How
(Huntersville,
It was an innocent question by Jill Santucclo,
reporter for the
Jill is one person in a new generation of local people who
now work or live in
This story gives us an insight into the person for whom this road was named.
Needless to say, many roads are named for people who live or
lived on them.
When the person Sam Furr is mentioned, nearly everyone who knew him replies, "He was a character. There was only one person like him."
This is his story as told primarily by his daughter, Mary
Gordon Kelly, a longtime resident of R.F. D. Davidson, now living in
Samuel Monroe Furr, Sept. 17, 1894-Feb. 24, 1971 and his
wife, Mary Knox Furr, 1885-1968, spent their lives in North Mecklenburg except
for two years at his ancestral home in
His wife Mary attended
Sam and Mary were members of Bethel Presbyterian Church,
located west of
Sam was a World War I veteran serving with a graves registration unit. During World War II, Sam was a member of the Mecklenburg County Rationing Board.
Sam was one of the prime movers in establishing the
Cornelius Electric Membership Corporation, now Crescent Electric Membership
Corporation. This company was organized under the Rural Electric Membership Corporation.
Electric power to
After Sam Furr’s first visit to
Sam’s speech was liberally sprinkled with, ”By God this and By God that.“ An unusual characteristic was Sam's thinking of people as a group rather than as individuals.
Sam operated a dairy farm on the portion of
0ne incident concerning Sam and his friend, Babe Stilwell, a country merchant and farmer noted for growing the largest watermelons in Mecklenburg, concerns Babe's cows getting out of their pasture and eating much of Sam's corn. Babe offered to pay Sam the value of the corn. Sam declined, explaining that he would get reimbursed by visiting Babe's watermelon patch.
When
For recreation, Sam enjoyed a sport that few people now
enjoy. Sam was an avid fox hunter with many trained dogs. Members of the
sheriffs department and Mecklenburg County Police enjoyed regularly scheduled
hunts on his 300 acre farm, and on
This sport is still enjoyed by fox hunters from several
counties in
Another form of recreation that Sam and Mary enjoyed was
square dancing at the
Another incident that gives us an insight into his character concerns his daughter Mary and her husband, Leslie Kelly. An erroneous radio report that Leslie Kelly's house was on fire resulted in thirteen law enforcement vehicles answering the alarm.
Mary Furr’s father was Joe V. Knox, a builder. Joe V. built most of the present commercial buildings in downtown Davidson.
Sam Furr was rewarded for his service to his community and
his political influence by having a road named for him--
Citation: Lake Norman – Piedmont History, Marvin K. Brotherton, H & B Printer, Huntersville, North Carolina, 1993
Sam Furr is the soldier on the right