USA > North Carolina > Biographical history of North Carolina from colonial times to the present; > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40
Gc 975.6 As3b v.5 1742318
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02397 6647
BI iographical Distory
of North Carolina
From Colonial Times to the Present
E
Editor-in-Chief Samuel A. Ashe V, 5
VOLUME V
Charles L. Van Noppen PUBLISHER Greensboro, N. C. MCMVI
563
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA "OLD NORTH STATE" EDITION
THIS EDITION IS STRICTLY LIMITED TO SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY REGISTERED AND NUMBERED SETS, OF WHICH THIS IS SET NUMBER
1742318
GREAT
THAT
15
BRINGETH
THE C
GIFT
KNOWLEDGE
ESSE QUADE
INDERI A
EX LIBRIS
YROTZIR RADHITTARDOIU AV110SMO HITSOM TO
BICSAFI
CharlesD. MAver.
Advisory Board
KEMP P. BATTLE Chapel Hill
JOHN C. BUXTON
Winston-Salem
THEO. F. DAVIDSON . Asheville
JE JUNIUS DAVIS . Wilmington
RUFUS A. DOUGHTON
Sparta
ERTHOMAS J. JARVIS
Greenville
JAMES Y. JOYNER
Raleigh
CHARLES D. MCIVER Greensboro
WILLIAM L. POTEAT
Wake Forest
JAMES H. SOUTHGATE
Durham
CHARLES W. TILLETT . Charlotte
Contents
0
3
ADVISORY BOARD vii
CONTENTS ix
PORTRAITS xiii
CONTRIBUTORS XV
ALLEN, ELEAZAR
I
BELO, ALFRED H.
8
BLUE, JOHN
14
BOYD, ADAM
18
BRUTON, JOHN FLETCHER
23
BUTLER, JOHN
29
BUXTON, JARVIS
BUXTON, RALPH P.
38 41
BUXTON, JOHN CAMERON
46
CARR, LEWIS ALBERT
53
CARTERET, PETER
59
CATCHMAID, GEORGE
63
CLEVELAND, BENJAMIN
69
CLINTON, RICHARD
74
Cox, ORLANDO R. .
79
DICKSON, WILLIAM 85
FANNING, DAVID 90
FORNEY, PETER
98
FORSYTH, BENJAMIN 102
x
CONTENTS
GORE, JOSHUA WALKER 107
GRAY, JULIUS ALEXANDER IIO
HALL, JOHN II7
HAMILTON, JOHN I21
HASSELL, CUSHING BIGGS
124
HASSELL, SYLVESTER 129
HAWKINS, PHILEMON, SR.
135
HAWKINS, PHILEMON, JR.
139
HAWKINS, BENJAMIN
144
HAWKINS, WILLIAM
154
HAWKINS, JOHN D. 160
HAWKINS, ALEXANDER BOYD 164
HAWKINS, WILLIAM J.
169
JACKSON, ANDREW 174
JENKINS, JOHN
183
JOHNSTON, GABRIEL I87
KING, WILLIAM R.
194
MCADEN, RUFUS YANCEY 198
MAFFITT, JOHN NEWLAND
203
MCIVER, CHARLES DUNCAN
212
MCIVER, JOHN MCMILLAN
230
MANGUM, WILLIE PERSON
236
MANGUM, WILLIE PERSON, JR. 258
MANGUM, PRIESTLEY HINTON, SR. 263
METTS, JAMES ISAAC . 267
MOORE, BARTHOLOMEW FIGURES
275
MORGAN, SAMUEL TATE 287
PEARSON, RICHMOND M. 295
PITTMAN, THOMAS MERRITT 310
POLK, THOMAS
316
POTEAT, WILLIAM LOUIS 321
f
-
CONTENTS
xi
PRATT, JOSEPH HYDE
327
REINHARDT, ROBERT SMITH 333
-
REX, JOHN . 339
RICKS, ROBERT HENRY
342
ROYSTER, FRANK SHEPPARD
345
RUFFIN, THOMAS
350
RUFFIN, THOMAS, JR.
360
SKINNER, WILLIAM
367
STANLY, EDWARD .
370
STARKEY, JOHN
379
STOCKARD, HENRY JEROME
383
SUMNER, JETHRO
395
TAYLOR, JOHN LOUIS .
