Almost everyone who lived in Wadesboro during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s remembers Penny Bennett. Unshaven and wearing old clothes and a battered hat, he would start walking with his dog from his home in Wadesboro, where he lived with his mother (until her death in 1966), to the family’s farm south of town. Often, someone would give him a ride. Someone once asked him why his dog was so skinny.
“I just gave him a couple of crackers, so he’s okay,” he replied. No one thought he had much money.
William Osborne Bennett III was the first child born to William Osborne Bennett Jr. and Elizabeth (Elsie) Curry Bennett in 1911. His father worked in an oil mill business in Maxton, N.C., but died when Penny was 14. A brother, Thomas, was born in 1914 and a second brother, Hugh, came four years later but only lived three years. Thomas was an excellent student at UNC, where he earned a medical degree and became an orthopedic surgeon in Honolulu. He married and had two sons. Although Thomas seldom visited the family in Wadesboro, Penny was proud of his brother.
After high school, Penny worked on the family farm. When the U.S entered World War II, he volunteered for the Navy at age 31. He served throughout the war in the Pacific on the USS Lewis Hancock (DD-675). He was honorably discharged as a Seaman 1st Class in 1945 and returned home to live with his mother and to continue working on the farm.
Penny never drove a vehicle. I lived on Morven Road and Penny came by walking twice a day, in the morning going to the farm, which he sometimes leased, and in the evening returning. He was interesting to talk with and had a wealth of knowledge. Soon after his mother’s death, he began to live without utilities.
Most folks didn’t realize that Penny, who seldom carried money with him, was independently wealthy.
“When Penny ate in a restaurant, he would often simply get up and leave and the restaurant knew to send the tab to his bank,” Tommy Allen, president of the historical society, recalled. Penny’s will revealed that he owned a large track of land in the county and stocks in major corporations. Also in his will, he gave his home place property on East Wade Street to the Anson County Historical Society, which is now the site of the organization’s office.
Penny died in 1987. After a funeral at Calvary Episcopal Church, he was buried in a family plot in Eastview Cemetery. Penny Bennett will be remembered as one of Anson County’s special characters.
Calvin Gaddy is a member of the Anson County Historical Society’s board of directors. He grew up in Wadesboro and now lives in Stanly County. This article is from the Anson County Historical Society’s current newsletter.