The Minton house was once owned by Claude T. Minton and possibly built by him. The property was sold by his grandson, Judge George Franklin Whitley, Jr. of Smithfield to J. R. Kirk in 1948. Hinton Harry Schramm and his wife Elizabeth Cotton Schramm moved from Franklin to the Minton house in 1929 and lived there until 1951. They rented the house from the Mintons/Whitleys/Kirks. The Schramms had two daughters, Mildred and Eunice. Mr. Schramm died in 1950 and Mrs. Schramm moved to Newport News to live with her daughter, Mildred, and son-in-law, W. C. Dailey. Some time after 1951 the first floor was raised from below ground level and the house was turned into two apartments. Eunice remembers five tenant houses on the farm. There was a house to the left of the Minton house in the orchard. This is where “Uncle” John Riddick lived. He fed the livestock and did some night watching at the saw mill. Other people who lived there were 1. George, Sophia and Willie 2. Sammy Eunice 3. Willie Riddick 4. A Mrs. Bartley, or Bartlett, and later Will and Carrie Bush, lived in a house on the lot near the Minton house.