402
THOMPSON, GEORGE WARREN
407
VAN NOPPEN, LEONARD CHARLES
412
WALKER, HENDERSON .
422
WATKINS, WILLIAM HENRY
426
WEEKS, STEPHEN BEAUREGARD
433
WHITEHEAD, MARCELLUS
442
WHITEHEAD, JOHN
446
WHITEHEAD, RICHARD HENRY
449
WHITEHEAD, WILLIAM HENRY
452
WILLIAMSON, HUGH
458
WILLIAMS, BENJAMIN 467
WILKES, JOHN . 473
WINBORNE, BENJAMIN BRODIE 480
WITHERSPOON, JOHN 487
WRIGHT, RICHARD HARVEY 493
Portraits
MCIVER, CHARLES D. . . Frontispiece
BELO, ALFRED H.
facing 8
BLUE, JOIIN .
66
14
BRUTON, JOHN F.
23
BUXTON, JARVIS
38
BUXTON, RALPH P.
41
BUXTON, JOHN CAMERON .
¥
46
CARR, LEWIS ALBERT
66
53
Cox, ORLANDO R. .
79
GORE, JOSHUA WALKER
107
GRAY, JULIUS ALEXANDER
66
110
HASSELL, CUSHING BIGGS
124
HASSELL, SYLVESTER 129
.6
139
HAWKINS, BENJAMIN .
144
HAWKINS, WILLIAM 154
160
HAWKINS, ALEXANDER BOYD
=
164
HAWKINS, WILLIAM J.
169
MCADEN, RUFUS YANCEY
66
198
. MCIVER, JOHN MCMILLAN ..
230
MANGUM, WILLIE PERSON
236
MANGUM, WILLIE PERSON, JR.
258
..
HAWKINS, PHILEMON, JR.
.6
HAWKINS, JOHN D.
xiv
PORTRAITS
MANGUM, PRIESTLEY HINTON, SR. . facing 263
METTS, JAMES ISAAC . 267
MOORE, BARTHOLOMEW FIGURES 275
MORGAN, SAMUEL TATE 287
PEARSON, RICHMOND M. . 295
PITTMAN, THOMAS MERRITT 310
POTEAT, WILLIAM LOUIS . 321
PRATT, JOSEPH HYDE .
327
REINHARDT, ROBERT SMITH
333
RICKS, ROBERT HENRY 342
ROYSTER, FRANK SHEPPARD
345
RUFFIN, THOMAS .
350
STOCKARD, HENKY JEROME
383
THOMPSON, GEORGE WARREN .407
VAN NOPPEN, LEONARD CHARLES
412
WATKINS, WILLIAM HENRY 426
WEEKS, STEPHEN BEAUREGARD
433
WHITEHEAD, MARCELLUS . 442
WHITEHEAD, JOHN
446
WHITEHEAD, RICHARD HENRY
449
WHITEHEAD, WILLIAM HENRY 452
WILKES, JOHN .
473
WINBORNE, BENJAMIN BRODIE
480
WRIGHT, RICHARD HARVEY
493
Contributors
SAMUEL A. ASHE
THEO. F. KLUTTZ
RICHARD H. BATTLE, A. B., LL.D. PATRICK R. LAW, A.B., B.D., D.D. G. SAMUEL BRADSHAW, A.M. M. L. LAWRENCE JOHN C. BUXTON JAMES H. MYROVER
JOSEPH P. CALDWELL
FRANK NASH
J. B. CARLYLE, A.M. COLLIER COBB, A. M.
LOUIS JULIEN PICOT, M.D.
THOMAS M. PITTMAN
R. D. W. CONNOR, PH.B.
EDWARD W. SIKES, PH D.
ROBERT P. DICK, A. M., LL.D. WILLIAM C. SMITH, A. B.
BENJAMIN F. DIXON
JAMES H. SOUTHGATE, A. B.
LEONARD C. VAN NOPPEN, A.M.
FRANCIS P. VENABLE, PH. D.
J. G. dE R. HAMILTON, A. M.
MARSHALL DE L. HAYWOOD
GEORGE HOWE, PH. D.
STEPHEN B. WEEKS, PH.D., LL.D. GEORGE STOCKTON WILLS, A.M. ROBERT W. WINBORNE, A. B.
THOS. H. HUME, A. M., D.D., L.L. D. FRANCIS D. WINSTON, A. B. JAMES MCNEILL JOHNSON WILLIAM A. WITHERS, A. M.
