Margaret Beatrice (Betsy) Penn

Margaret Beatrice Penn (1881-1965) was the only daughter of Arthur Shoellkopf, chairman of the board of directors for Niagara Falls power Company and past mayor of Niagara Falls. She was educated at a private girls' school in New York and then traveled abroad for two years. In 1905, she married Julius Schwill, a Chicago millionaire, and spent 17 years in the prominent social circle of the city's north shore.

Later, as mistress of Chinqua-Penn Plantation, Betsy Penn hosted many charity and social events, including the annual kickoff dinner for the Reidsville Community Chest. Betsy Penn also was instrumental in funding the Reidsville Hospital, and it was by her hand that the Penn 4-H Center was established on the site of Corn Jug Farm. "Despite all her money and social position, she was a down-to-earth person," recalled Charles Talley, plantation gardener from 1929 until 1985. "She made special effort for everyone. Around Thanksgiving she'd ride over the plantation and ask all the foremen to make a list of the workers' children, their ages, and sizes. She'd be going to New York the next week and she'd buy a Christmas present for each."

Bob Boyles, Chinqua-Penn chauffeur for 15 years, remembered Betsy Penn as a perfect lady from the old school. "Although it was my job," said Boyles, " I never once opened a car door for Mrs. Penn that she didn't thank me. I lost a real friend when she died."