USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume IV > Part 6
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While during the years that followed he steadily built up a reputation as a lawyer and became well known to the members of the state bar, he gave all his time to his profession and never consented to be a figure in politics until 1907, when he was elected a member of the Legislature. He was elected by a majority of 1750, and after taking his seat distinguished himself as an able advocate of some of the measures of special importance to the state. As chairman of the Committee on Insane Asylums he introduced and secured the passage of what is known as the Bickett Bill, ap- propriating a half million dollars for the purchase of land and construction of buildings to take care of the insane and other classes of the state's unfortunate. That was the largest appropriation voted by the General Assembly for a single pur- pose in an entire decade. He also advocated a bill to regulate lobbying, and worked for the establishment of the East Carolina Teachers
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Training School and the establishment of a school of technology in some cotton mill center.
As a delegate to the Charlotte Convention of 1908 Mr. Bickett first became a figure of state wide prominence. His nominating speech for Col. Ashley Horne for governor made him so conspicuous that he in turn was nominated for the office of attorney general, and during the fol- lowing campaign he did much to draw together the various factions in his own party and con- tributed much to the success of the ticket. He was elected attorney general and began his of- ficial duties in January, 1909. In 1912 he was reelected, for the term expiring in 1916.
His record of service has been particularly scrutinized by the people of North Carolina dur- ing the last year or so, when his candidacy was urged on all sides for the office of governor to succeed Mr. Craig. His record as attorney general is one of special interest. Besides acting as adviser to every department of the state government, he argued upwards of 400 cases before the Supreme Court of North Carolina, and repre- sented the state before the Federal Court within the state, the Commerce Court and the Interstate Commerce Commission and the Supreme Court at Washington, and it is said that every case argued by him before a federal tribunal was won for the state. A reference to his work as attorney general is found in an editorial of the Raleigh News and Observer of November 11, 1915, which says: "The record of Attorney General Thomas W. Bickett before the United States Supreme Court is one of which he can well be proud. Since coming into the high office which he holds he has had occasion to argue five different cases before the Supreme Court as the guardian of the state's legal rights, and he has won every one of them. The Tennessee-North Carolina boundary case, which was decided Monday in favor of North Carolina, being the latest one to claim public at- tention. Mr. Bickett besides being one of our most finished public speakers is also one of the state's astute lawyers, capable of profound and patient study, with a keenly analytical mind and with the faculty of engaging and illuminating expression. ''
A gracefully expressed tribute such as few men can deserve was that which appeared in the annual publication for 1915 of Wake Forest College, and which is dedicated to Mr. Bickett as follows: "To Thomas Walter Bickett, Class 1890. On every level of a brilliant career, student, teacher, lawyer, attorney general, standing in the midst of a host of friends."'
Every successive stage of his career has demon- strated him a man of proficiency, adequate for the duties and responsibilities of the time, and fitting himself for a new and larger life that was to succeed. Therefore when on November 5, 1916, the people of North Carolina were called upon to express their choice of a citizen to fill the office of governor, there was no question of fitness and only a generous outburst of confidence and trust in a man who had proved worthy at every test. Mr. Bickett was elected governor of North Carolina on the democratic ticket by over 48,000 majority. He was inaugurated governor on January 1, 1917.
Mr. Bickett is a member of the Masonic order and of the Episcopal Church. On November 29, 1898, he married Miss Fannie Yarborough, a woman of rare attainments and fine character, and
devoted to their home and to his advancement as a public leader. They have one child.
PLATT DICKINSON WALKER. For thirteen years the learning and integrity of Platt Dickinson Wal- ker has been read into the decisions of the North Carolina Supreme Court. He is one of North Carolina's most distinguished lawyers and jurists and a man who has succeeded in translating the high ideals of the profession into practical service for good in his community and state.
He was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, a son of Thomas D. and Mary Vance Dickinson Walker, and has lived in North Carolina practically all his life. He received his early education in George W. Jewett's School at Wilmington and in James H. Horner's School at Oxford, North Caro- lina. He then entered the University of North Carolina, being a member of the class of 1869, but finished his collegiate course at the University of Virginia, where he had as preceptors in his legal studies the noted Prof. John B. Minor and Profes- sor Southall. Graduating LL. B. in 1869, he was admitted to practice in North Carolina by the Supreme Court at the June term of 1870. In that 'year he located at Rockingham, and was in practice with the late Walter L. Steele, who after- wards represented a North Carolina District in Congress. While living there he represented Richmond County in the General Assembly in 1874- 75.
