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1 ,- ·, !· Report of Events Occurin g in Peyton and Utoy Forest on ..; .• Monday Even in g , June 11 , 1962 '. At approximately 7:30 p. m. Monday evening, June 11, I received ci"call fr om a neighbor who reported h a ving seen several cars driven by Negroes entering the dr.ive to the home owned b y F. E. B e n ne tt. S in ce rumors had been circulating recently about the inte ntion s o f ce rtai n pe ople in the area to sell their houses to Negroes, I decide d to i nvest igate the m atter . _,,



. t - -!- .,- I called F. E. Bennett and he sugge ste d that I come over to his house ri ght away. · Several nei ghbors w e r e info rm e d and we proceed e d to Mr. Bennett's. As w e were arriving Mr . C a llaw~y , a Negro w as l e aving ; how e ver , two _Ne gro e s h a d r ema ine d. . · I Mr. B e nnett imm e diate ly g ave the fo llowing a ccount as the r ea son for the Neg r o e s presence: " . Mr . B ennett stated th a t h e had pur chased pr o per ty re c entl y from C a lho un Real ty Co mpan y and had gone out of t o wn before co mpleting the transaction . He stated that upon return ing he fo und a business c ar d st u c k i n h i s door w hich he glan c ed at and mistook for C alho un Real ty Co mpany. S i nc e he had further business to t r a n s a c t with Calhoun he called th e number on the card on Monday to make arrangements for completing his business transaction . The numb er he had called was Callaway Rea l ty Co mpany, a Negro firm. Mr . Bennett explained that Mr. Ca llaway, a Ne gro, wanted to come out and talk to h i m regarding his pro perty i n Peyton and Utoy F o rest, Mr. Bennett told him he was not interested. Mr, Callaway then informed Mr. Bennett that his company already had two listing s in the area. Mr. Bennett stated he asked to be shown the listings and that Mr. Callaway said he would bring them to Mr. Bennett's house at 7:00 p. m. on Tuesday evening. Mr. Bennett then stated he c a ll ed several neighbors, including Mr, Baker and Mr. Ramsey, to have them present when Mr. Callaway arrived: On Tuesday evening Mr. Callaway arrived alone and stated he had brought only one listing and one of his Salesmen was bringing the other. Shortly PJJ~r,eafter two N~gro es arrived in , separate cars. Mr. Bennett stated that the Negroes failed to produce the listings. They said it would be bad business practice but said ; ~ ..I . ! ,I .' I ' ! .. • . 'I �···:. .,.,,, they had the listings. The Ne g ,r oes further stated that one house was on Ha r lan Road and one in Peyton Forest. This was the account given as the reason for the Negroes presence. As s t ated previously, when several n e ighbors and I arrived at the Bennett home two Ne groes were still present. Mrs. Baker, Messrs. Bennett, Daniels, Por te r, Kovas, Monnerat, Scroggs, and I discussed the situation with the Negro salesm a n representing CaUaway Realty Company. The Negroes insisted that they did not wish to go against what the majo r ity of the people. in the area wanted .but that they were in business to sell real estate anywh ere to anyone. They stated that if w e decided to sell contact Callaway · Re a lty Company. They also s a id that it was possible to work out a group selling contract similar to the one us e d in the Wisteria Lane area.· The Negroes kept insisting that they wanted o u r lis t in g s if we decided to sell. We told t he m that ours was a wh i te neighborhood and we had every intention to keep it white. One Ne g ro b egan s t a ti ng sta tistics of the ratio of Negro and white population to Ne g ro and wh i te p r oper t y ar e a. He also said that Mr. Callaway was asked by the o w n e rs to take the li s t i ng s of the two houses. The Negroes were evasive a bo ut the t w o listing s b ut said the prices of the houses were $ 21,000 and $21,700 re spec t ively • . W e accus ed them of soliciti ng b u si ness in the ar e a but t hey denied it. When confron te d w ith th e f a ct o f Neg ro es co nti no us ly ridin g around in the ar e a , they denied kno w ledg e of it but s a id th ere w a s n o law against i t . T he co n versation l a sted a bo ut 4 5 m inutes . The Negro e s pas sed out the ir busi n ess c a rds , a sked that we c a ll the m on what we decid e d , and l eft. C/~ C. J. O w e n s 681 Fielding Lane .uo , . ·, ; ,:; ,}Y.) l; . I • I I,, ii.- ..; J -2 - �