USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume IV > Part 76
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Gleaning his first knowledge of books in the rural schools, Richard C. Puryear continued his studies at Doctor Wilson's school, in Alamance County, later attending General Lane's school in Concord. Deciding to enter the legal profession, Mr. Puryear began the study of law under the preceptorship of Judge Pearson, in Richmond Hill, Yadkin County, and in 1876, at the January term of the Supreme Court, he was licensed to practice. He immediately opened a law office in
Yadkinville, and met with such satisfactory results in his professional labors that he has continued in active practice there ever since, his clientele being large and lucrative.
Ever interested in matters pertaining to the public welfare, Mr. Puryear served most accept- ably for four years as mayor of Yadkinville, and as solicitor for the Inferior Court for an equal length of time. Iu 1884 he was candidate for elector in the Seventh Congressional District of North Carolina. Fraternally Mr. Puryear is a member of Farmington Lodge No. 265, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; and of David Lodge No. 118, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
J. SOLLIE PATTERSON. Occupying the respon- sible position of treasurer of Surry County, J. Sollie Patterson is likewise actively interested in the business affairs of Pilot Mountain, his home city, where he is successfully engaged in mercan- tile pursuits. A son of Schuyler Patterson, he was born in Siloam Township, Surry County, June 16, 1881.
William Patterson, his paternal grandfather, was born and bred in Virginia, where at one time his father owned and occupied land now in- cluded within the limits of the City of Lynch- burg. Coming from the Old Dominion to North Carolina in early life, he lived for awhile in Yadkin County, from there migrating to Surry County, and settling in Siloam Township. He was an iron master by trade, and operated forges in different places, also being engaged in agri- cultural pursuits to some extent, his last years being spent on a farm in Siloam Township.
Schuyler Patterson was born in Yadkin County, and was there reared and educated. For a num- ber of years he worked with his father at the forge, but preferring to be a tiller of the soil he bought land in Siloam Township, and for many seasons was successfully engaged in general farm- ing. Retiring from active pursuits, he removed to Pilot Mountain, where he is now residing, an honored and respected citizen. He married Nan- nie Hill, who was born in Pilot Mountain Town- ship, Surry County, a daughter of William and Ellen (Whittaker) Hill. She died when but forty years of age, leaving five children, as follows: Dora Ella, who died at the age of eighteen years; J. Sollie, the special subject of this sketch; Mary; Martha, who died when eighteen years old; and Charles W.
Gleaning his early education in the rural schools of his native district, J. Sollie Patterson suuse- quently completed the course of study in the Siloam Academy. Beginning life for himself as a school teacher, his first experience was in Dis- trict No. 4, Siloam Township, where he taught for four consecutive years. Turning his atten- tion then to agricultural pursuits, Mr. Patterson carried on general farming quite successfully for some time. In 1905 he embarked in the mercan- tile business at Pilot Mountain, where he has since continued, being now one of the more ac- tive and prosperous merchants of the city.
In 1903 Mr. Patterson was united in marriage with Miss Mabel Fulk, who was born in Pilot Mountain, a daughter of Henderson and Martha Fulk. Four children have blessed their union, namely: Viola May, Glenn, Lucile and James Sollie, Jr. Religiously both Mr. and Mrs. Pat- terson are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. A republican in politics, Mr. Pat- terson cast his first presidential vote for Theo-
M& Carson
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dore Roosevelt. Taking an intelligent interest in public affairs, he has served his home city as an alderman, and in 1914 was elected to his present official position as treasurer of Surry County. Fraternally Mr. Patterson is a member of Pilot Mountain Lodge No. 499, Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Order of Masons, and both he and Mrs. Patterson belong to the Order of the Eastern Star.
MERL JOHN CARSON, D. O. One of the foremost representatives of the School of Osteopathic prac- tice in the State of North Carolina is Doctor Car- son of Wilmington. Doctor Carson is secretary- treasurer of the North Carolina Osteopathic So- ciety, and until recently was president and is now secretary and treasurer of the board of examiners, known as the North Carolina Board of Osteopathic Examination and Registration.
While Doctor Carson has done all his practice as a doctor of osteopathy in North Carolina, he spent his earlier life in several states. He was born at West Williamsfield, Ohio, April 27, 1883, was edu- cated in public schools, and completed his early training in the Agricultural and Mechanical Col- lege of Texas. He was graduated in electrical engineering, but soon afterward entered the South- ern School of Osteopathy at Franklin, Kentucky, where he took his degree in 1905.
