After Tommy's death, Tom asked George to move his family into his tenant house located close to Tom's house. George was now the youngest son and heir. George waited until all the crops were harvested before moving in the fall of 1907.

The tenant house had one room and a shed, where the food was cooked and the meals eaten. There was also a porch. Furnishings in the cabin were sparse, a table, three chairs, a high chair, two benches for the older children, and ropes supported the feather beds on the bed frames.

The tenant house had an open well for water. It was not used for drinking or cooking. Each morning George carried two buckets of water for drinking back home after feeding the stock. George fixed the latch on the gate so it opened with his knee. This engineering made life easier.

George kept most of his stock at his Pa's house. Feeding the mules and hogs at his pa's house had to done twice daily. The milk cows and chicken were kept at the tenant house,

George Ralph was the first child delivered in the tenant house. He was also the first of George's children delivered by Delaney. Ralph was the second son and fourth child. He was born Jan. 21, 1908. Ralph had black hair and hazel eyes. He was named for his pa and for Ralph Smith, a neighbor and brother-in-law of Harvey. He was the one who told George of his brother, Tommy's death.

Tom gave George 25 head of sheep. This was in the days of open range. The sheep were marked with cuts in their ears. Each farmer had his own distinctive mark.

George grew tobacco and used it. He dipped snuff, chewed tobacco and smoked "Charutts" cigars. Apple was his favorite chewing tobacco. George preferred Railroad Mill snuff. A snuff toothbrush was made from black gum wood, the ends of the twig was frayed and chewed to make them soft. The brush was dipped into the snuff box. Keeping a spit can close by necessary when inside.

George's handwriting was very good and he was a good letter writer. He's often wrote letters for men in the neighborhood, who could not read or write, or were not very good at expressing themselves. George wrote letters for Vince Godwin and Moose Godwin.

Vince asked George to write, "Miss Maggie Roberts, will you marry me?" She wrote back and said, "Yes."

Often Harvey would help out, by dictating to George.

Harvey dictated this, in a letter from Moose Godwin to Mamie Hill, "I love you once, I love you twice, I love you better than cats love mice."

Moose and Mamie married.

In the Fall George, Alvin, Emmette, Clyde and Roscoe Pope gathered the sheep and drove them home. The sheep were penned up for the winter. The pen was northeast of the old house. George provided shelter and hay for them. All his sheep were white, except for one black one.

George and Harvey sheared their sheep together in the late spring and then turned them out, taking advantage of the open stock law in effect. There was a market for the raw wool, at the nearby Farmer's Supply Company. After open range ended in Beulah Township, there was still open range north of Beulah Township, in O'Neal Township. George and Harvey moved to their sheep to O'Neal Township. Sheep were used for meat and wool. Eva dried and boiled the sheep skin. They were used for rugs beside all the beds.

When the stock laws changed and open range ended, George sold his sheep because he didn't have enough pasture for sheep, cows, mules, and horses. George needed land to farm.

George missed the ox he sold in Duplin. It took time but he found another one and purchased a red ox to pull his 2-wheel cart.

Tom's log house had glass windows but the tenant house where George and Eva lived only had wooden shutters. One day while George was gone to town, Eva sawed an opening and used shoe tacks to attach the 4-inch-by-6-inch glass window lit. It was on the right side of the fireplace.

George returned home and seeing the glass pane said, "I'm going to tell pa on you!"

Eva retorted, "I hope you will George!"

George later added a glass pane to the left side of the fireplace.

Eva and George's fifth child, Celia Rachel was delivered by Delaney on July 3, 1910. Rachel had black hair. One of her eyes had a yellow speck in the iris. She was named for Eva's sister Johnnie Rachel Mercer and her maternal grandma, Celia Jane Mercer.

In 1912, Jimmy Boyette, Harvey Stancil, Thomas Cockrell and George Stancil started the Center Ridge Sunday school at the home of Thomas and Cynthia Cockrell. This grew into the Center Ridge Presbyterian Church. Services at Holly Springs Free Will Baptist Church were also attended. They were once a month.

Mamie Alma born on March 27, 1913 was last baby delivered by Delaney. Mamie had black hair and blue eyes. She was named Alma after the daughter of Jobe T. Stroud and Ada Mercer. Her sister Effie named her Mamie, after Mamie Smith, sister-in-law of Harvey Stancil.

The tenant house was old, the walls weren't tight and the floor had large cracks. In the winter, icy air blew up through the floor. The house was built when George was a boy. The chimney was made of mud and sticks and chimney fires were common. Eva pasted pretty magazine pictures on the drafty walls to help keep the wind out.

The open well dried up in 1914. All water was carried from Tom's well.

The outhouse had two holes. Catalogues provided the paper along with corn cobs. There was no pit under the outhouse. It was moved to a new location when it filled up.

