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Caswell County Genealogy
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 1875 - 1965 (90 years)
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| Name |
Kerr, Mary Graves Miles [1, 2, 3] |
| Birth |
1 Oct 1875 |
Yanceyville, Caswell County, North Carolina  [1] |
| Gender |
Female |
| Reference Number |
3621 |
| Death |
5 Dec 1965 [1] |
| Burial |
First Baptist Church of Yanceyville, Yanceyville, Caswell County, North Carolina |
| Person ID |
I3578 |
Caswell County |
| Last Modified |
16 Apr 2024 |
| Father |
Kerr, Lieutenant John Hosea McNeill, b. 20 Apr 1844, Stoney Creek Township, Caswell County, North Carolina d. 19 Aug 1924, Yanceyville, Caswell County, North Carolina (Age 80 years) |
| Relationship |
natural |
| Mother |
Yancey, Eliza Catherine, b. 30 Jun 1844, Yanceyville, Caswell County, North Carolina d. 21 Apr 1927, Yanceyville, Caswell County, North Carolina (Age 82 years) |
| Relationship |
natural |
| Marriage |
18 Dec 1870 |
Caswell County, North Carolina [1] |
| Reference Number |
24093 |
| Notes |
- Marriage date also seen as 19 December 1870.
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| Family ID |
F1643 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family |
Spencer, Dr. William Oliver M.D., b. 21 Apr 1863, Davie County, North Carolina d. 30 Jun 1938, Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, North Carolina (Age 75 years) |
| Marriage |
24 May 1894 |
Yanceyville, Caswell County, North Carolina [1] |
| Reference Number |
87023 |
| Children |
| | 1. Spencer, William Oliver Jr., b. 9 Jul 1895, Caswell County, North Carolina d. 18 Aug 1975, Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, North Carolina (Age 80 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
| + | 2. Spencer, John Kerr, b. 21 Aug 1898, Caswell County, North Carolina d. 5 May 1965, Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, North Carolina (Age 66 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
| | 3. Spencer, Frank Graves, b. 29 Dec 1906, North Carolina d. 31 Dec 1973, Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, North Carolina (Age 67 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
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| Family ID |
F1905 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
16 Apr 2024 |
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| Notes |
- Mary Graves Miles Kerr (1875-1965)
 
(for larger image, click on photograph)
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Mrs. Mary Kerr Spencer.
DAR ID Number: 90023
Born in Yanceyville, N. C.
Descendant of John Herndon Graves, as follows:
1. John H. Kerr (b. 1844) m. 1871 Eliza Catharine Yancey (b. 1844).
2. Dr. Albert G. Yancey (1817-87) m. 1843 Mary Graves Miles (1823-98).
3. Abner Miles (1792-1856) m. Delilah Graves (1784-1848).
4. John Herndon Graves m. 1770 Nancy Slade (d. 1807). John Herndon Graves (1749-1829) served as private in a company of North Carolina troops. He was born in Virginia; died in North Carolina. Source: National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution. Daughters of the American Revolution Lineage Books, 152 vols. [database on-line] Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 1998
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William Oliver Spencer, MD and Mary Kerr Spencer
Yanceyville was bereft of doctors after the demise of Nathaniel Moore Roan 1878, Allen Gunn 1886, Albert Gallatin Yancey 1887, and J. S. Doak 1891 until the entry of Dr. William Oliver Spencer about 1892. Born at The Oaks, Davie County, NC, in 1863, Dr. Spencer was a son of O. H. and L. W. Spencer. He was both a medical doctor and a surgeon.
On May 24, 1894 he married Mary Miles Kerr in Yanceyville, the daughter of John Hosea McNeill Kerr and Eliza Catherine Yancey Kerr with the Rev. P. H. Dalton officiating.
Dr. and Mrs. Spencer resided in the old James Poteat home (or hotel) facing the northeast corner of the public square, house now demolished. On the second story of this grandiose anti-bellum structure, Dr. Spencer opened his hospital. He performed operations and had the first and only hospital ever to be in Caswell County.
A Methodist, Dr. Spencer was Master of the Masonic Order during his short sojourn in the county. About 1906 he removed to Winston-Salem in order to enlarge his surgical practice. He built a private hospital in Winston. In 1913 he was a member of the North Carolina State Board of Health.
Two children were born in Yanceyville to the Spencers, William Oliver Spencer Jr. and John Kerr Spencer. The third son Frank Graves Spencer was born in Winston. All are now deceased.
Mary Miles Kerr Spencer, the wife of Dr. W. O., was a talented homemaker patriotic clubwoman, and speaker of note. She had graduated from Oxford Seminary as valedictorian and had taught school in a private school in Yanceyville. In 1921 she was Regent of the Society of the DAR in the State of North Carolina; as vice-president of the NC Society of UDC she was in charge of their scholarship program; in 1921 she was guest speaker for the dedication of the Confederate Monument in Yanceyville. For some years she was society editor of the Winston-Salem Journal. After her husband's death in 1938 she was assistant collector of Internal Revenue for the Winston office. A Democrat by choice she had been chairman of the Forsyth Party. An ardent Baptist, Mrs Spencer taught the young adult Sunday School class at the First Baptist Church, Winston-Salem. She was Mother of the Year for North Carolina.
Dr. and Mrs Spencer are interred at the Baptist Church cemetery, Yanceyville.
