USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume IV > Part 48
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It was Doctor Manning who organized and for many years was chairman of the Durham County and City Board of Health and gave to this organi- zation its peculiar usefulness which has made it first and foremost among the local boards of health in the entire state. And it has been results ac- complished at Durham that has contributed in no small degree to the high standing North Carolina now has in other states in the matter of vigilance and efficiency in safeguarding and protecting the public health.
Since 1889, Doctor Manning has been local surgeon of the Southern Railway, having accepted that office when the road was known as the Rich- mond & Danville. For ten years he was surgeon of the Norfolk & Western Railway. He is a member and former president of the Durham Medical So- ciety and belongs to the North Carolina State and American Medical associations. He is a vestryman of St. Phillip's Episcopal Church.
November 20, 1889, he married Miss Mary Am- gett, of Newburn, North Carolina. They have one daughter, Mary Louise.
1
ROBERT PRENTISS DALTON, a business man of Winston-Salem for many years, while not a native
Jao. M. Manning
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of North Carolina represents one of the old and honored families of this state.
He is a lineal descendant of Samuel Dalton, who with his brothers William and Robert from Eng- land came to America in Colonial times. They located in New Jersey, but Samuel subsequently went to Georgia. Coming north, he located in Rockingham County, North Carolina, where he spent the rest of his days. His life in America seemed to agree with him, since he attained the remarkable age of one hundred and six years. The next in line was his son Samuel, who was born at Beaver Island in Rockingham County, but died after a brief life of thirty years.
The next generation of the family was repre- sented by Nicholas Dalton, who spent all his life in Rockingham County. He married Rachel Hun- ter, who was born in Guilford County, North Caro- lina. Her father, Gen. James Hunter, Jr., was born in the same county, and his father, James Hunter, Sr., was a native of Ireland but of Scotch ancestry. Coming to America, the senior Mr. Hun- ter lived a time in Virginia and then moved to North Carolina, settling at Beaver Island in Rock- ingham County. He married a Miss Martin, aunt of Alexander and Col. James Martin. James Hun- ter, Jr., was a leader of the Regulators before and during the Revolutionary war and was called Gen- eral Hunter. He served as sheriff of his home county and also represented his district in the House of Commons from 1778 to 1782. He mar- ried a Miss McFarland. He owned and occupied a plantation in Rockingham County, operating it with slave labor, and there spent his last days.
James Hunter Dalton, son of Nicholas and Rachel Dalton, removed from North Carolina to Patrick County, Virginia, where he engaged in farming. He died there in 1879, at the age of eighty-four years. He married Nancy Critz, who was born in Virginia, a daughter of Haman Critz. Her father commanded a company in Colonel Penn's regiment in the Revolutionary war and for services in that war he received a grant of land in Patrick County, Virginia. Mrs. Nancy (Critz) Dalton, died in 1879, at the age of seventy-nine. She reared a family of eleven children.
The father of Robert Prentiss Dalton was Nicholas, second son of James Hunter Dalton. He enlisted in 1862 in Company H of the Forty-second Regiment, Virginia Troops, and saw active service under Stonewall Jackson. He was wounded at the battle of Cedar Run. At Spottsylvania Courthouse he was captured and was held a prisoner of war at Elmira, New York, where he died. His death occurred in 1865. He married Miss Thomas, who died in 1885, having reared two children, Robert Prentiss and Thomas W.
.
Robert Prentiss Dalton was born on a planta- tion at the foot of "No Business Mountain" in Patrick County, Virginia, April 13, 1851. He grew up and received his education in Patrick County and was only fourteen years of age when his father died. He made the best of his advan- tages in school and at the age of twenty-one began teaching. His first term was at "No Business Mountain." Later he taught at Patrick Court House, and continued that line of work for seven or eight years.
On coming to Winston Mr. Dalton was for about twenty-five years identificd with tobacco manufacture, and then entered the mercantile business for six years. Since then he has been occupied as a building contractor, and has suc-
cessfully carried out many of the building con- tracts in this section of the state.
