2004 Stone St. is quite a structure. 4,000+ sq. ft. house that’s worth over a million dollars.

Depending on how successful his business was, this address would make sense. Especially considering it’s close proximity to Cameron Village.

I delivered the Raleigh Times in that neighborhood in the mid-60’s, and can confirm that old man Stephenson was on my route. Tho I remember him being down the street, at the corner of Cowper & Jarvis, or Holt & Jarvis. Such a long time ago – heh. He didn’t prepay as he liked to have a chat with me when I came to collect. Great guy.

And as for C. H. Stephenson Music in Cameron Village, we all loved that place. Had listening booths in the back. Offered guitar & piano lessons downstairs. I remember when they first offered VOX guitars & amps – life size Beatles & Dave Clark Five freestanding cardboard endorsement cutouts. I could go on & on…

The music store on Peace Street was called Poole’s Music. Same family as Poole’s Pies and Poole’s Luncheonette, I believe. The building is still there, across from Sunflowers, and is occupied by the state.

Where did the image of Stan Kenton come from? That’s great!

I also believe it to have been Stephenson’s that a Mr Guitar, Chet Atkins, would frequent when nearby… it *may* have been Poole’s, but I think it was Stephenson’s. I had a friend, Donald Ray Walters that would go to the store whenever he heard that Chet would be there. Donald was a Chet enthusiast of the first degree… and played his styling quite well.

