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Another old photo yields new information
Our publication of images from Jackson County’s past continues to be a source of new acquaintances and new information.
Every time we print one of our unidentified file photos, we receive lots of calls and e-mails to help us place the picture in its proper historical context, and the image we ran Nov. 16 of two law enforcement officers next to a car containing jars of moonshine was no exception. The e-mails were waiting for me first thing that Thursday morning to identify former Police Chief George Evans. Out of at least a dozen contacts, everyone agreed that the man on the left was Evans. Identification of the second man was not quite as easy. Those who called and e-mailed on Thursday were mostly of the opinion that it was Jess Shelton; however, by Friday afternoon, callers who included two nieces of the late Burt Wilkey had correctly asserted the officer was their Uncle Burt. Thanks to Herald Publisher Steve Gray, who took the time to look through newspaper microfilm, we now know for a fact that the man on the right is Wilkey. Any readers that care enough to visit the library (Western Carolina University, Southwestern Community College or Jackson County Public) and look up the April 17, 1958, edition of The Sylva Herald can also find out whose moonshine Evans and Wilkey had confiscated.
Seeing the photo of her late husband prompted Arline Evans of Asheville to drop off a copy of a 1955 article from a statewide law enforcement magazine that featured Sylva’s Police Department and included photos of Evans and the department’s three officers – Shelton, Fred Bumgarner and Bart Cope. Wilkey apparently had not yet joined the force when the article was published.
Sylva Police Chief George Evans, left, and Officer Burt Wilkey with confiscated white liquor in April 1958.
In addition to photos of each policeman, the magazine included a profile of each. Thanks to Arline Evans, we now know that George Evans was a town policeman for several years before he was promoted to chief around 1952. He was born and raised in Sylva and was a son of Mr. and Mrs. F.H. Evans. Prior to joining the Sylva Police Department, Evans was a “deputy sheriff for Mead Corp.” and a “deputy sheriff for Nantahala (spelled in the article as ‘Nanathala’) Power and Light Co. Evans was a member of Sylva Methodist Church, the American Legion and the Kiwanis Club.
Shelton, who does look like he could be the officer on the right in the moonshine photo, was born and raised in Cullowhee. He served for more than four years in the Army during World War II. A military policeman and radio operator, Shelton was stationed on Guadalcanal. According to the article, he was the first person in Jackson County to be discharged from the Army under the “point system.”
Officer Bumgarner was also from Cullowhee. His military service during World War II was as a military policeman in the Air Force. He was stationed in Europe.
Members of the Sylva Police Department in 1955 included, from left, Chief George Evans, Fred Bumgarner, Jesse Shelton and Bart Cope. Department members were profiled that year in a statewide law enforcement magazine.
The final policeman, Bart Cope, is a familiar name from research in advance of the Sylva Fire Department’s 1999 centennial celebration. Cope, who was born in Murphy and came to Sylva in 1930, was a longtime Sylva fire chief. He was a Sylva policeman in the early 1940s before leaving in 1946 to take a job with N.C. Wildlife. He returned to the town police force in 1954. He joined the town’s fire department in 1936 and became its chief in 1945. During his time as chief, Cope made The Sylva Herald’s Dec. 22, 1949, edition for an alert response near High Point. His exploits are recounted in the following story, which was likely written by Gray’s grandfather, then-Editor/Publisher J.A. Gray:
The Sylva Fire Department puts a fire out wherever it finds one, brother!
There are some bewildered firemen in High Point who will vouch for that.
Bart Cope, local fire chief, was on his way to the fire chief’s meeting in Raleigh last week, accompanied by Carl Corbin, Tommy Clayton and Britton Moore. Just after passing through High Point, Bart suddenly told his companions, “I see some smoke up ahead there – guess there’s a fire?”
And with that, he went racing up the highway in the direction of the suspected fire. Sure enough, they soon overtook a tobacco truck which was moving along the highway unaware of the flames which were roaring in the tobacco behind the driver.
Cope called to the truck driver to pull over, took out his trusty fire extinguisher, and soon had everything under control.
A moment after Bart had put out the fire, the High Point Fire Department roared up in their trucks. They were greeted by Cope, standing proudly beside his fire extinguisher, puffing on a cigar.
“Everything’s OK, boys – the Sylva Fire Department is right on the job.”
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