USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume IV > Part 27
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Mr. Phillips took an active part in Masonry, having been past master of Winston Lodge No. 167, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; past high priest of Winston Chapter No. 21, Royal Arch Masons; past eminent commander of Pied- mont Commandery No. 6, Knights Templar; and he was also affiliated with Oasis Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Charlotte.
ALFRED AUGUSTUS THOMPSON. There is a class of individuals who, in their own localities, are naturally conceded leadership in public and private enterprises, this industrial power being conferred by popular recognition of superior ability. Talents of a diversified nature prepare these men to lead
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enterprises of a varied nature, and they are, therefore, placed in a position to render highly valued service to their communities, while secur- ing for themselves a competence sufficient to their needs. By promoting ventures of an industrial and financial nature and through his direct service as a public official, Alfred Augustus Thompson, of Raleigh, has accomplished just such a double result of his labors. He has been a resident of the Capital City of North Carolina for nearly forty-five years, and in this time has not only risen to prominence in the cotton industry, but has served as the chief executive of the city.
Mr. Thompson was born near Pittsboro, Chat- ham County, North Carolina, February 24, 1852, and is a son of George W. and Cornelia E. ( Marsh) Thompson, the latter of whom lived at Ashboro, Randolph County, prior to her marriage. His education was secured in the public schools of his native county and his early manhood was passed on the farm, "amid field and forest, in a country beautiful for situation." He was still a young man when he came to Raleigh and became identi- fied with the cotton industry. His start in this direction was a modest one, but his energy, indus- try and inherent ability won him promotion from one position of trust and responsibility to another, until at this time he is president of two of the leading mills of this part of the state, the Raleigh and the Caraleigh cotton mills. Various other enterprises have had the benefit of his good judg- ment, foresight and acumen, and in addition to other ventures identified with the industrial life of the capital city, he is vice president of the Commercial National Bank.
In the civil life of the capital he has been a prominent figure. He was mayor when the office of chief executive of the City of Oaks was com- bined with that of judge of the municipal court, and his administration was characterized not only by business-like handling of the city 's affairs, but by a strict interpretation of the law as regarding offenders. During his career he has developed into one of the most forceful orators of the capital, and his voice is frequently heard from the rostrum in public speeches supporting movements for the benefit of his adopted city.
Mr. Thompson is a member of the First Presby- terian Church of Raleigh, of which he is a deacon, and has taken an active part in its work. With his interesting family, he resides in a beautiful home in New Bern Avenue.
L. E. RABB. The manufacture of furniture has been brought to a high state of perfection as to appearance, comfort and utility, and one of the leading men in this and in other industrial lines in Caldwell County, is L. E. Rabb, secretary, treas- urer and manager of the Royal Furniture Company at Lenoir, and the Caldwell Furniture Company at Valmead.
Mr. Rabb was born near Newton, in Catawba County, North Carolina. His parents were J. Frank and Sarah (Arndt) Rabb, the former being deceased. The Rabb family came to North Caro- lina from Pennsylvania, at a very early day and on account of their numbers, they called their place of settlement the Rabb community. They have always been a quiet, frugal, industrious people and wherever the name is found today, there will also be found independent means, sterling honesty and good citizenship. In the grandfather 's family there were two sons whose achievements, one in business and the other in public life, carried their
names into other sections, J. Frank and Col. George W. Rabb.
J. Frank Rabb was born in Catawba County and after his school days, adopted farming as his vocation. For many years he carried on large agricultural operations in his native county and then became interested in a mercantile enterprise at Lenoir. Having removed from Catawba to Caldwell County, he became interested in farming, and to its development he devoted his remaining years. His death occurred at Lenoir in 1914. He had served in the Confederate army during the entire period of the war between the states.
Col. George W. Rabb, brother of the late J. Frank Rabb, and uncle of L. E, Rabb, is one of the best known men of Catawba County. He lives on the old homestead situated about half way be- twcen Newton and Maiden, in Catawba County, which has been his lifelong home. He served through the war between the states, in the Con- federate service, entering as a private and winning promotion through distinguished bravery, sacrific- ing, however, one of his legs. Thus handicapped in young manhood he began to build up his for- tunes from the cobbler 's bench, and today he is one of the capitalists of Catawba, the owner of a fine farm, and of quite extensive cotton mill interests at Maiden, together with stock in numerous other industrial concerns. He is held in esteem that amounts to affection, in Catawba County, and it has been said that there he can have anything, political or otherwise, that he asks for. For some years he served as a member of the State Legisla- ture, in each campaign carrying Catawba County, normally republican, for the democratic party.
