Elgin history spotlight – Nancy Lou Webster
This is the story of longtime Elgin resident/artist Nancy Lou Webster and her 1935 Straight 8 Buick Coupe with suicide doors named “Katie.” The story begins with Nancy Lou as a teen in Oxford, Mississippi.
“Miss Kate Skipwith was a philanthropist who lived on Main Street in Oxford, Mississippi. She wanted a car so she ordered a new car to be shipped by rail to her. A 1935 Buick Series 40 Coupe. It arrived by rail in Oxford with five miles on the odometer.
Miss Kate was a notoriously bad driver. Everybody in town knew that when Miss Kate came out of her driveway you had better get out of the way for she did not know how to steer the car very well,” said Webster.
“Oxford, Mississippi has a square (which is round) at the center of town. Miss Kate would come down to the square and park while she had some shopping and running around. When it was time to go she would hail a passer-by to come put the car in reverse. Shifting into reverse was something Miss Kate never quite learned how to do. As is the way in small towns, people knew to help Miss Kate. They would get her backed up and leave the car in neutral. Shifting into drive, one thing she did know how to do, she would drive back home,” explained Webster. “I knew of that car for a very long time. The banker who took care of Miss Kate’s business also took care of Miss Kate’s decision making as she grew much older. She had gotten to be such a terror driving her Buick, the police went to the banker one day and told him he had to take the car away from Miss Kate,” she continued. “One of my father’s secretaries at the time was that same banker’s wife. She was telling my father one day that her husband had the uncomfortable task of taking Miss Kate’s car away from her and selling it. My father said, “Wait a minute! I want that car. I will buy it right now no matter what it costs.” …show more content…
Over lunch one day, Lee Blocker told Bill about some land outside of Elgin that he wanted to develop. Nancy Lou and Bill drove to Elgin with their three children and were greeted by a downtown with all the first story windows broken out and boarded up, and many of the second story windows were broken with pigeons roosting in them.
She remembers what a dreary place it seemed and said to Blocker, “If we come to live here, I will have to do everything in my power to revitalize this downtown.” In 1971 they began the development outside of Elgin that is now Cedar Hills.
Nancy Lou used two moving vans to move their belongings to Elgin. One was full of their household possessions, and the other was used solely for Katie, her 1935 Buick Coupe. Showing up in Elgin with two moving vans made for quite an entrance into the small community.
Nancy Lou drove Katie all over the Elgin area for her first few years living here. She remembers letting long-time Elgin resident Elizabeth Owen, then just a little girl, play on the running boards of Katie to entertain her while her father was in meetings with
This is the story of longtime Elgin resident/artist Nancy Lou Webster and her 1935 Straight 8 Buick Coupe with suicide doors named “Katie.” The story begins with Nancy Lou as a teen in Oxford, Mississippi.
“Miss Kate Skipwith was a philanthropist who lived on Main Street in Oxford, Mississippi. She wanted a car so she ordered a new car to be shipped by rail to her. A 1935 Buick Series 40 Coupe. It arrived by rail in Oxford with five miles on the odometer.
Miss Kate was a notoriously bad driver. Everybody in town knew that when Miss Kate came out of her driveway you had better get out of the way for she did not know how to steer the car very well,” said Webster.
“Oxford, Mississippi has a square (which is round) at the center of town. Miss Kate would come down to the square and park while she had some shopping and running around. When it was time to go she would hail a passer-by to come put the car in reverse. Shifting into reverse was something Miss Kate never quite learned how to do. As is the way in small towns, people knew to help Miss Kate. They would get her backed up and leave the car in neutral. Shifting into drive, one thing she did know how to do, she would drive back home,” explained Webster. “I knew of that car for a very long time. The banker who took care of Miss Kate’s business also took care of Miss Kate’s decision making as she grew much older. She had gotten to be such a terror driving her Buick, the police went to the banker one day and told him he had to take the car away from Miss Kate,” she continued. “One of my father’s secretaries at the time was that same banker’s wife. She was telling my father one day that her husband had the uncomfortable task of taking Miss Kate’s car away from her and selling it. My father said, “Wait a minute! I want that car. I will buy it right now no matter what it costs.” …show more content…
Over lunch one day, Lee Blocker told Bill about some land outside of Elgin that he wanted to develop. Nancy Lou and Bill drove to Elgin with their three children and were greeted by a downtown with all the first story windows broken out and boarded up, and many of the second story windows were broken with pigeons roosting in them.
She remembers what a dreary place it seemed and said to Blocker, “If we come to live here, I will have to do everything in my power to revitalize this downtown.” In 1971 they began the development outside of Elgin that is now Cedar Hills.
Nancy Lou used two moving vans to move their belongings to Elgin. One was full of their household possessions, and the other was used solely for Katie, her 1935 Buick Coupe. Showing up in Elgin with two moving vans made for quite an entrance into the small community.
Nancy Lou drove Katie all over the Elgin area for her first few years living here. She remembers letting long-time Elgin resident Elizabeth Owen, then just a little girl, play on the running boards of Katie to entertain her while her father was in meetings with