It needs a new home

I have fond memories of Stephenson Music, having worked there from August 1964 until June 1968. The business evolved considerably during this time.
When I began work there, I worked on Saturdays in the phono/radio shop helping with electronic repairs and installing phonograph needles and drive wheels. A few months later, I began the job of repairing Hammond organs, and continued in that job until I graduated from NC State in 1968. The Hammond repair job was much more demanding of my time. I worked between classes on weekdays and long days on Saturdays (and sometimes Sundays) traveling across eastern NC for to out-of-town repairs jobs. During my time at SMC, I learned a great deal about the Stephenson family and the history of the business; and, also met many interesting folks along the way.
The main “players” at SMC were Charles H. Stephenson, Sr., his wife Annie Stephenson, and sons Charles (Charlie) H. Stephenson, Jr. and James (Jimmy) T. Stephenson. Charles, Sr. was president of the company until his death in 1951, at which time Annie became president. Charlie Jr. was secretary/treasurer and Jimmy was vice president. After Annie died in 1966, Charlie Jr. became president and Jimmy became secretary/treasurer.
I don’t know the actual date the company began operations but I do know that it established itself on Fayettleville Street in downtown Raleigh in 1929. (The company may have been there earlier; but Charlie Jr. purchased the Fayetteville Street building in 1929.)
SMC relocated to Cameron Village in mid-1950. The Cameron Village store was today’s “big box” music store. The company had separate departments for pianos and organs, band instruments, stringed-instruments with amplifiers and accessories, hi-fi sound equipment (and later TVs,) sheet music and phonograph records, including listening booths. Beneath the main store was a large auditorium. The store had separate repair shops for pianos, organs and small electronics. SMC carried high-end products and merchandise including Steinway pianos; and it had large inventories of all products it sold.
Charlie Jr. managed the business. Jimmy had a lesser role. Annie came to the store almost every day; but, in the two years I was there before she died, I never saw her venture out of her office in the center of the store — never!
Charlie Jr., was born in 1901. He was married to Mabel Duke Goodall, a Duke family heiress. It appeared that Mabel was a primary source of Charlie Jr.’s wealth; although, clearly, he was successful in his own right. Charlie Jr. and Mabel lived in a large home at 925 Holt Drive in the Hayes Barton community. It was, and remains, my impression that the home was given to Mabel by her mother, also named Mabel Duke Goodall. Charlie and Mabel had two children: Charles H. Stephenson III and Mabel Goodall Stephenson III. Charlie III died in 1966; Mabel III died around 1912.
Jimmy was born in 1909; and was married to Mary. From the time I knew them, they lived in the Hayes Barton community home on Stone Street, that was owned by Charles Sr. and Annie. After Annie died in 1966, Jimmy acquired the home from other family members. Jimmy and Mary had no children.
Charles Sr. and Annie had a third son, Royal, who to my knowledge was not involved with the music store. Over the years, SMC (technically, C. H. Stephenson Music Company) held various interests in real estate ventures, including at least one residential subdivision. It seems that sibling Royal was involved in those ventures.
There were several other important “players” associated with SMC during the time I worked there. Those individuals deserve mention because they had a significant impact on the success of the business.
Robert (Bob) Roggero was a musician who began working at SMC in the 1950s, teaching and selling pianos. He later became the company’s principal piano tuner, then later became the piano technician. I witnessed Roggero at work. He was a master technician. He had a repair shop in the store basement. He began his own business in the late 1950s or early 1960s, but continued to work at SMC at least until 1967.
Mike Koonce managed the TV and hi-fi store. In fact, it was Mike who hired me to work in the phono/radop shop. Mike was a no-nonsense manager who knew his products and how to sell them.
Charles (Charlie) R. Hunt was the Hammond organ repair technician when I began working at SMC. Charlie was a great technician, and was my mentor for a short period before he left to assume a job at Wake Hospital. (That job might have been at Rex, but I believe it was Wake.) Charlie had observed my work in the radio repair shop, and suggested to Charlie Jr. that I be considered to undertake the organ repair job. I “rode” with Charlie for several weeks before he left and, I guess, demonstrated that I had the basic skills to do the organ repair job. Charlie Jr. arranged for me to go to the Hammond factory near Chicago for intensive short-course training during Christmas break in late 1964.
Jerry Lovelace is an individual I came to know, like and respect. Jerry could do almost everything at the store. He was familiar with almost all the merchandise and was an outstanding salesman. Jerry had a wide interest in everything, but seemed to have a special interest in speakers and sound systems. I recall that Jerry experimented with building speaker enclosures at home. It is not surprising that after leaving SMC, Jerry founded Creative Acoustics now located on Atlantic Blvd in Raleigh.
The SMC lease with Cameron Village ran from mid-1950, with five-year renewal periods. It is my understanding that, after the lease renewal expired in mid-1965, Charlie Jr. was not able to negotiate an acceptable renewal with Cameron Village owner Willie York. Some arrangement for a short extension must have been arranged because SMC remained at Cameron Village until late 1966.
At around Christmas-time in 1966, we moved to Fayetteville Street in a vacant automobile dealership space (I believe the space vacated by Thompson Cadillac.) The retail store was located in the old vehicle showroom area accessible from Fayetteville Street. Storage and shop areas were on the old vehicle service department space on the lower level, accessible from Wilmington Street. I recall that I could literally drive in an overhead door through the old service bays right to my work bench. What a convenience!
By mid-1967, Charlie Jr. had negotiated to purchase a site at the corner of Peace Street and Salisbury Street (now Vaughn Ct.) Simultaneously, plans were made to construct a new building on the site. We moved into the new Peace Street just before Christmas of 1967.
The new store was modern, had “tons” of warehouse/storage space and contained most of the spaces and merchandise areas as the Cameron Village store. I may be wrong, but I don’t remember that we continued to sell phonograph records.
Then something strange occurred that I never fully understood: Upon moving to the new store, Charlie Jr. announced that he would retire, the company merged with an entity named J. F. S. Company, and the control and management of the business was transferred to a man named Fred W. Whitener who I understood to be an in-law of the Charlotte-based Belk family. I am not sure that relationship is/was correct. In any event, Fred became president of SMC and Jimmy remained as secretary/treasurer.
It seemed that there was not limit on funds available for expenditure by Fred. Among other things, he offered to pay me overtime for after-hours work and work on Sundays. Needless to say, I accepted his offer (and made every effort to put in as many hours as possible during after-hour periods.)
Also, Fred immediately began efforts to convert the small auditorium to a professional recording studio, bringing in expensive recording equipment (control boards, equalizers, compression equipment, reverb equipment, cabling and microphones, etc.) He also hired a recording engineer. The idea was that SMC would become a major professional recording studio.
Other than a few local garage bands, I never witnessed any significant recording activity.
In the meantime, little effort was made to promote the business at its new location; and, from my perspective, it seemed that the music store business was slipping.
As mysteriously as Fred Whitener appeared, he similarly disappeared in the spring of 1968, and Charlie re-appeared to resume control of the business.
Charlie Jr. was aware that I would be graduating from NC State in May 1968. He asked me to stay on as head of all service activities, and he offered me a salary significantly better that the job I ultimately moved on to after graduation. I had loved my work at SMC and all the folks there that I had worked with, but I decided it would be in my best interest to move on rather than stay with a family-owned business where the key family members were “aging-out.”
I lost touch with the company after graduating. It is my impression that the company continued to operate until 1973 or 1974, but I’m not sure. Jimmy died in 1974. Charlie Jr. died in 1976. At around that time, the property was sold to the State of North Carolina.
At sometime around 1975 or 1976 (give or take a year or two,) I was at Crabtee Valley Mall where I saw a SMC store on the upper level. I walked into the store but nothing about it, including the employees, was recognizable from the old SMC that I knew.
The passing of Charlie Jr. and Jimmy marked the end of an era. I will never forget the wonderful times and experience I had at SMC. Still miss it after more than fifty years!
David C. Hobson
Pinehurst, NC