L. E. Rabb was reared on the home farm and was educated in the local schools. In 1897 he removed from Catawba to Caldwell County and embarked in farming here in which he continued until 1910, when he started into business as a manufacturer at Lenoir. It was about this time that he became interested in the manufacture of furniture here and since then has had much to do with establishing the supremacy of Lenoir as a manufacturing center.
The Royal Furniture Company's plant, located at Lenoir, is an exceedingly flourishing industry. The machinery and equipments of this plant are utilized for the manufacture of a general line of bed room suits, in mahogany, walnut and oak. Mr. Rabb is a heavy stockholder and is secretary, treasurer and manager of this concern, and oc- cupies similar relations with the Caldwell Furniture Company, the plant of which is located at Valmead, two miles distant from Lenoir, the products of this plant being buffets, odd dressers, chiffoniers, manufactured from plain and quartered oak. Mr. Rabb additionally, is the owner of the plant and business of the Lenoir Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of general building material,' sash, doors, blinds, etc., and he is also a stockholder and one of the directors of the Union Cotton Mills at Maiden.
Mr. Rabb was married in Caldwell County, to Miss Eleanor Boone Miller, and they have one son, John Perkins Rabb. Mrs. Rabb's people, the Millers, were among the organizers of Caldwell County. One of her ancestral lines connects her with the great explorer, frontiersman and Indian fighter, Daniel Boone.
WILLIAM EDGAR PERDEW. From the time he entered a hardware store at Wilmington at the age
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of sixteen William E. Perdew has had a progres- sive rise in the scale of business responsibilities, and in point of continuous service is now one of the oldest hardware merchants of the state. His public spirit has been on a plane with his business efficiency, and he has helped make and plan the greater and better Wilmington of the present time. A native of Wilmington, where he was born April 25, 1865, he is a son of John William and Mary Elizabeth (King) Perdew. His father was a gun and locksmith, the family were people in moderate circumstances, and William E. Perdew had only a few years in which to attend the private schools of Wilmington.
At the age of eighteen he became an employe with the hardware house of Giles & Murchison. This old and well known house has been succeeded by J. W. Murchison & Company, and in 1906 Mr. Perdew became purchasing agent and a partner in the business. He was one of the organizers in 1901 and has since been secretary of the Inde- pendent Ice Company, and is president of the People's Building & Loan Association.
For the past sixteen years he has been school committeeman of district No. 1, and is a willing worker in behalf of any movement for the raising of the standards of the schools or of any other department of the city's activities. He was a member of the first board of commissioners when Wilmington purchased the water works and was also a city alderman and a member of the com- mission when the water and sewer system was enlarged and extended, and the presence on the board of such an experienced and able business man enabled it to accomplish its work to the general satisfaction of all concerned. Mr. Per- dew is a member of the Cape Fear Club, the Cape Fear Country Club, is a Knight Templar Mason, a Shriner and a member of Sepia Grotto of Master Masons. He is also affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Improved Order of Red Men. For over thirty years he has been an active member of Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, and for the past five years has been chairman of its board of stewards.
On June 16, 1887, Mr. Perdew married Miss Mary A. Moore, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are the parents of two children: John William, a graduate of the class of 1917 in the University of North Carolina and now asso- ciated with the J. W. Murchison Company, and Minnie Louise, a student in the Wilmington High School.
CAPT. ROBERT ROWAN CRAWFORD was one of the men who early recognized the business and commercial possibilities of Winston-Salem, and has been actively identified with that community in a business and civic way for the past forty years. He still retains his vigorous hand in busi- ness life, though he is approaching the age of four score and has had a long and most varied experience, including service in the war between the states, in which he rose to the rank of cap- tain.
