USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume IV > Part 87
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Doctor Biggs is chief surgeon for the C. C. O. Railway and is local surgeon for the Seaboard Air Line and Southern Railways. As indicated at the beginning of this article, he is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, is a Fellow of the Southern Surgical Association, a member and fellow of the College of Physicians of Phila- delphia, and has membership in the Philadelphia Pathological Society, the North Carolina Surgical Club, the Rutherford County and North Carolina and Tri-State societies, the Southern Medical As- sociation and the American Medical Association. He also belongs to the Southern States Asso- ciation of Railway Surgeons. Doctor Biggs is member and vestryman of St. Francis Episcopal Church at Rutherfordton. He is a director of the Citizens Bank & Trust Company of that city.
January 27, 1909, he married Mary Pepper Norris, of Philadelphia. Their two children are Cornelia Nevins and Montgomery Herman, Jr.
HENRY NORRIS, M. D., F. A. C. S. Reference to the work of Dr. M. H. Biggs at Rutherfordton will be found in preceding sketch. The active associate of Doctor Biggs in establishing the Rutherford Hospital and its subsequent manage- ment for surgical patients is Dr. Henry Norris, whose work and attainments have brought him a high reputation in the field of surgery.
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Doctor Norris was born at Philadelphia, Penn- sylvania, May 27, 1875, a son of Joseph Parker and Isabel Nevins (Fry) Norris. The Norris family is one of the oldest and best known of the old Philadelphia families. His first Amer- ican ancestor Isaac Norris, originally a resident of near Liverpool, England. From there he immigrated to Jamaica and in 1684 came from that Island to Philadelphia. His lasting fame in the appreciation of American people comes from the fact that while he was speaker of the Assembly at Philadelphia he ordered the famous Liberty Bell from England.
Dr. Henry Norris was reared and educated at Philadelphia, attending private schools and grad- uating in the department of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in 1896. The follow- ing ten years before he came to North Carolina he spent as interne at the University of Penn- sylvania Hospital and later as instructor in sur- gery in the University of Pennsylvania, as chief of the out-patient surgical clinic and assistant surgeon to the University Hospital and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He also attended clinics in London, Paris and Berlin.
Doctor Norris left Philadelphia in 1906 and was actively associated in all the work prepar- atory to the opening of Rutherford Hospital. From 1903 to 1906 he served as first lieutenant of the medical department of the Pennsylvania National Guard, and since April 1, 1913, has been identified with the North Carolina National Guard, holding the successive ranks of lieutenant, captain and major. He is a Republican, a mem- ber of the Episcopal Church, and belongs to the Philadelphia and Rittenhouse Clubs of Philadel- phia.
August 3, 1898, at Philadelphia, Doctor Norris married Ethel Bowman Wheeler, daughter of Charles Wheeler, of Philadelphia. They have four children: Susan Wheeler, Henry, Ethel Stuart and Charles.
SMITH & DUNCAN. One of the rising legal firms of the city of Raleigh was that of Smith & Dun- can, composed of Willis Smith and William Ben- jamin Duncan, who, although members of the younger generation of legists, firmly established a place for themselves in the fraternity of the City of Oaks. Engaged in a general practice, the firm participated in a number of important cases . which have recently come before the courts, and the best evidence of the success which it attained was found in the rapid increase of its clientele, both in size and importance. The firm of Smith & Duncan was dissolved August 18, 1917, at the time Mr. Duncan entered the army, and Mr. Smith continued the practice alone since that time until July, 1918, when he joined the Coast Artillery Corps and is stationed at Fortress Monroe.
Willis Smith, senior partner of the firm of Smith & Duncan, was born at Norfolk, Virginia, December 19, 1887, and is a son of Willis and Mary Shaw (Creecy) Smith, his father, having been a well known merchant of Norfolk. Mary Shaw (Creecy) Smith, graduated at Murfreesboro Female College, and then began tutoring and after- wards taught in several private schools. The son's early education was under the tutorship of his mother for about seven years, following which he pursued a course at the Atlantic Collegiate Insti- tute, Elizabeth City, North Carolina, from which institution he was graduated in 1905. He next enrolled as a student at Trinity College, Durham,
North Carolina, where he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1910, and prosecuted his legal studies at the same college, finishing his law course in 1912. Mr. Smith at once entered practice at Raleigh with Col. John W. Hinsdale and remained with him for a short while. He then began practicing alone, continuing alone until November, 1915, when his partnership with Mr. Duncan was effected. Mr. Smith is a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon College Fraternity, and belongs to the Capitol and Country clubs. He holds membership also in the Chamber of Com- merce and has been identified with a number of movements which have made for civic betterment. Politically a democrat, the duties of his profession have so far prevented him from engaging in public matters as a politician. He has demonstrated his ability as a sound and forceful lawyer, and has already built up a reputation among his fellow-practitioners for his observance of the ethics of his calling. In 1915 he was employed to represent the State Tax Commission in prose- cuting inheritance tax claims, and has recovered a great many thousands of dollars for the State of North Carolina in this work. He is a director in The Raleigh Morris Plan Company, and in the State Packing Company.
