USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume IV > Part 74
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is one to which he may refer with justifiable pride.
In 1892 he was first elected mayor of Oxford and gave the city so admirable an administration that his reelection followed. In 1898 he was elected to the State Senate from the Seventeenth Sena- torial District made up of Granville and Person counties, and carried into the Senate chamber his progressive ideas and his willingness to battle for their acceptance. In 1903 Senator Hicks was returned to the Senate and was one of the hardest workers and most useful legislators in the judici- ary committee, and his public acts were shown approval by his re-election in 1907 and again to serve in the session of 1911. He has been ex- ceedingly useful also in local affairs, politically and otherwise. He served for two years as chair- man of the democratic executive committee. He was one of the organizers of the First National Bank of Oxford and has been its attorney ever since, and is also attorney for the board of county commissioners of Granville County, and general advisor.
Senator Hicks was married August 8, 1894, to Miss Hettie Minor, who is a daughter of Capt. Richard V. and Julia Brent ( Allen) Minor. They have four children: Allin Brent, who is Presi- dent of Sweetbrier College; Virginia; Elizabeth Allen ; William Minor, and Julia Brent. Mrs. Hicks is a highly accomplished lady, a col- lege graduate and for a number of years a teacher of music, in which she is proficient. She and her daughters are well known in social and musical circles in this section. The family belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church and for the past eight years Senator Hicks has been a Sunday School superintendent at Oxford.
Senator Hicks has long been identified with the Masonic fraternity and belongs to Lodge No. 396, Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons, of which he is past master, and took his com- mandery degree in a lodge that is no longer main- tained here. He belongs also to the Odd Fellows, in which organization he is past noble grand and chief patriarch. Senator Hicks has, also, many social connections and professional affiliations, and is particularly interested in the North Carolina Bar Association, which he assisted to organize.
E. J. BUCHANAN, M. D. An able and successful physician and surgeon, E. J. Buchanan, M. D., of Lexington, has made good use of his natural and acquired forces, and through his own efforts has obtained a distinguished position in the medical fraternity of Davidson County, with which he has been identified by membership for nearly a quarter of a century. A native of Rowan County, he was born on a farm lying fifteen miles south of Salisbury, not far from the birthplace of his father, John Buchanan.
James Buchanan, the doctor's paternal grand- father, being left fatherless and motherless in childhood, was placed in a school for orphans, in Charleston, South Carolina. At that time, there were no railroads in the Carolinas, and people from North Carolina took their produce to the South Carolina markets, preferably to Charleston, with teams, and bringing back on the return trip a full line of household supplies. The orphan boy, James Buchanan, tired of life in the school, and made his escape through the fence, first pulling off a paling. Meeting a Mr. Ludwig, from Cabar- rus County, North Carolina, the boy related his trouble to him, and Mr. Ludwig put him in the
bottom of his wagon, covering him with hay, and took him home. The lad worked at different em- ployments, and being industrious and thrifty, saved considerable money. In early manhood, he bought land in Rowan County, fifteen miles south of Salisbury, and on the farm which he improved, with slave labor, he spent his remaining days. Patriotic, he served as drum major in the War of 1812, and the drum which he used at that time is now in the possession of the doctor's brother, M. L. Buchanan, of Concord, North Carolina. James Buchanan married for his first wife a Miss Shaver, who died in early life, leaving two chil- dren, John, father of the doctor; and Mary, who married Wesley Wyatt.
John Buchanan was born April 8, 1828, grew to manhood on the parental homestead, and, with the exception of the two years that he served in the Confederate army during the Civil war, was engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death, November 14, 1899. In addition to farming, he was also engaged in mercantile pursuits, having a well-stocked and well-patronized general store on his farm. The maiden name of his wife was Delinda Wyatt. She was born February 5, 1829, in the vicinity of Salisbury, Rowan County, a daughter of Noah Wyatt, and died on the home farm, January 23, 1903. Both she and her hus- band were members of the Corinth Baptist Church, and both were buried in the churchyard. They reared six children, namely : Mary, M. L., E. J., Louisa, E. G., and Henry McDonald. The father was a republican in politics, and was his party 's candidate for sheriff of the county.