Captain Crawford was born on a farm two miles south of Salisbury, North Carolina, Octo- ber 14, 1839. The Crawfords are of Scotch-Irish ancestry. In the Lancaster District of South Car- olina three of the most substantial and prominent early families were the Crawfords, Whites and Jacksons, including ancestors of President Andrew
Jackson. It was of this branch of the Crawford family that Captain Crawford is a member. His grandfather, William H. Crawford, was born in Lancaster County, South Carolina, and had a large plantation and many slaves. Hon. William Dun- lap Crawford, father of Captain Crawford, was born in Lancaster, South Carolina, in 1806, and in 1825 graduated from the University of North Carolina. He studied law with Chief Justice Pearson and was admitted to the bar in 1827. He began practice at Salisbury and was successful as an attorney and prominent in public life until his death in 1843. He served creditably in both branches of the State Legislature. In 1828 oe- curred his marriage to Miss Christina Mull. She was born in Rowan County, North Carolina, in 1810. Her father, Thomas Mull, was a large land owner near Salisbury, and he had a large number of slaves cultivating his land with the aid of his slaves until his death. Christina Mull was a graduate of Salem College. At the death of her husband she was left a widow with five sons. Leasing the plantation she removed to Mis- sissippi, making the entire journey with wagon, carriage and team and lived with a brother in that state for two years. After that she resumed her home on the North Carolina plantation, and in 1850 became the wife of Peter M. Brown of Charlotte, where she spent the rest of her days and died at the age of sixty-eight. The children of her first marriage were Thomas M., William H., James R., Robert R. and Leonidas W. All of these sons except Thomas were soldiers in the Confederate Army, all of them went in as pri- vates, and in time gained promotion to the rank of captain.
Robert Rowan Crawford attended the Olin High School. At the outbreak of the war he was clerking in a general store in Charlotte. He left the counter in April, 1861, to enlist in Hornetnest Rifle Company B of the First Regiment, North Carolina Troops. He had the distinction of par- ticipating in the first battle between the North and the South at Big Bethel, and there he received his baptism of fire and saw the first blood shed of the war. After six months of service he was stricken with fever near Fortress Monroe and subsequently suffered a stroke of paralysis. How- ever, he made rapid recovery and after his con- valescence he raised a company at Salisbury and went to the front as its captain. This was Com- pany D of the Forty-second Regiment, North Carolina Troops. Captain Crawford had a long and arduous service. Among other battles in which he participated were those of Shepards- ville, Newbern, Cold Harbor, Bermuda Hundred, and the almost ceaseless fighting around Peters- burg and Richmond during the last two years of the war. This constant campaigning and the in- cident exposure in the trenches finally obliged him to resign his commission in December, 1864. The only wound he received was at Bermuda Hundred, a slight injury from a spent ball.
After the war Captain Crawford engaged in the hardware business at Salisbury, where he re- mained until 1877. It was in that year that he came to Winston and his keen eye and good business judgment quickly realized the increas- ing advantages of this town from a commercial standpoint. He removed his family to the city, and for sixteen years was principally engaged in the hardware business. In 1908 he removed to Kansas City, Missouri, to look after some real
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estate belonging to his wife, and there built a home and lived for two years. He then returned to Winston-Salem and has since been in business with his sons. In 1910 he built his fine modern home at Crafton Heights, where he still resides.
At the age of twenty-six Captain Crawford was married to Miss Caroline Crawford, who was born in Washington, North Carolina, in 1843. Her father, Thomas Crawford, was a planter and slave owner and of Scotch-Irish ancestry, but so far as known was not related to the Crawford family of South Carolina. Mrs. Crawford died March 17, 1887. On April 24, 1889, Captain Crawford married Miss Ada W. Dudley. She was born in Newbern, North Carolina, daughter of David W. Dudley, who was born at Newbern May 29, 1810. Her grandfather, Jacob Dudley, was born at White Oaks in Craven County, and from the best information obtainable was a son of William Dudley, who came from Virginia with Bishop Dudley, grandfather of Governor Edward Bishop Dudley. Jacob Dudley had a plantation in Craven County. His wife was Ann Williamson. David W. Dudley, father of Mrs. Crawford, was graduated from a dental school at Philadelphia and practiced his profession at Newbern until his death on December 26, 1858. His wife was Eliza Bryan Frankliu Watkins, who was born in Craven County October 12, 1810, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Hancock) Franklin and the widow of Becton Watkins. Mrs. Dudley sur- vived her second husband and died September 11, 1891, in her eighty-first year. By her first mar- riage to Mr. Watkins she reared two children, Mary and Elizabeth. Her second marriage re- sulted in three children, Annie Eliza, John Jacob and Ada. The son, John Jacob, graduated from the University of Virginia and is now living with his sister Annie in Pasadena, California.