In 1875 Mr. Dalton married Mary E. Wood. She was born in Patrick County, Virginia, daugh- ter of John and Martha (Davenport) Wood. Mr. and Mrs. Dalton have reared five children : Robert Lee, J. Walter, Mary Ethel, Ralph Thomas and Nicholas Hunter. Robert Lee is now purchas- ing agent for the city of San Antonio, Texas, and by his marriage to Lelia Chalk has a daughter named Mary Chalk. J. Walter, the second son, was for seventeen years a member of the North Carolina National Guard, rising from a private in the For- syth Riflemen through the different grades to in- spector general with the rank of major. In 1916 he was made lieutenant colonel. When the United States entered the World War he offered his serv- ices and is now in France serving as major on Gen- eral Hoffman's staff. He was married in 1905 to Miss Annie Lichenthaler and they have three chil- dren: Annie Louise, Laurence and Virginia Lee. Ralph T. was married in September, 1917, to Thelma Hopkins of Port Norfolk, Virginia. Mary Ethel is a teacher in the city schools. Nicholas Hunter holds a position in the cigarette factory of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.
JUDGE WILLIAM B. COUNCILL. Throughout the counties of Central and Western North Carolina Judge Councill long ago thoroughly established his prestige as an able and learned member of the bar. His services have not been within the strict limits of his profession, however, again and again he has been called upon to act in positions of trust and responsibility involving large and important issues. For a number of years he served with dignity and efficiency as a judge of the Superior Court of North Carolina. He has been in the Legislature both as representative and as senator, and in all his record there has been nothing to de- tract justly from his reputation as a lawyer, an upright gentleman and a forward-looking citizen.
Though Judge Councill was born at Sumter, South Carolina, in 1858, his own life has been largely spent in North Carolina and his family was principally identified with the state from the early days. He is a son of Dr. William B. and Alice (Bostwick) Councill. His widowed mother, who is still living at the age of eighty-four, is of English ancestry. In the paternal line Judge Councill's great-grandfather came from his native England and made settlement in Western North Carolina in what is now Watauga County. Dr. William B. Councill was born at the old Councill homestead in Watauga County, but for several years in the '50s lived in Sumter County, South Carolina. He returned to Watauga County just before the war and the outbreak of hostilities called him from his private practice into the service of the South. He became a member of Hampton's Legion in South Carolina, and was in Lee's army of Northern Virgina. During the second year of his enlist- ment he was transferred to the regiment of North Carolina troops commanded by Col. George M. Folk. He became captain of a company under Colonel Folk. The war over he returned to his people at Boone in Watauga County, and spent the rest of his life serving them in the capacity of a physician.' His life as a physician was one to which the people of later generations may well pay their highest tribute of honor and admiration. It required physical endurance and courage and patience to practice medicine under conditions
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with which Doctor Councill had to contend for many years. With these physical characteristics he united kindliness of manner, a depth of human sympathy, and a skill and ability which made him widely known and as widely loved and honored. He rode for miles over the wide expanse of moun- tainous country in Western North Carolina, with his saddle bags filled with medicines and he was his own apothecary as well as physician. There were few drug stores in that time, and almost invariably the physician had to compound his own medicines and carry them with him instead of writing prescriptions. He practically wore him- self out in this life of service and died at the age of seventy-two.
Judge Councill was greatly indebted for his early training and the influences which surrounded him to his noble parents and the atmosphere of the home. He also had liberal educational oppor- tunities. He attended the Finley High Academy at Lenoir, North Carolina, when that school was under the direction of the famous educators, Fos- sett and Dixon, who were noted for the thorough- ness with which they equipped their boys for col- lege and for the serious pursuits of life. Having completed his work there, Judge Councill began the study of law at Boone. He was licensed to practice in '1881 and his professional career cov- ers a period of over thirty-five years. He began practice at Boone, the county seat of Watauga County, and that was his home for about eighteen years. For a number of years he had no ambition beyond a skillful and efficient service to his private clientage, and took only such interest in politics as he thought he owed as a good citizen. In 1896 he was elected representative from his county to the Legislature, and served through the session of 1897. In . 1898 he was called to higher honor in election to the office of judge of the Superior Court of North Carolina. He took to that office long and thorough experience as a lawyer, a knowl- edge of men, and an integrity of character which made his ten years of service on the bench a period of honor and distinction both to himself and to the court. In 1899, about a year after his elec- tion to the bench, he removed from Boone to Hickory, Catawba County, where he has since re- sided. While he felt a high degree of satisfaction in being able to serve the people on the bench, the service naturally involved much sacrifice on his part, and after his term was over he gladly re- sumed private practice. The next call upon him to public office came in 1912 when he was elected on the democratic ticket as state senator to rep- resent the senatorial district comprising Catawba and Lincoln counties. He was one of the ablest and most influential members of the Senate in the session of 1913.