George borrowed a surrey from William Gray Pittman about 1914. W. Gray first married Pinetta Hales, daughter of Gillis Hales and Martha Patsy Rentfrow Stancil Hales. She was half-sister to John Thomas Stancil. George used the surrey to travel to Duplin County. Mules "Zeb" and "Daisy" pulled the surrey. The surrey was fancy with two kerosene lamps. George, Emmette and Ralph rode in the front. Eva, Effie, Delanie, Rachel and Mamie rode in the back. The trip took three days and was about 75 miles.

The first night was spent in Hickory Cross, just on the other side of the Neuse River Bridge, near Goldsboro.

George made it to Uncle Phen Turner's the next night. James Pineas "Phen" Turner had married to Aunt Celia Jane "Seal" Mercer, sister of Eva's father John Mercer. They were childless.

Uncle Phen stored wine in the cool tobacco barn. He brought a pitcher to the house. Aunt Sis cautioned Phen that the kids might drink too much.

Phen said, "It won't hurt them."

Emmette, 10, Ralph, 6, and Rachel, 4, drank some.

Soon after leaving Rachel said, "Pa, the trees are moving."

George replied, "Watch those trees and see that they did not run into you!"

They spent the third night at Cabin in Duplin County with Eva's people.

Eva's ma had white pet rats she kept in the clothes closet. Osco Kennedy, Eva's half brother, gave her a white male rat and her ma gave her a white female. George kept them in the smokehouse.

It was very cold on the return trip home and George decided against stopping in Goldsboro. He lit the kerosene lamps on the surrey to the delight of the kids. It snowed the next morning.

Delaney, age 72, had a stroke. George visited her along with his brothers. Delaney struggled to tell George something, but he could not understand her words. Delaney died Jan. 11, 1915.

Delaney was buried in the Stancil Graveyard, wearing her spectacles and black silk bonnet. George had given to her the bonnet in appreciation for her help with tobacco.

Alvin's wife died. He gave his telephone to George, who installed it next to the door, in the tenant house. Telephone subscribers shared in the upkeep of the telephone line.

Eva Vazelle was delivered by Dr. Grover Woodard on Sept. 5, 1915. She had black hair and blue eyes. Vazelle was born while George was in the hospital in Rocky Mount with kidney problems when she was born. She was named Vazelle for George's favorite nurse and Eva for her mother.

In 1916, Tom told Eva that they should trade houses. Tom wanted the room, just off the porch for his bed, chest, chair and trunk. He would store his furniture in the tenant house. This was a good move for Eva and George who had a growing family with seven children. Tom's house had five rooms with a rock chimney. George and Eva moved in. George installed the phone. The tenant house was used for tobacco storage.

The yard was large with many shade trees. There were elms, hickories and a lone pine. In the orchard were apple, pear, mulberry, peach and fig trees. Grape vines were plentiful. There was a flower garden too.

George built a large shelter for his wagon. Charley Godwin had a saw mill and cut enough of George's timber for the shelter. It had a tin roof with three walls around it. The oversized shelter left plenty of space for farm equipment storage and even a few animals.

When Arnettie became quite ill, George visited her as much as possible. Her heart just gave out.

Lola Myrtle was delivered by Cynthia Cockrell on June 4, 1917. Myrtle had black hair. George wanted to name her Jenny after an old Duplin County girlfriend but Eva would not hear of it!

George purchased an anvil, a cane mill and syrup pan at Uncle Fred Hill's sale in 1918. Fred had gotten the anvil from his brother Jethro Hill. George bought a syrup pan from Fred Hill's brother, Jethro, who lived close to Raines Cross Roads. Rufus Starling taught him and Harvey to cook syrup. George began cooking syrup. He was known as an expert syrup maker.

There were always some children around on days George made syrup. They looked forward to the fun. They would come with wooden pine paddles they used to scoop up foam and candy bits.

Hilda Mae was delivered by Cynthia Cockrell on May 24, 1919, for $1. She had light hair and blue eyes. At first, it was thought she was named Fedora Evangeline Stancil, after Preacher Clark's wife. Preacher Clark, was the minister of Center Ridge Presbyterian Church. Eva considered this name. Cynthia Cockrell, thought this was the correct name and turned it into the county. Years later the error was discovered.

George kept up with the news. He read the Smithfield Herald, The Johnstonian Sun (a Selma Paper) and the Progressive Farmer Magazine. George enjoyed a lively political debate with Pinettie, the most politically savvy of his sister-in-laws.

Mormon Missionaries sometimes stayed with Eva and George. Once George took then into Kenly to buy clothes. The missionaries traveled in pairs and spent two years proselyting. They stayed with families who would provide free room and board. George was very knowledgeable about the Bible. He enjoyed talking and debating with them.

