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Research unravels mystery
Reading the handwriting on the back of this week’s “Then and Now” photo brought back memories of a summer spent in the basement of Western Carolina University’s Hunter Library where the university archives were once housed.
I spent my days dipping a collection of letters and other papers in trays of chemicals that were supposed to remove the acid and preserve the documents for future research. As I dipped and dried and transcribed, I read of the mica mines and other business interests of a man named William F. Tompkins. Some of the letters and papers mentioned his wife, Annie L. Tompkins, and I have a vague memory of hearing that the documents had been recovered from the “Luck House” before it was torn down.
It was Dan Tompkins, William’s son, who penned the brief description that identified Claude Jones’ photo as one of the Sylva Tannery. At the end were the words, “used by permission,” which means the image is probably one that Dan Tompkins published in an edition of the Jackson County Journal, the newspaper he edited from 1912 through 1943.
Dan Tompkins was also elected mayor of Sylva several times and served several terms in the state House of Representatives. Tompkins’ business manager at the Journal was Everett E. Brown, who would later found The Ruralite, the paper that became The Sylva Herald.
While Dan Tompkins’ name was one I encountered from time to time, especially when working on special sections and stories dealing with the county’s past, it didn’t occur to me to connect him with those old letters from my summer archives job until I looked at his handwriting yesterday. All it took was opening the first volume of “Jackson County Heritage” to find out that Dan Tompkins was the son of Dr. William F. Tompkins and Annie Luck Tompkins.
After William Tompkins died, Annie moved in with her sisters Sadie and Addie in a house that was located in part of what is now Mark Watson Park and was then called “Baum Bottom” after Joseph Baum, who built the house. Years later, when the house was to be torn down, William F. Tompkins’ papers found their way into the WCU archives.
It turns out that both his father and his son are more famous than he was. “The History of Jackson County” has only one entry for William F. Tompkins:
“In the 1880s and 1890s William F. Tompkins speculated in copper properties and in 1894 persuaded outside interests to purchase the Love, Davies and Savannah properties for $125,000. There is no evidence that these lodes were mined.”
William F.’s father, Dr. William C. Tompkins, is listed three times – twice in connection with the newspaper he founded – The Webster Herald (1886-1906) – and again because he served as Webster’s postmaster for a time.
Dan Tompkins is listed in the history book’s index at least eight times. The volume describes his newspaer career in great detail and includes his views on infrastructure development.
“Dan Tompkins believed there was a ‘conspiracy’ to rush the completion of the Brevard to Waynesville and Franklin to Bryson City highways in order to channel the rich tourist trade through neighboring towns,” writes John Bell in the chapter titled “Economic Development.” “Tompkins also suspected that Nantahala Power and Light was blocking completion of the road until the company decided how to develop its hydroelectric sites on the upper Tuckaseigee.” Tompkins is also mentioned in reference to his service in the Legislature.
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