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This is the second in a series of columns about mayors of Andrews.
Percy B. Ferebee made the trip to Andrews in 1915 with 15 cents in his pocket. When he died on Dec. 30, 1970, he was a multi-millionaire and listed as the wealthiest man in Western North Carolina.
Bob Barker, who was the local historian, became friends with Ferebee and said when he first came
to Andrews, he only had one pair of pants and that Bob would have to take them to be pressed for him while Ferebee waited in his room.
He went from rags to riches because he was an astute businessman and had branched out into many successful endeavors during his long career.
Ferebee was a graduate of North Carolina State College and began working as a civil engineer with the U.S. Forest Service in 1915. Then one year later, he purchased the local newspaper called the Andrews Sun. The paper was started by Miss Jean Christy’s father, John Christy, who retained one half interest.
He had started mining iron ore, but he ended it after the first World War because the demand had fallen. Ferebee was elected Mayor of Andrews in 1920 and in 1926 he purchased Citizens Bank and Trust Company, and for 40 years, he held the position of president. The bank was one of only two banks west of Asheville that weathered the storm of the Depression and remained open.
Like the first mayor, David Samuel Russell, Mayor Ferebee strived in the progress and development of Andrews. According to an article that ran in the Andrews Journal in 1965, Ferebee had a friend in the furniture business in Bryson City, and he asked him, “How’s business?” The friend who owned Cherokee Furniture Company replied, “Too good, we can’t make enough furniture for the demand.”
The article stated, “Then why don’t you build another factory? asked Ferebee. How about putting one up on the old core plant site in Andrews that I once showed you?
“Two years and a lot of hard work have passed but the dreams of many have been fulfilled. The multimillion-dollar plant of Andrews Furniture Industries Inc. opened this week for limited production.”
Ferebee was persistent with his old friend, as he talked about local money that could be invested, such as the banks and the Andrews towns people. He decided to form the Andrews Development Corporation with local merchants and other interested parties, who could see what Mayor Ferebee was trying to accomplish.
The article in the Journal summed up the plan that would get the ball rolling. “Any such new factory would attract a large number of skilled men. So, he talked of Andrews’ new high school, hospital, sewage disposal plant, its reputedly perfect water, and its quiet conscientious friendly people.”
“A consortium of Andrews merchants could see the benefit to the town’s economy of a large industrial plant. The corporation raise a substantial fund for the proposed Andrews Furniture Industries Inc. and bought 57 acres of
level land along the Southern Railway line behind the District Memorial Hospital.
Mayor Percy B. Ferebee was called “the self-appointed salesman of Andrews,” and 24 months later the dream of a new industrial plant came into fruition. He had made his promise good.
Part three of Mayor Percy B. Ferebee will continue in two weeks.
Kandy Barnard is a columnist for the Cherokee Scout. To talk about the Andrews Valley, call her at 361-3268 or email kandybarnard@gmail.com.