Robert Bruce Gauldin, Myrtle E. Evans, and Sallie Lou Hall
Robert Bruce Gauldin was born on 25 June 1891 in Halifax County, Virginia (1), into the large farming family of Doc W. Gauldin and Catherine (Annie) Powell. (1) His childhood unfolded along the Virginia–North Carolina border, where families moved fluidly between tobacco farms and the emerging textile‑mill towns of Rockingham County. By 1900, nine‑year‑old Robert was living with his parents in Ruffin, North Carolina, part of a bustling household of siblings and farm labor.
Just across the state line in Pittsylvania County, Myrtle E. Evans (4) was growing up in a very different but equally close‑knit rural world. Born around 1890–1891, likely the daughter of Julius Daniel Evans and Martha “Pattie” Frances Chilton, Myrtle spent her childhood in the Callands community. The 1900 census shows her at age nine living in a large extended household headed by her older sister Levana Evans Dodd, along with numerous siblings and her widowed mother. Myrtle attended school, could read and write, and lived the typical life of a young girl in rural Virginia—one shaped by kinship, shared labor, and the rhythms of farm life.
Robert and Myrtle’s paths crossed as young adults. On 6 December 1909, when Robert was eighteen and Myrtle about nineteen, they married in Pittsylvania County. Their union joined two families deeply rooted in the border region.
But their married life was brief. Myrtle appears in no later records, and by 1916, Robert remarried—clear evidence that Myrtle died sometime before that year, likely in her mid‑twenties. Her early death reflects the harsh realities of rural life in the early 20th century, where illness, childbirth complications, and limited medical care often cut lives short.
Robert’s life changed dramatically after Myrtle’s death. By 1910, he was already working as a farm laborer for wages on his father’s land in Leaksville, North Carolina. In 1916, at age twenty‑five, he married Sallie Lou Hall, a young woman from Patrick County, Virginia. Born 4 May 1898 in Vesta, Sallie was the daughter of John Curtis Hall and Bertie Anne Delillian Newman. She grew up in the Smith River district of Patrick County, surrounded by siblings and extended family, before moving into the mill communities of Rockingham County as a teenager.
Sallie married Robert on 3 May 1916 in Leaksville, stepping into the role of wife and soon mother in a household that had already endured loss.
By 1917, Robert was working as a cotton mill operator in Draper, North Carolina, part of the booming textile industry that would define the rest of his life. The couple began raising a large family, and their home became one of the many mill‑village households that formed the backbone of Rockingham County’s economy.
His children with Sallie Lou Hall were:
1. Eva Lillian Gauldin - Eva Lillian Gauldin was born on February 5, 1917 in Leaksville, Rockingham County, North Carolina, the daughter of Robert Bruce Gauldin and Sallie L. Hall. She married William Arthur Johnson Jr. on March 10, 1934 in Leaksville. The couple had at least one son, James Arthur “Jimmy” Johnson. She lived her life in the Rockingham County area, was a homemaker, and a member of First Baptist Church of Draper. Eva died on July 22, 2006 in Winston‑Salem, Forsyth County, North Carolina, at age 89, and was buried at Danview Cemetery in Eden. Her obituary notes she was preceded in death by her husband, several sisters (Christine Salmon, Beatrice Winn, Hazel Edwards), and a granddaughter. (8)
2. Hazel Lynn Gauldin - Hazel Lynn Gauldin was born September 24, 1920 in Rockingham County, North Carolina, the daughter of Robert Bruce Gauldin and Sallie Hall. She married Thomas Elwood Edwards on January 1, 1947 in Draper, Rockingham County. Hazel later lived in Smithfield, Johnston County, and died on January 5, 1971 at Duke Hospital in Durham, at age 50. Her death was attributed to breast cancer that had spread to her lungs. She was buried at Danview Cemetery in Eden, Rockingham County, North Carolina. (9)
3. Beatrice Anne Gauldin - Beatrice Anne Gauldin was born October 17, 1923 in Draper, Rockingham County, North Carolina, the daughter of Robert Bruce Gauldin and Sallie Hall. She grew up in Draper and was still living on Sharpe Street with her parents and siblings in 1940, attending school and having completed her third year of high school. On August 6, 1946, she married Robert Fagge Winn in Danville, Virginia. Winn, born in 1922, was a World War II Army veteran and the son of Daniel Rieves Winn and Sallie Davis. The couple later lived in Virginia, including Roanoke. Beatrice died on June 28, 2005 in Roanoke, Virginia, at age 81. She was buried in Salem, Virginia. Records note she was survived by at least two children, Kathryn W. Adams and Robert Winn. Her obituary read “Beatrice Anne Gauldin Winn, 81, of Roanoke passed away Tuesday June 28, 2005. She was preceded in death by her husband, Robert F. Winn, Sr. Mrs. Winn was a long time member of Raleigh Court Presbyterian Church, where she was active in the Presbyterian Women's Group, Kid's Kirk Children's Activity and Bible Study Group. She was also a member of the Endowment Board of the church, and a member of the "Keenagers" Seniors Group. Mrs. Winn was a Docent at the Art Museum of Western Virginia, and a retired employee of Dominion Bank with 25 years of service. Surviving are her daughter and son-in-law; Kathryn W. Adams and husband, T. David Adams of Salem, a son and daughter in-law; Robert F. Winn, Jr., and wife, Susan M. Winn, of Memphis, Tenn.; grandchildren, Matthew D. Adams and Wife, Jenny P. Adams, of Huntington, W.Va., Kendra A. Adams, Salem, Casey Anne Winn, Memphis, Tenn., sisters and brother in-law; Eva Johnson, Clea Shope, both of Eden, N.C., Jan Mason and husband, Ray Mason, of Door County, WI., Services will be at Raleigh Court Presbyterian Church, 2 p.m. Friday, July 1, 2005. Dr. F. Tupper Garden will officiate. Interment will follow in Sherwood Memorial Park. The Family will receive friends at Oakey's South Chapel in Roanoke from 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursday. Memorials may be made to Raleigh Court Presbyterian Church, 1837 Grandin Road, Roanoke, Va. or the Virginia Baptist Children's Home, P.O. Box 849, Salem, Va. Arrangements by Oakey's South Chapel.”
