A Portrait of Hattie Hampton Glazener Kitchen

Hattie Kitchen, dressed for the 1961 Centennial

Although it looks like it could be from more than a century ago, this portrait of Hattie Kitchen was taken in 1961 by local photographer Pat Austin to celebrate Transylvania County’s Centennial. Hattie was born on April 9, 1886 to Montville Justus Glazener and Matilda Jane Whitmire Glazener. One of ten children, she grew up in Rosman and married Alvoid Osborne Kitchen on February 3, 1906. They had one daughter, Reba, who was born in 1910. 

Hattie’s family has a long history of residency in Transylvania County, tracing their ancestry back to John Glazener/Johan Glasner who immigrated to the U.S. from Germany in 1752. One of John’s sons, Hattie’s great-great-grandfather George, and his family were the first Glazeners to settle in Transylvania County. 

Hattie was a lifelong resident of Transylvania County and lived in the same house on Franklin Drive (now Franklin Street) for over 40 years. She was well-known to many in roles such as her service to the Chamber of Commerce. She attended the Epworth School (which later transitioned to the Brevard Institute and then Brevard College) and was the secretary of her very active alumni group. In the late 1960s she became a member of the artist/crafter cooperative known as “8-Crafters,” showcasing her quilts in their annual juried shows and selling them in the group’s summer shop on Highway 276. 

In a 1977 Transylvania Times interview, Hattie describes her love of dancing and of associating with young folks as often as possible to keep herself feeling young. She was easy to spot driving around in her midnight blue Mustang with a white vinyl top, proving that age is mindset more than anything else. 

In her aging years, Hattie was respected as a community elder, which is evident with honors such as her selection as the Grand Marshal of the Brevard Christmas Parade in 1981. At the time of her passing in January 1983, she was the oldest member of Brevard-Davidson River Presbyterian Church. Hattie’s legacy lives on with her descendants who still live in Transylvania County. 

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library. This article was written by Local History Librarian Laura Gardner. For more information, comments, or suggestions, contact NC Room staff at ncroom@transylvaniacounty.org or 828-884-1820. 

Mathatasian Club Promotes Exchange of Ideas for Over 100 Years

 

Scrapbook page showing ephemera from a 1955 Mathatasian Club fundraiser 

The E.O.T (Every Other Thursday) Book Club was organized in September 1915 with sixteen charter members: Maud Allison, Mrs. Beavens, Ida Bryant, Mrs. Burnett, Mrs. Caldwell, C.E. Deaver, Flora Duckworth, Kathleen Ervin, A.E. Hampton, N. Forsythe, Ora Jones, Mrs. Margan, E.H. Norwood, Mrs. Macfie, E.H. Trowbridge, and Julia Trowbridge. The group met to trade books and had a theme that changed each year. On April 12, 1917, the name was changed to the Mathatasian Book Club. Julia Trowbridge selected the name because it meant “learner.” The club joined the N.C. Federation of Women’s Clubs on October 20, 1921.

Cover of 1955 scrapbook

In addition to their intellectual pursuits, at times the club also acted as a charitable organization through efforts such as fundraising for veterans and their families and polio prevention. One early fundraising effort was to publish a cookbook with a small collection of recipes in 1939, making this the earliest published local cookbook in Transylvania County. The photo included in this article is an image of a scrapbook page from 1991. This retrospective scrapbook showcases the fundraising efforts of the club in 1955 when money was raised to aid a family of Czechoslovakian refugees living in France. The Mathatasian Club of Brevard is still active today and continues to discuss their annual theme and exchange books.

Cover of 1939 cookbook

The minutes from 1916 to the present, collected club scrapbooks, and the 1939 cookbook are archived
in the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room at the Transylvania County Library. Scrapbooks from the past club years are also digitized and part of the online collection, which can be accessed on Digital NC.

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library. Visit the NC Room during regular library hours (Monday-Friday) to learn more about our history and see additional photographs. This article was written by Laura Gardner, Local History Librarian. For more information, comments, or suggestions contact laura.gardner@transylvaniacounty.org or 828-884-1820.