From the time of his graduation until February, 1914, he was located in a successful practice at Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and then moved to Wilmington. From the first he has enjoyed a large practice in this city, and enjoys the highest stand- ing both as a professional man and as a citizen.
He is a Knight Templar Mason and a member of the Sipa Grotto of Master Masons, Sudan Shrine, Scottish Rite 327, is past chancellor of Rocky Mount Lodge of Knights of Pythias, and also belongs to the Carolina Yacht Club. On February 2, 1905, at Franklin, Kentucky, he married Miss Mary E. Kohlhepp. They have one son, Merl John, Jr.
EUGENE HOLMES. Among the well known and esteemed residents of Linwood, Davidson County, is Eugene Holmes, who has been actively employed in the United States civil service as rural mail carrier from Linwood for the past ten years, dur- ing which time he has gained an excellent reputa- tion for promptness and efficiency. A native of Davidson County, he was born on a farm in Heal- ing Spring Township, which was likewise the birth- place of his father, Cicero Holmes, and of his grandfather, Moses Holmes.
His great-grandfather, Reuben Holmes, was, it is thought, a native of New Jersey. Coming to North Carolina in colonial days, he settled in what was then Rowan County, but is now Silver Hill Township, Davidson County. He was a slave owner, and engaged in trading and farming. He became an extensive landholder, and donated for a family burying plot in Silver Hill Township, near the Holloway Baptist Church, and there he and his wife are buried. He married a Miss Freeland, and they reared four sons, Jesse, Moses, Reuben, and Robert, and three daughters, all of whom married Smiths and went West.
Born on the parental homestead in 1783, Moses Holmes succeeded by inheritance to a portion of it, and operated with slave labor. He was quite prosperous, and having bought other tracts of land spent his entire life of sixty-six years in Healing Springs Township. The maiden name of his wife was Annie Riley.
She was born in Randolph
County, North Carolina, a daughter of Nathaniel Riley, a farmer and a preacher in the Primitive Baptist denomination, who, it is said, was of Irish parentage, the name having originally been O'Reilly.
Cicero Holmnes was born in 1843, and as a youth received good educational advantages, attending first the public schools, and later entering Old Trinity College. At the end of a year, he gave up his studies to enter the Confederate navy. Dur- ing the last year of the Civil war, he was cap- tured, and from that time until the end of the conflict, a period of six months, he was held as a prisoner of war at Point Lookout. Returning to Healing Spring Township, he became a tiller of the soil, and later, in addition to farming was engaged in the manufacture of lumber on a some- what extensive scale, having purchased a steam saw mill in order to facilitate his work. He died on his home farm at the age of three score and ten years. His wife, whose maiden name was Annie Smith, was born in Cotton Grove Township, Davidson County, a daughter of John and Susan (Cross) Smith, and granddaughter of David and Betsey (McCarn) Smith. Her great-grandfather, George Smith, one of the original settlers of Heal- ing Spring Township, bought wild land, and erected a substantial log house, which is still standing, being one of the oldest houses in the county. He belonged to the Masonic fraternity, and in his house, which was of hewed logs, three stories in height, the lodge of which he was a member held its meetings. The house is standing yet. Mrs. Annie (Smith) Holmes died at the early age of forty-seven years, leaving seven children, Eugene, Early, Forest, Wade, Daisy, Moses, and Annie.
Completing his early studies in the Lexington High School, Eugene Holmes began working with his father in the lumber business, and later en- gaged in farming on a part of the ancestral home- stcad. He subsequently bought a farm in Cotton Grove Township. In 1907 he entered the employ of the United States Government as a rural mail carrier from Linwood, and has since retained the position.
Mr. Holmes married, in 1899, Mary Cornelia Miller. She was born in Cotton Grove Township, Davidson County, a daughter of John (known as "River John"') and Rachel (Warford) Miller. Mr. and Mrs. Holmes have three children, Eugene, Jr., Moses, and C. K. Fraternally Mr. Holmes is a member of Lexington Lodge No. 473, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; and of Lexington Camp, Modern Woodmen of America.
