USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume IV > Part 49
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Veterans and also belongs to the Knights of Pythias.
CHARLES MOSES HOOVER. A public spirited, influential citizen of Thomasville, Charles Moses Hoover has been prominent in municipal affairs, filling various offices of trust and responsibility, and as secretary and treasurer of the Hoover Chair Company is officially connected with one of the leading industries of Davidson County. A native of North Carolina, as was his father, Pleas- ant A. Hoover, and his grandfather, Hon. Charles Hoover, he was born on a farm lyin~ six miles north of Thomasville.
His great-grandfather, George Hoover, was born and reared in Germany. Coming to this country in early manhood, he fought with the Colonists in their struggle for independence, enlisting with the Pennsylvania troops. Subsequently coming to North Carolina, he located in Salisbury, Rowan County, where he followed his trade of a tanner for a time. In 1797 he removed to what is now Thomasville Township, Davidson County, and there bought the estate afterwards known as "Glen Anna," which was located 11/2 miles south of Thomasville. There his son-in-law, David Mock, established a school for young women, calling it Glen Anna; the school was later transferred to Thomasville, and called Thomasville Female Col- lege. Both he and his wife, whose maiden name was Margaret Beard, lived to be nearly three score and ten years of age, and at death were buried in Fair Grove Cemetery. They were the parents of six children, Elizabeth, Christina, George, Charles, Felix, and Valentine.
Hon. Charles Hoover was born in Salisbury, North Carolina, in 1796. Well trained as a boy in agricultural arts, he became a tiller of the soil from choice, and having purchased a large tract of land in the northern part of Thomas- ville Township carried on general farming with the help of slaves. He owned many slaves, but he never sold one, although his grandson, Charles Moses Hoover, has bills of sale for many of the negroes which he purchased. Prominent and in- fluential in public affairs, he was elected state senator in 1832, and in 1845 represented his county in the State Legislature. In 1824 he was made justice of the peace, and served in that capacity until after the close of the Civil war, in 1865. His death occurred at his farm home in 1880, at the advanced age of eighty-four years.
The maiden name of the wife of Hon. Charles Hoover was Sarah Kennedy. Her father was an extensive planter, owning and occupying the plantation now known as the Kinney place, which is located in Thomasville Township, on the old stage road between Greensboro and Salisbury. She died about 1840, leaving four children, Wil- liam K., Pleasant A., Louise J., and Flora S. Wil- liam K. Hoover, the first-born child, was educated at Old Trinity College. In 1852 he migrated to Georgia, and a few years later settled in Texas, from there going to Arkansas. A man of eminent ability and strong personality, he became promi- nent in public affairs, and at the time of his death, in 1875, was candidate for governor of Arkansas. Louisa J. married H. W. Brummell, of Thomasville Township, and Flora S. became the wife of D. J. K. Pinnix.
Pleasant A. Hoover was born on a farm lying three miles south of Thomasville, July 18, 1830.
le . W. Massey
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He acquired a practical education in the public schools, and as a young man purchased a farm lying west of Thomasville, and was there engaged in farming, with the help of slaves, prior to his marriage. About a year after his marriage, he re- turned to the parental homestead, to the ownership of which he succeeded. On December 13, 1861, he was commissioned captain of the Hunts Fork Com- pany, Sixty-sixth Regiment, Sixteenth Brigade, North Carolina Militia, in which he served until the close of the war. Resuming then his agricul- tural labors, he carried on general farming suc- cessfully, and also operated a grist mill and a saw mill, the mills being located on Abbotts Creek. Thus busily employed, he resided on his home farm until his death, November 7, 1907.
Pleasant A. Hoover married, May 25, 1853, Margaret J. Holmes. She was born in 1837, at Healing Springs Township, Davidson County, a daughter of Moses and Ann Holmes. She sur- vived her husband, and is now a resident of Thomasville. Eight children were born of their union, namely :- Flora, Almeda, Trecia, Elizabeth, David Early, Charles Moses, Emma Lee, and George Marshall. Flora, deceased, was the wife of J. C. Norwood; Almeda married J. A. Green; Trecia is the wife of P. A. Livengood; Elizabeth married W. F. Guyer; David E. married Emma Grimes; Emma Lee, deceased, married Charles R. Kinney; George Marshall married Shelley Thomas.
