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In his first interview conducted on July 16, 1980, Hendrix tells how he came to Winston in 1915 from Tobaccoville when he was just 15 years old. He found work as a helper at the Electric Service Company, earning ten cents an hour, and explains, “Back then there wasn’t no high wages no way. In fact, electricians was only getting forty or fifty cents an hour.” In 1927, he went to work for Reynolda, Inc., and not only did electrical work on the estate but also on other properties, including the Graylyn estate. “At the time Reynolda was doing commercial work—electric work, plumbing, steam fitting, landscaping,” Hendrix says. He recollects that Steve Warnekin was the superintendent of Reynolda, Inc,. and was sent by the Baltimore Trust Company, then administrator of the estate.
Hendrix describes working in Roaring Gap, North Carolina, in the early 1930s on the construction of Devotion, the homestead of Dick Reynolds, the eldest son of Katharine and R.J. Reynolds, and his wife Elizabeth McCaw Dillard “Blitz” Reynolds. According to Hendrix, “…[Dick] said it would be about three weeks’ work. I stayed up there a little over two years.” Hendrix wired the homes of numerous other Reynolds family members and friends in Roaring Gap. Later in the interview Hendrix tells that Dick Reynolds bought up thousands of acres in the area and heard that he would pay five dollars an acre, which people were happy to sell during the years of the Depression. He also briefly shares his impression of Dick Reynolds.
In 1935, Hendrix was hired full time to work at Reynolda by Mary Reynolds Babcock, eldest daughter of Katharine and R.J. Reynolds, and her husband Charlie. Hendrix describes what it was like to work for the Babcocks and his relationship with them. He also talks a bit about the electrical and telephone wiring all being underground in the tunnels, both of which he was responsible for, and the extent of electrical work needed when the Babcocks remodeled the house and installed the indoor swimming pool. Hendrix mentions that he was friendly with the other employees who lived on the estate, including Robert Conrad, head gardener; James A. Mahoney, plumber; Adrian Sigmon and W. E. Fulcher, night watchmen; and H. L. Warfield, head of the dairy. He also describes some of the activities the residents enjoyed while living at Reynolda.
Hendrix discusses these same topics in more depth as the interview continues, and recollects how the Great Depression took its toll on many people, saying, “…everybody was losing everything they had.” Hendrix lived in a house in Reynolda Village and describes the tradeoff of lower wages for room and board, having everything paid “except my light bill,” he says. He speaks about the other workers that were also housed at Reynolda and with whom he became close, the Black community at Five Row, and his own family. A topic of particular interest to Hendrix is the dairy and other farming at Reynolda. He recounts that the Babcocks ended these operations as they were not making any money, nor had he believed that they ever made money since Katharine Reynolds’ death but were only for show.
When Hendrix first started working full time at Reynolda no one resided at the house, though the Babcock family and other family members would gather for parties at Christmas and Easter. Toward the end of the interview he provides some details about living in an apartment in the main house with the Babcock family for about six years, and what his duties were at that time.
ProvenanceThe Reynolda House Museum of American Art Oral History Project, established in 1980, gathered recollections from Reynolds family members and former employees, residents, and guests of the Reynolda estate. The interviews explore life at Reynolda and in Winston-Salem, N.C., during the early and mid-twentieth century, touching on the area’s socioeconomic, political, business, and cultural history. Early interviews conducted in 1980 were done by Lu Ann Jones; later interviews were conducted by museum staff.
Exhibition History8 September 2015-July 2016
Reynolda Gardens: Reynolda at 100
Reynolda House Museum of American Art
Published ReferencesMayer, Barbara, Reynolda: A History of an American Country House (Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, 1997).
Gillespie, Michele, Katharine and R. J. Reynolds: Partners of Fortune in the Making of the New South (Athens, GA: University of George Press, 2012).