Gravemarkers Are a Rich Source of Historical Information

Gravemarker for Claud Dunn (1906-1923)

 Gravemarkers, also called gravestones or tombstones, can reveal much more about history than many people realize. Most gravemarkers will have the name of the deceased (though sometimes there are only initials or titles like “wife”). Some may also have parents’ names, familial relationships, indicators of military service, maiden names, membership in fraternal organizations, religion, immigrant place of origin, or cause of death. Visiting a cemetery and seeing the placement of stones in relation to one another can also give clues about infant deaths not otherwise recorded, or familial relationships, such as seeing who is buried in a group and discovering a maiden name and wife’s family from nearby gravemarkers.

Gravemarker for Solomon Osteen
(1816-1871)

Another interesting piece of information that can be gleaned from gravemarkers is dependent on a type of symbolism that has been lost from general awareness—gravemarker symbology. The images carved on gravemarkers had a symbolic meaning to convey hopes for the dearly departed, pedantic meditations on the ephemeral nature of life, and the expression of emotions about the deceased. Some of these meanings may be apparent today, but others are less obvious. One might guess that a lamb indicates innocence (often seen on children’s gravemarkers) but be surprised to learn that a key indicates knowledge and entrance into heaven.

 

With this awareness, one can visit a cemetery within Transylvania County and discover much more about the gravemarkers there than before. The Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room at the Transylvania County Library has a photograph collection of gravemarkers from around the county, some of which are now on display on the second floor with special note given to the symbology of carvings. Gravemarker rubbings are also featured, showing how this genealogical pastime can help to preserve the imagery from deteriorating gravemarkers. A scrapbook documenting the revitalization of the Davidson River Cemetery in 1976 gives another view of preservation over time and how generational devotion to maintenance of cemeteries helps to preserve these treasure troves for future generations.

Gravemarker for Julia Nathalie Forsythe, born, married, and buried on May 14.

The photo featured in this week’s Picturing the Past shows one special gravemarker that is also being highlighted in the display. Note that Julia Nathalie Forsythe was born on Monday, May 14, 1860. She married on her seventeenth birthday Monday, May 14, 1877, and was buried on Monday, May 14, 1923 at the age of 63. The dates and consistent days of the week of these significant life events are such a unique coincidence, the family chose to immortalize it in stone, leaving it for us to marvel at today.

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library. This article was written by Local History Librarian Laura Gardner. For more information, comments, or suggestions, contact NC Room staff at ncroom@transylvaniacounty.org or 828-884-1820.

Henry Scadin

Rupert "Henry" Scadin, self-portrait

Rupert “Henry” Scadin was a western regional photographer well-known at the turn of the 20^th century. Although he called himself a landscape photographer, what he captured with his images of a changing landscape would be well-titled as documentary photography. Scadin had a home in Sapphire, NC, which as a skilled carpenter, he contributed to building in 1897. He and his wife Kate and son Dewey lived there off and on until 1915. In addition to photography, he kept a working orchard on the land until it was destroyed in the 1916 floods, urging him to move to Vermont. 

Lake Toxaway - photo by Henry Scadin, colorization by Kate Scadin

Scadin frequently photographed the lakes and inns of Fairfield, Sapphire, and Toxaway. His wife Kate was a painter and hand-colored his works in order to turn them into postcards. Many of the Toxaway Inn postcards of that era were created from Scadin’s photographs. In conjunction with his photographs, he kept extensive diaries which are available online today that give a view into life at that time, down to the weather each day. These are searchable and available through the UNCA Special Collections. The Transylvania County Library owns several original Scadin photographs, including the self-portrait and colorized Lake Toxaway postcard seen here.

Looking Glass Falls photo by Henry Scadin

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library. This article was written by Local History Librarian Laura Gardner. For more information, comments, or suggestions, contact NC Room staff at ncroom@transylvaniacounty.org or 828-884-1820.