Mrs. Crawford was liberally educated at Salem College and also attended a convent at Washing- ton, D. C. Mr. and Mrs. Crawford have three sons, named John Dudley, Franklin L and David D. The son, John D., is now in the United States Regular Army.
Captain Crawford also has three children by his first marriage, Thomas B., Robert R. and Chris- tina. Thomas B. married Annie Cheatam and has three children, Thomas B., Caroline and James W. Christina married Norvelle R. Walker, of Richmond, Virginia. Robert R. married Miss Mary Price Hobson.
Captain Crawford and his sons are now pro- prietors of Crawford Mills Supply Company, and they transact a large business through their head- quarters on North Main Street in Winston-Salem. The captain and his wife are active members of the West End Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Captain Crawford is a member of Norfleet Camp of the United Confederate Veterans. While a resident of Salisbury he served as a member of the city coun- cil and was honored with the post of treasurer of Forsyth County from 1914 until that office was abolished late in 1916.
BURT M. HITCHCOCK spent much of his early life in the country community of the Village of Reids- ville, North Carolina, but finally removed to Win- ston-Salem, and is now head of one of the largest and most important mercantile establishments of that city. His success has been secured by hon- orable and straightforward methods, and he means much to the community both as a citizen and busi- ness man.
Mr. Hitchcock was born at Franklin in Delaware County, New York, and was brought to North Carolina when a child. His father Isaac L. Hitch- cock was a native of Delaware County, New York, was reared and educated there and learned the trade of stone mason. From Delaware County he removed to the Town of Lisle in Broome County, New York, and that was his home until 1871. For several years he had suffered ill health in the cli- mate of the North and finally he came to the milder climate of North Carolina, locating at Reidsville, which was then a small hamlet. So far as his health permitted he continued to follow his trade, and he lived at Reidsville until his death in 1889. The maiden name of his wife was Susan Ogden. She was born in Delaware County, New York, a daughter of David Ogden, a native of the same county, and a granddaughter of David Ogden, Sr. David Ogden, Sr., had a romantic experience in early life. He was captured by Indians when a small boy, was adopted by a squaw, and continued to live with the tribe for several years, acquiring a knowledge of the language and the customs of the Indians. He finally made his escape, and in spite of this expe- rience in a nomadic existence, he returned home, married, and settled down quietly to the career of a farmer. Mrs. Isaac Hitchcock's father was also a farmer and spent all his life in Delaware County. Mrs. Isaac Hitchcock died in June, 1907. She was the mother of three children, Amanda, Fred and Burt M. Amanda now lives with her brother Burt at Winston-Salem. Fred is a cabinet maker and lives at Atlanta, Georgia.
Burt M. Hitchcock was reared and received his education in the schools of Reidsville. When nine- teen years of age he began acquiring a knowledge of merchandising by work in a general store. The five years he worked as a clerk gave him an inti- mate detailed knowledge of merchandising and proved the groundwork on which he has since become an independent business man. He then started a store of his own at Reidsville, and con- tinued it until 1907. In that year he removed to Winston-Salem and with H. L. Trotter organized the Hitchcock-Trotter Company, with Mr. Hitch- cock as president. This partnership was continued for four years. In 1913 the Ideal Dry Goods Company was organized with Mr. Hitchcock as president, and for the past four years he has given the best of his ability and time to the de- velopment of this store, which is now one of the favorite shopping places in the business dis- trict of Winston-Salem.
Mr. Hitchcock was formerly a director of the Reidsville Bank and while living in that city was on the school board. He was also a member of the board of stewards of the Methodist Episcopal Church South at Reidsville, and has a similar official position in the West End Methodist Epis- copal Church South at Winston-Salem, which is the church home of him and his family.
In 1890 Mr. Hitchcock married Miss Kate Ha- zell. She is a native of Alamance County. The Hazell family were pioneers in North Carolina. The United States census of 1700 has the names of Moses, Kindler and Robert Hazell as residents of Stokes County. Mrs. Hitchcock's father Mon- roe Hazell was an extensive and successful farmer in Alamance County. His wife was Lizzie Tap- scot.
