William Emanuel Stiles (1876 - 1960)

According to his son Floyd, William Emanuel had a sense of humor and a bit of a mean streak. (Disclaimer: Floyd Stiles was known to exaggerate a bit on occasion) Floyd was known for trying to get out of work on the family farm on Beech Creek near Birch, NC. On at least two occasions this backfired on him.

One time when his father caught him goofing off, Floyd told his father that he was feeling tired. To his surprise his father led him over to a patch of grass and told told him to sit and rest. Just as Floyd was getting comfortable, his dad brought over a large heavy rock and handed it to Floyd. William Emanuel told Floyd to hold that rock up in both hands and warned him that if he let it drop he would get the whipping of his life. Floyd wound up holding the rock for several hours until his father let him put it down. He worked much harder than he would have had to if he had just kept on plowing.

On another occasion, when pressed for an excuse for his laziness, Floyd claimed he had a bad toothache. According to Floyd his dad took him into town to see a dentist. When the dentist couldn't find anything, he asked which tooth was a problem. William Emanuel pointed at one tooth and said "Pull that one out." The dentist did. Floyd laughed when he told this story. Senses of humor differ among generations. I kind of hope Floyd was exaggerating on this one.

Bryan Stiles's father was William Emanuel's grandson. He told the following story. William Emanuel and his grandson were sitting in the parlor of Wilfred and Grace Stiles's house. In the middle of the parlor was an old pot-bellied coal (wood?) stove. For some unexplained reason, the stove chose that moment to belch out a huge cloud of black ash. Both grandfather and grandson were covered from head to foot. Grace Stiles heard the commotion and ran into the room where she found her young son and her father-in-law pointing and laughing at each other. Each one saw that the other was covered in ash, but neither had yet figured out that they themselves were also covered.

According to Wilfred Stiles, his father did not learn how to drive a car until he was an old man. The first time he drove one, he plowed it into a corn field, yelling "Whoah! Whoah!" trying to get it to stop. Needless to say, he had a lot more experience with horses and mules than with cars.