Acquiring his preliminary knowledge in the dis- trict schools E. J. Buchanan, and after his gradu- atiou from the Palmerville High School taught school for a time. Then, after attending Carolina College, at Mount Pleasant, for a while, he turned his attention to the study of medicine, being under the tutorship of Dr. Richard Whitehead, of Salis- bury. Subsequently entering the medical depart- ment of the University of Virginia, he made rapid progress in his studies, at the end of the year standing well in the competitive examination, on account of his rank in the class being made quiz master of anatomy, a position that he held for a year. Going from there to Baltimore, he entered the medical department of the University of Mary- land, from which he was graduated with the class of 1892. Appearing immediately after his gradu- ation before the examining board of physicians at Wilmington, North Carolina, Doctor Buchanan out- ranked all other applicants, thereby winning the Appleton medal. Returning home, he practiced a few months in Rowan County, being quite success- ful. On May 10, 1893, the doctor located in Lex- ington, where he has since continued, his enviable reputation as a physician of skill having gained him an extensive patronage, and placed him among the leading members of his profession.
Doctor Buchanan was married, in 1895, to Mary E. Reed, who was born in Concord, North Caro- lina, a daughter of Joel and Ellen (Creswell) Reed. Four daughters have brightened the union of Doctor and Mrs. Buchanan, namely: Lucille, Mary Reed, Grace Lee, and Helen Creswell. The two older daughters, Lucille and Mary, are stu- dents at Peace Institute, in Raleigh.
Doctor Buchanan is a member of the Davidson County Medical Society; of the North Carolina State Medical Society; and of the American Medi- cal Association. Public spirited, and deeply inter- ested in educational matters, the doctor has served
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on the Lexington Board of Education since its organization, sixteen years ago, continuing in office by re-election from term to term. In 1914 he was elected road commissioner, and served until Octo- ber 1, 1917, when he resigned the position. At the present time, in 1917, he is the local examiner for the local exemption board of Davidson County. He is president of several furniture factories of Lexington and vice president of the Commercial and Savings Bank of that place. Fraternally Doctor Buchanan is a member of Lexington Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons; and of Lexington Lodge, Knights of Pythias. Relig- iously he and his family are members of the Pres- byterian Church.
LUTHER ADDISON BEASLEY has practiced law at Kenansville more than twenty years. He has interested himself in many affairs outside his large general practice, and was one of the organ- izers of the Atlantic and North Carolina Railway, of which he is now general counsel and a direc- tor.
Mr. Beasley was born at Magnolia in Duplin County, North Carolina, October 11, 1870, a son of a prominent farmer, Maj. Austin Beasley, and his wife Nancy C. Beasley.
He acquired a liberal education at first in the graded schools of his native locality, then in high school, attended Davidson College in 1890-91, and in 1892 entered Wake Forest College, where he studied law and from which he was graduated Master of Arts in 1895. On leaving college he became a teacher and for a year was instructor of Latin in Wilson Academy at Wilson, North Carolina. Since February, 1896, Mr. Beasley has steadily practiced law at Kenansville. He is mem- ber of the firm Stevens & Beasley, his associate being Mr. H. L. Stevens of Warsaw.
For many years Mr. Beasley was a member of the Board of Education of Kenansville, is a member of the Missionary Baptist Church and superintendent of its Sunday school, is a char- ter member of the North Carolina Bar Associa- tion, and is past master of Warren Lodge No. 101, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Mr. Beasley was the author of a most creditable work on the history of Duplin County. November 15, 1896, he married Bertha Lee Johnson, of War- saw, North Carolina, but a native of Albemarle County, Virginia. They have two children: Mil- dred Anderson, now a student in Meredith Col- lege; and Mary Ellis.
