USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume IV > Part 34
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In 1911 Mr. Brown was united in marriage with Naomi Frund, who was born in Indiana, being a daughter of H. W. Frund. Two children have brightened their union, Mary Ella and Hugh Parks, Jr. True to the religious faith in which he was reared, Mr. Brown is a member of the Presbyterian Church, in which his father filled various official positions. Mrs. Brown is a mem- ber of the Catholic Church. Fraternally Mr. Brown belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
ERNEST HAYWOOD began the practice of law in his native State of North Carolina thirty-four years ago, and the success and reputation for ability now associated with his name are in pro- portion to the length of years spent in close and conscientious devotion to his profession.
He was born at Raleigh February 1, 1860, a son of Dr. E. Burke and Lucy (Williams) Haywood. His father was long a prominent physician at Ra- leigh. The son had the advantages of a liberal education. He attended Lovejoy's Academy in Raleigh, Horner's Military Academy at Oxford and Hillsboro, and in 1880 was graduated from the University of North Carolina, a medalist, a first honor man, and with the degree A. B.
His law studies were pursued in the law school of Federal Judge Dick and Judge Dillard of North Carolina Supreme Court at Greensboro, North Carolina. He graduated in 1882 and in October of the same year passed a successful ex- amination before the Supreme Court of North Carolina, which licensed him to practice.
Since that date he has been a member of the Raleigh bar. For a number of years he prac- ticed with his brother, A. W. Haywood, under the firm name of Haywood & Haywood. Mr. A. W. Haywood retired from practice in 1895 and since then Mr. Ernest Haywood has continued in practice alone, with offices in the Tucker Building at Raleigh.
He has a general practice in all branches of the civil law, and has made a specialty of commer- cial, insurance, corporation and real estate law and the settlement of estates. With him the law has indeed been a jealous mistress, and he has rigidly excluded any interest or diversion that might interfere with the successful practice.
He is and always has been a loyal democrat, is an Episcopalian in religion, is a member of the
American Bar Association, of the North Carolina Bar Association and of the Chamber of Commerce and of the Capital Club and the Country Club.
CHARLES EDWARD BREWER, PH. D. President of Meredith College at Raleigh, one of the lead- ing Baptist institutions of the South, Charles Edward Brewer has been prominent in North Carolina educational affairs for more than a quar- ter of a century, and for many years held the chair of chemistry in Wake Forest College.
His grandfather on the maternal side, Dr. Sam- uel Wait, was the founder and first president of Wake Forest College. Charles Edward Brewer was born at Wake Forest July 12, 1866, a son of John and Ann Eliza (Wait) Brewer. His father was a farmer and merchant. Attending the elemen- tary schools of Wake Forest, and the Vine Hill Academy, Mr. Brewer pursued his higher studies in Wake Forest College from 1881 to 1886, grad- uating A. B. and A. M., taking post-graduate work in chemistry for a year, and for two years in Johns. Hopkins University at Baltimore. In 1889 he was called to the chair of chemistry at Wake Forest College and presided over that de- partment continuously until June, 1915, having participated in the instruction and training of almost a generaton of students. The last three years he was dean of the college. In 1915 Mr. Brewer was elected president of Meredith Col- lege, and his qualifications both as a scientist and an executive have been abundantly proved dur- ing his administration. In 1900, after a course of post-graduate work, Mr. Brewer received the de- gree Doctor of Philosophy from Cornell Univer- sity.
He is very prominent in Baptist circles in the state, for the past eight years has been record- ing secretary of the Baptist State Convention, is a member of the North Carolina Baptist Board of Education, and for two years was chairman of the Laymen's Movement Committee of the Bap- tist Church of the state. He formerly held mem- bership in the Chemical Society of Berlin, Ger- many, the American Chemical Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Sci- ence, and is now a member of the Southern As- sociation of Schools and Colleges, the North Car- olina Teachers Assembly, the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association, and was for- merly state councilor of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, of which he is still a member. He is also one of the trustees of the National Orphans' Home of that order, located at Tiffin, Ohio. In December, 1917, he was ap- pointed a member of the North Carolina State Educational Commission authorized by the General Assembly of that year.