Michael, I did know Fred — reasonably well, but not on a personal level. Most of my time was spent in the shop in back of the store, or on the road. My principal contact during that time (after Charlie Jr. “retired”) was Jimmy who scheduled my work orders.
It seemed that Fred spend most of his time working on projects of special interest to himself, such as music with his friends and the recording studio. Also, as I mentioned, it seemed that Fred came and went in a flash, something I never understood.

Sorry I misspelled the last name. Your dad was good man to work for. Glad to have known him!

I also worked at Stephenson Music Company from about 1967 to 1970. For several months, I had been seeing an ad for an organ service technician in the Raleigh News & Observer. I applied for the job, and was interviewed by Mike Kunc. Mr. Kunc hired me as a repair tech in the Radio/TV/Stereo service department, with the understanding that I would assume the organ service tech’s job when the then tech, David Hobson, would graduate from NC State and take a career position in another city. Charlie Hunt was a part-time organ service tech at SMC, and both he and David trained me on Hammond organ servicing, repair and maintenance. Mr. Charlie Stephenson, president and owner of SMC, furthered my training by sending me to the Hammond Organ service school in Des Plaines, Illinois for a week of training on their entire line of organs. I remember seeing stacks and stacks of Hammond B-3 organ cabinets lining one wall of the factory. Those organs were extremely popular with major rock bands of the day, and are still popular today. You can find them on eBay, and they still sell for thousands of dollars. I left the company in late 1970 to continue my education at NCSU, and worked part-time for several years for other Raleigh stores including Poole’s Music Co., Burton James, and Maus Piano Co. I also did organ service work for Frederick’s Music Co. in Goldsboro, NC. In December 1973, I graduated from NCSU with a BS in electrical engineering and subsequently took a position with the Norfolk & Western Railway as a data communications engineer.

Working at Stephenson Music Company was a defining period in my life. For the most part, it was a fun job, and I was doing work that few people knew how to do. I fondly remember many of the colorful “characters” that worked there, including Mr. Charlie Stephenson, Mr. Jimmy Stephenson, Mike Kunc, Jerry Lovelace, Vernon Jordan, Truman Newberry, Mrs. Lee, and Sid Willoughby.

Jim Brogden
Greensboro, NC