HON. DAVID A. JENKINS made for himself a lasting place in the history of North Carolina as much for the continuous and forceful expression of his characteristic attributes of honesty, integ- rity and steadfastness of conviction as for the high place he enjoyed in state official affairs as treas- urer of North Carolina for two terms. He was state treasurer from 1868 to 1877, and his well known probity and strict sense of justice during those years gained for him the popular name "Hon- est Dave Jenkins. "
He was born in Gaston County April 5, 1822, oldest child of Aaron and Mary (Jenkins) Jen- kins. His father was a native of Rowan County. The maternal grandfather was Joseph Jenkins, a native of this state. Mary Jenkins was also a granddaughter of Col. Frederick Hamright, an of- ficer in the American army during the Revolution and a hero at the famous battle of King's Moun- tain. .
Mr. Jenkins was reared in his native county and
gained a fair education from the old field schools. At the early age of fourteen he began teaching. Subsequently he chopped wood, which he sold to the proprietors of the Fullenwider furnace, and received in return goods manufactured at this furnace, afterward selling them. He did farm work and split rails for little compensation, and by means of hard toil and economy became prosperous and highly respected.
He was elected to the office of constable and subsequently to that of magistrate, serving as magistrate many years. Though devoted to the . southern people, their customs and habits, he fore- saw the inexpediency of secession, which meant war, and was bitterly opposed to it. When war came, being a magistrate, he was exempted from active field duty. Mr. Jenkins accepted the Re- construction Act and was from the close of the war identified with the republican party. In 1866 both the republicans and democrats supported and elected him to the legislature, in which body he served faithfully for two years.
In 1868 he became the republican candidate for treasurer of the state and was elected and re- elected in 1872, serving two terms of four years each. In 1876 he resigned and declined a renomina- tion. He was a wise and cautious official, and being a man of keen financial judgment and ability his administration of the office met with the uni- versal approbation and support of the entire state. It is said that while treasurer he was as guarded of the people's money as he was of his own and would never permit money to be paid out of the treasury except upon strict authority or warrant of law. It was because of these official manifestations of his strictness, honesty and close attenion to. the interests of the public that he won the popular title above noted.
During his last term as treasurer Mr. Jenkins moved his family to Charlotte, but subsequently re- turned to his native county and located at Gas- tonia, where he built a handsome residence and retired to private life. In 1880 he was urged by his friends to become the republican candidate for governor. His wife had recently died and he declined to enter the canvass. On receipt of his refusal the republican convention unanimously nominated his son A. D. Jenkins for state treasurer. The son, though not elected, carried his own county, which was largely democratic, and reduced the democratic majority of the state. In 1881 Mr. Jenkins supported the prohibition party.
He died at Gastonia September 10, 1886, at the age of sixty-four. He well deserved all the tributes spoken of him then and since. Faithful to the interests of the people, a financier of repute, a man of sterling qualities and strong force of character, he was ever an honest servant of his constituents in the halls of legislation and other official positions. His death truly ended a long, active and exemplary life. He was a member of the Baptist Church.
In young manhood he married Miss Lodema Holland, daughter of Jesse Holland. She was re- lated to the Hanks family, to which Abraham Lincoln's mother, Nancy Hanks, belonged. To this union ten children were born.
L. L. JENKINS possesses and to a remarkable degree has exemplified the financial instinct, the gift for handling money, a gift which, combined with an integrity of character that has been a synonym of the family name in North Carolina for generations, has brought him some of the highest
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and most responsible stations in North Carolina banking affairs.
Mr. Jenkins now has his home at Asheville. He is president of the American National Bank of that city. When Mr. Jenkins took charge of the American National Bank the ability and tact with which he handled the situation established for him a very enviable reputation as a banker of excep- tional ability. The bank is now one of the sound- est and most progressive institutions in the state and commands the complete confidence of all its connections. It has a capital of $100,000 and sur- plus and profits of $25,000.
Mr. Jenkins is widely known for his ability as an organizer. One incident that furnished graphic evidence of this faculty may properly be told. Some years ago a national bank in a neighboring city was closed by the bank examiner. Mr. Jen- kins without having any knowledge of the con- dition of its affairs requested the comptroller of the currency to permit him to examine its assets with a view toward its reorganization. Permis- sion being granted, after spending two hours with the examiner in the discussion of the character of the papers and the probable impairment of the capital stock, Mr. Jenkins made a proposition to the comptroller that if allowed to reopen the bank he would do so with the same name under which it had been previously operated and place a suffi- cient amount of funds in the institution to insure the integrity of its capital and would personally guarantee all the creditors and depositors against any loss whatever. Furthermore, he agreed to assume the presidency of the institution. This plan of reorganization being acceptable to the Govern- ment authorities the bank was opened for business on May 22, 1914, after having been closed for only two weeks. Though Mr. Jenkins retired from all connections with the bank on account of his other responsible duties, the bank stands today as one of the best and has the confidence of the people as never before.