On October 28, 1891, Mr. Brewer married Love Estelle Bell of Shawboro, Currituck County, North Carolina. Her father, Joseph E. Bell, was a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Brewer have two living children: Ellen Dozier and Ann Eliza, both of whom are in school. They lost two sons, Joseph Bell, who died at the age of thirteen, and Charles Edward, Jr., who died in infancy.
WALTER H. MENDENHALL. A man of sterling worth and character, endowed with excellent busi- ness ability and judgment, Walter H. Mendenhall, cashier of the Bank of Lexington, is ably meeting every requirement of the responsible position he is filling, administering the affairs of the bank in an
Hay wood
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efficient and satisfactory manner. A son of James Mendenhall, he was born on a plantation in the Deep River Settlement of Guilford County, North Carolina, coming from honored colonial stock. His grandfather, Elihu Mendenhall, an early settler of the Deep River Colony, cleared and improved a farm in that part of Guilford County, and there spent the closing years of his life. He and his wife were prominent members of the Society of Friends, and reared their children in that faith. An interesting history of the Mendenhall family from the time of the immigrant ancestor up to the ยท present generation has been written by Prof. Mar- shall Elliot, of Johns Hopkins University. .
James Mendenhall was born, it is supposed, in Randolph County, North Carolina, but was brought up and educated in Guilford County, where for a number of years he was engaged in the lumber business. Coming from there to Davidson County, he established a factory in Lexington, and built up a large and lucrative business as a manufacturer of spokes and shuttle block, and other articles of a similar nature. Successful in his work, he con- tinued a resident of Lexington until his death, in August, 1907. The maiden name of his wife was Martha Wheeler. She was born in Guilford County, in the Deep River Settlement, a daughter of Cyrus J. and Nancy A. (Mullen) Wheeler. She died in 1906, leaving two sons, Walter H. and Otis E. Both she and her husband were loyal and faith- ful members of the Society of Friends.
After his graduation from Guilford College, where he completed his early education, Walter H. Mendenhall entered the Bank of Lexington as a clerk, and during the ensuing four years proved himself so capable and trustworthy that, in 1899, he was promoted to the cashiership, the position which he has since so ably and faithfully filled.
Mr. Mendenhall married, in 1900, Miss Jessie Thompson. She was born in Tyro, Davidson County, a daughter of Charles M. and Mary (Peebles) Thompson, and granddaughter of Joseph Hiram and Cynthia (Ratts) Thompson. She is of pioneer ancestry, her great grandfather, Frederick Thompson, having been one of the earlier settlers of Tyro. Mr. and Mrs. Mendenhall have one child, Dorothy. Religiously Mr. Mendenhall, having never swerved from the faith in which he was reared, is a member of the Society of Friends, and Mrs. Mendenhall is a member of the Presby- terian Church. Fraternally he belongs to Lexington Lodge No. 473, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons ; to Lexington Lodge No. 71, Knights Templar; and to Lexington Council, Junior Order of United American Mechanics.
JOHN . DOWNEY COOPER. In the last twenty or twenty-five years the degree of importance of any business or public enterprise initiated in the City of Henderson might be accurately measured by the presence and association of John Downey Cooper as a supporter or participant in the move- ment, enterprise or undertaking. As a matter of fact the individual record of Mr. Cooper is a fairly good outline and summary of business history at Henderson.
He was born in Granville County, North Carolina, March 15, 1849, and has had a very active and almost a strenuous career. His parents were Alexander and Harriet ( Young) Cooper, and his father was a prosperous planter in Granville County before the war. The son completed his education in Horner's Military School at Oxford, and spent one year of his young manhood in
Texas on the plains and ranches as a cowboy. He also worked as foreman in his uncle's tobacco factory, at Oxford, and then went West again and for three years was a gold prospector in North Dakota. On returning to North Carolina, Mr. Cooper went into the tobacco business and was one of the prominent men in the tobacco industry in the state until 1914. For many years he rep- resented the Allen Gintes tobacco house, and upon the organization of the American Tobacco Com- pany became identified with that corporation and remained with them until 1912.