DepartmentEstate Archives
Shober Ray "Pops" Hendrix Interview 1
Subject
Mary Reynolds Babcock
(1908 - 1953)
DateJuly 16, 1980
MediumDocument
Credit LineReynolda House Museum of American Art Archives
CopyrightPublic Domain
Object numberOH.02.019.1
DescriptionShober Ray “Pops” Hendrix, an electrician who worked at Reynolda from 1927 until his retirement in 1965, was interviewed by Patty Dilly as part of the Reynolda Oral History Project. Hendrix remained on the Reynolda payroll after his official retirement and resided at Reynolda Village until he passed away in 1991. The main topics of discussion in the interview sessions were Hendrix’s first jobs as an electrician, working for Reynolda, Inc., on the estate and then for the Babcock family at the house, as well as what it was like for him to live in Reynolda Village.In his first interview conducted on July 16, 1980, Hendrix tells how he came to Winston in 1915 from Tobaccoville when he was just 15 years old. He found work as a helper at the Electric Service Company, earning ten cents an hour, and explains, “Back then there wasn’t no high wages no way. In fact, electricians was only getting forty or fifty cents an hour.” In 1927, he went to work for Reynolda, Inc., and not only did electrical work on the estate but also on other properties, including the Graylyn estate. “At the time Reynolda was doing commercial work—electric work, plumbing, steam fitting, landscaping,” Hendrix says. He recollects that Steve Warnekin was the superintendent of Reynolda, Inc,. and was sent by the Baltimore Trust Company, then administrator of the estate.
Hendrix describes working in Roaring Gap, North Carolina, in the early 1930s on the construction of Devotion, the homestead of Dick Reynolds, the eldest son of Katharine and R.J. Reynolds, and his wife Elizabeth McCaw Dillard “Blitz” Reynolds. According to Hendrix, “…[Dick] said it would be about three weeks’ work. I stayed up there a little over two years.” Hendrix wired the homes of numerous other Reynolds family members and friends in Roaring Gap. Later in the interview Hendrix tells that Dick Reynolds bought up thousands of acres in the area and heard that he would pay five dollars an acre, which people were happy to sell during the years of the Depression. He also briefly shares his impression of Dick Reynolds.
In 1935, Hendrix was hired full time to work at Reynolda by Mary Reynolds Babcock, eldest daughter of Katharine and R.J. Reynolds, and her husband Charlie. Hendrix describes what it was like to work for the Babcocks and his relationship with them. He also talks a bit about the electrical and telephone wiring all being underground in the tunnels, both of which he was responsible for, and the extent of electrical work needed when the Babcocks remodeled the house and installed the indoor swimming pool. Hendrix mentions that he was friendly with the other employees who lived on the estate, including Robert Conrad, head gardener; James A. Mahoney, plumber; Adrian Sigmon and W. E. Fulcher, night watchmen; and H. L. Warfield, head of the dairy. He also describes some of the activities the residents enjoyed while living at Reynolda.
Hendrix discusses these same topics in more depth as the interview continues, and recollects how the Great Depression took its toll on many people, saying, “…everybody was losing everything they had.” Hendrix lived in a house in Reynolda Village and describes the tradeoff of lower wages for room and board, having everything paid “except my light bill,” he says. He speaks about the other workers that were also housed at Reynolda and with whom he became close, the Black community at Five Row, and his own family. A topic of particular interest to Hendrix is the dairy and other farming at Reynolda. He recounts that the Babcocks ended these operations as they were not making any money, nor had he believed that they ever made money since Katharine Reynolds’ death but were only for show.
When Hendrix first started working full time at Reynolda no one resided at the house, though the Babcock family and other family members would gather for parties at Christmas and Easter. Toward the end of the interview he provides some details about living in an apartment in the main house with the Babcock family for about six years, and what his duties were at that time.
ProvenanceThe Reynolda House Museum of American Art Oral History Project, established in 1980, gathered recollections from Reynolds family members and former employees, residents, and guests of the Reynolda estate. The interviews explore life at Reynolda and in Winston-Salem, N.C., during the early and mid-twentieth century, touching on the area’s socioeconomic, political, business, and cultural history. Early interviews conducted in 1980 were done by Lu Ann Jones; later interviews were conducted by museum staff.
Exhibition History8 September 2015-July 2016
Reynolda Gardens: Reynolda at 100
Reynolda House Museum of American Art
Published ReferencesMayer, Barbara, Reynolda: A History of an American Country House (Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, 1997).
Gillespie, Michele, Katharine and R. J. Reynolds: Partners of Fortune in the Making of the New South (Athens, GA: University of George Press, 2012).
Status
Not on viewCollections
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