Roland W. Rainwater, Sr., and family

Harold Rainwater, Sallie Dawkins Rainwater, Roland W. Rainwater, Sr., and Roland W. Rainwater, Jr.

Roland William Rainwater was the third son of William Thomas Rainwater and Caroline Bennett. Born 4 December 1879 in Marlboro Co., South Carolina, he one of nine children. He is found in his parents’ Smithville home in the 1880 census, but by 1900, he was living in Rockingham, Richmond Co., North Carolina.

Roland married Sallie Dawkins around 1901, and the couple had four children: Bennie William, born 1901; Fred, born ca. 1908; Harold Bell, born 1914; and Roland William Jr., born in 1920.

Roland is listed in the 1900 and 1920 censuses as a cotton mill boss. He was also a member of the North Carolina School Committee in 1922 and 1923. He died in 1937 and was buried in Bear Branch Cemetery in Richmond Co., NC. Sallie outlived him by nearly 30 years, and is buried with him in Bear Branch Cemetery.

The couple is shown in this photo on the porch of their home in Roberdel, NC, with sons Harold and Roland, Jr.

Credits
Photo and biographical information supplied by Howard Rainwater

© 2018 Susan Chance-Rainwater
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