4. Cleatus Irene Gauldin - Cleatus Irene Gauldin was born in 1930 in Draper, Rockingham County, North Carolina, the daughter of Robert Bruce Gauldin and Sallie Hall. She appeared in the 1930 census at age three living with her parents in Leaksville, and in the 1940 census at age thirteen on Sharpe Street in Draper, where she was attending school in the sixth grade. She later attended Draper High School, appearing in the 1944 yearbook. On May 10, 1947, she married Vesco Truman Shope in Draper, Rockingham County. Shope, born in 1925, was the son of Kenneth Randolph Shope and Mamie Martin. Cleatus’s death date is not recorded in the available sources except obituary, but she is buried at Roselawn Memorial Gardens in Reidsville, Rockingham County, North Carolina, beside her husband. (10)
5. Virginia Christine Gauldin - Virginia Christine Gauldin was born July 6, 1930 in Rockingham County, North Carolina, the daughter of Robert Bruce Gauldin and Sallie Hall. She grew up in Draper and appears in the 1940 census at age nine, living with her parents and siblings and attending third grade. She later married Melvin Wesley Salmons and lived in Virginia and North Carolina. Christine became the owner of Salem Jewelers and was a member of Konnoak Baptist Church in Winston‑Salem. She died on December 28, 2003 in Winston‑Salem, Forsyth County, North Carolina, at age 73, and was buried in the Jones‑Salmons Cemetery in Cascade, Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Her obituary notes she was preceded in death by her husband and her sister Hazel Gauldin Edwards, and survived by her children Bonnie Disher, Jane Craver, and Edward Salmons, along with grandchildren, great‑grandchildren, and several siblings. (12)
6. Janice Marie Gauldin - Janice Marie Gauldin was born on 24 January 1938 in Eden, Rockingham County, North Carolina, the youngest child of Robert Bruce Gauldin and Sallie Lou Hall. She grew up in the Draper–Leaksville area alongside her older siblings—Eva Lillian Johnson, Hazel Lena Edwards, Beatrice Anne Winn, Virginia Christine Salmons, and Cleatis Irene Shope—in a family closely tied to the textile‑mill communities of Rockingham County. On 22 November 1956, at age eighteen, Janice married Thomas Ray Mason in Draper, North Carolina. The couple later left North Carolina when Thomas’s work with Sears Roebuck led them to relocate several times, including to New York, Princeton, New Jersey, and Crystal Lake, Illinois. Janice worked at RCA during their time in New Jersey and remained active in church life wherever they lived, teaching Sunday School, singing in the choir, and participating in women’s Bible studies. She was also a member of the Crystal Lake Garden Club.
Later in life, Janice and Thomas settled in Sister Bay, Wisconsin, where they became known for organizing an “International Group” that supported foreign students working in Door County during the summers. They arranged meals, activities, and church connections for the students and provided Bibles in their native languages. Janice’s husband, Thomas, died in December 2021. She passed away the following year on 21 July 2022 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, at the age of 84, after suffering a stroke and traumatic brain injury. She was buried at Little Sister Cemetery in Sister Bay, Door County, Wisconsin. She was survived by her daughter Jami (Scott) Strickfaden, several grandchildren and a great‑granddaughter, and her sister Cleatis Irene Shope. Four of her siblings—Eva, Hazel, Beatrice, and Christine—predeceased her.