As a lawyer Judge Councill has appeared both in the state and federal courts as attorney for important interests and in later years his active presence in a case is recognized as significant testimony as to its importance. His practice is not limited to his home county and in fact much of his time is spent away from his home in look- ing after the various large and important inter- ests entrusted to his professional management.
Judge Councill has been happily married for many years and has a wife and six children. The Councill name has always been noted for its pa- triotism, and Judge Councill takes proper pride in the fact that at least three of his young sons have given some of their youth to the service of their country. His oldest child, Howard Folk
Councill, graduated from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis in the class of 1917. Gor- don S. and William T. Councill, the next older sons, are both members of the National Guard and saw active service on the Mexican border with the North Carolina troops in 1916-17. The three younger children are: Stedman C., Allen B. and Elizabeth Councill. Mrs. Councill, the mother of these children, was formerly Miss Elizabeth Coffey of Boone, North Carolina. She is a daugh- ter of the late Capt. Thomas J. Coffey, of Watauga County. Captain Coffey was a captain in the Confederate army in the war between the North and South and a member of a family which has resided in Wilkes, Caldwell and Watauga counties since the early part of the nineteenth century. After the war Captain Coffey engaged in business in Watauga County, being then a young man. He was a man of splendid business capacity and he accumulated a very considerable fortune. He was a highly respected and influential citizen, and a leader in all matters pertaining to the progress and development of Watauga County and his sec- tion of the state.
ERNEST LINWOOD SAWYER. The professional men of Elizabeth City compare most favorably with those in other communities in the state, and in the law there have been brilliant examples of un- usual early talent leading to rapid advancement. In this connection mention may be made of Hon. Ernest Linwood Sawyer, who after a general practice of but three years was called to the criminal bench and has served in the judicial office continuously for the last nine years. While all lawyers, perhaps, aim to finally wear the judi- cial ermine, there are distinctive qualities that appear in the understanding, interpretation and application of the law that prove the judicial mind and bring early judicial honors.
Ernest Linwood Sawyer is a native of Eliza- beth City, North Carolina, and was born February 16, 1883. His parents were Jeremiah and Mary Elizabeth (Cartwright) Sawyer, old names known and honored in Eastern North Carolina for gener- ations. The father of Judge Sawyer has been a merchant in Elizabeth City for many years and is one of the town's most respected residents.
In the public schools and Elizabeth City Aca- demy Judge Sawyer secured early educational ad- vantages and then entered the University of North Carolina in 1900, and was graduated with the degree of Ph. B. in 1904. He spent the ensuing year' in law study and in August, 1905, was ad- mitted to the bar. He immediately engaged in · the general practice of law and very soon at- tracted attention because of his thorough legal knowledge and its apt application in many im- portant cases of litigation. In 1908 he was elected trial judge of the Criminal Court of Pasquotank County. He served two terms, ending in 1912, and then served two years as substitute judge. In 1914 he was again elected and has continued on the bench ever since, making a fine record. His decisions, tempered as they have been with mercy, have been found sound and entirely re- moved from any social or political bias. His relations with both bench and bar are most cor- dial and he is a valued member of the North Carolina Bar Association.
Judge Sawyer was married February 13, 1907, to Miss Emma Ward Rodgers, of Martin County, North Carolina, and they have three children, one · daughter and two sons: Margaret Elizabeth, John
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Ernest and Heywood Royall. The family home is in Elizabeth City and Judge Sawyer maintains pleasant offices on Main Street. He is too busy a man to devote much time to recreation but high- ly values his membership in the order of Odd Fellows and with the Elks.