Sources: Marriages of Caswell Co., tombstone records, history of the DAR in NC and personal knowledge.
---- Mary Frances Kerr Donaldson
Source: The Heritage of Caswell County, North Carolina, Jeannine D. Whitlow, Editor (1985) at 492 (Article #673, "William Oliver Spencer, MD and Mary Kerr Spencer" by Mary Frances Kerr Donaldson).
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Mary Kerr Spencer was for many years head of the North Carolina United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), which was responsible for the Confederate Monument on the Square in Yanceyville. She apparently gave the principal address when the Confederate Memorial was dedicated/unveiled Saturday, September 10, 1921, in Yanceyville. Because Mary Kerr Spencer authored the inscription on the World War I memorial, one might reasonably conclude the UDC was involved in erecting the World I memorial (but this has not been confirmed). The Yanceyville World War I memorial has been deemed somewhat unusual in that it includes both white and black soldiers on the same plaque. This apparently was not common.
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Mrs. W. O. Spencer Is Versatile Woman
The following is taken from the High Point Enterprise:
Mrs. W. O. Spencer, of Winston-Salem, state regent of the North Carolina division of the D.A.R. arrived in the city yesterday to attend the annual state conference of the organization.
Mrs. Spencer, sister of Judge John H. Kerr, who is well known in political circles in this section, was born in Yanceyville, but has since made her home in Winston-Salem. Mrs. Spencer is a woman of great versatility. She has served the D.A.R. in the capacity of state regent for four years. Previous to this she was local regent of the General Joseph Winston chapter of Winston-Salem, for six years.
Mrs. Spencer has been very active in political circles of the state, serving now as vice chairman of the democratic executive committee of Forsyth county. In addition to her many other activities, she is a poet of some note. Her poems have been incorporated in a little volume called "Twilight Dreams." Other poems have appeared in the newspapers from time to time.
Mrs. Spencer delivered the address of welcome to the twenty-second annual state conference of the D.A.R. here this morning.
The Western Sentinel (Winston-Salem, North Carolina), 7 Nov 1922, Tue.
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The U.D.C. Chapter of Yanceyville Meets: Mrs. George Oldham Hostess at Interesting Meeting -- Other News of Yanceyville
(Special to Daily News) Yanceyville, Feb, 26 [1919] -- Mrs. George W. Oldham was hostess to the U.D.C.'s Friday afternoon at her home on West Main Street. The president, Mrs. George A. Anderson, presided. The chaplain being absent, Mrs. Oldham opened the chapter with prayer. Much business was discussed, dues were paid in for the coming year. etc. Mrs. B. S. Graves read an attractive poem, "My Boy," written by Mrs. W. O. Spencer, of Winston-Salem, who has a son in service overseas. Mrs Spencer was born and reared in Yanceyville, and her clever writings are especially enjoyed in the town of her birth. The chapter adjourned to meet with Mrs. Anderson on March 21. The hostess served a salad course, coffee and mints. Attractive favors, in the form of miniature hatchets, were given the guests in honor of George Washington's birthday. The evening was concluded with a number of selections on the Victrola. The guests were: Mesdames George A. Anderson, B. S. Graves, T. J. Henderson, W. F. Fitch, E. F. Upchurch, J. W. Wiggins, H. S. Turner and T. J. Florance.
Greensboro Daily News (Greensboro, NC), 27 Feb 1919.
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Mrs. Geeorge W. Oldham: Not identified, but lived on West Main Street in Yanceyville, NC. Possibilities:
1. Eula Kirkpatric Oldham (died 1941), wife of Reverend George Willis Oldham (1879-1964).
2. Mary Doherty Oldham, wife of George Washington Oldham.
Mrs. George A. Anderson: Mary Elizabeth Slade Anderson (1873-1939), wife of George Andrew Andersson (1869-1945)
Mrs. B. S. Graves: Malvina F. Graves Graves (1870-1955), wife of Barzillai Shuford Graves (1854-1942).
Mrs. W. O. Spencer: Mary Graves Miles Kerr Spencer (1875-1965), wife od Dr. William Oliver Spencer, M.D. (1863-1938). The son in service referenced most likely is William Oliver Spencer, Jr. (1895-1975).
Mrs. T. J. Henderson: Alice Cleveland Slade Henderson (1884-1928), wife of Thomas Johnston Henderson (1883-1959).
Mrs. W. F. Fitch: Fannie Rebecca Moore Fitch (1881-1920), wife of William Franklin Fitch (1877-1956).
Mrs. E. F. Upchurch: Mary Constance Stroupe Upchurch (1882-1968), wife of Ernest Frederick Upchurch (1877-1960).
Mrs. J. W. Wiggins: Sallie Henry Womack Wiggins (1864-1929), wife of John William Wiggins, Jr. (1849-1923).
Mrs. H. S. Turner: Mollie A. Hatchett Turner (1869-1946), wife of Henry Stephen Turner (1868-1951).
Mrs. T. J. Florance: Nancy Kerr Lea Florance (1869-1939), wife of Thomas Jefferson Florance (1858-1926).
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| Sources |
- Details: Thomas McNeill of Caswell County, North Carolina, His Forebears & Descendants, Ben L. Rose (1984) at 43.
- Details: North Carolina Death Certificate of Frank Graves Spencer (1906-1973).
- Details: North Carolina Death Certificate of Dr. William Oliver Spencer, M. D. (1863-1938).
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