USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume IV > Part 85
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ROBERT BURNS DAVIS, JR., a resident of Rocky Mount, is cashier of the First National Bank, one of the most substantial and reliable finan- cial institutions of Edgecombe County, has numer- ous connections with commercial concerns, and is the proprietor of 200 acres of fine farming land. It is difficult to conceive of a more solid com- bination for the attainment of financial security than a bank founded upon the prosperity of re- liable business houses and the landed values of such a rich agricultural county as Edgecombe. Mr. Davis' status as a farmer, business man, financier and citizen is typical of the material upon which the bank rests and which has made the institution of which he is the cashier illus- trative of the best type of bank in a community of this kind-something founded upon a rock, which the peculations and the panics of the me- tropolis cannot affect.
Robert Burns Davis, Jr., was born September 24, 1872, at Wilmington, North Carolina, a son OI Robert Burns and Cornelia (Nixon) Davis. His father, who now resides at Wilmington, has been a prosperous agriculturist and leaf tobacco dealer all his life and is a citizen who is honored and esteemed in the city of his residence. The education of Robert B. Davis, the younger, was secured in private schools, and when he entered business life he first took up clerical work. Dur- ing a period of sixteen years he was a member of the auditing department of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, and it was as traveling auditor for this company that he came to Rocky Mount in 1896. Here he became agent for the same company, and remained in that capacity for eight years. During this time he had noted the oppor- tunities to be advantageously taken care of in this region and the increasing value of realty as new industries made their homes here and as the population rapidly grew. He began making small judicious investments, gradually increasing his ventures as his capital would permit, and finally, in 1904, gave up the railway agency to give his entire time and attention . to the real estate and insurance business. In this field he
has since built up an excellent business, being the representative of many of the large insurance companies, and having been the medium through which some large realty transactions have been consummated. In 1909 Mr. Davis entered the First National Bank of Rocky Mount in the capacity of cashier. He had already gained some- thing more than an ordinary reputation as a sound and reliable business man, and in his new capacity displayed those traits of character cal- culated to bring confidence to the minds of the depositors of the institution. The bank is capi- talized at $50,000, has a surplus of $40,000, and its deposits now amount to $700,000. Mr. Davis is also secretary and treasurer of the Tobacco Planters' Warehouse Company secretary of the Tar. River Brick Company, president of the New Home Building and Loan Association, and a direc- tor in the Morris Plan Bank Company. He has long been identified with all movements making for progress and betterment along all lines, and is a former president of the Rocky Mount Cham- ber of Commerce. In his agricultural work he is engaged in the cultivation of 200 acres of good land in Edgecombe County, where he has a fine set of modern buildings and uses the latest methods and improved machinery. He is well and favorably known in fraternal circles, be- longing to the local lodges of the Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Ben- evolent and Protective Order of Elks, and has other connections of a club and social nature which indicate his widespread popularity.
Mr. Davis was married October 14, 1909, to Miss Annie Lee Bunn, of Rocky Mount, daughter of the Hon. B. H. Bunn, an ex-member of Con- gress.
DAVID JASPER HILL, M. D. For over twenty years Doctor Hill has practiced medicine at Lexing- ton in Davidson County. His has been an unflag- ging routine of professional duty, a conscientious performance of all the obligations laid upon the medical profession, and a man of thorough skill and attainments he has measured up to the high ideals of service expected from the followers of his calling.
Doctor Hill is a member of one of the old and prominent pioneer families of North Carolina. He was born on a farm in Forsyth County in the Village of Germanton, a son of John Gideon and Susan F. (Poindexter) Hill. His great-great- grandfather was William Hill. The great-grand- father was Maj. Robert Hill who served from North Carolina with conspicuous gallantry in the war of the Revolution. Doctor Hill's grandparents were Joel and Mildred (Golding) Hill. Mildred Golding was a daughter of John Golding. The mother of Doctor Hill, Susan E. Poindexter, was a daughter of Col. William and Eliza (Nelson) Poindexter, and a granddaughter of David and Frances (Johnson) Poindexter. Eliza Nelson, wife of Col. William Poindexter, was a daughter of Isaac and Susan (Scales) Nelson. Both the Nelson and Scales families were among the pioneers of North Carolina, and all the names noted in this brief ancestral record has had numer- ous associations with the life and affairs of the state. Other members of the Hill and Poindexter families are noted elsewhere in this publication.