Mr. Cooper has been identified with all the im- portant manufacturing companies at Henderson, including four cotton mills. He is president and organizer of the Carolina Bagging Company, is president of the Farmers and Merchants Bank, president of the Farmers Loan and Supply Com- pany, president and one of the organizers of the India Bagging Company, a director of the Hen- derson Cotton Mills, of the Harriet Cotton Mill, and the Citizens Bank.
He has not been less useful and interested in public affairs. He has served as town commis- sioner, was for a number of years mayor, and was trustee of the graded school system. He performed a useful public service as chairman of the Board of Road Commissioners, and when elected to that office he promised the people that when money was needed for improvement of the highways it would be supplied and he would see to it that the county stood behind the improvement.
Mr. Cooper has reason to take a great deal of pride in his home and family. October 27, 1885, he married Fannie Spotswood Burwell, of Meck- lenberg County, Virginia. They have eight children. George Burwell is manager of an im- portant tobacco manufacturing company at Bristol, England. John Downey, Jr., is superintendent and manager and electrician with the Harriet Cotton Mill at Henderson. Lewis Gintes an attorney at law but is now lieutenant of artillery with the United States Army. Fannie Spotswood is Mrs. A. A. Zollicoffer, her husband a cotton mill man. James Wesley is sergeant major of the One Hundred and Twenty-First Regiment of Infantry, United States Army. David Alexander is at- tending medical school in the University of North Carolina. The two younger children are Henry Burwell, a student of the State University, and Marshall Young, a student in the high school at Henderson.
TITUS WILLIAM CARR III was in many ways a distinguished character of Eastern North Carolina and in his career represented both the older aristocratic elements of the state and also that courageous patriotism and pioneer resourcefulness by which the sons of the old South rehabilitated their fortunes under the new conditions following the war.
He was born in Pitt County, North Carolina, February 27, 1841, and his death occurred Febru- ary 28, 1903. He was fourth in descent from Robert Carr of Nansemond County, Virginia, who died in 1773. The will of Robert Carr, still extant, is a unique document, amusing in its minute de- tails. In it he speaks of being the author of eight children and the possessor of "much plunder. "
Titus Carr I in 1785 moved to Greene County, North Carolina, settling upon a tract of land which has never since departed the possession of the family. Titus Carr II, who lived from 1788
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to 1837, reared a large family of twelve sons and daughters on the home place, but after his death all migrated to the far South, to Mississippi and Texas, with the exception of Matthew, father of Titus William Carr III. In Mississippi and Texas the descendants of the other children are still numerous and prominent.
Matthew L. Carr remained in North Carolina to settle up his father's estate and soon formed ties that held him the rest of his life. He became a man of considerable wealth, and while too old for service in the Civil war he gave liberally of his means to the cause. Prior to the war he had served as a colonel of militia and in 1856 was a member of the State Senate. He married Sarah Saunders, and their second son was Titus William Carr III.
The latter received his early training in the old Stantonburg Academy, afterwards attended the Horner School in Oxford, North Carolina, and was graduated in the class of 1863 from the Uni- versity of North Carolina. At college and through life he was characterized by his neatness of ap- pearance and was known as "the handsomest man at university." While he specialized in the study of law, he never sought admission to the bar.
After graduating from university he entered the Confederate States Army as first lieutenant of Company K, Sixty-Seventh North Carolina Regi- ment of Cavalry. His military record is found in Clark's North Carolina Regiments, Vol. 3. In March, 1865, in a brush with the enemy near Kins- ton, his horse fell and he was captured. He re- mained in prison at Fort Delaware until the end of the war. While on the way to prison the young officer in charge of the prisoners, being a member of the same college fraternity, gave him forty dollars in gold. To the possession of this money he attributed the preservation of his life under the hard conditions of imprisonment.
Like hosts of other young men in the South, reared in affluence, educated for the profession of law, returning after the close of the war and find- ing all swept away, he turned to the first thing that offered, the cultivation of mother earth, for which he had strong natural inclinations. De- scended from a long line of land owners and land lovers, this occupation was most agreeable to him. Leaving his father's home, which happily had escaped the ravages of war, he struck out for himself. Within a year after his return from a northern prison he married, and took his bride into a virtual wilderness in Greene County, where he became a planter and merchant, and in time bought and operated large tracts of farming lands. Ac- companying him to his new home were a few of the faithful family slaves who went with him to accept relations with their former master upon a new and strange basis, that of hired employes. Notable among these former slaves was Louis, early playfellow of his master, his personal ser- vant at school and university, who had followed him faithfully through the war and who, surviving his master by several years, died only recently. By personal effort Titus William Carr carved out a modest fortune for himself and encouraged his neighbors to do likewise. He reared and educated four children, all of whom received college and university training. With great personal pride he made of his home a place of note in Eastern North Carolina, and died there mourned as a true friend of all classes.