Robert Bruce Gauldin worked at the Mill in the 1930’s and 1940’s
Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Robert and Sallie lived in Leaksville and later Draper, raising children—Eva, Hazel, Beatrice, Cletis, Christine, and Janis—while Robert worked long hours as a weaver in the cotton mills. Census records show them renting at first, then owning a home on Sharp/Sharpe Street, a sign of stability and upward movement within the mill community. Sallie managed the household, cared for their growing family, and maintained the domestic routines that sustained mill families through the Depression and wartime years.
By 1940, Robert was working nearly full‑time, earning a modest but steady wage, while Sallie kept the household running. Their children grew, married, and remained rooted in the region.
Robert continued working into the 1950s as a blanket weaver, living in Draper and contributing to the textile industry that had shaped his entire adult life.
Sallie lived more than two decades longer, passing away on 5 July 1985 at age eighty‑seven. (13) Her obituary (14) listed her surviving children and siblings, reflecting the wide Hall–Gauldin family network that stretched across Virginia and North Carolina.
Together, the intertwined lives of Myrtle Evans, Robert Gauldin, and Sallie Hall tell a story of rural beginnings, early loss, migration into the textile‑mill world, and the creation of a large, enduring family. Myrtle’s short life marks the beginning of Robert’s adulthood; Sallie’s long life marks its continuation and legacy. Robert’s journey from farm laborer to lifelong mill worker mirrors the transformation of the Piedmont region itself, while Sallie’s decades of family care anchor the Gauldin household through changing times.
Works Cited
1. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. ancestry.com. [Online] North Carolina, Rockingham County, Draft Card G. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6482/images/005152212_05664?pId=10269037.
2. Robert B. Gauldin. Find a Grave. [Online] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/28012819/robert-bruce-gauldin.
3. 1900 United States Federal Census. ancestry.com. [Online] North Carolina, Rockingham, Ruffin. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7602/images/4117843_00552?pId=57597384.
4. Virginia, U.S., Select Marriages, 1785-1940. ancestry.com. [Online] https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/60214/records/3055601?tid=163174124&pid=422121231262&ssrc=pt.
5. Image of Robert Bruce Gauldin. ancestry.com. [Online] kadams53_1 originally shared this on 21 Jan 2011. https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/163174124/person/422121231262/media/1eebb359-047f-4c0c-9078-84dc06ff90cd?galleryindex=3&sort=-created.
6. Image of Sallie Hall. ancestry.com. [Online] kadams53_1 originally shared this on 21 Jan 2011. https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/163174124/person/422121230099/media/7f8c4a27-ae7c-4cc0-b255-a0f1a9de648c?galleryindex=1&sort=-created.
7. 1920 United States Federal Census. ancestry.com. [Online] North Carolina, Rockingham, Leakesville. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6061/images/4383740_00319?pId=32970050.
8. Eva Lillian Gauldin Johnson. Find a Grave. [Online] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24460870/eva-lillian-johnson.
9. U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current. Hazel Lynn Gauldin Edwards. [Online] https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/60525/records/184980625?tid=163174124&pid=422121229239&ssrc=pt.
10. Cletus G. Shope. Find a Grave. [Online] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/133803761/cleatus-g-shope.
11. US Yearbooks. ancestry.com. [Online] https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/163174124/person/422121229195/media/1dc4b3df-c4aa-4f15-8227-16abe7d4bcec?galleryindex=1&sort=-created.
12. Virginia Christine Gauldin Salmons. Find a Grave. [Online] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20665153/virginia-christine-salmons.
13. U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-2016. ancestry.com. [Online] Virginia, Danville, George Washington High School, 1947. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1265/images/i4159495-00091?pId=222874819.
14. North Carolina, U.S., Marriage Records, 1741-2011. ancestry.com. [Online] Rockingham, Marriage Licenses (1867 - 1961). https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/60548/images/42091_342686-00629?pId=7634210.
15. 1930 United States Federal Census. ancestry.com. [Online] North Carolina, Rockingham, Leaksville. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6224/images/4608312_00689?pId=75646712.
16. 1940 United States Federal Census. ancestry.com. [Online] North Carolina, Rockingham, Draper. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2442/images/m-t0627-02966-00508?pId=153282833.
17. 1950 United States Federal Census. ancestry.com. [Online] North Carolina, Rockingham, Draper. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/62308/images/43290879-North_Carolina-039254-0002?pId=147991702.
18. North Carolina, U.S., Death Indexes, 1908-2004. ancestry.com. [Online] https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8908/images/NCVR_D_425_0017-1124?pId=5977917.
19. North Carolina, U.S., Death Indexes, 1908-2004. ancestry.com. [Online] https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8908/records/6838818?tid=163174124&pid=422121230099&ssrc=pt.
20. U.S., Newspapers.com™ Obituary Index, 1800s-current. ancestry.com. [Online] https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61843/records/1337961741?tid=163174124&pid=422121230099&ssrc=pt.
21. North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976. ancestry.com. [Online] Rockingham, 1963, October. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1121/images/S123_515-0908?pId=1140805.
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