Taking advantage of every offered opportunity for obtaining an education, Charles Moses Hoover began his studies in the district school, and later attended the Bethany High School, and Professor Wright's school, located two miles south of Thomasville. He remained on the home farm until early manhood, assisting his father both in the field and in the mill, when but ten years old run- ning the up-and-down saw with which the plant was equipped. In 1895, with his brother George, he bought a saw mill, and engaged in the manu- facture of lumber. In 1897 Mr. Hoover was ap- pointed postmaster at Thomasville, and the fol- lowing year the brothers removed their saw mill to Thomasville, and having installed a planing mill manufactured dressed lumber for four years. Transforming their mill then into a chair factory, the two brothers incorporated their business under the name of the Queen Chair Company. At the end of twelve years they liquidated, and the Hoover Chair Company being then incorporated took over the entire plant, and has conducted a thriving business ever since, Mr. Hoover being secretary and treasurer of the concern.
In 1901 Mr. Hoover was united in marriage with Evelyn Leach. She was born in Thomas- ville, a daughter of J. A. and Pattie (Lewis) Leach, and grand-daughter of Rev. John W. Lewis, for many years a circuit rider in the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mrs. Hoover's father, Mr. Leach, was an extensive landholder, owning both town and farm property, and was interested in various mining projects. He was born at Old Trinity, Randolph County. After serving for four years in the Civil war, he settled in Thomasville, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was active in public affairs, serving as a representative to the State Legislature, and was actively identified with the Masonic frater- nity.
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Mr. and Mrs. Hoover have four children, namely : Charles, Kenneth, John Lewis, and Theresa. Religiously Mr. and Mrs. Hoover are active members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South, iu which he is serving as steward aud trustee. A stanch republican in politics, Mr. Hoover served as postmaster for sixteen years; and in addition to having been a member of the Thomasville Board of Aldermen has filled the mayor's chair two terms. Fraternally he is a member of Thomasville Lodge No. 214, Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons; to Thomas- ville Chapter No. 62, Royal Arch Masons; and is a non-affiliating member of both the Salisbury Chapter, and Oasis Temple.
CHARLES WESLEY MASSEY .is and has been for many years one of the foremost figures in public education in North Carolina. For twenty years he has been superintendent of public instruction for Durham County. It is not the purpose of this article to tell in detail the work that has been done during those twenty years in the matter of broadening out, building up and vitalizing the schools of that county, making them coordinate factors in the life of the community instead of merely supplying a few of the fundamentals of literary knowledge.
Superintendent Massey would be the first to disclaim full credit for all that has been achieved. He has had the counsel and cooperation of a num- ber of public spirited citizens, valued friends of public education, and hard and earnest workers in the general program, and also in the individual schools and movements. But those who are in a positiou to judge affirm that the moving spirit in it all has been the quiet, efficient, and widely experienced educator who is officially the head of the public schools of Durham county outside the city of Durham. Of course, according to an abso- lute standard of ideal perfection, the schools of Durham County still leave much to be desired. But progress along many lines has been significant and is a source of encouragement to all who have the welfare of public schools at heart, whether in Durham County or the state at large. The average school term has been greatly extended during the last twenty years, the number and personnel and qualifications of the teaching staff have been not- ably improved, salaries of teachers have been prac- tically doubled, high school instruction is now supplied to six or seven hundred pupils whereas less than twenty years ago there was not a single high school student in the country districts and while the value of the school buildings and equip- ment when Superintendent Massey took office was not more than five thousand dollars, the total valuation of property today is two hundred thou- sand dollars. Only two buildings in the county that were standing when he took office are used to- day, all the others having given way to larger and more modern structures. The process of con- solidation of rural districts has been carried on and many new departments and subjects have been brought into the school work.
