Atlas Thomas Uzzell (1916 - 2007)

Born 7 Jan 1916 in Clark, Craven, North Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Son of Atlas Thomas Uzzell and Addie Adel Cox

Husband of Laura DuPre Holland — married 16 Jan 1948 in Raleigh, Wake, North Carolina, United States

Died 15 May 2007 at age 91 in Raleigh, Wake, North Carolina, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Charles Uzzell [send private message]

Biography

Atlas was born in 1916. He passed away in 2007. ^[1]

Lakestone - Moore's Knob Firetower

A brief FYI bit about Lakestone-Moore’s Knob August 13, 2021

David Arthur Sutton (D.A.) 1918–1990 Atlas Thomas Uzzell Jr. (Tom) 1916–2007 Joe Binion Lawson (Mr Joe) 1910–1978

On Lakestone Drive in Raleigh are two “lakes.” The one closer to Lassiter Mill Rd was once a reservoir for water to support the activities at the lower one, an actual rock quarry. The front of my house has stone from the Lakestone Drive quarry. Mr Joe was the stonemason that built our front wall circa 1955. D A Sutton owned that quarry and the greenhouses, and later opened Wakestone Gardens (not associated with the current company named Wakestone) at the corner of Lakestone and Lassiter Mill. For a short while, DA kept cows at the upper pond.

The greenhouses grew Chrysanthemums or “mums.” My older brothers and I all had turns working in the greenhouses, mostly watering. I learned a lot from that job...I was 12 years old… about work, and how to grow plants, and etc. DA said to “flood” the soil at the base of the plants and that would ensure it was the correct amount of water to put on them. And I learned how best to move hoses around! And we played in a big vat of perlite, which would get into every corner of your clothing. (That vat a precursor of sorts to the ball pits at Chuck E Cheese.) The Garden Center had an old timey bottle coke machine; you opened a door and pulled out the coke by the sharp-ish bottle cap. Mums require a lot of work. A person has to trim all the little buds away so that one giant bud will grow in the middle into a large flower. There was a special little greenhouse to root the plants; it had a mister and big tables full of perlite. There were giant fans. And giant black tarps that were deployed when the mums were to blossom.

My father Tom and DA were best friends their whole lives, after meeting at NC State college. DA owned various bits of property around Wake County, and my father often had his garden on one of DA’s pieces of land; this was various different places through the years. One particular mention should go to “The Lot on what is now Raven Ridge Road in north Raleigh. Here, at The Lot, is where my high school buddies and I would go to party and camp and generally be out in the country. Many wild and wonderful times were had at The Lot. A large novel can be written about those times and “the clique” and moments that we were lucky to survive. Because of these times out at The Lot, when I was a junior (1976) at Sanderson, Mark Martin and I did a project for Mr Takas about the construction of Falls Lake, and the lands that were to be flooded. It was during that class project that Clay Young took the famous photo of the Monkey’s Head and Zeigle’s Rock from a canoe on the Neuse River, before the lake was built. DA also had a quarry that is now next door to the Wilkinson Park on Raven Ridge Road. The rocks on Moore’s Knob were from that quarry and from the Lakestone Dr quarry.

So Tom liked working with stone. He made many drywall type walls. But in 1951, he actually worked for DA in stone work to build the FIRE TOWER at Moore’s Knob in what is now Hanging Rock State Park. I think my dad probably was involved with laying out foundations, and stretching lines, and hauling stone around. Mr Joe was the stonemason. The stone was quarried here in Raleigh, on Lakestone Drive and at Raven Ridge, and hauled up there. I believe the type of stone that was quarried is called Crab Orchard. The style of stonemasonry is the same at Moore’s Knob and at my house in Raleigh. DA and Mr Joe also built the picnic shelters at Umstead and 22 churches in this region. And also the cafeteria at Broughton. Tom had a regular job, and would go on weekends to help with the fire tower on Moore’s Knob. So that is my little history of the lakes on Lakestone, where we would go swimming & fishing as children. (Note that all these quarries are now on private property.) (Photos of Zeigle’s Rock by Clay Young, circa 1976.) One Moore’s Knob photo from their website. https://www.ncparks.gov/hanging-rock-state-park/trail/moores-wall-loop-trail

Sources

1. ↑ Personal recollection of events witnessed by Charles Uzzell as remembered 8 Mar 2019. In 1951, Tom helped build the fire tower at Moore's Knob with DA Sutton.