In 1876 Judge Walker moved to Charlotte, and was associated in partnership with Hon. Clement Dowd, who was afterwards a congressman, and in November, 1880, became a partner with Hon. Armistead Burwell, who afterwards was honored with a seat on the Supreme Bench. In 1892 he formed a partnership with E. T. Cansler. From Mecklenburg County Judge Walker was called to Raleigh as associate justice of the Supreme Court, beginning his first term January 1, 1903, and his second term January 1, 1911.
In 1899 Judge Walker served as the first presi- dent of the North Carolina Bar Association. He is a trustee of the University of North Carolina, which in 1908 honored him with the degree of LL. D., and he holds a similar degree from David- son College conferred in 1903. Judge Walker is a member of the Episcopal Church. He has been twice married. June 5, 1878, at Reidsville, North Carolina he married Miss Henrietta Settle Coving- ton. On June 8, 1910, he married Miss Alma Locke Mordecai. Judge Walker still retains his residence at Charlotte. He is a member of the American Bar Association and now holds the office in that association of vice president for this state. .
HON. LOCKE CRAIG. Governor of North Caro- lina from 1913 to 1917, Locke Craig has long ranked as one of the state's foremost orators, a man of commanding influence in public affairs, and until he took the governor's chair had spent twenty years in the practice of law.
Governor Craig was born in Bertie County, North Carolina, August 16, 1860, a son of Andrew Murdock and Clarissa Rebecca (Gillam) Craig. He represents one of the old Colonial families, his paternal ancestor, William Craig, having come from his native Scotland, first to Ireland and then to America in 1749. This ancestor settled in Orange County, North Carolina.
It was the good fortune of Locke Craig to spend his early years on a farm. The leanings
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
of his ambitions and his talents brought him to a professional career. In 1880 he graduated with honor from the University of North Carolina with the degree A. B., and in 1883 he concluded his preliminary work and was admitted to the North Carolina bar. He then located at Asheville, and applied himself industriously to accumulating a practice and reputation as a lawyer.
For years he has been recognized as a forceful leader of the people, and a man of unusual power as a public speaker. In 1892 he was presiden- tial elector for the then Ninth Congressional Dis- trict, and in 1896 was elector for the state at large. In the latter year he made a brilliant can- vass of North Carolina on behalf of William J. Bryan. In 1898 he was nominated for the Legis- lature from Buncombe County, and in that cam- paign proved his ability as a successful campaign- er by reversing the normal republican majority of 600 and went into office with a clear majority of 700. Observers of political affairs in North Carolina concede that the General Assembly of 1899 was one of the ablest bodies of men ever gathered together as political representatives of the people of the state. In that Legislature Governor Craig was one of the leaders. He was one of the foremost in proposing a state suffrage amend- ment to the constitution. In 1900 he was returned to the Legislature by an increased majority, and in the Legislature of 1903 was a prominent can- didate for the United States Senate, being beaten only after a protracted struggle.
In 1912 Mr. Craig was elected governor of North Carolina and entered upon the duties of his office in January, 1913. The record of his administration is fresh in the minds of the peo- ple, and while Governor Craig was noted for the firmness of his decisions and the many construc- tive measures advocated by him and carried through to the benefit of the state, his popularity was as great when he left office at the close of 1916 as it had been when he was carried by the votes of the people into the governor's chair. Since the expiration of his term as governor Mr. Craig has resumed his residence at Asheville.
November 18, 1891, Governor Craig married Annie Burgin of McDowell County, North Caro- lina. They are the parents of four sons: Carlyle, a naval officer; George Winston, an officer in the National Army; Arthur, also a naval officer; and Locke, Jr., who was born in the governor 's mansion in November, 1914.