All these various changes and improvements were succinctly stated in a recent report of the county public schools under the head of Ten Things Ac- complished by the Durham County Schools. These ten things were: Consolidation of districts and the building of better schoolhouses; the installation of new, up-to-date patent desks, blackboards and other school equipment; a library has been placed in every white school in the county and in twelve of the colored schools; the organization of the teachers of the county for normal training under the direction of the educational department of Trinity College; the grading and standardizing
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of the work in all the county schools; the placing of high school instruction within the reach of all the country boys and girls; special taxes have been voted in twenty of the thirty districts of the county, raising over $20,000 additional school funds annually; a betterment club of some kind for the improvement of the school and the com- munity has been organized in nearly every school in the county; farm life schools have been estab- lished; by working in co-operation with the county demonstrator, the home demonstration agent and the farm life schools, the corn clubs, pig clubs, poultry clubs and the canning clubs of the county have been organized.
Charles Wesley Massey is a native of Durham County, was born here November 24, 1858, and spent his early life on a farm. His parents were John and Elizabeth (Pope) Massey. As a boy he attended some of the rude country schools of his day, afterwards was a student in Rutherford College and then spent three years in the Univer- sity of North Carolina. His active career has been in public school work, and almost altogether in Durham County, with only four years outside the county. It was with his long and thorough experience as an individual teacher that he was promoted to his present office of superintendent of public instruction. Mr. Massey is a former mem- ber of the North Carolina Teachers' Assembly and is widely known in educational circles. He is a director of the Home Savings Bank of Durham.
For a number of years Mr. Massey was presi- dent of the East Central District of County Su- perintendents, and served as a member of sub- commission in the selecting of text books for the schools through the state.
October 19, 1892, he married Cora Lee Friar of Wilson County, North Carolina. A large family have grown up under their devoted care and in- struction, and they have nine living children. One son, Hugh Linnaeus, died at the age of fourteen. The living children are Cora Ethel, Lucile Lee, Ralph Stevens, Charles Knox, Lilabell, Norman Wesley, Herbert, Marion, Thomas Woodrow.
CHARLES EDMUND KRAMER. In carefully and conscientiously considering the lives and careers of the worthy men of Elizabeth City, both past and present, whose achievements and influence have been notable and beneficial attention cannot fail being centered on the Kramers, a name well and honorably known here for the past forty- seven years. The present head of the family is Charles Edmund Kramer, president of Kramer Brothers & Company, which is one of the most im- portant factors in the great lumber industry in Eastern North Carolina.
Charles Edmund Kramer was born in North- umberland County, Pennsylvania, July 5, 1857. His parents were Daniel and Rachel (Krebs) Kramer, who came with their family to North Carolina in 1870, and the father died at Elizabeth City in 1899.
Daniel Kramer was born in Berks County, Penn- sylvania, Jnne 19, 1834, and was a son of Jona- than and Marie (Steigerwalt) Kramer. He grew up on his father's farm and had snch school ad- vantages as his native county afforded at that time, meager as compared with the present day but sonnd and practical. He was yet a young man when he began business in the hamlet of Watsontown, Pennsylvania, which at that time had a population of not more than fifty individ-
uals. He engaged there in building and in im- proving property and continned to reside there until November, 1870. In the meanwhile, in 1864, lie enlisted for service in the war between the states then in progress, entering Company C, Two Hundred and Second Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and served until he was honorably dis- charged in August, 1865.
When Mr. Kramer left Watsontown he had a reputation as a reliable contractor and builder, and when he came to Elizabeth City, North Caro- lina, in 1870, he embarked in the same business and continued in that line all his subsequent life in connection with the lumber manufacturing busi- ness. He was a man of great energy and of ex- cellent business judgment and gradually expanded his business until he owned saw mills, planing inills and lumber yards. It is conceded that his practical and modern ideas did more to influence the style and class of building here than those of any other one man during his life, and many of the city's finest structures testify to his taste and skill. He founded the business which is now known as Kramer Brothers & Company. He was interested as a good citizen and consciencious man in many of the worthy enterprises which served to build up the city. All his life he cher- ished a deep respect for education and an evi- dence of it was shown shortly after locating here. At that time Elizabeth City was just recovering from the effects of the long war and school facilities were few and inadequate. This condi- tion aroused Mr. Kramer to action and he re- turned to Pennsylvania and there engaged a superior teacher, who was employed at his ex- pense at first and later with the assistance of two other citizens and a first class school was started, the same being the nucleus of the Atlantic Col- legiate Institute, which was the principal school of this section until the organization of the graded schools. In many other ways Mr. Kramer was generous and public spirited. He took no active part in political campaigns, voting with the re- publican party from principle. He was a member of the Lutheran Church and in Pennsylvania was an elder in the same.