SAMUEL HOWARD REAMS, of Durham, has had a long and active career in railroad circles, and has become prominently known in several of the At- lantic seaboard states. He is now vice president and general manager of the Durham & Southern Railway.
He was born in Granville County, North Caro- lina, November 25, 1868, a son of Isaiah M. and Lucinda A. (Howard) Reams. His father was a tobacco merchant. Samuel H. Reams was edu- cated in Durham, took a business college course, and one of his first positions was as assistant postmaster of Durham. He remained in the post- office four and a half years, and then entered the operating department of the Richmond & Danville Railroad. For five years he was in the agency department of that road, and in 1895 transferred his services to the Seaboard Air Line. He was chief clerk to the railway agent from 1895 to 1900, was railway agent until 1907, and from 1907 to 1909 was general freight and passenger agent for the Durham & Southern Railway. In August, 1909, he took the agency of the Seaboard Air Line at Savannah, Georgia, but in October, 1915, re- turned to Durham and has since been vice president and general manager of the Durham & Southern.
Mr. Reams is prominent in local affairs, is a di- rector of the Chamber of Commerce, of the Y. M. C. A., is a trustee of Watts Hospital at Durham, and an active member of the First Baptist Church.
September 18, 1894, he married Sudie Hunter of Kinston, North Carolina. Her father W. W. N. Hunter was long prominent in politics in his section of the state and filled a number of offices including sheriff, clerk of court and postmaster. Mr. and Mrs. Reams have three children: Marion L., Samuel H. Jr., and Henrietta Norwood.
JOHN GRAHAM YOUNG of Winston-Salem has had the achievements and experience of a very active career beginning when as a boy he took his place in the Confederate army and endured his baptism of fire at Chancellorsville. For many years he has been a factor in the business and civic life of Winston-Salem.
A native of North Carolina he was born at Statesville in Iredell County. His ancestry is a noteworthy one. The family record begins with Francis Young, who was born in England in 1650. He married Mary or Martha Legros, and they reared fourteen sons. Twelve of these sons were participants in the domestic and foreign wars in which England was engaged during the reign of Queen Anne. Francis, the father of the sons, was in the army commanded by Marlborough and was killed in the great battle of Blenheim, Germany, on August 13, 1704. The only two sons to survive the wars of that period were William and Michael Cadet.
Michael Cadet Young was the founder of the family in America. He was sent to Virginia by the land proprietors early in the eighteenth cen- tury. He located in Brunswick County, and mar- ried Martha Sadler of Virginia. They reared seven children. Many of their descendants became noted. One of the descendants of Michael Cadet Young was Hon. John Young Mason, once chief justice
of the State of Virginia and also United States Minister to France. Another descendant was Tapley W. Young, who once served as consul to the City of Stuttgart.
The oldest son of Michael C. Young was Francis, who located in Isle of Wight County, Virginia. He filled the position of clerk of courts there from 1767 to 1782. That local office was continually held by a member of the family in successive gen- erations until 1914, a period of 147 years. This record is perhaps unsurpassed in the annals of any family or in connection with any public office in America. The last incumbent of the position was Thomas Young who died while in office in 1914.
Thomas Young, fourth son of Michael C. and Martha (Sadler) Young, was born in Brunswick County, Virginia, February 22, 1732. In 1778, accompanied by his wife and four children, he removed to Iredell County, North Carolina. He first married Judith Johnson. They reared four sons and four daughters. She died March 17, 1774. His second wife, with whom he came to North Carolina, was Lucy Ragsdale of Virginia. She died March 7, 1807, while Thomas Young died in 1829, when in his ninety-eighth year. There were five children of his second marriage.
The oldest son of this North Carolina pioneer was John M. Young, grandfather of John Graham Young. John M. Young took a prominent part in public affairs in North Carolina, served as a member of various state conventions in both North and South Carolina and assisted in framing the state constitution. He was a member of the senate in both states. He married Jennie Nisbet.
