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others of his vintage might remember them too:
“The old hand pump on the corner of Eighth and Church Sts., where business houses in that area sent errand boys for water. To keep it cool, big stone crocks would be set where a breeze hit them. Dr. John Seay’s office was in the Miller-Claytor house at that time.
“R” Season
“‘Fatty’ Roberts’ Oyster House, where one could get oysters only in months with an ‘R’ in them—next door to
what was then the Methodist Protestant Church, recently sold. Anyone who saw ‘Fatty’ would know why he had that name. He was so over-sized that his chairs and buggy were made especially for him—some said he weighed more than 700 pounds. Before he died he had reduced until he could get on a street car. His sign showed pictures of a fat man, saying ‘I buy oysters from Roberts’ and a thin man with ‘I don’t’ as his rueful admission.”
“The Advance office,” Mr. Jordan said, “was on Eighth Street between Main and Church,” and that at less than nine years of age, 1880, he sold papers. [See photo on page 7.] He recalled the “lucky chance” which enabled him to sell the first copy of the first edition sold on the streets. Small as he was, he was
among the last to get his papers, and
as the boys scatted toward Main Street, a man in a building across the street threw him a nickel and told him to keep the change. Later, Mr. Jordan said, he worked in the pressroom of The News, folding papers from 4 to 6 o’clock in the mornings every day the paper was issued. “At the end of that time, Mr. (Albert) Waddill,” he said, “would give me a big silver dollar!”
Recalling Dr. George Preston, “very distinguished looking, especially when he was riding ‘round in the first Stanley Steamer in Lynchburg,” he spoke also
of the “beloved Dr. Alex Terrell and Mr. Sam Lile.” He remembered also Mrs. C. J. M. Jordan, who was Lynchburg’s best known poet, and who lived in the house now occupied by the boy’s department of the YMCA.
Holcombe Hall
Holcombe Hall, of which half now
is the Lynchburg Art Center, figures extensively in Mr. Jordan’s recollections. He saw the actor Milton Noble, in “The Phoenix,” presumably the last play given there. On each side of the steps entering the “Opera House,” successor to Holcombe Hall and on the present site of Warner Theater, were C. D. Kenny’s Coffee House and Camm’s Drug
Store. “When times were slack,” Mr.
Jordan said, “Dr. Camm, who had an aluminum violin, and Layman Carroll and I, each possessing a guitar, played in the back of the store.” He remembered buying a “mouth harp” for 25 cents from S. O. Fisher in 1880—a firm
still in business near its early location across from the “Norvell House” (now Schewel’s site), one of Lynchburg’s famous hotels. “I have that mouth harp now,” Mr. Jordan said, “and it still plays well.”
He continued:
“The bell on the Courthouse was used for fire alarms—one bell for Ward one, two for Ward two, etc., with many short rings in-between. The Gamewell alarm system, with boxes, came into
use in 1883. The first call was to the Virginian building at Tenth and Main Sts. I was going to Bigger’s School at the time and it was during recess. A black pall of smoke settled over the town.
We were called in, but I jumped over the fence instead and worked my way to the terrible fire. I was 11 then but will never forget watching the five dead firemen taken out of the ruins. I had
a grandstand view, along with many others, from the top of Lee’s Grain store which is now First National Bank. The expected licking was given by Capt. McKean, principal.”
The Miller-Claytor house in its original location at Eighth and Church streets Holcombe Hall at 1011 Church Street was used by the Lynchburg Fine Arts Center.
SPRING/SUMMER 2007 
The News & Advance
Jones Memorial Library