Former Lam Boykin Britton, Sr. House Site
St. Paul United Methodist Church Parking Lot
Lam Boykin Britton, Sr. House
(Now at 909 West Main Street)
James W. Jenkins: The house shown in the second photo was once located on the lot where the St. Paul United Methodist Church parking lot is today. The house was moved to 909 West Main Street.
Elizabeth Ann Gaddy Rivers: This site once held the house where one of my closest high school friends, Mary Nancy "Sissy" Britton (later Craig, now Grimsley) lived. In fact, her house was the unofficial "teen-age hangout" when I was in high school. Her parents, Lam and Madeline "Pot" Bellamy Britton, were a second set of "parents" for half the teen-agers in town. They never knew how many kids would be at their supper table because "Sissy" and "Brother" (Lam, Jr.) would invite us to eat with them; "Pot" never complained. "Pot" is the one who helped me learn to play the organ at St. Paul next door, and more than fifty years later, I am still playing it. I moved my membership from Zoar when I was in high school so I could play the organ. "Pot" and Lam would take us to their house at Little River for house parties, and the one standing rule was that we had to attend church at Little River Methodist Church, "Pot's" home church, on Sunday morning. Because the church had a small congregation, often they needed someone to teach a Sunday School class, play the piano, or sing in the choir. "Pot" would always stand up and volunteer our services; I can well remember playing for morning worhsip there with no advance notice! The old church has been replaced by a more modern one, but it still stands and is now The Parson's Table Restaurant. When I eat there, I can still spot where the piano that I played stood.
Lam was editor of the Chesterfield Advertiser, and "Pot" was the social columnist. In the middle of the twentieth century, the "Personal and Social" column in small-town newspapers was a big deal. It didn't allow for much privacy about one's comings and goings.