Mr. Jenkins has been an active banker in North Carolina for thirty years. He is the youngest son of the late David A. Jenkins. Concerning his home and family a separate sketch appears on preced- ing pages.
Laban Lineberger Jenkins was born on a farm in Gaston County, North Carolina, December 3, 1864. His birthplace was only a few miles distant from the present site of Gastonia. He was lib- erally educated. In 1873 the family moved to Charlotte, and during 1876-77 he was a student in the Carolina Military Institute of that city. In 1877 the Jenkins family located at Gastonia, which in that year was incorporated as a town. Here he continucd his education in local schools and later entered Wake Forest College, where he took the full course and was graduated in 1883. While in the military institute at Charlotte Mr. Jenkins acquired considerable military training and discipline, and afterward was a member and officer in companies of the state guard. In 1891, during the encamp- ment at Wrightsville Sound, he commanded the Gaston Riflemen at the head of the Fourth Regi- ment and was complimented by Colonel Anthony personally as one of the most efficient officers in the regiment. In Wake Forest College Mr. Jen- kins was prominent in student activities, both in literary and athletic circles. At the age of seven- teen he was elected to represent his society as first debater at the joint anniversary celebration held by the two college associations.
After leaving Wake Forest Mr. Jenkins was
assistant postmaster at Charlotte from 1883 to 1885, and then for about a year taught school. The death of his father in 1886 left him a very sub- stantial inheritance and for about a year he was busied with the settlement of the estate and at the same time was a cotton buyer.
He entered upon his career as a banker at Gas- tonia in 1887 as a member of the firm of Craig & Jenkins. This firm was succeeded in 1890 by the First National Bank of Gastonia, of which Mr. Jenkins was the chief organizer. He was its first cashier, but in 1894 removed to Wilmington, where he assisted in organizing and for a time was cashier of the National Bank of Wilmington. He soon returned to Gastonia and on January 1, 1895, was elected president of the First National Bank, at the head of which he has remained to the present time. The First National Bank of Gastonia is one of the largest banks of the state, with a capital of $150,000 and surplus and profits of over $225,000. Mr. Jenkins is also interested as a stockholder in a number of other financial institutions in the state and is a director of the Continental Trust Com- pany of Washington, D. C.
Mr. Jenkins has used his means and influence to promote North Carolina industries. He is president of the Arlington Cotton Mills, the Flint Manufac- turing Company, the Gray Manufacturing Com- pany, is vice president of the Trenton Cotton Mills and the Groves Mills, Incorporated, and is a director of the Parkdale Mills and the Arrow Mills, all located at Gastonia.
Of other interests that have closely connected him with the life and affairs of North Carolina a sketch written some years ago speaks as fol- lows: "Mr. Jenkins has always been an ardent republican; has served as chairman of the Repub- lican Executive Committee of Gaston County and a member of the District Congressional Committee ; is one of the recognized leaders of the party in the section. In 1892 he was elected delegate from the eighth district of North Carolina to the National Republican Convention at Minneapolis. He there met President Mckinley, who at that time was chairman of the convention, and prophesied to him directly that he would be the nominee of the party for the presidency in 1896. The fulfillment of this forecast clearly entitles Mr. Jenkins to considera- tion as one of the original Mckinley men. Under President Harrison Mr. Jenkins was made post- master at Gastonia and occupied the office from 1889 to 1893; President Mckinley reappointed him in 1898. The republicans of Gaston County nom- inated him in 1892 as their candidate for the Legis- lature, and again in 1898. In 1916 the party of the state honored him by nominating him for the high office of lieutenant governor, and during the cam- paign he surprised his party friends by his speeches, demonstrating that he was not only a banker but an orator of marked ability.
