| Sources |
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 21 Aug 2006.
Milling lumber has been his life
The 56-inch whirling saw makes quick work out of logs. The log carriage dates to the 1940s, when Bryant & Pack operated a saw mill.
By: David Popiel
Source: The Newport Plain Talk
08-21-2006
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Mid week motorists heading home after the fair found some cooler night weather after the early August full moon cloaked in hazy and humid heat in our hometown. Jim Graham, who I had bumped into at Wal-Mart on Thursday, confirmed the heat had taken its share of grain crops. He and son, Jay Graham, annually plant hundreds of acres of corn and soybeans. The crop will be at least average.
Some weeks ago Jackie Allen suggested that I might find an interesting story at the old saw mill near Del Rio off highway 25/70. You've noticed the piles of sawn lumber, helter-skelter logs and mountains of sawdust over the years.
So I headed east as you recall from my last column traveling past the old Stone Mountain Park and the Slab Cafˇ and market to the mill seeking its 80-year-old operator. Today, Frank Pack is still as straight as a long pine board and stout as a pine knot. He celebrated his birthday June 26 and at a time when most of us would be retired, he continues to work.
The odor of newly-sawn pine rose off the small lot where some old and rusted trucks were encumbered in thick layers of sawdust. I wondered how many houses, churches, sheds, and barns have been built from the lumber that came sliding off frank's swirling steel saw? All that sturdy poplar and pine reminded me of how Frank must have been as a young man, flexed and full of energy.
The saw mill has not always been his home. At one point he worked for about nine years at American Enka but gave it up. Perhaps some of you recall that he operate the James Cashen store in the late 1950s until about 1960. It was a small, unsealed wood frame store stocked with the necessities of life.
In the early 1940s, Frank got his interest in logging by working with his Uncle Clyde Pack and Wiley Sexton. Frank helped set up the mill at Laurel Creek. In case you haven't figured it out, these folks were the family that began the Bryant & Pack Lumber Company in Newport.
You old timers will know that logging 50 years ago did not have the power equipment and vehicles available today. It was mules, horses, wagons, chains, and lots of muscle and sweat. Frank learned on the job and built his first mill about 1961. This mill burned in 1971 and since he has operated the same structure and in the same place for more than 30 years. Bryant & Pack originally owned the mill near Del Rio. Part of the log carriage that slides logs into the 56-inch blade is from the mid-1940s Bryant & Pack mill, he said.
Clyde bought the mill when he was working for Ben Caton, the elder. Those who knew Ophas Bryant will recall that he was somewhat disabled because he was injured by a saw blade as a younger man.
Frank said he learned a lot at the mill working with his father, Nathan Pack, and his wife's brother, Drewey Pierce. Frank's mother was the former Lena Mae Jones from Del Rio. The mill operators sold their boards and timbers to anyone-a lot went to Rhyne Lumber Company at $35 per thousand board feet. Today, Frank gets about $500 per thousand feet.
Most of the wood he saws these days is pine. He has been cutting timber in the Blue Mill area with Floyd Mooneyham, and Roger Bugg. Frank drives his trucks and tractors but does rely on his daughter, Jackie Allen, for meals at supper. There is another child, Jimmy Pack, who has a giant poultry operation off Clear Creek Road. Jackie and her son, Reggie Allen, keep busy at their special school- Open Door Outreach Christian Academy. They are aided by Stella Tucker.
Those who know the Pack family will also know my friend and Frank's brother, Fred Pack, of Newport. The only other living sibling is Virginia Roth, of NC. Leonard Pack is deceased is as Billy Pack, who died at age 26, when he drowned in the French Broad River while checking fish traps with his brother, Fred. Frank was married to Henrietta Pierce Pack, who was from NC. She died in 1995 and Frank continues to live alone only feet from his daughter's house off Punkton Road.
He's always kept a working pace no matter how difficult the times or how bad he might have felt. Frank said that at one point in his life he worked for A.J. Bandy along the French Broad River sawing lumber. It was not uncommon for the crew to turn out 13,000 board feet in one day.
The only regret he has had about his lumber business is perhaps he has tried to help too many people-"even though some people you can't help." His children appreciate their Dad and all those years of labor for the family and community. His goodness did not make him immune to sickness. In the late 1990s, he was stricken with what he thought was Bell's Palsy. After three years he went to see Dr. James Denneny, who diagnosed Frank with cancer on the left side of his face near his ear. The surgery left him scared but it has not harmed his gentle spirit and ability to work.
Those who travel along Highway 107 through Del Rio next to the Norfolk-Southern track have seen the immense garden he grows every year. Most of the harvest he gives away. That is his way.
In plain talk, if you want to see an honest hard-working man who reflects all the strong values and traits of our local mountain people, just visit Frank Pack off the Asheville Highway. He will always take a minute to talk to you.
- [S113] Manes Funeral Home, (http://www.manesfuneralhome.com), 23 Nov 2013.
(June 26, 1926 - November 23, 2013)
Frank Pack, age 87, of Del Rio went to be with the Lord on November 23, 2013. He owned and operated his sawmill for 52 years. His sawmill was a landmark in Del Rio, Tennessee where he sawed lumber for surrounding areas and states. He was preceded in death by his wife, Henrietta Pack; parents, Nathan and Lena Pack; brothers, Billy and Leonard Pack; step-children, Tommy Arrowood, Ann Burnette, Shirley Lunsford, and Edith Lockhart. He is survived by his son, Jimmy (Johnnie) Pack of Parrottsville; daughter, Jackie Allen of Del Rio; step-daughter, Joyce Messer of Del Rio, brother Fred Pack of Newport; sister, Virginia (Gene) Ross of Alabama; grandchildren, Adam Allen, Reggie Allen, Tommy Messer, and Susan Messer Foshie all of Del Rio; four great grandchildren, Hannah, Faith, and Eli Allen and Philip Foshie. Funeral services will be held 7:30 p.m. on Monday, November 25, 2013 in Manes Funeral Home Chapel, with Rev. Caney Cladwell officiating. Burial will be in the Jonestown Cemetery at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, November 26, 2013. The Family will receive friends from 5:00-7:30 prior to the funeral service on Monday. Family and friends may sign the guest register on line at: www.manesfuneralhome.com. Manes Funeral Home in charge.
- [S147] Find a Grave, (Memorial: 120735159).
- [S58] Marriage Certificate.
Name: Nathan Pack
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Event Type: Marriage
Event Date: 21 Aug 1920
Event Place: Cocke, Tennessee, United States
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Spouse's Name: Lena Jones
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GS Film number: 1572603
Digital Folder Number: 004485970
Image Number: 01544
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1926 - 2013 (87 years)
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