GLEE CLARK AND SAM LOVE QUEEN
Haywood County Heritage article 713
Sam Love Queen (1888-1969), son of James and Mary Noland Queen, married Johnnie Glee Clark (1896-1979), daughter of Dallas and Rachel Ferguson Clark, in 1917. They established their home at the farm where Sam was bom on Dellwood Road three miles from Waynesville. Four children were born to this union: James Richard (married Lois Pryor), Frances Clark who died at birth, Sara Glee (married Clifford Ernest Brown, Jr.), and Sam Love, Jr. (married Mary Moody). The facts and information which follow might be of interest to the offspring as they are descendants from pioneer families who made many worthwhile contributions to the area.
Sam was the seventh of 10 children. His siblings were Willie who died at 23, Elizabeth (married Garrett Reeves), John (married Grace Shook), Charlotte who died at nine, Margaret (married Homer Justice), Mollie (married Jarvis Allison), Sam, Mattie (married Dave Turner), Fannie (married Bob Howell), and Jimmie (married George Plott). The Queen Family Cemetery is located at the Maple Grove Church on Dellwood Road. James Queen donated the land where this church stands.
Glee, the youngest of 14 children, was bom and raised in the remote White Oak area of Haywood County. Her siblings were Frances (died at birth), Zackary (never married), Ellen (married Dave McCracken and homesteaded in Montana), Ann (married Frank Davis), Sallie (married Thad Allen and homesteaded in Mon­tana and Washington), Flora (married Ulysses Ferguson), Dovie (married John Wright and Bob Teague), Grover (married Nora Davis and Bonnie Morrow), Dee (married Nellie Rhea), Texie died at 18, Iva, Bertha died at one, Iowa died at 16, and Glee. Many of the family are buried at White Oak in the Clark Cemetery which is high on a hill above the original homeplace. Grandparents Richard Deepender Clark (1795-1883) and Frances (1805-1867) are buried here.
Sam and Glee were both fifth generations at Robin and Fannie Ferguson from Ireland. Glee's father and Sam's grandfather were Confederate Civil War veterans. Sam's mother often thrilled her grandchildren by telling how she and her brother hid in a cave with the family milk cow when Kirk's Raiders came through. Cyrus Rogers, son of Revolutionary war veteran Hugh Rogers, was Glee's great-grandfather. DAR. membership #524583 documents this lineage.
Both were school teachers, as were their three children and two daughters-in-law. All taught a combined total of nearly 150 years. Sam attended Weaver College where he won the Cliosophic Declamation medal; his Son Richard won the same medal while at Brevard College.
Glee boarded with the Hugh Sloan family in Waynesville for four years in order to attend high school. She graduated as valedictorian of her class. She received higher education at Cullowhee Normal, Duke Summer School at Lake Junaluska, and the University of North Carolina.
Glee served as Welfare Director in Haywood County from 1939 to 1963. Two accomplishments she was most proud of were closing the "county home" or "poor farm" and helping to establish the first rest/nursing homes in the State. After leaving the Welfare Department, she operated Queen's Retirement Horne until her death. She was named Outstanding Woman of the Year in 1975.
Sam was a farmer and a noted square dancer. According to a documentary film, "Our House to the White House", produced by the North Carolina Department of Cultural resources, he is the "father" of team square dancing. He formed the Soco Gap Square Dance Team which performed for the King and Queen of England at the White House in 1939.
Both were active, life long Methodists and Democrats. Glee taught an adult Sunday School class for over 30 years. Sam was a member of the Masonic order and Glee was an actual daughter of the U.D.C. Beginning in the 1930's until the 1960's, they operated one of the areas first and best known guest homes and dude ranches, Queen's Farm. Glee was all excellent cook and Sam delighted the guests with his genuine hospitality. An editorial appearing in the Raleigh News and Observer upon the robbery and murder of Sam stated "Sam Queen lived to make people happy... this man exuded joy and effervescence ... this square dancer and caller to a nation was acclaimed at home for incessant acts of quiet philanthropy." Also at the death a Mountaineer editorial said, "Sam Queen helped create a public image for this mountain region as having some of the purest anglo-Saxon customs, cultures, and language of any place in the new world."

Submitted by: Sam Brown, Clyde, NC ,