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Wayne County Public Library, Goldsboro, NC

George Norwood and William Thompson on Their Way to San Francisco, 1915.

This picture captures George M. Norwood (driver) and William B. Thompson just before they left on a cross-country trip to San Francisco in June of 1915. They are parked in front William’s father’s house, which was located at 114 South John Street. Mr. Norwood and Mr. Thompson followed the Lincoln Highway on their long trip. The pair made it all the way to Ogden, Utah (at one point using ropes for tire chains to make it across the Rocky Mountains) where they were stopped due to a broken axle. Instead of waiting for a replacement axle, the men decided to finish their journey by train. They returned home in September by way of the Panama Canal.

William Berry Thompson, a great nephew of Governor Charles B. Aycock, was born on June 30, 1898 to Berry Gard and Kate Lee Edgerton Thompson. He was a merchant and was married to Gertrude Merrimon of Greensboro. He died on February 1, 1974 at Wayne Memorial Hospital. Mr. Thompson was buried in Willow Dale Cemetery in Goldsboro.

George McIntosh Norwood was born in Charleston, South Carolina on February 17, 1896 to George Alexander and Louise Hart Norwood. Mr. Norwood was married to Helen Allen. At one time he was the owner of Norwood Brick Company in Lillington, North Carolina. He died on February 5, 1978 in Kinston, North Carolina. Mr. Norwood was buried at Montlawn Cemetery in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Photograph Inscription:

114 S. John St.

1915 George Norwood and William Thompson

Picture taken in front of

B. G. Thompson house day

George and Wm left for a cross country

trip to California. They completed the

trip one way and car broke down. They returned

by the Panama Canal on its

Grand Opening 1915.

The car was a strip down

1912 Cadillac 4 cylinder

gas lights

Photograph Number: NOR3

References:

George M. Norwood obituary. Goldsboro News Argus. Goldsboro, North Carolina, 6 February 1978.

Hill Directory Company. Goldsboro, N.C. Directory: 1914-1915. Richmond, Virginia: Hill Directory Company, 1914.

North Carolina. Wayne County. 1900 U.S. Census, population schedule. Microfilm publication T 623, roll 1223. Washington: National Archives.

North Carolina Deaths, 1978, Ancestry Library Edition. Ann Arbor, Michigan: ProQuest, 2005.

Norwood, Charles. “George Alexander Norwood, Jr. ” In Wayne County Heritage, North Carolina, 1982. Mary Johnstone, compiler. Winston-Salem, N.C.: The Association and the Society in Cooperation with Hunter Publishing Company, 1982.

Rountree, Moses. Untitled and undated clipping in “Yesterdays Scenes: From 1870-, Collected by Moses Rountree, Published by Goldsboro News Argus.” Charles S. Norwood, compiler. Scrapbook, at Wayne County Public Library, 1977.

Social Security Death Index, Ancestry Library Edition. Ann Arbor, Michigan: ProQuest, 2005.

Thompson, John W., Jr. “The Berry Gard Thompson Family.” In Wayne County Heritage, North Carolina, 1982. Mary Johnstone, compiler. Winston-Salem, N.C.: The Association and the Society in Cooperation with Hunter Publishing Company, 1982.

Thompson, Mrs. Faison and Mrs. Gordon B. Weeks, compilers. Gravestone Inscriptions: An Inventory of Cemeteries in Wayne County, North Carolina. Goldsboro, N.C.: Wayne County Historical Association, 1981.

William B. Thompson obituary. Goldsboro News Argus. Goldsboro, North Carolina, 1 February 1974.