Their son, John Augustus Young, father of John G., was born on Hunting Creek, Iredell County. When quite young he removed to Statesville, and when in his twenty-first year was elected a mem- ber of the Legislature. In 1840 he organized the Iredell Blues and was captain of this militia com- pany. John G. Young now has the sword with which Captain Young was presented, and this sword was carried in the Civil war by Maj. Egbert Ross at the time that gallant officer was killed. Captain Young removed to Charlotte about 1847, and for many years was engaged in the mercantile business. In 1852 he organized and became presi- dent of the company that built the Rock Island Mills, located about eleven miles from Charlotte. At the outbreak of the war he was commissioned lieutenant colonel of the Fourth Regiment North Carolina Troops. He gave to every member of this regiment, 1,100 men in all, a suit of clothes and a gray cap to match the suit. He went into field duty and was one of the commanders of the regi- ment for twenty months. He resigned in order to give a more important service to the Confed- erate government, and returning home took charge of the mills and directed their operation for the manufacture of clothing for the North Carolina troops. For this service he was paid in Confed- erate scrip, bonds and state money. During the war he buried over a million dollars worth of paper money and securities in glass jars underneath a rail fence. After the war this treasure was ex- humed, but it was then worthless. Soon after the war Colonel Young removed the mills to Char- lotte and continued to operate them until they were burned. He was a prominent citizen of Char- lotte and died there when in his eightieth year.
John Augustus Young married Malvina Graham. She was born in Lincoln County, North Carolina. Her father John D. Graham was one of the carly captains of industry in the state. He operated an
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iron foundry and was also an extensive farmer and planter, employing a number of slaves in his varied business enterprises. Mrs. John A. Young died at the age of seventy-seven. She reared a family of three sons and three daughters.
John G. Young was still in his teens when the war broke out. At that time he was a cadet in the North Carolina Military Institute. He continued his studies there with growing patriotic fervor until March, 1863. At that time General Byron Grimes made a visit to the Young home, and when the general returned to the front he was accom- panied by Cadet Young, who went as a guest of the general. He slept in the general's tent and rode with him when marching. That experience gave him a touch of warfare, but he was not con- tent to remain a bystander when great deeds were being done. The chance he craved was soon given him to become a soldier in earnest. When the ser- geant major of the Fourth Regiment was disabled for life, Colonel James Wood of Rowan told the boy that if he would enlist he should be made sergeant major of the Fourth Regiment. This regiment was the command which Mr. Young's father had had in the early months of the war. The boy enlisted in Company C at Statesville, the company which his father had organized as a part of the state militia in 1840. With the Fourth Regiment of North Carolina Troops he went into action in the great battle of Chancellorsville. Mr. Young writes a very interesting account of his experiences as a soldier and does not hesitate to say that he was scared. However, he stood his ground, aud in time was able to take the danger and ex- citement of the battlefield with the coolness of a veteran. After that he fought in all the battles in which his regiment was engaged. He was with General Early's command when it invaded the Dis- trict of Columbia and slept during one night within eight miles of the Capitol at Washington. He was also in the glorious advance up the Shenandoah Valley, and was in hot pursuit of the fleeing Union troops when General Sheridan made his famous ride and came up with reenforcements that compelled the Confederates to retire. Mr. Young was with his regiment at Appomattox on April 9, 1865. After being paroled, he started to walk home. He covered most of the distance on foot to Charlotte, though stopping two days in Salem and two days in Salisbury.
His first aim after the war was to secure a better equipment for the serious duties of life, and after a preparatory course he entered the University of North Carolina, where he was graduated. After leaving university Mr. Young took up civil engi- neering as a profession. He spent four years in Texas and was employed on surveys for several different railways. Subsequently for a number of years he was in the employ of the Southern Rail- way Company in South Carolina and Georgia as commercial agent, freight department. Mr. Young has been a resident of Winston-Salem since 1884. For a number of years he was in the commission business and even yet is not ready to be considered on the retired list. Since 1914 he has held a clerical position in the stamp department of the Internal Revenue Office.
Mr. Young married Lucy Wingfield. She was born at Eatonton in Putnam County, Georgia, daughter of Junius Wingfield. Mr. and Mrs. Young have four children: Wingfield, Lelia M., Lucy T., and John G., Jr. Mr. Young is a mem- ber of Norfleet Camp of the United Confederate
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