Daniel Kramer was twice married, first in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, October 2, 1856, to Rachel Krebs; second, in Clarion County, Pennsylvania in June, 1884, to Eva Fulmer. His children all survive, as follows: Charles Edmund; John A., who married Carrie E. Kipp; Allen K., who married Margaret Chron; Ida L., who married Alex T. Davis; Annie J., who became the wife of John S. Banks; Joseph P., who married Frances Welles; Ella K., who is the wife of Patrick H. Williams; and Eva Maria, who is the wife of Charles W. Edwards. Mr. Kramer was a Master Mason.
Charles Edmund Kramer, the eldest in the above family, was closely associated with his father and under his directing supervision learned the lumber business. He was a school boy of thir- teen years when he accompanied his parents to Elizabeth City and this has been his chosen home ever since. He worked in his father's planing mill and by the time he was sixteen years old was considered capable of taking charge of the sash and door manufacturing department as foreman, and largely through his energy and enterprise was the business built up to its present enormous ca- pacity. It is one of the leading industries of this section and controls vast areas of valuable timber
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
here and in other parts of the state, and gives employment to a large force of skilled work- men.
In 1910 Mr. Kramer erected with his brothers what is known as the Kramer Realty Company's Building, one of the finest structures in the city, 125 by 90 feet in dimensions, of pressed brick and three stories high. It is devoted to offices and various lodges have their halls here. Mr. Kramer was one of the organizers of the Elizabeth City Savings Bank & Trust Company and is on its directing board. Like his late father, Mr. Kramer has always been a patron of education and is an ex-member of the board of trustees of the Greens- boro Female College.
Mr. Kramer was married January 3, 1883, to Miss Sallie R. Holmes, who was born at Elizabeth City and is a daughter of Robert and .Mary Holmes. The father of Mrs. Kramer is a merchant and the family is well known in this section. Mr. and Mrs. Kramer have two daughters: Augusta, who is the wife of Dr. Herbert D. Walker, of Elizabeth City; and Maud Holmes, who resides with her parents. The family belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and Mr. Kramer is a member of the board of stewards, and for more than seven years served as superintendent of the Sunday school. As the facts of his life indi- cate, he is a man of unusual business capacity and of the high personal character that belongs to men in whom their fellow citizens feel complete confidence, knowing them to be trustworthy.
WILLIAM J. SPAUGH is one of the oldest con- tractors and builders in point of continuous serv- ice in the Winston-Salem district. He is a native of this section of North Carolina, served during the war in the Confederate army, and has had an exceedingly long and useful experience.
It is supposed with good reason that all the members of the Spaugh family in this part of North Carolina are descended from Adam Spach. Adam Spach was a historic character in Western North Carolina. He came here about the middle of the eighteenth century, acquired extensive tracts of land near Friedberg, built a rock house, which is shown on other pages and which was as much of a fort as a residence, and did much to estab- lish civilization and Christianity in this part of Western North Carolina.
William J. Spaugh was born on a farm two miles northeast of Friedberg in Forsyth County, August 30, 1846. His grandfather, Joseph Spaugh, was a planter, owning a place about a mile from Friedberg, and he and his wife reared five children named Harmon, Jonathan, Benjamin, Nancy and Polly. Benjamin Spaugh, father of William J., was born November 15, 1817, his birth- place having been about a mile from Friedberg. He grew up on a farm and started his own career as a farmer. He had a place near the old Spaugh farm and lived there until about 1858, when he came to Salem. Here he followed the business of teaming, and remained a resident until his death on September 23, 1874. The maiden name of his wife was Julia Ann Crouse. She was born near Friedberg September 18, 1825. Her father, Jacob Crouse, was a planter near Clemmons in Stokes County. Mrs. Benjamin Spaugh died November 20, 1904.
