Where the Tracks Meet the Tobacco Fields: The Legacy of the Adcock Family

Contributed by John Adcock

This is a copy of an original check written from the Matthews & Adcock General Merchandise account from the Bank of Holly Springs, dated October 16, 1926. It was signed by my grandmother, Clara Adcock, and was payable to SG Wilbon, apparently for tobacco land rent. The check was deposited in the Bank of Varina. In August of 1926, my great-grandfather, JE Matthews, and my grandfather, John C. Adcock, purchased the Davis Wilbon Store. Then in 1926, my grandfather, John C. Adcock, and my grandmother, Ms. Clara Adcock, purchased JE Matthews share of the store property. The purchase price appears to have been $1,200.00, and it was financed at 6% with the balance due in December of 1926.

In 1932, my grandfather, John C. Adcock, purchased the 71-acre Wilbon farm at a foreclosure sale. He financed the entire purchase price of $855.45. My grandfather banked at the Bank of Holly Springs until it closed during the Great Depression. Later on, my grandfather and father acquired additional tracts of property contiguous with the old Wilbon farm, and these parcels, along with the old Wilbon Farm, make up our family farm today.

John C. Adcock operated the store from 1923 until 1968. The Davis Adcock Store is now a Wake County Historical Landmark Property and is on the National Registry of Historic Places. During that time, John C. Adcock also served as the postmaster for the Walthal/Wilbon post office, located in the store, with mail delivered via the Durham and Southern Railroad. The Adcock family has been a part of the Wilbon Community since the early 1900s. My great-grandfather, Stephen Brantley Adcock, worked on the railroad and moved into the Wilbon community in the early 1900s. My grandfather, John C. Adcock, resided in the Wilbon community almost his entire life. My father (along with these two sisters ) was born in the back of the Davis-Adcock Store. My father spent his entire life of 79 years living in Wilbon, and today is buried in a family graveyard immediately adjacent to the store.

Outside of my time living in Washington, D.C. and Memphis, Tennessee, I have spent my entire life in the Wilbon community and continue to reside there with my family. My children are 5th generation Adcock’s that call Wilbon home.

The Wilbon community, formerly known as Walthal, appears to have been a rather quiet place until the Cape Fear Valley and Northern Railroad acquired a right-of-way through the community in 1898. This railroad eventually became known as the Durham and Southern Railway, running between Durham and Dunn. A depot for the Durham and Southern was located in Wilbon, approximately 50 yards to the east of the Davis-Adcock Store. The Wilbon depot was used to assist with moving people and products along the D&S rail line. The railroad tracts were removed in the early 1980s’ but prior to that time, I have fond memories of trains passing by and putting pennies on the tracts to get that squished currency. I remember the summer days in the sweltering hot tobacco fields, traversed by the railroad. When I was lucky enough to be close to the tracks, the passing trains would provide a brief breeze, and a moment for me to envision going somewhere, anywhere other than in a tobacco field.