade, was a brick layer and the only wage earner in the home).

Once I realized only two families in Level Cross possessed a radio, I decided to check a few other townships. Back Creek was the next area I decided to investigate. Of 208 families, seven families had a radio. The heads of households for those families are as follows:

Heads of Households (alphabetical) with a Radio in Back Creek:

• Archie C. Bulla, age 30, owned home on a farm, occupation: farmer
• Robert N. Davis, age 71, owned home on a farm, occupation: farmer
• Joseph R. Dougan, age 29, owned home on a farm, occupation: textile worker at hosiery mill
• Claud L. Hicks, age 41, owned home on a farm, occupation: foreman at a gold mine
• Grady L. Hughes, age 29, owned home on a farm, occupation: boarder at hosiery mill
• Claude Routh, age 37, owned home on a farm, occupation: farmer
• Charles W. Wall, age 51, owned home on a farm, occupation: farmer

Coleridge had a few more radios, so I've decided to highlight those families now too. There were 65 families in unincorporated Coleridge. Of those families, eight possessed a radio. Of the 265 families in Coleridge township, 15 families had a radio.

Heads of Households (alphabetical) with a Radio in Unincorporated Coleridge:

• Garland W. Allen, age 28, home owned and on a farm, occupation: (illegible, possibly calier at baul.)
• Obed C Brody, age 34, home owned and NOT on a farm, occupation: spinning room foreman at the cotton mill
• Floyd C. Caviness, age 36, home owned and on a farm, occupation: manufacturer at cotton mill
• Robert L. Caviness, age 63, home owned and on a farm, occupation: merchant of general merchandise
• Aaron R. Crausee, age 62, home owned and worth $800, NOT on a farm, occupation: manager of a garage
• Daniel N. Crausee, age 19, home owned and on a farm, occupation: farmer
• Oren W. Ward, age 60, home owned and worth $2000, NOT on a farm, occupation: overseer at cotton mill
• Robert D. Webb, age 29, home rented for $5 a month, NOT on a farm, occupation: reconstructant(?) foreman for the state highway

Clipping from 1930 Coleridge Census

Heads of Households (alphabetical) with a Radio in Coleridge Township:

• Stanley S. Allen, age 46, home owned on a farm, occupation: farmer
• Dean O. Brower, age 44, home owned on a farm, occupation: farmer
• William A Brower, Jr., age 29, home owned on a farm, occupation: farmer
• E. Willard Brown, age 70, home owned on a farm, occupation: farmer
• Ray E. Caviness, age 46, home owned on a farm, occupation: farmer
• Everett Cox, age 48, home owned on a farm, occupation: farmer
• John C. Cox, age 33, home owned and on a farm, occupation: farmer
• Vergil M. Cox, age 72, home owned on a farm, occupation: farmer
• Benjamin F. Craven, age 65, home owned on a farm, occupation: farmer
• E. Clevenland Craven, age 42, home owned on a farm, occupation: farmer
• H. Frank Maness, age 38, home rented on a farm, occupation: farmer
• William B. Maness, age 47, home owned on a farm, occupation: farmer
• M. Jeanette Pell, age 58, home owned on a farm, occupation: merchant of general merchandise
• J. Edd. Spruce, age 64, home owned on a farm, occupation: merchant of general merchandise
• Clifford S. Stout, age 39, home rented for $10 a month, on a farm, occupation: farmer

Clipping from 1930 Coleridge Census

So, less than 2% of the families in Level Cross, 3% of the families in Back Creek, 12% of the families in unincorporated Coleridge, and less than 6% of the families in Coleridge township had a radio in 1930. I hope to keep working my way through the townships in 1930 and seeing how these numbers stack up to the other areas of the county.

Sources:

• 1930 Back Creek, Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1930 Coleridge, Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1930 Level Cross, Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)

Joseph C. and Julia L. Smith

Joseph Coke Smith was born 31 March 1851 in probably in either Davidson or Randolph County, North Carolina. He was the sixth of 11 children born to John Benjamin and Christina Charlotte Walk Smith.

Clipping from the 1860 census

Joseph married Julia Ann Lineberry on 27 December 1868 in Randolph County, North Carolina. Same as Joseph, Julia was a middle child herself. She was born 14 February 1849 in Randolph County, North Carolina. She was the fourth of seven children born to Jacob B. and Edith Wilhoit Lineberry.

Joseph and Julia had at least the following children:

• Jacob Friel Smith, born 13 October 1870
• Ada Luretta Smith, born 16 April 1873
• John Webbster Smith, born about 1876
• Lucy Jane Smith, born 24 March 1878
• Charley Coke Smith, born 6 Sept 1881

Joseph was a farmer his entire life. 

Julia died 27 July 1909 in Randolph County, North Carolina. Two years after Julia's death, Joseph remarried. Her name was Nannie Crawford.

Copyright Brittany Jenkins, 2014

Joseph died 28 March 1928 in Grant, Randolph County, North Carolina of angina pectoris. Joseph and Julie are buried together at Cool Springs Baptist Church Cemetery in Coleridge, Randolph County, North Carolina. Nannie is also buried at Cool Springs.

Sources:

• 1850 Randolph County, North Carolina Census U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1860 New Salem, Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1860 Salem, Davidson County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1870 Fancy Gap, Carroll County, Virginia U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1870 Sandy Creek, New Salem, Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1880 New Salem, Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1900 Grant, Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1910 Grant, Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1920 Grant, Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• Death Certificate, Joe Smith (accessed on Ancestry)
• Death Certificate, Nannie Smith (accessed on Ancestry)
• Tombstone, J C Smith (photo taken June 2014)
• Tombstone, Julia A Smith (photo taken June 2014)
• Tombstone, Nannie Crawford Smith (photo taken June 2014)