-------
AL FAIRBROTHER ROBERT B. GLENN
ELEAZAR ALLEN
T HE subject of this sketch, Eleazar Allen, for some fifteen years, during a most interesting period of the development of the Province of North Carolina, played an important part in public affairs. Not only, as stated on his tomb- stone, "did God endow him with an admirable understanding, and his parents with a liberal education, of both of which he made the most excellent use," but by his family con- nections and his public employment he exerted a strong influence on the course of events.
He was born in Massachusetts in 1692, of English parentage. His grandfather, Reverend John Allen, of Norfolk, England, was educated at Cambridge, where he took B.A. in 1615, and M.A. in 1619. In 1637 he came to America and organized the church at Dedham, Massachusetts, which he served as minister until his death in 1671. One of his sons, Doctor Daniel Allen, graduated at Harvard in 1675, was librarian of the college, and took the degree of M.A. in 1678. He married Mary Anna Bendall, and had by her, among other children, the subject of this sketch. After the death of Doctor Allen his widow married Samuel Lynde. In her will Mrs. Lynde makes a bequest "unto my lov- ing son, Eleazar, of Carolina." It is interesting to note also that a sister of the subject of this sketch, Katherine Allen, married Josiah Willard, and bequests were likewise made by Mrs. Lynde
2
NORTH CAROLINA
to her Willard grandchildren. 'Circumstances led the footsteps of young Allen to Charleston, South Carolina, where he became a merchant, and there at some time prior to 1722 he married Sarah Rhett, the eldest daughter of Colonel William Rhett, who was born June, 1697. Another daughter of Colonel Rhett mar- ried "King" Roger Moore of the Cape Fear, and a niece of Mrs. Allen married Thomas Franklin, an officer of the British Navy, and another niece married William Dry of the Cape Fear.
In 1723 Colonel Maurice Moore determined on making the set- tlement of the Cape Fear, and sought to interest his connections in South Carolina, as well as those in the Albemarle region, in this enterprise. Roger Moore and his family were among the first to move, and Mr. Allen agreed to join them in their new home. In 1725 he obtained a grant for land on the Cape Fear adjoining the Orton plantation, where Roger Moore built, and there later he made his residence, calling his plantation Lilliput.
It appears, however, that Mr. Allen, about that time, returned to Massachusetts and graduated at Harvard in 1726. He was then about thirty-four years of age; and possibly it may have happened that he had left Harvard in his youth without graduat- ing, and he now returned merely to finish his course, perfect him- self in some lines, and obtain his degree. Coming back to Charleston, he was for some time Clerk of the Assembly of the Province of South Carolina, and he remained in his old home until 1734. It was expected, however, that he would take up his residence on the Cape Fear earlier, and in August, 1730, when Burrington was appointed Governor of North Carolina, he rec- ommended Allen to be one of his Council; and he was appointed, but he remained in South Carolina and was not sworn in as a Councillor until November 2, 1734. Governor Johnston arrived at the Cape Fear on October 27th; on November 6th Governor Burrington met the General Assembly at Edenton, and most of the Council were in attendance at that place. On November 2d, Halton, Allen and Roger Moore, being at Brunswick, formed a Council, and Governor Johnston exhibited his commission and began his administration. On the 6th of March following Gov-
களீட்டின்
3
ELEAZAR ALLEN
ernor Johnston appointed Allen Receiver-General of the Province in the place of John Hamerton, who was then absent from the Province; and a fortnight later he appointed him an assistant Judge of the Court of Oyer and Terminer, and directed that the first term of that Court should be held at Newton on the following 13th of May ; and he also appointed Allen one of the Justices of New Hanover Precinct. Mr. Allen's business qualifications, as well, perhaps, as his fine education, at once gave him prom- inence in public matters, and at the first meeting of the General Assembly, he and Secretary Nathaniel Rice were appointed a committee of the Council to draw up an address to the Governor ; and the General Assembly recommended to the Governor and Council his appointment as Treasurer of New Hanover Precinct in the place of John Baptista Ashe, who had recently died, and the appointment was made.