William J. Spaugh, an only child of his par- ents, had the advantages and opportunities of a country home during his boyhood, and attended the Flatrock School near Friedberg, and later the
Winston Academy. He was not yet thirteen years of age when the war broke out but subsequently, in spite of his youth, was drafted for service in the Confederate army. He went to Raleigh, but was soon discharged on account of disability. In 1865 Mr. Spaugh entered an apprenticeship with Charles Hauser to learn the trade of brick mason. After three years of learning the trade he worked as a journeyman two years and then started in business for himself as a contractor and builder. He has followed that business continually for be- tween forty and fifty years, has put up hundreds of houses and other structures over Forsyth County, and is still handling contracts of that nature.
On September 10, 1868, Mr. Spaugh married Miss Felicia Antoinette Lineback. Mrs. Spaugh was born near Bethania in Forsyth County, No- vember 27, 1849. Her father, Timothy Lineback, was a potter by trade and saw active service in a North Carolina regiment during the war. He removed from near Bethania to a home on Brooks- town Road, a mile and a half west of the court- house at Winston-Salem, and remained a resident there until his death. Mrs. Spaugh's mother was Eliza Wall. She was born near Bethania, August 20, 1827, and died March 9, 1909.
Mr. and Mrs. Spaugh have four children, Rosa, Robert C., Daisy and Mabel. . Rosa is still at home with her parents. Robert C. married Bessie Winkler and their three children are Gordon, Car- roll and Hazel. The daughter Daisy is the wife of Thomas E. Griffin. Mabel married J. D. Barrow. Mr. and Mrs. Spaugh are members of the Home Moravian Church.
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CHALMERS M. VAN POOLE, M. D. The continu-
ous labors, sacrifices and study of nearly forty years have brought many richly deserved honors to Dr. Van Poole as a physician and suregon in his home community of Salisbury, and from that city his reputation has become spread over the state until he is recognized as one of the great men in the profession of North Carolina today.
He is of Holland ancestry. Grandfather Van Poole, a native of Holland, came to America with two of his brothers soon after the close of the revolution and settled on land in Providence Township of Rowan County, North Carolina. Many of the Van Pooles were very skillful me- chanies, and that trait is also inherited by Dr. Van Poole and has not been without value to him in his profession.
Chalmers Melancthon Van Poole was born near Salisbury in Rowan County, September 2, 1854. His father Otho Van Poole, born in the same locality, after reaching manhood took a tract of new land in Providence Township and cleared and improved a good farm, and on it lived a laborious and fruitful life. He died at the ven- erable age of fourscore and two years. During the war between the states he was in the Confed- erate Cavalry. His wife, whose maiden name was Lucretia Lentz, lived to be upwards of seventy years of age. Both were members of St. Mat- thew's Lutheran Church and both lie buried in its churchyard.
Doctor Van Poole began his education in the Craven public schools and by teaching he paid his way through North Carolina College, now known as Mount Pleasant Collegiate Institute, from which he was graduated with the degree A. M. After that he taught school successfully until 1878 and began the study of medicine under Dr. Marcellus Whitehead of Salisbury. Doctor
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Van Poole graduated from the College of Physi- cians and Surgeons of Baltimore March 18, 1880. The following May he was licensed to practice but desiring further preparation he returned to Bal- timore and was elected resident physician of the Maternity Hospital where he taught as assistant in obstetrics. At the same time he did post- graduate work at the City Hospital. Doctor Van Poole for many years practiced medicine in his native township, but in 1913 removed to Salisbury where he has since resided. He has usually spent some time every year in a post-graduate school and is a specialist in diseases of the nose and throat and stomach.
An excellent review of Doctor Van Poole's work and connections as a physician appeared re- cently in the Charlotte Medical Journal in an article prepared by the editors of that publication. The following sentences are taken from this article :
"Dr. Van Poole has always shown much en- thusiasm in the society work of his profession and holds that every young doctor should at once connect himself with all of the medical societies he can attend. When licensed in 1880 to practice medicine he immediately joined the State So- ciety and for thirty-eight consecutive meetings did not fail to be present at its annual gather- ings-a record unequalled by any other physician of the State. For five years he was treasurer of this Society and has recently served as its presi- dent. He is a member of the District and County Societies. During President Taft's administra- tion he was appointed first lieutenant of the Medical Reserve Corps of the United States Army. He has since been promoted to captain. His close attention to all of his Society interests has been a stepping stone to better things.
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