William Benjamin Duncan, junior member of the firm of Smith & Duncan, was born January 6, 1893, at Beaufort, Carteret County, North Caro- lina, a son of E. C. and Carrie (King) Duncan. Mr. Duncan's father is a banker of Raleigh and one of the substantial business men and citizens of his community. After attending the public schools, Morson Academy at Raleigh, and the Raleigh High School, Mr. Duncan went to Trinity Park School, Durham, North Carolina, where he prepared for his college education. In 1909 he matriculated at Trinity College, from which he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1913, and two years later was graduated in law. In August, 1915, he was admitted to the bar, and began prac- tice in the following November with Mr. Smith. Like his partner, Mr. Duncan belongs to the Chamber of Commerce and lends his aid to pro- gressive and helpful movements. While at col- lege he joined the Kappa Sigma fraternity, and is also a member of the Country Club. He votes the republican ticket. Mr. Duncan is an alert, progressive young lawyer who made rapid strides in his profession. His training has been thorough and he has been a close and constant student, while natural talent and a strong personality are proving contributing factors to his success. Both members of the firm belong to the North Carolina State Bar Association.
Mr. Duncan enlisted in June, 1917, in the First North Carolina Field Artillery, which afterwards became the 113th U. S. Field Artillery. He was appointed Sergeant Major immediately, and then later was promoted to Second Lieutenant. In a short while he was promoted to First Lieutenant, and assigned to duty as an Aerial Balloon observer in the Artillery.
COL. JOHN L. BRIDGERS, JR., has been prac- ticing law at Tarboro over forty-five years, and he bears a name with many prominent associa- tions with the legal profession, with farming and with business and civic affairs in that part of the state.
He was born May 5, 1850, a son of John Luther and Rebecca Louise (Dicken) Bridgers.
His first American ancestor was Gen. Joseph
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
Bridgers, of England, where the name was spelled Bridges. A member of the same family was the English General Bridges who was recently in America. Gen. Joseph Bridger or Bridgers came from England and settled at Smithfield in Isle of Wight County, Virginia, about 1620. He was warder of the vestry of the church at Smithfield and built the first edifice for worship there. His remains were removed not long ago from his farm Whitehall on the James River where he first set- tled, and interred beneath the chancel of the Smithfield Church.
Colonel Bridgers' great-grandfather was Brit- ton Bridgers, who about 1760 removed from Isle of Wight County, Virginia, to Edgecombe County, North Carolina.
John Luther Bridgers was in his time a very prominent man of Edgecombe County, both as a lawyer and farmer. He was born at Town Creek in the southwestern part of Edgecombe County November 28,. 1821, son of John and Elizabeth K. Bridgers. He was graduated from the Uni- versity of North Carolina cum laude magna in 1847. A man of thorough education, well quali- fied for legal practice, he was perhaps extensively interested and very successful as a farmer and manager of land. Wealth was no object to him, and he used his means generously toward the wholesome development of Edgecombe County.
In April, 1857, he was elected captain of the Edgecombe Guards. This company became Com- pany A of the First North Carolina, Volunteers and did good work in the battle of Big Bethel. It was a member of this company who was the first soldier, killed in the war on either side. Later he became commandant at Fort Macon, and served as colonel of the 10th Confederate States Artil- lery. On account of ill health he retired from active duty in 1863. He was chosen one of the three peace commissioners on the part of the Con- federate States from North Carolina to the con- ference at Montgomery, Alabama. He was also part owner of High Shoals Iron Company, which manufactured iron products for the Confederate government. At one time he was director in the Branch Bank of the North Carolina State Bank.
John L. Bridgers was always a loyal democrat and in a quiet and forceful way played a part that entitles him to recognition as among the prominent men of the state during the last cen- tury.
In Halifax County in April, 1847, he married for his first wife Rebecca Louisa Dicken, daugh- ter of Louis B. K. and Elizabeth F. Dicken, the latter a sister of B. F. Moore. She was the mother of two children: John L., Jr., and Ruth E., the latter now deceased. In April, 1867, John L. Bridgers married for his second wife Mary E. Battle, of Edgecombe County. By the second mar- riage there were four children: Marcus M., Whit- ney L., Louisa and Mary H. Of these the only one married is Whitney.
