Eunice Hedrick was born in Lexington to O. C. and Margaret Hedrick in 1909. She was the oldest of their seven children and she graduated from Lexington High School and Crim’s Business College in Winston-Salem. Eunice married William Edward Ayers, who died in 1954.
Eunice was the first woman elected to public office in Forsyth County. She began her political career in 1930 when she helped William E. Church in his election as Clerk of Superior Court. She served as assistant clerk of Forsyth County Superior Court in the 1940s and as assistant register of deeds from 1948 to 1949. When J. M. Lentz died, she was appointed to fill the position of register of deeds.
Eunice won the 1952 election for register of deeds, and served in that position until her retirement in 1984. During her tenure, she oversaw the computerization of the county’s land records, and put her department on financially stable footing.
Eunice recorded another first for Forsyth County when she and two other women were “allowed” to serve on a jury in 1937.
She was a strong Democrat and held several positions of authority in the Forsyth County Democratic Party.
Eunice passed away in 2002.
Photo courtesy of Forsyth County Public Library Photograph Collection.