HENRY GROVES CONNOR, United States district judge of the Eastern District of North Carolina, son of David and Mary C. (Groves) Connor, was born at Wilmington, July 3, 1852. He was reared and educated at Wilson, which is still his home. Judge Connor was in active practice of the law from 1873 to 1885 and from 1893 to 1903. More than half of his active professional career has been spent on the bench. In 1885 he represented his district in the State Senate; and in 1899 and 1901 he served in the House of Representatives, of which he was speaker in 1899. He was appoint- ed judge of the Superior Court in 1885 and served until 1893, when he resigned to resume the practice of the law. In 1902 he was elected an associate justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina. From that office, although a democrat, he was appointed by President William Howard Taft to the United States District Bench for the Eastern District on June 1, 1909. He is a democrat and
a member of the Episcopal Church. In 1908 the University of North Carolina conferred upon him the degree of LL. D. Judge Connor married Miss Kate Whitfield, of Wilson, North Carolina. They haye had twelve children, of whom nine are living.
George Whitfield Connor, eldest son of Henry Groves and Kate Whitfield Connor, was born at Wilson, October 24, 1873, was graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1892, and for five years was in educational work as principal of the Goldsboro High School and superintendent of the public schools of Wilson. From 1897 to 1912 he was in business at Wilson as a merchant. From 1905 to 1908 he served as chairman of the Board of Education of Wilson County. In 1912 he was admitted to the bar and entered upon the practice of the law. He served as a member of the House of Representatives in 1909, 1911 and 1913, and was speaker of the House during his last term. In 1913 he was chosen a member of the Commission on Constitutional Amendments and in the same year was appointed judge of the Superior Courts of the Second District. He also served as a trustee of the University of North Car- olina from 1905 to 1909. Judge Connor is a democrat and a member of the Episcopal Church. May 30, 1894, he married Miss Bessie Hadley, daughter of J. C. Hadley of Wilson. They have had four children, of whom two are living.
FRANK H. VOGLER. Much of the business his- tory of Winston-Salem might be written around the family name Vogler. Voglers have lived in this part of North Carolina from pioneer times. They were prominent in the community of old Salem, long before Winston came into existence or before the Twin City of Winston-Salem was dreamed of. Frank H. Vogler has been a promi- nent business man of Winston-Salem for over thirty years, and at one time served as mayor of Salem.
He was born in the old Town of Salem. His father, Alexander C. Vogler, was also born at Salem, in 1832. The grandfather was Nathaniel Vogler, likewise a native of Salem. The great- grandfather was the founder of this branch of the family in North Carolina. The family history states that he was one of six brothers, natives of Germany, who, coming to America, located at Waldoboro in the State of Maine. One of the brothers remained in Maine, and his descendants are still to be found there. The other five broth- ers came south on a sailing vessel. The ship was wrecked off Cape Henry, and the brothers and other passengers were landed on an island. Sub- sequently they were picked up by another ship, which carried them to Wilmington. From Wilm- ington the Vogler brothers made their way to the interior and located in that portion of the original Stokes County now Forsyth County, North Caro- lina. Whether all the five brothers had families is not known, but it is a fact that many descend- ants of the Vogler stock are still found in this part of North Carolina.
Grandfather Nathaniel Vogler learned the trade of gunsmith. For many years he was engaged in the manufacture of firo arms at Salem. He was not only a master of his trade but also took pride and pains with every piece of work that left his shop. The rifles he made were noted for their serviceableness and accuracy, and they were sold not only over North Carolina but in Virginia.
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Though Nathaniel Vogler owned a farm two miles south of Salem, he always kept his home in the town. He died at the age of seventy-two years. He married Mary Fishel. She was born at Frieds- burg in Davidson County, North Carolina, where her parents were among the pioneers. She sur- vived her husband and passed away at the age of eighty-nine. There were nine children in their family: Henry, Laura, who married William Beck, Julius, Martha, who married Edward Peterson, Alexander C., Mortimer N., Maria E., who for upwards of thirty years was a teacher in the Salem Academy, Regina A. and William F., both of whom are still living.