The matter of the dividing line between North and South Caro- lina had long been unsettled. Originally the Lords Proprietors intended to establish a number of counties in Carolina, each with its local government, but all under a general Parliament. At the very first there were established, with undefined limits, the coun- ties of Albemarle, Clarendon and Craven. At length, about 1689, when Ludwell was appointed Governor, his commission gave him authority "over that part of our Province lying north and east of Cape Fear." Then Bath County was established with undefined southern limits, and Clarendon County ceased to ex- ist, probably in 1667 when the Cape Fear was deserted and re- lapsed into an unoccupied wilderness. When Carteret Precinct was established, it extended south to the limits of North Caro- lina. The South Carolina authorities claimed the Cape Fear River as the boundary, and in 1692, under this claim, a settlement had been projected, if not actually made, on the Cape Fear River, and a grant of 40,000 acres to Landgrave Smith had been located about where the town of Brunswick was afterwards built ; and in subsequent years other South Carolina grants were located on the Cape Fear agreeably to this claim on the part of the South Carolina authorities: But Burrington, who was interested in the
4
NORTH CAROLINA
settlement of the Cape Y'car and had two plantations on that river, when he went to England in 1729, on the purchase of Caro- lina by the Crown, to push his claim for appointment as first Royal Governor, exerted himself to have the limits of the Prov- ince extended further to the southward. In 1732, learning that some South Carolina patents were being located on the north side of the Wackamaw River, on lands formerly occupied by the Con- garee Indians, he advertised in the newspaper at Charleston that that section was in North Carolina. Burrington's instructions were that "the line should begin at the sea thirty miles distant from the Cape Fear, and should run at the same distance from that river to its head, and thence a due west course, unless Wackamaw lie within thirty miles of the Cape Fear River; then Wackamaw was to be the boundary." A question arose whether that meant the mouth of Wackamaw, or any part of that stream. In consequence of the representations made by Burrington and his strenuous endeavors to advance the interests of North Caro- lina, it was ordered that each province should appoint commission- ers to agree upon a proper line subject to the King's approval. Eleazar Allen was appointed one of the commissioners on the part of North Carolina, and the commissioners met at his house at Lilliput on the 23d of April, 1735, and agreed that a due west line should be run from Cape Fear along the seacoast for thirty miles, and then proceed northwest to the 35th degree of north latitude, etc.
One week later the commissioners began to run the line, and the thirty miles carried them to ten poles from the mouth of Little River. In September they ran the line seventy miles to the north- west. In 1737 the line was extended in the same direction twenty- two miles; and from there in 1764 it was extended due west to Waxhaw Creek. This line was very much more favorable to North Carolina than any that had been previously proposed. In- deed the South Carolinians had contended for a boundary that would have thrown into their province the greater part of west- ern Carolina. It is apparent, therefore, that Mr. Allen and his associates on that occasion rendered the Province excellent service.
5
ELEAZAR ALLEN
Indeed he was well qualified to discharge the duties that devolved upon him in this and other employments of a public nature, for he was without doubt a man of superior parts and fine attainments. That the Cape Fear could even at that early date boast a society not surpassed in refinement elsewhere in America is a matter highly interesting and creditable. Not only were many of the first settlers men of wealth and ability, but there was a diffusion of education that imparted to the settlement a notable character ; and Mr. Allen himself was an example of this culture. His library, according to the inventory before us, contained some 300 English and Latin volumes, including the standard works of that era : the classics, poetry, history, travels and works of fiction, as well as of a religious nature. Besides, there were fifty volumes in French : history, travels, science, poetry, and French transla- tions of Latin authors. The last book in the catalogue is "La Vie de Jésus Christ."
On a careful examination of this inventory of a library in use on the Cape Fear at that early period, one can but admire the fine taste and culture that led to such a collection of standard litera- ture. It is an evidence of a refinement and an elevation of senti- ment that reflects high credit on the community.
Moreover, a similar illustration is found in the will of Mrs. Allen : "I ordain that the said Mrs. De Rossett and Mrs. Dry have the care of all my private papers. . . . As to all my other letters to and from my several correspondents abroad and in America, as also what miscellaneous I have of the amusing kind, I commit them entirely to their discretion;" from which it would appear that Mrs. Allen employed herself at times in literary composition.
Mr. Allen's worth was appreciated by Governor Johnston, and in addition to his duties as Councillor and Judge he was Receiver- General of the province, having the duty of collecting the quit rents.