Though his influence in his community was of exceptional power and benefit, he never held public
office, though often solicited to do so. He was a democrat, a member of the Masonic Order, and of the Missionary Baptist Church.
Mr. Carr was twice married and his wives were sisters. The first was Ada Gray Little, whom he married February 27, 1866, and who died Febru- ary 8, 1882. On September 1, 1887, he married Dora E. Little, who is still living. Their father was Col. James Little of Beaufort County. They were descended from John Eborne (VonEborne) of Hyde County, who took an active part in the Revolutionary war and afterwards for many years represented his county in the State Legislature. . The wives of Mr. Carr were descended through their mother from the Huguenot family of Laniers.
The four children of Titus W. Carr III are: William Gray Carr, who lives in Wilson, North Carolina, and married Sallie Herring; Dr. Matthew L. Carr, who is unmarried and lives in New York City; Frederick L. Carr, mentioned on following pages; and Dorothy Carr, who lives in Wilson, the wife of Charles Harper.
FREDERICK LOUIS CARR, a son of the late Titus William Carr, III, was born on his father's planta- tion in Greene County on August 7, 1873; was for a number of years actively associated with his father in business affairs, and latterly has formed various influential business connections at Wilson. He is a large stockholder, a director and member of the finance committee of the Branch Banking and Trust Company; director and treasurer of the Wilson Cotton Mills, and actively connected with other business enterprises in his community.
He was educated at home under a private tutor, afterwards attended the Horner Military Institute at Oxford, North Carolina, and in 1895 graduated "summa cum laude" from the University of North Carolina, being a charter member of the Phi Beta Kappa chapter at that institution. For one year he was instructor in Latin at the university, pursuing advanced studies in political science, and was awarded a scholarship at the Johns Hopkins In- stitute. But preferring the activities of business, he found ample opportunities for his talents in the management of his father's interests, and has always manifested a strong family trait which has kept the Carrs close to the land. Mr. Carr directs the operation of a splendid farming estate of many thousand acres, and his individual efforts have contributed much to the sum total of North Carolina's agricultural industry.
In 1901 and again in 1903 Mr. Carr represented his county in the State Legislature. For six years he was private secretary to Senator Lee S. Over- man, resigning when he was married to devote his time to his business interests. Mr. Carr is a member of the Wilson Country Club, a Royal Arch Mason, and a member of the Episcopal Church.
He was married on December 10, 1908, to Nancy ("Nan") Barnes Branch, noted for her skill as a horsewoman and for her proficiency in outdoor sports. She is a daughter of the late Alpheus Branch and a granddaughter of Gen. Joshua Barnes, both well known and prominent North Carolinians. Mr. and Mrs. Carr have two children, Frederick Louis, Jr., and Alpheus Branch Carr.
GEN. JOSHUA BARNES, whose name is so closely linked with the early history of the City of Wilson and the formation of Wilson County, was born in that part of old Edgecombe County which later became Wilson County on January 15. 1813. He was of long lived, vigorous stock. His parents
GENERAL JOSHUA BARNES Jan. 15, 1813-Oct. 5, 1890
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were Jesse and Edith (Dew) Barnes, both of whom exceeded the allotted span of life. Jesse Barnes was born in 1761 and died in 1843, and his wife was born in 1775 and died in 1849. General Barnes was married May 16, 1845, to Matilda Bynum, who was born May 21, 1819, and died December 5, 1883. Her parents were likewise long lived. She was a daughter of Turner Bynum, who was born October 5, 1787, and died in 1867, and his wife, Nancy Bynum, lived from 1787 to 1859. The Bynums were very prominent in Eastern Carolina, and were proprietors of large land hold- ings there. General Barnes and his wife had only two children: Louise Wilson Barnes, who died on the verge of manhood; and Nannie, who became the wife of Alpheus Branch, a prominent banker and merchant elsewhere referred to.