David Jasper Hill attended rural schools when a boy, later the Winston High School, and is a graduate of the Baltimore Business College. At first he took up a business career, being bookkeeper
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for a mercantile establishment, but soon turned his attention to the study of medicine, entering the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Balti- more, from which he graduated M. D. in 1893. For two years he practiced at Germanton, his native village, but since 1895 has been located at Lexington in Davidson County, and has enjoyed a large share of the professional business through- out that part of the state. Until 1910 he was associated in practice with his brother Joel.
Joel Hill was graduated from old Trinity College with the degree A. B., and then attended the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Balti- more, beginning practice at Lexington, where he was a man of prominence in his profession until his death in 1910. He married Ida Ragsdale, who died in 1911, leaving seven children named Louise, Fred S., Joel R., Francis L., Emily F., Theodore David, and Mary Mildred.
Dr. David J. Hill is a member of the Davidson County and North Carolina State Medical societies, the Southern Medical Association and the Southern Railway Surgeons Association. He is also affiliated with Lexington Lodge No. 473 Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Lexington Chapter No. 35, Royal Arch Masons, and Lexing- ton Lodge No. 71, Knights of Pythias.
JOHN LEMON BAILEY has been one of the all important factors in the business and civic affairs of Elm City for a period of forty years or more. His name is prominently associated also with the industrial development of that part of Wilson County and in public life he has sustained his responsibilities with notable credit and honor.
Mr. Bailey was born in that portion of old Edgecomb County now Wilson County June 23, 1850, a son of Birt and Mahala (Braswell) Bailey. His father was a planter, and though reared while the war was in progress John L. was given good training in private schools. From the age of fifteen to twenty-eight he clerked in a general store in Elm City, and since 1873 his business head- quarters have been at the same location there. He has developed a large store and it is housed in a large brick two-story building 60 x 90 feet. He is also a member of Bailey-Draughn Company, conducting a large dry goods and men's furnish- ing goods store at Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Mr. Bailey in 1898 organized the Elm City Bank, and has since been president of that institution. He is also president of the Weston Supply Com- pany, is a director of the Planters Warehouse Company at Rocky Mount, and is owner of 2,500 acres of farming land, most of which has been developed and cultivated under his direct super- vision.
When only twenty-one years of age Mr. Bailey received his first official honor when he was elected to the office of justice of the peace. He has served Elm City as alderman and mayor and was elected a member of the General Assembly of North Carolina, serving during the session of 1883 and was again similarly honored during the sessions of 1913-17.
Mr. Bailey married February 14, 1881, on the old farm where he was born, Miss Emma Bras- well, of Edgecomb County. They are the par- ents of five children. Karl Braswell, a graduate of the University of North Carolina and a suc- cessful attorney practicing law at Elm City. Roger Moore is a graduate of the North Caro- lina Agricultural and Mechanical College and is associated with his father in business. Marie is
the wife of Sutton G. Flowers, of Zebulon, North Carolina. John L. Jr., is a graduate of the Agri- cultural and Mechanical College and is also in business with his father. Emma Braswell is now a student at the Greensboro, North Carolina, Col- lege for Women.
SAMUEL WOODSON VENABLE has spent his active career in the tobacco business, has been a resident of North Carolina since 1894, and is head of a well known and active organization in the tobacco trade at Durham.
Mr. Venable was born in Prince Edward County, Virginia, April 16, 1866, a son of Paul Carring- ton and Agnes (Gray) Venable. His parents lived at Danville, Virginia, where his father for many years was a tobacco dealer. The son was edu- cated in private schools and in an Episcopal High School at Alexandria. Virginia, finishing his work in the University of Virginia. At the age of nine- teen he entered the leaf tobacco business at Dan- ville, Virginia, and was a man of wide experience and large acquaintance in the industry when he came to Wilson, North Carolina, in 1894. In 1908 he removed to Durham, where he organized the Venable Tobacco Company, of which he has since been president and general manager. He is also a director of the Durham Loan and Trust Com- pany. Mr. Venable is a member of the Chamber of Commerce of Durham and of the Durham Coun- try Club.