• 1930 Census: "1930 United States Federal Census"
  Year: 1930; Census Place: Bonita Springs, Lee, Florida; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 0018; FHL microfilm: 2340058
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 6224 #103115891 (accessed 6 December 2022)
  Atlas Uzzell (15), single son, in household of Atlas H Uzzell (51) in Bonita Springs, Lee, Florida, USA. Born in North Carolina.

• Military: "U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947"
  National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards for Florida, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 459
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 2238 #12554137 (accessed 6 December 2022)
  Name: Atlas Thomas Uzzell; Race: White; Age: 24; Relationship to Draftee: Self (Head); Birth Date: 7 Jan 1916; Birth Place: Clark, North Carolina, USA; Residence Place: Moore Haven, Glades, Florida, USA; Registration Date: 16 Oct 1940; Registration Place: Moore Haven, Glades, Florida, USA; Employer: N C State College Student; Height: 5 10; Weight: 150; Complexion: Ruddy; Hair Color: Brown; Eye Color: Blue; Next of Kin: Atlas Thomas Uzzell;
  Household Members (Name) Age Relationship:
  Atlas Thomas Uzzell 24 Self (Head)
  Atlas Thomas Uzzell Father.

• Obituary: "U.S., Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current"
  The News and Observer; Publication Date: 17 May 2007; Publication Place: Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/659907198/?article=22d45577-44e6-4e17-963f-88ed9a531561&focus=0.83118516,0.06983786,0.99633306,0.41882595&xid=3355
  Ancestry Record 61843 #838451294 (accessed 6 December 2022)
  Name: Atlas Thomas Uzzell; Gender: Male; Death Age: 91; Birth Date: 7 Jan 1916; Birth Place: Clarks NC; Residence Place: Raleigh; Death Date: 15 May 2007; Obituary Date: 17 May 2007; Obituary Place: Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Newspaper Title: The News and Observer; Spouse: Laura Holland Uzzell; Child: Monet Thomson Samuel Uzzell Holly Saunders Nelson Uzzell Charles Uzzell; Siblings: Matthew Uzzell.

• Paternal and Maternal relationships are both confirmed by an autosomal GEDmatch comparison between Charles Uzzell , GEDmatch kit # A915220, and JR Uzzell, GEDmatch kit # UE4839985, (compare kits), his 1st cousin . Their most-recent common ancestors are Atlas Uzzell and Addie Cox, the grandparents of both Charles Uzzell and JR Uzzell. Predicted relationship from GEDmatch: 1st cousin, based on sharing 798.7 cM across 23 segments.

• Paternal relationship is confirmed by an autosomal AncestryDNA test match between Charles Uzzell and Jiva (McCormack) Kost, his 2nd cousin 1x removed. Their most-recent common ancestors are Thomas Uzzell and Elizabeth Parks, the great grandparents of Charles Uzzell and great great grandparents of Jiva (McCormack) Kost. Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: Second cousin twice removed , based on sharing 94 cM across 7 segments.

• Maternal relationship is confirmed by an autosomal AncestryDNA test match between Charles Uzzell and {John} Cliff DeLapp, his 2nd cousin . Their most-recent common ancestors are Calvin Cox and Emily Smith, the great grandparents of both Charles Uzzell and Cliff DeLapp. Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: 2nd cousins , based on sharing 131 cM across 8 segments.