WILLIS J. VESTAL, M. D. A well-known and highly successful physician and surgeon of David- son County, Willis J. Vestal, M. D., of Lexington, has attained, by merit, a high reputation for skill and ability in his chosen profession, and is enjoy- ing a lucrative practice, his services being in de- mand in both city and country. A son of Isaac Vestal, he was born on a plantation in Booneville Township, Yadkin County, North Carolina. His grandfather, Solomon Vestal, owned a plantation in Booneville Township, and was there engaged in farming until his death.
Born and reared in Booneville Township, Yadkin County, North Carolina, Isaac Vestal made the best of his educational opportunities, and being a good student acquired a thorough knowledge of civil engineering. Being elected surveyor of Yadkin County, he surveyed the county when the
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boundary lines were established. He possessed excellent business qualifications, and accumulated considerable property, becoming owner of a farm in Booneville Township, and also one in Knob Township, in the Yadkin River valley. The clos- ing years of his life were spent on his farm, near Jonesville, his death occurring at the age of seventy-nine years. His wife, whose maiden name was Delilah Holcomb, was born in Yadkin County, a daughter of Simon and Jane Holcomb. She died before he did, passing away at the age of fifty-six years. Six of the children born of their union, grew to years of maturity, as follows: Miles H., a preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South; Willis J., the subject of this brief sketch; Mary, wife of Thomas C. Phillips, of Yadkinville; Lila; Fannie, wife of Richard H. Brooke, of Greensboro, North Carolina; and Charles, who served for a number of years in the United States Regular Army.
Prepared for college in the Jonesville High School, under the preceptorship of Prof. T. S. Whittington, Willis J. Vestal entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Baltimore, Mary- land, where he was graduated with the class of 1883. Immediately locating at Tyro Shops, in Davidson County, he there met with well merited success. At the end of sixteen years in that place, Doctor Vestal removed to Lexington, where he has since been in active practice, having won an ex- tensive patronage.
Doctor Vestal married, in 1894, May Shemwell, a daughter of Dr. Obadiah and Sarah (Thomp- son) Shemwell, and a grandaughter on the ma- ternal side of Joseph Harmon Thompson, whose father, Dr. Frederick Thompson, was a pioneer physician of Davidson County. Joseph H. Thomp- son, grandfather of Mrs. Vestal, inherited the parental homestead, and carried on farming with slave help. On his farm, he established a foundry and a machine shop, and the place was named "Tyro Shops." He was a man of great busi- ness energy and tact, and accumulated much wealth, becoming an extensive landholder.
Doctor and Mrs. Vestal have six children, namely : Etta Elizabeth, Willis J., Jr., Odell, Sarah Frances, Alice May, and Christine. Etta E. is the wife of Capt. J. A. Leonard, captain of Company A, North Carolina National Guard, and now with the regular army. Willis J., Jr., a graduate of the Lexington High School, took an advanced course at the Randolph Macon School, in Bedford, Vir- ginia, and at a business college. The doctor is a member of the Davidson County Medical Society; of the North Carolina State Society; and of the American Medical Association.
ROBERT GIBSON GRADY has been a member of the North Carolina bar for more than twenty years. On graduating from the University of North Carolina, in the law class of September, 1894, he located at Burgaw, where he practiced from January, 1895, until December, 1900. He had a profitable clientage in that section of the state, but in order to have greater scope for his abilities he moved to Wilmington, and in the bar of that city has enjoyed a splendid reputation and practice during the past eighteen years.
He was born on his father's farm in Duplin County, North Carolina, May 9, 1871, a son of Stephen Miller and Margaret Ann (Carr) Grady. Early in life and until he was twenty-three he bent every energy toward securing a liberal edu- cation. His education was acquired in the coun-
try schools, in the Clements High School at Wal- lace in his native county, in Goshen Academy, Duplin County, and in the law department of the State University. He is a director of the Citi- zens Bank and the Hanover Building & Loan Association of Wilmington, North Carolina.
Mr. Grady is a member of the North Carolina Bar Association, of the First Presbyterian Church at Wilmington, and Mrs. Grady is the daughter of a Presbyterian minister, Rev. Benjamin M. Cowan, and his wife, Elizabeth (Gilbert) Cowan, of Tennessee.
June 7, 1905, Mr. Grady married Bessie Mae Cowan, of Collierville, Tennessee. Their three children are named Robert Cowan, Edward Ste- phen and Elizabeth.