December 18, 1888, he married Miss Jean St. Clair Armistead of Hampton, Virginia. Her par- ents were Samuel Watts and Mary Shields (How- ard) Armistead, her father being an attorney at law. Mr. and Mrs. Venable had four children: Paul Carrington, Jean St. Clair, Mary Howard and Samuel Armistead. Paul Carrington is now a second lieutenant in the United States forces fighting the battles of democracy in France. Samuel Armstead though not of age has volun- teered and is now in training at Camp Mcclellan, Alabama, in One Hundred and Fourth Ammuni- tion Train. The daughter Jean is the wife of Shubrick Hayward of Baltimore, Maryland.
WILLIAM THEODORE MORGAN. The learning, experience, skill and fine ideals of William Theo- dore Morgan have adorned his practice as a law- yer at Marion for nearly twenty years.
Mr. Morgan was born in Rutherford County, North Carolina, January 30, 1871, son of Albert Forney and Sophie (Hemphill) Morgan. He was reared on his father's farm, was educated in the public schools of Rutherford County, and acquired his higher education at Judson College in Hen- dersonville, in Fairview Institute and Rutherford College. He studied law in the law school con- ducted by Judge Alfonzo C. Avery of Morganton. Mr. Morgan was admitted to the bar in Septem- ber, 1896, and after one year at practice at Mor- ganton came to Marion in 1898. In addition to his general practice he is attorney for the Mer- chauts and Farmers Bank and for various other local business interests. He is a member of the North Carolina Bar Association, the Knights of Pythias and a deacon in the Baptist Church.
November 12, 1913, Mr. Morgan married Mary Clare Alford, a native of Florida. They have two children, Edwin Alford and Mary Louise.
GILVIN T. ROTH. A highly esteemed and respected citizen of Elkin, Surry County, Gilvin T. Roth has taken an active part in public affairs,
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and for forty years has been associated with one of the leading industries of the place, his record of service in the woolen mill established by Gwynn and Chatham bespeaking in an emphatic manner his efficiency and trustworthiness. He was born at Freemansburg, Pennsylvania, where, in 1833, occurred the birth of his father, Christian Roth. His grandfather, George Roth, spent his entire life in the vicinity of Freemansburg. He came from Revolutionary stock, and was of German ancestry. He married Mary Bile, who was like- wise of German descent.
Learning the trade of a machinist when young, Christian Roth followed it in his native state until 1863. Then, shortly after the death of his father, he removed with his family to Wooster, Ohio, and there, six months later, he died, being but thirty- two years old. He married Mary Shimer, who was born in Freemansburg, Pennsylvania, a daughter of John and Mary (Schwitzer) Shimer. Being left a widow, in a strange place, with four small children, Gilvin T., Emily, Mary and John T., she returned with her family to Pennsylvania, and was thereafter a resident of Allentown until 1880, when she moved to Elkin, North Carolina, and died at the age of sixty-eight.
Completing the course of study in the public schools of Freemansburg, Gilvin T. Roth attended Lehigh University for a while. Having a decided aptitude for mechanical pursuits, he then learned the trade of a machinist, at which he became an expert. In 1878 Mr. Roth came to Elkin, North Carolina, to accept a position in the woolen mills of Gwynn and Chatham, and has continued with that firm and its successors until the present time, holding positions of importance and prominence.
Mr. Roth married, in 1896, Rosa L. Mosser, who was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, a daughter of William F. and Louisa (Seiberling) Mosser. Mr. and Mrs. Roth are the parents of three children, Louisa, William and Thomas. Both Mr. and Mrs. Roth were reared in the Lutheran faith, but there being no church of that denomina- tion in Elkin they attend the Methodist Episcopal Church. Fraternally Mr. Roth is a member of Elkin Lodge No. 96, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; and of Elkin Lodge of the Knights of Pythias. Taking great interest in public matters, Mr. Roth was an active member of the first board of Elkin Town Commissioners, and has served in the same capacity several terms since. He is at the present time chairman of the local school board.
CAPT. J. MARSHALL WILLIAMS. An old and particularly prominent family of Cumberland County, North Carolina, is that of Williams. The ancestors came to Virginia with the Bryans and other kindred as early as 1689 from Scotland, and in both Virginia and North Carolina history have been conspicuous in various lines of achieve- ment through the succeeding generations. The present head of the family in Cumberland County is Capt. J. Marshall Williams, whose fine estate is situated four miles west of Fayetteville, on the Raeford Road. He is one of the surviving vet- erans of the great war between the states, in which he participated from start to finish, and of whom it has been admiringly said "he was first at Bethel and last at Appomattox."