"Mr. Jenkins was for a number of years a deacon of the First Baptist Church of Gastonia and superintendent of one of the largest Sunday Schools in the State, always zealous in the work of his church and strong in his convictions. Though differing in his political doctrines from a great number of his most intimate friends, his courage, honesty and fairness compel their confidence and respect. Gaston county is said to have within its boundaries more cotton mills than are possessed by any other county not only in North Carolina but throughout the South; all are reported as doing a successful business, and the prosperity they enjoy and transmit to other classes in the com-
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munity are in a measure due to the personal efforts of Mr. Jenkins or to the encouragement extended by his bank and its patrons. As a banker he is regarded as one of the best posted officers in the Carolinas. He never studied law with a view to practicing the profession, but one of the foremost lawyers of the state has designated him as the best informed layman in his acquaintance."
It is an unusual mind that is capable of sub- tending such a breadth of interests in business and public affairs. While he was fortunate at the out- set in the gifts which family position and inherit- ance bestowed upon him, in the course of thirty years several communities of the state with good reason consider themselves fortunate that a man of such capacity has been at hand to assume those larger responsibilities and duties which only the rarer minds and intellect and character are quali- fied to handle.
DAVID JAMES LEWIS. In point of continuous service David James Lewis is one of the oldest members of the Columbus County bar, having been steadily engaged in practice at Whiteville since 1882. His success has been proportionate to his years of work, and the volume of practice which has been accorded him and his reputation and standing in professional and civic circles have grown steadily.
He was born at Lumberton in Robinson County, North Carolina, October 14, 1857. His parents, Richard M. and Clarissa (Rozier) Lewis, were sub- stantial farming people of Bladen County. The son was educated in public schools, and he read law in offices at Lumberton and finished his education in the law school conducted by Dick & Dillard at Greensboro.
Since his admission to the bar in February, 1882, he has had his office in Whiteville, but has tried many important cases in different sections of the state. He has been a member of the North Carolina Bar Association many years.
Always active in local affairs and doing what he can to forward the progress of his home community, Mr. Lewis served fifteen years as chairman of the High School Board of Whiteville, and in 1900 he was supervisor of the census. He is affiliated with the Masonic Order and is a steward in the Metho- dist Episcopal Church.
On January 6, 1891, he married Lucy Jane Howell of Whiteville. They are the parents of eight children: Anna Reid, who married William Holt Richardson of Richmond, Virginia; Richard, who began practice as a lawyer, having graduated in 1916 from the law department of Wake Forest College and is now second lieutenant in the United States Army, stationed at Camp Wadsworth; Rone Howell; Julian Douglas; Lucy Elizabeth; Madge; Bruce Gorden; and Etta Frances.
THOMAS MERRITT PITTMAN. Forty years a member of the bar, one of the oldest practitioners at Henderson, Thomas Merritt Pittman has ap- peared on one side or the other of nearly every important case tried in Vance County. His work and his position as a lawyer are easily defined and understood, but it would be a mistake to as- sume that Mr. Pittman is merely a successful law- yer. His professional talents, his vigorous citizen- ship, and his studious and literary abilities he has used to broaden his influence and give vitality to many important movements in the politics and cultural activities of the state.
Mr. Pittman was born in Franklin County, North Carolina, November 24, 1857, a son of Al- fred H. and Elizabeth Alston (Neathery) Pitt- man. His is largely a self wrought career and his talents have been refined in the fires of adversity and hardship. At an early age he had to make his own living and his formal schooling was confined to common schools and the Belford Academy in his county. As a boy he worked in the Mecklenberg Iron Works at Charlotte as an apprentice. He was also employed as foreman in the Carolina Agricultural Works. Despite the necessity which kept him at the task of earning his own living, he utilized so effectively his spare moments at the study of law that he was licensed to practice while still under age. His career as a lawyer began in 1878 at Charlotte, but since 1885 he has lived at Henderson. In 1879 he was appointed examiner in equity for the United States Circuit Court for the Western District of North Carolina. In Vance County he has served as attorney for the Bank of Henderson, as county attorney, and from 1901 has been city attorney of Henderson, except for two years.
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