General Barnes, who died October 5, 1890, was one of the most influential citizens of his time. About a year before his death, referring to his work in the establishment of Wilson County and the upbuilding of the City of Wilson, the Raleigh State Chronicle contained an article from which the following sentences are abstracted as having special application to the present purpose :
"General Joshua Barnes probably enjoys the high honor of being the only man in the state who was a commissioner of a town of which he was not a resident. General Barnes lived two miles north of Wilson, was the most distinguished citizen of his section and had often served in the Legislature and had been particularly zealous in his efforts to secure the incorporation and up- building of the town. His election was a compli- ment to his well directed zeal. On February 15, 1855, the Town of Wilson, which had been in Edgecombe County, was made the county seat of the newly established County of Wilson. During 1854 the question of making a new county out of parts of Edgecombe, Wayne, Nash and Johnston counties was the leading topic. The opposition was very great, especially around Tarboro. The can- vass was of the most exciting nature, but General Joshua Barnes and Colonel David Williams, who advocated the new county, were elected to the Legislature. When the news reached Wilson from General Barnes that the new county had been established the joy of the people knew no bounds.
. The zeal, untiring labor and successful endeavors, especially of General Barnes, won for . him the lasting gratitude of the people. He had been often in the Legislature and had a host of friends throughout the state. His popularity served the good purpose of getting many votes for the new county. The future of Wilson was assured. General Barnes lives to this day, an honored and loved citizen, to see the ripened fruits of his patriotic labors. He was the first chairman of the County Court. " It should be added that the county was named for General Louis Wilson of Edgecomb. General Wilson was an intimate friend of General Barnes, and for him General Barnes named his only son Louis Wilson.
Another account indicating the esteem in which General Barnes was held is found in the Wilson Advance of October 16, 1890, a few days after his death :
"On Monday morning at 7 o'clock at the resi- dence of his son-in-law, A. Branch, Gen. Joshua Barnes departed this life in the peace of God and in charity for mankind. He has been a sufferer over twenty years from paralysis, his splendid con- stitution having borne him through two attacks
of that fearful disease, though entirely destroying his powers of locomotion.
"Born in sight of Wilson, his whole life had been spent in our midst, exemplifying the very best type of her citizens, the patriot and Christian. Full of years and honors, and first in the hearts of the people, he has been gathered to his fathers, and, in the words of John Randolph on the death of Nathaniel Macon, we feel that the last of the old Romans is gone.
"General Barnes sprang from a people of hardy virtues and he inherited from his parents not only .a good patrimony and a vigorous constitution, but a religion that has moulded many a hero, the severe logic of which he has never been tempted to abandon. He married Matilda, daughter of the late Turner Bynum of Edgecombe County, by whom he had two children, a son who died on the verge of manhood and his daughter Mrs. Branch. His wife, a most amiable lady, preceded him sev- eral years to the spirit land, and for whose memory he cherished a fond affection.
"General Barnes was a born leader of men and his services at home and in the Legislature which resulted in the establishment of the county will not be forgotten. His influence with a body com- posed of the best talent of the state contributed not a little to the successful issue of a measure that was vigorously opposed. Besides his services as a general of the militia, as chairman of the County Court and justice of the peace, he was al- ways foremost in every measure that tended to the advancement of the people. Social in his tempera- ment, he enjoyed life and made no difference in man, but had a smile and a word for every man, woman and child in the community that came with- in his reach, and knew them all by name. There was something in his smile and words that attracted people and particularly children, yet when excited he roared like a lion.
"In his youthful days he excelled in many sports and particularly enjoyed hunting and the excite- ment of the chase; and to the very last like an old war horse at the tap of the drum, he was all attention at the recital of an unusual story and out of his treasures he could usually produce one to match it.
"He gave much to the poor, was faithful to his friends, and his honesty, prudence and truthful- ness made up the well rounded character that he was. The long procession and solemn funeral Tuesday, with the business of the town entirely suspended, with tolling bells, attest the love and respect of the whole community. In his seventy- eighth year, having seen his descendants to the third generation, he has fallen on sleep."
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