George wanted to enlarge his farm. His brother Sam decided to sell The Jim Place. It joined George's farm. The Jim Place had originally belonged to Tom and he built the house there. Eva received a sizable inheritance from her pa's estate. George wanted to use it. Eva said that as long as her name was on the deed, it would be OK. George bought the farm.

The Jim Place was named after a black man who lived there, "Jim" James Yelverton. It was located close to the Stancil Graveyard. Jim descended from slaves, who had belonged to a wealthy farmer near Fremont.

George had several tenant farmers over the years. Jim Yelverton was there the longest. Jim Lucas was there for two years and among the farmers of the bunch.

Harvey Starling was there only one year. Harvey was smart and a hard worker. George often said that he was the best tenant farmer he ever had. A terrible accident cost him his life. He was run over by a car.

Harvey's wife Flonnie moved out of the tenant house.

George always had dogs. Among them was a female fox terrier named "Guess." She mated and had puppies. George built a dog house for her.

George enjoyed possum hunting with his brothers Alvin and Harvey. He had a number of dogs. George had a female black and tan hound dog named 'Sharp' who had a strange habit of eating lye soap. "Sharp" had a brother named "Jack" that was great at hunting for rabbits, fox, possums and coons. A red female hound "Blaze," was a good hunter too.

George sold hound dog puppies for $25. Once when a female "Huldy" had puppies, a man picked out two puppies and paid in advance for them. When the man came for the puppies, Eva and Delanie gave him the wrong two.

George and Ralph hooked Ruby the mule to the buggy and took the correct puppies for the exchange. They stopped on the way back to visit with Ronia, Tempy Ann's daughter, and Stephen Stancil.

Electrical lights were becoming popular. George bought a second hand Delco Light Plant from a man in Rock Ridge. The light plant had a gasoline generator that lit with a spark and a set of batteries that produced 32 volts of electricity.

George and Eva were musical although neither danced. Eva and George both had good voices. Eva's favorite song to sing was, "Silver Threads Among The Gold," and George's was "When They Ring Those Golden Bells."

George played the autoharp. He often made music with his brothers Harvey, Alvin and sometimes Henry. Neighborhood square dances were treats they all enjoyed. George, Alvin, Harvey and Leumos played as often they could.

George was a Republican. He was elected to serve eight two-year terms as Justice of the Peace from 1918 through 1932. People with various disagreements came to him and he usually heard the cases on the front porch. He wore glasses to read and kept documentation of the cases he heard.

Once two black men came before him, one got on the stand and then the next one. The last black man asked, "Who was that person in the Bible who lied about some land and was drugged?" George said, "Ananias." The man replied, "So either the times have changed or that one will have to be drugged."

As a Justice of the Peace, George could perform marriages. Among the marriages he performed were: John Archer's son William Arthur and Clyde Holland, Delanie Mavis Stancil, Harvey's daughter and Raymond Hill.

In May of 1920, great Aunt Elizabeth Stancil, was very ill. Elizabeth was the wife of James Henry Stancil, Tom's brother. George took Tom and Ralph to visit her.

She asked Tom, "Do any of your boys pray in public?"

He replied, "Yes, George does."

She asked, "George, please pray that I will be able to rest."

Everyone knelt and George prayed. A peace came over her and she was able to rest. Elizabeth died a few days later, on May 23, 1920.

During WWI there were sugar and flour restrictions. Harvey purchased sugar using George's name at the Gillian Stancil Store. George suspected he was making whiskey or having some made.

Colonel G.I. was delivered by Cynthia Cockrell on November of 1920. He had light hair and blue eyes. George and sons Emmette and Ralph had been cooking syrup when word came that George had a baby. George went to the house and came back all smiles because he had a son. George named him Colonel G.I. Years later the name was changed to George Ira Jr.

George's father died Jan. 27, 1922. George was named his Executor. George tried to settle the estate but with his own health problems and his siblings getting advances on their anticipated shares it was almost impossible. Sibling jealousy was evident.

A Sale was held soon after his death. At Tom's sale, George purchased his mother's sewing machine and Eva found inside it pages torn from the John Thomas Stancil Family Bible. The Bible was given to Minnie, Josiah's wife. These pages had the names of their children and birthdates written on them.

Harrel Lloid, delivered by George and Dessie, Emmette's wife, was born May 7, 1924. He had black hair and brown eyes. Robert Renfrow, Effie's husband picked his name out of a listing of movie stars and comedians. Later the spelling his name was spelled "Harold Lloyd."