Mr. and Mrs. Hitchcock have five children: Lil- lian, Hazell, Frances, Burt J. and Catherine. The son Hazell after graduating from the high school
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entered the employ of the R. J. Reynolds Com- pany as a traveling salesman and has shown a remarkable ability as a salesman, having made good at the start and now being one of the best business getters on the staff of the traveling rep- resentatives of this great tobacco house.
FINLEY H. COFFEY. The manufacture of furni- ture is an industry that has been developed from crude beginnings, as public taste and desire for greater comfort have grown. In very early days, when careful, laborious, patient handwork, had to go into every piece, beginning with the tree in the forest and through long drawn out stages, to its final completion in the cabinet maker's shop, comparatively few could own as many specimens of handsome, serviceable furniture as they desired, or even needed. Machinery has brought about wonderful changes in this industry as in others, and it is now possible to secure, at the manufactur- ing head in as large and progressive a town as Lenoir, North Carolina, furniture of the greatest utility and at the same time of handsome and dur- able design. One of the leading industries of Lenoir is the Kent-Coffey Manufacturing Company, the able manager of which is Finley H. Coffey, one of the town's substantial and representative citi- zens.
Finley H. Coffey was born in 1861, at Colletts- ville, Caldwell County, North Carolina. His parents were Drury D. and Harriet (Collett) Coffey, the former deceased. Drury D. Coffey was also born in Caldwell County, at a time when it was a part of Wilkes County, and was a son of Daniel Coffey who was born in Wilkes. The mother of Daniel Coffey was a Boone, a niece of the great frontiers- man, Daniel Boone. The Boones and the Coffeys originated in Ireland and were among the earliest settlers in Wilkes and Watauga counties. The Coffeys have been pioneers likewise in other sec- tions, including Illinois, Missouri and Kansas, and in the latter state there is a county and a city that perpetuate the name.
The late Drury D. Coffey for many years was a planter and merchant at Collettsville, where his wife was born and reared, her father being James H. Collett, well known in Caldwell County. Mr. Coffey served through the war between the states in the Confederate service, in the regiment of which Major Harper, of Lenoir, was an officer. Mr. Coffey afterward represented his county in the State Legislature and for a number of years was a member of the board of county commissioners. In 1892 accompanied by his family, he moved to Junction City, Kansas, and resided there until 1907, when he returned to Caldwell County and his death occurred in 1914. He was a man of the highest type of character and commanded respect and enjoyed universal esteem.
Finley H. Coffey grew to manhood on the home place, on John's River, Collettsville, and received his education there. He was associated with his father in business from early manhood and in 1892, with his wife, he accompanied his parents to Kan- sas, returning at the same time to North Carolina. Shortly afterward Mr. Coffey embarked in the furniture manufacturing business at Lenoir, and is financially interested in and is the manager of the Kent-Coffey Manufacturing Company. This plant constitutes one of the most important in- dustrial enterprises of this place, employing a large number of workineu and paying first class wages, their distribution being largely at Lenoir, and
adding to the general prosperity. The product of this company is a general line of medium and high grade furniture.
Mr. Coffey was united in marriage with Miss Rose Freeze, and they have four children: Irene, Harold, Ethel and Archibald. Mr. Coffey is an active, progressive and public spirited citizen and seven years he was a member of the Board of Com- missioners of Lenoir, his term of office expiring in the spring of 1917. For some year prior to 1916, he was president of the First National Bank of Lenoir. To careful business men like Mr. Coffey, Lenoir owes much. They direct capital investments along safe business avenues without speculation, and thus assist in laying a sound foundation for stable commerce.
ALFRED A. KENT, M. D. Of the men of note of Caldwell County, few have contributed to the wel- fare and advancement of their community in so many ways and fewer still have attained distinc- tion in so many different fields as has Dr. Alfred A. Kent, of Lenoir. In the medical profession he has fairly earned eminence by the display of talents of a marked character; as a banker and business man he is at the head of financial and industrial enterprises that contribute materially to the county's prestige; he is a property owner whose management of his holdings serves to de- velop them and to conserve the community's interests, and as a public-spirited citizen and repre- sentative of the people in offices of official import- ance and responsibility he has carried on a work that entitles his name to respect and his services to universal gratitude.
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