Saddlebags and surveying equipment, donated by Pratt Davis, from Letcher E. Edwards, who lived at Stratford, North Carolina.

Letcher Edwards

Mr. Edwards served as Alleghany County Register of Deeds 1924-32 and 1942-45.

Letcher E. Edwards (1877-1975) married Hattie Joines Hendrix (1895-1989) at Twin Oaks, NC,
May 9, 1942. He is believed to be the only Alleghany Register to issue his own marriage license.

Mr. Edwards’ second wife was Pratt’s husband, Duane Davis’ Aunt Hattie (and he was her second husband). Duane was born in 1945 and spent summers with Hattie and Letcher.

The couple had no children of their own. Letcher taught Duane how to use the tools eventually he gave his nephew.

Randolph’s New Telescope Compass patented June 24, 1879.
Manufactured by the T.F. Randolph Company in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Close-up view of the compass face with the telescope detached.
First page of the insert sheet for the telescope.
Mr. Edwards’ saddle bags in which he carried his apparatus.
The original case for the instrument, described in Randolph’s 1884 price list:
“…the whole instrument, except the staff mounting or tripod head, fits into a sole leather box, 8 inches square by 5 inches thick outside, and can be carried by a strap over the shoulder while the instrument is in use, without inconvenience. Weight of box 2 pounds.”

(The newspaper padding inside the box is dated June 29, 1919.)