This last employment entailed no end of trouble and finally brought him into financial difficulty. The original practice, under the Act of 1715, was to pay these rents in commodities at a fixed
6
NORTH CAROLINA
valuation on the plantations. The authorities now undertook to change that practice, and a conflict ensued that led to the cessation of payments. An Act was, however, passed in 1737 that com- promised the points at issue, and all difficulties would have been removed if that Act had not been disallowed in England; but it was annulled, and there was trouble in collecting the rents. Mr. Allen made frequent representations as to these matters, but with such little avail that after his death a claim was made by the Crown against his estate and his property was held liable for his failure to collect the rents.
Hardly had Governor Johnston gotten warm in his seat as Gov- vernor before he became interested in promoting the growth of Newton, later called Wilmington, to the detriment of Brunswick, throwing himself in conflict with the gentlemen who had settled in the older town. Thus the Governor, along with Murray, Innes, and other Wilmingtonians, came into collision with the Moores and their connections, who were called by the Governor's faction "The family." Mr. Allen belonged to "The family," and there was some friction between him and the Governor until that matter was finally settled.
On the IIth of July, 1749, Edward Moseley, who was Treas- urer of the Province, died, and Mr. Allen at the succeeding ses- sion of the General Assembly, October, 1749, was elected treas- urer in his place. But he himself died the succeeding January, and at the next session, April, 1750, John Starkey was nominated by the Lower House, the Council proposing another. Starkey was appointed, but that was a beginning of the controversy be- tween the two Houses over the right to appoint a treasurer, which never was finally settled.
When Burrington came over, he was accompanied by William Smith, then appointed Chief-Justice of the Province. A year or two later Smith returned to England and Burrington appointed Daniel Hanmer Chief-Justice in his absence. Smith died in 1743, and Governor Johnston appointed John Montgomery Chief- Justice. Montgomery died in 1744, and Edward Moseley was .appointed to succeed him. Enoch Hall seems to have been then
7
ELEAZAR ALLEN
appointed Chief-Justice, perhaps being commissioned by the Crown. In March, 1748, Eleazar Allen, Edward Moseley and Roger Moore were appointed Associate-Justices of the Province by the Governor. In October of 1749 Hall was acting as Chief- Justice, but on the 18th of December, 1749, Eleazar Allen took the probate of a deed as follows: "Personally appeared before me Eleazar Allen, Chief-Justice of the Province," etc.
On the tombstone of Mrs. Allen is an inscription reciting that she was the widow of Chief-Justice Allen. From these facts it may be inferred that during the absence of Enoch Hall, the Chief- Justice of the Province, towards the end of the year 1749, Eleazar Allen, being the senior Associate Justice, temporarily filled the office of Chief-Justice by appointment of the Governor. But Allen did not long live to enjoy his new office. He died Janu- ary 7, 1750. On his tombstone the date is stated, January 7, 1749, but evidently that is according to the old system when the year began on the 25th of March instead of on January Ist; for he certainly was alive in the Fall of 1749. On his tombstone it is recorded that "his life was a constant course of picty and vir- tue," and indeed every memorial that has come down to us in- dicates that he was held in high estecm; and in a period when there was much jealousy. among the public men, there was no word of disparagement recorded against him. Mrs. Allen sur- vived her husband eleven years, dying February 26, 1761. She passed her widowhood on the Lilliput plantation, but appears to have made two voyages to England. Having no children of her own, she felt almost a mother's affection and interest in her nieces, the daughters of Roger Moore and his wife, and of Captain Franklin and of William Dry; and a most affectionate remem- brance of her and of her husband was long cherished by a large circle of friends and connections among the people of the Cape Fear.
The writer of this sketch is much indebted to Mr. W. B. Mc- Koy, of Wilmington, for the use of his collection of manuscripts in the preparation of this sketch.
S. A. Ashe.
A
ALFRED H. BELO
A LFRED H. BELO, soldier, statesman and journalist, was born, May, 1839, in Salem, North Carolina. He was of Moravian stock, and the family name can be traced back to 1620. Seeking a home where they could wor- ship according to the dictates of their con- science, his forefathers located at Salem in North Carolina, where they were well esteemed by their associates. Colonel Belo's father was Frederick Edward Boehlo, but he chose to drop the Frederick and to cut his last name to Belo. He was a man of good business qualifications, owning an iron foundry, a linseed oil mill, a farm of some four hundred acres, and a wholesale and retail general mercantile store, and was prosperous. When the subject of this sketch was sufficiently advanced at the Moravian Boys' School, he entered the Masonic Institute at Germanton, and from there he passed to the care of the celebrated Doctor Wilson in Alamance County, under whose tutelage he completed his education.