Alexander C. Vogler took up another trade than that of his father. He served an apprenticeship at cabinet making, and following his apprentice- ship he did journeyman work in Macon, Georgia, and Milton, North Carolina. He finally returned to Salem and set up in business for himself. In earlier years he made many articles of furniture, and his shop was largely a custom shop, but he gradually introduced a general stock of furniture. His first shon was 24 by 70 feet, a frame building, located close to the north line of Salem. At that time the present site of Winston was a wilderness. In 1858 Alexander Vogler made undertaking a branch of his furniture busi- ness, and he continued actively in those lines until his death in 1903. Alexander Vogler married Antoinette Hauser. She was born in Salem, a
daughter of William and Susanna (Shultz) Hauser. She died in 1906, three years after her husband. There were only two children, Mary A. and Frank H. Mary A., now deceased, was the wife J. F. Crouse.
As his father was a substantial business man and highly respected citizen, Frank H. Vogler grew up in Salem and enjoyed a good home and liberal encouragement and advantages. He at- tended the Boys' School at Salem, and on leav- ing school became an apprentice at the cabinet- maker's trade. In 1888 he entered actively into the business with his father, and has thus carried on an establishment which is now one of the oldest if not the oldest under one continuous family own- ership in Winston-Salem. Mr. Frank Vogler is a graduate of the Cincinnati School of Embalming and also studied the science under E. B. Myers, of Springfield, Ohio, and under the noted Rewnard. His sons, who are now associated with him in the business, are graduates in embalming, the older having his diploma from the Rewnard School of Embalming of New York City. The firm is now Frank H. Vogler & Sons. The building in which their business was established nearly sixty years ago has since been removed to the back of the lot, and in front a commodious brick structure occupies the old site. There is no firm in North Carolina which has a more complete equipment and facil- ities for rendering expert and careful service than that of Frank H. Vogler & Sons.
In 1885 Mr. Vogler married Miss Dora Morton. She was born in Alamance County, North Carolina, daughter of Jacob and Nannie Morton. Mr. and Mrs. Vogler are the parents of four children: Francis Eugene, William N., Louise and Ruth A. The two sons, as has already been noted, are actively associated with their father in business thus making the third successive generation to follow this profession at Winston-Salem. Eugene married Edith Witt and has a son Francis Eugene,
Jr. William N. married Camille Clingman and has a daughter Virginia.
Mr. and Mrs. Vogler are active members of the Home Moravian Church. They have reared their family in the same faith. Mr. Vogler has served as a member of its board of elders for several years and has always been active in church affairs. In a public way he was a member of the Board of Aldermen of Salem and filled the office of mayor for four years. He is affiliated with Salem Lodge No. 36, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is a charter member of Salem Lodge No. 56, Knights of Pythias. He is also widely known in his pro- fession, being a member of and secretary of the State Embalmers Board. He is one of the three charter members still living of the North Carolina State Funeral Directors' Association.
WESLEY BETHEL SPEAS is one of the best known educators in Western North Carolina, and since 1903 continuously has been county superintendent of schools of Forsyth County. Mr. Speas is not only a competent school man from a technical standpoint, but knows, thoroughly the people among whom he works. He represents one of the oldest families of Forsyth County. Five genera- tions of the family have lived in this section of North Carolina. The ancestry begins with John Speas, a native of Germany, who came to America a young man and after a brief residence in Penn- sylvania came to North Carolina to join the Ger- man Colony here. He located in what is now Old Richmond Township in Forsyth County, and in what has since been called the Reid Settlement. He was one of the early settlers there. His chil- dren were named Jonathan, John, Daniel, Solomon, Isaac, Henry, Romulus, Peter, Kate and Elizabeth.
The next generation was represented by Henry Speas, who spent his life as a farmer in Old Richmond Township. By his marriage to Annie Shore he had the following children: Levi, William Henry, Isaac, Samuel, Rebecca, Paulina, Betsy, Malinda, Mary P. and Julia. The last of this family was Mary, who died September 30, 1917. She was the widow of Wade H. Bynum of Winston-Salem.
William Henry Speas, grandfather of Professor Speas, was born in Yadkin County, North Carolina, in 1918. On coming to manhood he bought a farm in Vienna Township of Forsyth County and was employed and interested in its management the rest of his life. Before the war he operated with slave labor. He married Sallie Hauser, a lineal descendant of Martin Hauser, one of the first set- tlers at Bethania. Both William H. Speas and his wife lived to a good old age. Their children were Wesley, Edwin, William, John Samuel, Junius, Mary, Ellen and Elizabeth. The four older sons were all Confederate soldiers, and Wesley and William were both wounded and died while in the army.