CAPT. DANIEL JASPER BLACK. Of much of the life and incident of Cape Fear River as an artery of traffic and transportation, especially within the period of the last generation, Capt. Daniel Jasper Black is an authority constituted by his long expe- rience of thirty-five years as a riverman and cap- tain. Captain Black has been up and down the riverways of Eastern North Carolina into every nook and corner and has a speaking acquaintance with every type of craft, every feature of river topography and scenery and nearly every person- ality that belongs to or is part of the life and activities of the old Cape Fear.
Captain Black is not alone in his rejoicing that Cape Fear River is again coming into its own as a factor in transportation. The prospects for its enlarged development and use in the near future are very bright. The Government has expended large sums in building locks and clearing the stream of obstructions, and as a result of the pres- ent transportation congestion and the almost complete breakdown of railroads, the volume of water borne traffic will inevitably increase month by month. The history of steamboating on the old Cape Fear River is full of romance and inter- est, would make a large volume in itself, and one of its most interesting figures would certainly be Capt. Daniel Jasper Black.
Captain Black is a member of a very prominent and historic family of North Carolina. He was born at Black's Mills in Moore County, on the. 20th of April, 1866, a son of Murdoch and Antoin- ette (McLean) Black. The Blacks are one of the fine old Scotch Presbyterian families who with their descendants have lived in the Cape Fear country since prior to the Revolutionary war. They and others like them have given to this section its splendid record for character and manhood. There have been a number of ministers in the family. Rev. William Black of Charlotte was a cousin of Murdoch Black and is one of the most noted exemplars of the name in religious activities in North Carolina.
The ancestral home of the family where Captain Black, his father Murdoch and many others of the name were born is Black's Mills, about four miles southwest of Carthage, the county seat of Moore County and located on Little River. It was the' extensive manufacturing and planting enterprises of the Black family that gave the community its distinctive title. Some of there industries were established by the grandfather of Captain Black and reached the prime of their importance and extent during the active career of Murdoch Black. Among these industries were a grist mill, lumber- mill, cotton gin, turpentine stills, and several minor shops, while there was a large plantation on which
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general farming was conducted. The Black lumber mills for a number of years furnished all the ma- terial for one of the historic industries of the state, the Tyson. & Jones Buggy Company at Car- thage.
Captain Black is one of twelve children, seven of whom are still living. One of his brothers is Capt. J. A. Black, chief of police of Charleston, South Carolina. Another brother, Ernest Black, is a lieutenant in the Regular Army of the United States and is now on war duty.
Daniel Jasper Black lived at the old homestead at Black's Mills until he was twelve years of age, when the family moved to Wilmington. At the age of sixteen, in 1882, Captain Black began his busi- ness career, and has continued it without inter- mission to the present time. His first employment was on the steamer John Dawson on the Cape Fear River. While still a very young man he built a boat named the Lisbon and ran it for twelve or fifteen years up and down the Cape Fear and Black rivers. He has handled steamboats on practically all the river ways leading into the Cape Fear. As a steamboat man he played an active part in the boom days of the Cape Fear and Black rivers, especially when the turpentine industry was at its height. After his old boat, the Lisbon, was gone he and associates built another boat of the same name, and they continued this in service for a number of years. Subsequently he built and op- erated the Frank Sessoms. For the past few years Captain Black has been associated with the Plant- ers' Steamboat Company of Wilmington. He op- erates as captain the boat of this company known as the A. P. Hurt, in service between Wilmington and Fayetteville. The A. P. Hurt is a first class craft, and besides facilities for handling general freight traffic is comfortably equipped for and carries cabin passengers.
Captain Black's home is at Point Caswell on Black River in Pender County. This is one of the several historic places in that section. Here he owns a fine farm and conducts a general planta- tion. Captain Black married Miss Hyacinth Peter- son of Sampson County. Their five children are named Sarah Shaw, Daniel Jasper, Jr., Antoin- ette, Thyra Black and Ruth Elinor.
HON. WILFRED DENT TURNER. In the apportion- ments of human life, few attain to really eminent positions. It is a curious and fascinating study to notice how opportunity waits upon ability and capacity, so that, eventually, all reach the places for which they are best qualified. In the domain of the law there is no royal road to promotion. Its acceptable rewards are gained only by diligent study and long and careful attention to elementary principles, and are achieved only by those who, in the arena of forensic strife, develop characters of integrity and moral worth. The very possession of high position in the legal profession argues for its possessor signal ability, sound learning, untir- ing industry and uncompromising integrity. In this connection respectful mention is made of Hon. Wilfred Dent Turner, one of the foremost members of the bar of Western North Carolina, ex-lieuten- ant governor of the state, and a citizen who has served his home community of Statesville, Iredell County, and his state in public capacities, as well as their interests as the repository of big banking and business responsibilities.