Dorothy Jane was delivered by Cynthia Cockrell on Oct. 7, 1926. She had light hair and blue eyes. She was named Jane after her maternal grandma Celia Jane Mercer. It appeared from the family Bible that originally her middle name was Clementine

Many farmers planted wheat and oats. George grew wheat too. Josiah and Alvin worked together to harvest the grains. Josiah had a thresher and Alvin had a gasoline engine that turned the thresher. A pair of mules pulled the thresher. The threshing machine was attached to wheels. Wheat and oats seeds were left on the machine after a job was completed. George raked it up off the machine onto the road for his chickens. Unfortunately one of the few cars killed a chicken or two, who were forging for grain.

George was a blacksmith as well as a farmer. George and Harvey both used Alvin's stalk cutter for corn and cotton. George and Harvey bought a disk harrow together. It helped a lot in farming. Most of the farm work was done by hand.

George and Eva decided to build a new house in 1924. Elbert Stancil, George's nephew drove them around Wilson to see new houses. Rufus Barnes was hired as the overseer and hired carpenters to build the house. He was also the brother of Frances, Henry's wife. Ralph and first cousin Arthur Hill nailed up the lathes for the plaster. They were told to use their finger as a measure to properly space the lathes. The Hinnants applied the plaster. Henry laid the brick columns on the front porch.

The front steps were poured after the columns were complete. There were two stack chimneys and a stove chimney. Each stack chimney had two fireplaces. Two were downstairs and two were upstairs. Walter, Henry's son painted the house. The first roof was shingle. After 10 years it was replaced with a galvanized tin roof. The window frames were built by John Holland. George purchased standard windows and doors. The old outhouse stayed.

They moved into the new house. A laborer, John Campbell, moved into the cabin. He ate his meals in the kitchen of the new house.

In 1928, the county had a number of orphan boys. George agreed to take one, William 'Bill' Wyatt. This was the first time Bill ever got to eat all he wanted. Bill had a bladder control problem and had been rejected by many other farm families. Eva treated Bill well, never berating his accidents. When Bill was an adult he sent Eva flowers on Mother's Day.

In 1928, George had Jim Cockrell build a barn with hay storage above and a place for the mules below. Emmette hauled the logs. George and Ralph cut it into lumber.

An insurance agent sold George and Alvin disability insurance policies. The premium was paid annually. George kept this paid up. Alvin let his lapse.

George had a stroke and his health deteriorated. He filed a claim with the insurance company. A doctor examined him to confirm his disability and he began receiving monthly disability payments.

Times were tough and George borrowed about $2,000 from the Micro Bank using the farm as collateral. George continued to have tenant farmers.

In 1929, George made a two-wheeled Hoover cart using the rear axel of a car. George added a rumble seat. The welding was done by John Hinnant.

George made a refrigerator for Eva. A screen wire covered the top, a cloth dipped in cool water was draped over the top to keep the ice longer.

In 1930, George built Effie and Robert a new house beyond the Stancil Graveyard on part of the Jim Place.

In 1933, George went to a sale in Shoeheel. He bought a piano for $50. Today, the piano is used by Springhill Presbyterian Church.

The Estate of John Thomas Stancil was still unsettled in 1934, 12 years after Tom's death. George asked Ralph for help. Ralph visited his uncles in an effort to get it settled. Josiah was owed money. George gave him a note. Alvin owed money to the Estate, Henry and John's portions was almost even with amount received. Harvey was owed a little.

George had high blood pressure, stomach cancer, and Bright's disease. He had a cancer on his face removed by a doctor in Goldsboro. Eva dressed it daily beside the blue wood stove. She burnt the dressing she removed. George legs hurt so bad he sometimes cried at night. Eva heated hot water on the wood stove for the scrub tub. She wet sacks in the water, wrapped them around his legs to ease the pain.

George had been in the hospital for three weeks back in July. Now it was October and had been sick a week at home, Dr. Grady was treating him.

George died on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 1935, about noon in his bed. Harvey, Nevell and Leafy were with him. He was 55 and had all his teeth and no gray hair.

Grizzard Funeral Home embalmed his body at home. Emmette had his brother-in-law Edgar Morris stay and watch the procedure.

George always said, "I'd rather be embalmed than smelling at the grave."

Emmette was in charge of all the arrangements. The Wake and funeral were held at home.

On Thursday, Oct. 24, 1935, Rev. Styron preached his funeral, quoting some poetry. A men's quartet made up of Herbert Pittman, David Boyette, Sam Cockrell and Tom Davis sang, "In A Land Where We Never Grow Old." Burial was in the Church Cemetery.

Prior to his death, George saw other family cemeteries being neglected and this was the basis for his decision to be buried in Holly Springs Cemetery.

Clyde, attorney, nephew of George and son of Harvey, read George Ira's Will after the burial. The farm was willed to Ralph. Ralph would have to buy it from all the heirs. Ralph was in California.