His father was a self-reliant man, who managed every detail of his large business himself, and when his son returned from school at the age of nineteen he proceeded to train him as his business associate.
In 1860, when he had just attained his majority, he was en- · trusted with the responsibility of making the annual purchases
Art. BElos
--------
9
ALFRED H. BELO
at New York for the supply of the Belo business, having ex- hibited unusual capacity as a business man with so short a training.
When the crisis of 1861 came on, although he deprecated the precipitous course of the Southern States that seceded, upon the call to arms by North Carolina he raised a company, of which, on May 22, 1861, he was commissioned captain and which be- came Company D of the 21st Regiment, William W. Kirkland being the colonel.
Captain Belo shared in the fortunes of his command and regi- ment, and by his gallantry and bravery won the applause of both his men and his superiors. His regiment was in the battle of First Manassas and was in hot pursuit of the routed Federal Army for several miles, thinking they were going right into Wash- ington ; but to their amazement they were ordered to arrest the pursuit and retrace their steps. The regiment later was assigned to Trimble's brigade and participated in the historic valley cam- paign, performing a great part in the battle of Winchester, where General Banks was defeated, routing Shields, and indeed, in re- peated engagements, sweeping away no less than four Federal armies, and then striking McClellan's right in front of Richmond.
On the reorganization of the 21st, Captain Belo was assigned by Governor Clark as adjutant of the camp of military instruction at Raleigh, and in the Fall of 1862 he served on the staff of Gen- eral Hoke, near Winchester, and performed staff duty at Peters- burg, and in March, 1863, he was commissioned major and as- signed to the 55th Regiment, which became a part of General Davis's Mississippi Brigade. In the Spring of 1863 this brigade constituted a portion of Longstreet's command that was sent to make an attack on Suffolk, Virginia. While on this duty a differ- ence arose between Captain Terrell and Captain Cousins on the staff of General Laws and the officers of the 55th that led to an interesting episode. The former had stated that the 55th North Carolina had been assigned to protect a battery which the Federal forces captured, and. Colonel Connally, denying that statement, demanded that they should correct their report, which they de-
-
3 192
IO
NORTH CAROLINA
clined to do. Thereupon, ou Colonel Connally's suggestion, it was agreed that the field officers and the captains of the 55th should take the matter up and by continued challenges fight it out to the bitter end. Agreeably to this, Colonel Connally challenged As- sistant Adjutant-General Terrell, and Major Belo challenged Captain Cousius. The meeting between the four officers oc- curred at the same hour and with only a ridge of hills separating them. Cousins selected large-calibre rifles and a distance of forty paces. Both fired simultaneously. Major Belo's shot passed through Captain Cousins's hat, and Cousins's shot missed Belo. Somewhat dissatisfied with their bad shooting, at the second shot Belo missed Cousins, while Cousins's ball passed through Belo's coat just above the shoulder. Before their third shot, the friends of Colonel Connally and of Captain Terrell, who had engaged in an effort to make an honorable settlement, succeeded in doing so; and Captain Terrell, becoming satisfied that he was in error, withdrew the original cause of offence, which prevented further hostilities between him and Colonel Connally; and this informa- tion was communicated just in time to prevent the exchange of a third shot between Major Belo and Captain Cousins. The affair was then amicably settled.
Major Belo's coolness and courage were unsurpassed. From Gettysburg, where he was in command in the railroad cut, down through the carnage at Cold Harbor, his spirit and gallantry and persistence were heroic. At Gettysburg he was severely wounded, and there received his promotion as lieutenant-colonel, and he was again wounded at Cold Harbor. But he was engaged in all the great battles up to that time, although because of his wounds he was unable to serve with his regiment after that. The his- torian of the 55th Regiment says :
"Colonel Belo's wound was in the arm, half-way between the elbow and shoulder joint : the bone was shattered and the operation of re-section was performed. The loss to the regiment was irreparable. He had been with the regiment in all its hard-fought battles and had the absolute confidence of every man in the regiment. He had a genius for organization and ap- preciated every detail that contributed to the effectiveness or character
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.