J. Marshall Williams was born in Cumberland County, North Carolina, in 1838. His parents were Joel and Jane (Elliott) Williams. Captain Wil- liams had a half brother, Judge James G. Shep-
herd, a jurist of distinction, who married a sister of Hon. James C. Dobbin, once Secretary of the Navy. One of Captain Williams' sisters married Col. K. M. Murchison, and another married Col. John R. Murchison, both very prominent North Carolinians and both distinguished officers in the Confederate Army. Professor James Sprunt, of Wilmington, the noted scholar and his- torian of the Cape Fear section, married a daugh- ter of Col. K. M. Murchison. Mrs. William Boylen, Sr. a lady of great social prominence at Raleigh, was a sister of Captain Williams' mother. The biographer might continue almost indefinitely consulting the family records of many other of the old and prominent families of North Caro- lina-the Bryans, Whitfields, Turners, Hughes, Tuckers, Skinners and others, and be sure of find- ing many close relationships with the Williams family.
The mother of Captain Williams died during the progress of the above war, and the father died about the time it closed. Before the war he was a man of independent fortune, a prominent planter and large landowner in Cumberland County and had many slaves with which to carry on the in- dustries that built up the country's wealth in this section at that time. In the misfortunes attend- ing war the magnificent Williams estate, situated on the eastern side of the Cape Fear River, was overrun by vandals and Joel Williams was never able to recover from the shock and loss.
J. Marshall Williams was primarily educated by tutors as he grew up on his father's plantation, and later attended a private school at Alexandria, Virginia. He was twenty-three years old when the war between the states became a fact, and was one of the very first to respond to the call of the Confederate Government, enlisting in April, 1861, as a private in the famous Fayetteville In- dependent Light Infantry, the first military act of which, at the outbreak of hostilities, was to capture the Fayetteville Arsenal.
The above company was the nucleus around which was formed the celebrated Bethel Regiment, with which Private Williams fought at Bethel, re- ceiving his military baptism in the first battle of the war. His company was the first to respond to duty and, in fact, was so prompt and early that it had to wait ten days before other com- panies forming the regiment could be mobilized to complete this organization.
After the battle of Bethel the regiment was disbanded and Mr. Williams returned home, and in association with Col. K. M. Murchison or- ganized a company of 125 men which was assigned to the Fifty-Fourth Regiment, which was sent im- mediately to General Lee's army and assigned to General Hood's Brigade, General Jackson's Corps. This brigade during the war was under perhaps eight different commanders, but has al- ways been known in history as Hoke's Old Brig- ade, in honor of one of the state's fine soldiers and distinguished citizens. Mr. Williams was made lieutenant of Company C, Fifty-Fourth Regi- ment, and this was his official classification until he was promoted to the rank of captain. During. the war he was largely engaged on detached or special duty as a commander and instructor of sharpshooters, belonging to different regiments, for which duty he was selected because of special qualifications, and along this line of expert duty he was at the battle of Fredericksburg, in which his regiment, the Fifty-Fourth, was captured by the Federal troops. Captain Williams escaped by
Illanstoall Hillwang
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swimming the Rapidan River near Brandywine Station. Once, during his service, he was badly wounded, and once had his shoulder dislocated by a fall. He participated in the battle of Gettys- burg and was in practically all of the great his- toric battles of the war in Virginia. At the time of the surrender at Appotomattox he was second senior officer of his regiment, ranking at times as adjutant and inspector-general. No better in- formed member of the gallant old Fifty-Fourth could have been selected to write the history of that regiment for Judge Clark's "History of North Carolina in the War" than Captain Wil- liams, and his trustworthy and entertaining ac- count adds a brilliant chapter to that excellent work.
It was to a broken domestic circle and wrecked and devastated plantation that Captain Williams returned when the war was ended. Local history discloses in many sections that in those weary days there were home-coming veterans who had faced danger and death for years who could not find the courage to endure the changed conditions that surrounded them and actually died of dis- couragement and despair. Not so, however, with Captain Williams. He recognized just as keenly as others the great work of reorganization and repair that had to be done and girded himself for his tasks. His marriage soon took place and he started in to make a new home for himself as a farmer and planter.