John S. Speas, father of Professor Speas, was born in Old Richmond Township, April 11, 1847, and during the war was a member of the Junior Reserve, his service being in the last year of hostilities. He was educated in rural schools, and on a tract of land given him by his father he has worked out an independent career as a prosperous agriculturist in Vienna Township. His success enabled him to acquire other holdings, and he has built up a fine farm home. John S. Speas married
MB.Speak.
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
Mary Frances Doub, who was born in Vienna Township in July, 1847. Her family is also one of the interesting ones in Western North Carolina. She is descended from Rev. John Doub, a native of Germany who in young manhood settled in Western North Carolina and became the founder of Method. ism in Forsyth County. By trade he was a tauner, and his tannery in what is now Vienna Township was one of the first institutions of the kind in the state. The first Methodist meetings in the vicinity were held in his log house, and he was a local preacher of that church. His son Henry Doub was born in Forsyth County, and that was also the place of nativity of Elijah Doub, father of Mrs. J. S. Speas. John Doub reared children named Michael, Joseph, Henry, William Peter, Mary and Lethia. Henry Doub was a lifelong farmer in Vienna Township, and married Betsy Ward, their children being Elijah, Cannon, Wesley, William, Nancy, Margaret, Mary and Elizabeth. Elijah Doub was also a farmer throughout his active career in Vienna Township. He married Lucy Newsom who was born in Guilford County and survived her husband until more than ninety years of age. Their children were named Henry, Wil- liam, Elizabeth J., Margaret, Mary Frances, Newton, Martha, Edwin and Wiley. The son Henry was a Confederate soldier and was killed at Petersburg, Virginia.
John S. Speas and wife have reared four chil- dren named William Clarenee, Louie Cornelia, Walter Henry and Wesley Bethel. The parents are members of the Methodist Protestant Church.
Wesley Bethel Speas was born on a farm in Vienna Township of Forsyth County, November 20, 1875. He made the best of his opportunities to secure a liberal education. After leaving the rural schools he prepared for college at Oak Hill Institute, and'in 1897, he entered the University of North Carolina where he completed the regular academic course in 1901. His first teaching was done in District No. 3 of Vienna Township. The following year he taught in the Clemmons High School. He became known not only as a success- ful individual teacher but as an able administrator and a leader in educational affairs and those were the qualifications that caused the people of Forsyth County to choose him as county superintendent in 1903, an office he has held by re-election to the present time. He is now president of the Forsyth County Teachers' Association and is a member of the North Carolina County Superintendents' Asso- ciation.
Mr. Speas was married in 1901 to Miss Louzana Long. She was born in Old Richmond Township, a daughter of Wiliam Henry and Martha Long. Two children have been born to their marriage, Margaret and Martha Louise. Mr. and Mrs. Speas are members of the West End Methodist Episcopal Church at Winston-Salem, and fraternally he is affiliated with Salem Lodge No. 36, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
JOHN BYNUM, M. D. For nearly two genera- tions the capable services of members of the Bynum family as physicians and surgeons have been given to the community of Winston and Winston-Salem. Dr. John Bynum has practiced there over a quarter of a century and his name is associated with the best attainments in the pro- fession and with the best of citizenship.
Doctor Bynum, member of an old and prominent family of North Carolina and Virginia, was born on a plantation about two miles from Germanton in Stokes County, North Carolina. His great- grandfather, Gray Bynum, was a native of Vir- ginia, where he married Margaret Hampton. She was a daughter of Anthony Hampton and a sister of the famous Revolutionary soldier General Wade Hampton. Doctor Bynum's grandfather was Hampton Bynum, who married Mary Martin. She was a daughter of Col. John Martin, a native of Essex County, Virginia. Col. John Martin was twelve years of age when about 1768 his parents moved to North Carolina and settled in Stokes County. Of Col. John Martin much has been written in the early annals of North Carolina. He was one of the conspicuous leaders of the moun- taineers of Western Carolina in the Revolutionary war. Hampton Bynum became an extensive planter in Stokes County, and lived there long and prosperously.
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