Mystery is unraveled

By Maurice Emery
Editor Emeritus

Within minutes of the Observer hitting the news stands last week the connection of the a town benefactor was revealed by several long time members of the community. 

When it was announced at last week’s town meeting that Dorothy Burton Hubbard gave the town a gift of $5,686.90 none of the board members at the meeting could recall what her connection to the town was. 

Matt Johnston, Dorothy’s cousin, was first to let the Observer know that she and her family have a long illustrious history with the town.  The ninety-seven year old Littleton native was the daughter of James Hudson Burton and Elisa Burton.  She is also the granddaughter of the Reverend Robert Olivia Burton.  

Rev. Burton was the founder of the Littleton United Methodist Church.  According to Rebecca Dozier’s book Looking Back on Littleton, N.C., he founded the church in 1880 when it was called the Methodist Episcopal Church. She goes on to reveal that two other well known Littleton families played a part in the original church. Colonel William Johnston and Marion Newsom were two of the first members of the church.

A memorial window in the sanctuary of the Littleton United Methodist Church is a reminder of his place in the history of the church.

According to Betsy Medlin, another cousin, told the Observer that Rev. Burton also started the Methodist church in Weldon. Betsy said that around Littleton Dorothy was called Elizabeth.

“She was a very glamorous and interesting person,” Betsy told the Observer. As a teen Dorothy’s mother took her and her sister, Edna, to New York.  In the Big Apple the sisters became models. 

Through the years both sisters maintained their links with Littleton. Dorothy spent her retirement years close to her hometown in Chapel Hill.

A church bulletin reveals that Dorothy and her sister were generous contributors to the church.  They gave financial support for the new fellowship hall.  She also attended the 125th anniversary celebration in 2005 along with other surviving relatives. 

Dorothy was last in Littleton for the funeral of her sister, then Edna Burton Davidson, in August of 2006. 

She died on May 6, 2007, and is interred at Sunset Hill Cemetery in Littleton. The letter to the board accompanying the gift stated that the funds are to be used for the cemetery. The letter also stated that more money might be gifted to the town.

The town’s inhabitants have changed considerably over the years, but people like Dorothy Burton Hubbard are a part of the fabric of the town that will live forever.