Captain Williams was married first to Miss Janie McDiarmid, of Cumberland County, who left one son, Marshall, who is a prominent banker and farmer of Faison, Duplin County, North Carolina. He was married second to Miss Mar- titia McNeill, who is also deceased. Her mother was Mrs. Roxana (Worth) McNeill, and her grand- father was Governor Jonathan Worth of North Carolina. To this marriage four children were born: Roxana, Joel, Jesse and David Worth. One of Captain Williams' sons is in the National Army, Jesse being "somewhere in France," a member of the One Hundred Seventeenth Engi- neers.
In 1882 Captain Williams removed to his pres- ent plantation, which is a fine place containing 350 acres, situated in Seventy-First Township and four miles west of Fayetteville. The Williams place has become famous for its displays of prize-winning crops at the Cape Fear Fair and also the State Fair at Raleigh. This distinction has been brought about through the enterprise and actual genius of Captain Williams' daughter, Miss Roxana Williams, a lady possessing remark- able gifts. Miss Williams, modestly making her exhibits in the name of her father, has taken three championship prizes at the Cape Fear Fair at Fayetteville and one at the State Fair at Raleigh for all-farm products. The Cape Fear organization embraces seven counties in Eastern North Carolina, while the state organization brings competitive displays from all over the state. Miss Williams' exhibit in 1914 gave Cumberland Coun- ty an agricultural representation at the State Fair for the first time in its history. The re- markable extent and varicty of this exhibit may be judged from the fact that it comprised 500 different products without one duplication, and among these may be mentioned: Seed; canned goods of all kinds; corn; home-made vinegar; cotton; forage crops of all kinds; tobacco; pol- ished gonrds; preserved meats of all kinds; fruits;
whisk brooms made from straw from the farm. The seed display was of such a high grade that a specimen of each kind was purchased by Curator Brimley, of the State Museum, and besides re- sulted in many profitable sales of seed from the Williams farm. Other very interesting features of the exhibit were sun and steam-cured tobacco, and Japanese persimmons of very large size. The preparation of these products, astounding in com- pleteness and utility, and the assembling for the display, was done entirely by Miss Williams or under her direction. While she has a genuine love for doing useful things about the farm and home, she also possesses great artistic taste, as is shown in the making of beautiful pine-needle baskets, flower pots and other decorative objects. She is in close sympathy with the present move- ment of conservation of foods and intelligently experiments with various products. The farm is well stocked with Duroc-Jersey hogs and she is interested along this line and her good judgment has often assisted in the profitable sale of pigs each year. The farm has fine pasturage and in every way is conducted along modern lines and not only is a comfortable and rarely beautiful home but an exceedingly profitable and produc- tive one.
Not only has Captain Williams given sons to the cause of patriotism, but four of his grandsons are in the National Army. Although his daughter- in-law, Mrs. Marshall Williams, of Faison, has long been a noted portrait painter, her friends and family know that she feels more distinguished be- cause of her four noble sons than of all the marked appreciation shown her artistic talent in past years. These sons are all university and profes- sionally trained young men, and their services in each case were volunteered at the beginning of the United States war with Germany. These sons are: Dr. Louis Hicks Williams, assistant sur- geon in the United States Navy; Roland Williams, first lieutenant in the army; Marshall Williams (III) captain of coast artillery at Fort Story, Virginia; and Virginius F. Williams, second lieu- tenant in the National Army.
COLLETTE LEVENTHORPE MILLER, a banker and merchant at Rutherfordton, has, as the record of the primary points in his career indicate, made wise and diligent use of the successive opportu- nities that have come to him during his active career.
He was born at Rutherfordton September 20, 1859, son of Daniel Franklin and Hester T. (DePriest) Miller. His father was a blacksmith and wheelwright. The son was reared in the decade of the war and reconstruction, and had only the advantages of the subscription schools. Much knowledge that has been valuable to him in his later career was acquired during his expe- riences in the printing offices of the Western Vin- dicator and the Rutherford Star. He also worked as clerk in a general store, clerked in a drug store, and his interest in politics and his popular- ity as a citizen brought him in 1896 election to the office of the county treasurer. He filled that office with credit and advantage to the county for three terins, six years. He then resumed his part as a local merchant in the drug business, but during the past ten years has been primarily a banker.
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