GeorgeScottonAllred

Allred Family Organization
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Family Histories and Stories
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George Scotton Allred was born July 1, 1853 as Randolph County, NC and the rest of the country was preparing for the coming War. George's father provided a comfortable life on a farm, run in part, by slave labor. George was too young to fight in the War, but he watched his two older brothers march off to join the Confederacy, and he watched as only one returned. He was known throughout the community as George Scotton and always signed his name using both his first and middle name or middle initial.

The family belonged to Grays Chapel Methodist where, per church records, they were active members. Church was probably where George Scotton first saw his future wife, Amanda Jane Lineberry, who's family were also faithful members. When they married, Amanda's parents, Emberson and Sylvania York Lineberry, gave the young couple 20 acres of land as a wedding present. Perhaps they hoped to keep their young daughter close to home too.

This land is where George Scotton and Amanda built their home and where Amanda gave birth to 10 children. Three of the babies were never named and are buried at Grays Chapel in little graves marked only as "Infant of George S. Allred". A fourth child, Hattie, died in 1897 when she was 9 years old. There was a horrible diptheria epidemic in the community at the time which we guess was the cause of her death, but the true cause of death is not known for sure.

The other six children grew up in a loving atmosphere on the family farm. Click here to visit George's family tree info on the Allred Family Roster. The photo on the right is George Scotton, Amanda and their two youngest children, Jesse Booker (standing) and George Henry (youngest) taken about 1899.

Besides farming, George Scotton also made moonshine which he sold to the restaurants, clubs and bars in Greensboro. The train passed through George Stotton's property, conveniently close to the creek where the moonshine still was located. When he had a "batch" ready to sell, George Scotton simply flagged the train down and loaded his "shine" for it's trip to Greensboro. Family stories tell that George Scotton would keep the moonshine revenue (tax) stamps in his pocket until the last minute. If he saw "Revenuers" on the train, he put the stamps on the jugs. If he didn't see them - and they didn't see him - the stamps stayed in his pocket until the next time. He figured "Why pay if you don't have to".

In 1892, George Scotton suddenly transferred all of his property into Amanda's name. Why? No one knows.

In the early Winter of 1902 there was a tremendous and unusual snowfall that left over a foot of snow covering Randolph County. While going about the daily chores, George Scotton caught a bad cold which developed into pneumonia. He died November 29, 1902 leaving his wife to finish raising their two youngest children along. But, George Scotton had not left a will and all of their property and assets were frozen by the courts as was custom back then. Although the land was actually in Amanda's name, women had very few rights including the right to manage her own property without a man's supervision and approval. Everything was held in escrow until the youngest child reached the age of 21. Suddenly Amanda had no financial resources with which she could support her family.

The court appointed three "commissioners" to assess the family's personal property and allot a Widow's Allowance so she could support her family. This assessment and allowance process would have to continue each year until the youngest child, George Henry, turned 21 years old. Amanda, used to a devoted husband and comfortable lifestyle now found herself a widow with two children and having to seek court approval for every aspect of her life. She mourned herself to death and died 7 months after George Scotton on July 10, 1903.

George Scotton and Amanda's oldest daughter, Dora, was already married to Heartha Elder when her parents died. This young couple took the two orphaned brothers into their home to raise. Two of their custody documents are on the right. Dora had been teaching school in the Lineberry community of Randolph County, but quit so she could become a full-time substitute mother for her younger brothers, Jesse and George Henry (now known as Henry). The photo on the left was taken in front of the old school house in Lineberry. Dora is on the far left. The woman standing behind her, 2nd from the left is her sister Della. The young girl standing in the middle of the crowd near the porch pole wearing white frills on her dark collar is Ollie Redding. Ollie would grow up to marry Della and Dora's brother, Charles. The rest of the people in the photo are unidentified. If you recognize any of them, please contact me. The photo on the left is Heartha, Dora and their son, Harland "Buster" Elder taken 1908. The photo on the right was taken about 1910 and shows Dora, Della and Buster in their Sunday finery.

When George Scotton and Amanda's youngest child, Henry, turned 21, the family began the legal proceedings necessary to divide their parents property.

Heartha was a fantastic business man who's instincts and knowledge slowly earned the family a fairly wealthy lifestyle. He moved his family to Siler City (Chatham County, NC) in 1905 where he established a number of businesses including Siler City Hardware Store, Siler City Lumber Yard and Elder Motors, the first Ford dealership for the county. The photo on the left is Elder Motors taken about 1910. Dora's brother, Charles, is standing on the left and if you look closely you'll see the legs of Jesse sticking out from under the car on the far left as he was working.