Governor Turner (as he is universally known) was born at Turnersburo. Iredell County, North Carolina, January 30, 1855, and is a son of Wil-
fred and Dorcas (Tomlinson) Turner. His father was born in Maryland, and at the age of nine years, in the year 1818, came with his parents to North Carolina. His parents were Samuel and Annie (Dent) Turner, who came from Port To- bacco, Maryland, and settled in North Carolina, twelve miles northeast of Statesville, in Iredell County, the location becoming later known as Turnersburg, the name of the village which grew up there. It is a part of what is known as the River Hill community. Wilfred Turner died in 1893. He was one of the pioneer cotton manu- facturers of North Carolina, his work as a cotton mill builder and operator being almost contempo- raneous with that of Edward M. Holt. His first mill was built in 1848, at Turnersburg. Mrs. Turner, who died in 1900, was also of a Maryland family of prominent planters and agriculturists.
Wilfred Dent Turner attended the field schools of Iredell County, in the Turnersburg neighbor- hood, and subsequently went to Olin Academy for about a year and to Mount Airy Academy for a like period. Later he matriculated in Trinity Col- lege, Durham, North Carolina, and after four years there graduated with the class of 1876. He began the study of the profession which he was to make his life work under the capable preceptorship of Judge R. F. Armfield, of Statesville, and after completing his studies in this direction was licensed to practice in 1877, beginning his law work at Statesville in that year. It was not long there- after that he entered the field of public life and politics, where his worth and ability were soon recognized. He was elected and represented his senatorial district in the North Carolina State Senate during the years 1887, 1889 and 1891, and voluntarily retired in the last-mentioned year. Dur- ing this time he was appointed and served as a member of the board of directors of the State Normal School, at Greensboro, and also served for two years as a member of the board of trustees of the North Carolina College of Agricultural and Mechanical Arts. In 1900 he was elected lieuten- ant governor of the State of North Carolina, in the election in which Hon. Charles B. Aycock was sent to the gubernatorial chair, and not only re- ceived the vote that led the entire ticket, but re- ceived also the greatest majority ever given a candidate for the office of lieutenant governor. In this position he presided over the deliberations of the Senate in the sessions of 1901 and 1903 with rare skill and efficiency, and became one of the state's most popular officials through the able and impartial manner in which he filled this highly important position. He also presided over a part of the senatorial session of 1905. One of the notable events of his administration of this office was the impeachment trial, in the Senate, of Jus- tices Furcats and Douglas, of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, on charges which had been brought in the Lower House. The impeachment proceedings lasted for two weeks, each side being represented by some of the ablest counsel in the state, and the trial being very heatedly contested. The position of presiding officer, or judge, in this case, was a very trying one, requiring quick de- cisions on delicate and closely-shaded questions that frequently arose during the progress of the trial, involving precedence and the varied in- tricacies of trial by impeachment. Governor Tur- ner's decisions were so just and his rulings adhered so closely to the written law, that none of them were ever reversed. In addition, he was highly complimented by members of both sides of the
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controversy for his fairness and impartiality in every detail of the proceedings.
Since his retirement from the office of lieuten- ant governor, Governor Turner has been constantly engaged in a busy practice of his profession, as well as participating in a very prominent way in the business and industrial development of States- ville and Iredell County. He is president of the Commercial National Bank, for which he is also attorney, and with several associates built and is now president of the Turner Mills Company, owners and operators of the mills at East Monbo, in Ire- dell County, on the Catawba River, operated by water power at a dam in the river built by this company. The capitalization of the Turner Mills Company is $325,000, and up to the time of the great flood in July, 1916, operated 14,640 spindles. The flood referred to entirely destroyed one of the mills of this plant, the other, and larger one, however, remaining in good condition after some repairs to damages caused by the ravages of the water had been made. Governor Turner is also vice president of the Imperial Furniture Manu- facturing Company of Statesville, an important industry, manufacturing sideboards, chiffoniers, dressers, beds and chamber suites. He is attorney for most of the local corporations. His religious faith is that of the Methodist Church.
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