The following letter, sent us by V. C. Matthews, principal of the Aurelian Springs School, of which Miss Heptinstall is a student, will be of interest to Enfield and Halifax citizens, where the Heptinstall family is well known. Editor

Durham, March 3, 1931

Dear Miss Heptinstall,

I read in today’s Durham Morning Herald of your winning the gold medal for the best declamation delivered at the Duke University scholarship society’s contest. Congratulations! Some time ago I read of your winning some prize in a High School contest, can’t recall just what now, but I intended writing you then. I know you are wondering who I am, and I’m doing the same thing about you. Your name is not a common name in the United States, a fact you already know I guess. The fact that I was a Heptinstall before I married naturally interested me in you. I was born in Enfield, North Carolina, a daughter of James Kavanaugh Heptinstall. His father was Reverend George Heptinstall. We had relatives in and near Littleton. I wonder if you and I are not related? Anyway, I’d be glad to hear from you.

I know your parents and your school are proud of you. Keep the good work going and be a girl different from the general run of girls in this day and time. I have eight children, the oldest a girl of eighteen. Have four boys and four girls, just a nice family, so many tell me. If your father knows of our family, it might interest him to know I was named for Mrs. Eugenia Jackson of Littleton.

With best wishes for your continued success, and hoping to hear from you soon-

Mrs. J. B. Waddell, Roxboro Road Durham NC

Some of Hannah Bailey Heptinstall Vaughan’s response is destroyed but she explains the family connection. Reverend George Heptinstall was the son of Asa Heptinstall, the brother of the Reverend John Wesley Heptinstall who was her great grandfather. She thanks Mrs. Waddell for the interest that she has shown in her family. The prize for winning the Declamation Medal was a full scholarship to attend Duke University. She proudly wore her gold medal.