Col. John Luther Bridgers, Jr., was born and raised in Ferboro, North Carolina. He received his first instruction from his mother and then went to the School of Prof. F. S. Wilkinson, and then for four years attended the Virginia Mili- tary Institute, graduating in 1870. He was well trained in military tactics, civil engineering, chem- istry and other subjects. He read law and was licensed to practice at the age of twenty-one, and has since been handling the business of a thor- oughly capable lawyer at Tarboro. Mr. Bridgers
has been local attorney for the Atlantic Coast Line Railway since he entered practice, and has en- joyed many other influential connections in the profession. He was presiding judge of the county for some years, was county attorney eighteen years, served as town attorney, and is a director of the First National Bank of Tarboro and presi- dent of the Mattelsfield Company of Edgecombe County. Too young to serve as a soldier in the war between the states, he has always taken a live interest in military affairs, and for eight years was captain of the Edgecombe Guards and is now captain of the Edgecombe Home Guards. He served as colonel on the staff of Governor A. M. Scales.
December 11, 1872, Colonel Bridgers married Laura Priscilla Clark, daughter of Gov. Henry T. Clark. They have four children:' Henry Clark Bridgers, a prominent railway builder and financier of North Carolina; Mary Erwin, wife of Frank P. Williamson, who is now in the timber, cattle and land business in the Philippine Islands, where he resides; Laura Priscilla, wife of Rev. Robb White, Jr., of Virginia; and Rebecca Louisa. Another daughter, Elizabeth Haywood, died at the age of thirty-five. Her first husband was P. B. Cox, son of Gen. William R. Cox, and who did not live long after the marriage. At the time of her death she was the wife of B. F. Finney, Field Secretary of the Episcopal Church in the United States. Colonel Bridgers, like his father, has always kept in close touch with the land and agriculture, and owns a large amount of farm property in Edgecombe County. He has done much to develop this and introduce inten- sified farming into his section of the state.
ROBERT CALDER CANTWELL, JR., was one of the progressive element among the younger genera- ation of business men at Wilmington until the nation entered upon the tremendous task of making the world safe for democracy, and one of the early volunteers, he now ranks as an ensign in the Aviation Corps. Before entering the army he was identified with a number of enterprises at Wilmington and rendered valuable public service.
He was born at Conway, South Carolina, April 4, 1886, and when one year old his parents moved to Wilmington. He is a son of Robert Calder and Mary A. (Chaffin) Cantwell and member of a family which has long been honorably known in the South. His grandfather was the late Col. John S. Cantwell.
After completing the public school course at Wilmington Mr. Cantwell entered the Agricutural and Mechanical College at Raleigh, from which he was graduated with the degree Civil Engineer. He immediately entered upon railroad and munic- ipal work in connection with his profession. He then became associated with his father in the operation of a lumber business and planing mills, under the style of the Cantwell Lumber Company. With this industry his father had been identi- fied at Wilmington for many years. Later he organized and developed the Greenfield Sewerage Company, of which he remained president, secre- tary and treasurer until the business was sold to the City of Wilmington.
In 1915 Mr. Cantwell was elected chairman of school commissioners of District No. 5, and in 1916 re-elected for a term of two years. On March 26, 1917, before the actual declaration of
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war upon ,Germany, Mr. Cantwell enlisted as yeoman to Lieutenant William Atkinson at Wil- mington. He was transferred to the Aviation Corps in August, then attended the ground school course at Boston Institute of Technology for eight weeks, and on November 1, 1917, arrived at Pensacola, Florida, for his flying training. In February, 1918, he was commissioned as ensign, and is now one of the division command- ers, Squadron 2, Hangar 9, at Pensacola Air Station.
Mr. Cantwell married November 1, 1911, Eliza- beth Clark Ashmead, of Jacksonville, Florida. Mrs. Cantwell is a cousin of Henry Van Dyke, former minister to Holland but probably best known to the world as a poet and essayist. Mrs. Cantwell has some of the gifts which distinguish her famous kinsman, and at times has turned her hand very creditably to verse. Mr. and Mrs. Cantwell have one son, Robert Calder, III, born May 5, 1913.
HON. JOSEPH W. RING, M. D. A man of broad mental capacity, energetic, progressive and ever alive to the needs of the hour, Hon. Joseph W. Ring, M. D., of Elkin, is well and wisely known not only as an able and successful physician and surgeon but as one of the leading citizens of his community. Of pioneer ancestry, Dr. Ring was born, in 1850, on a farm situated about three miles west of Winston-Salem, a son of Jackson Ring, whose birthplace was in what was then known as Stokes County, but is now included with- in the boundaries of Forsyth County, it being about nine miles northeast of Winston, while his father, Thomas Ring, the Doctor's grandfather, was born on a near-by farm.
Dr. Ring's great-great-grandfather Ring emi- grated from England to America when young, running away from home and crossing the Atlan- tic in a sailing vessel. Making his way to North Carolina, he settled on the Ararat River and buy- ing a tract of land that was still in its virgin wildness, he improved a part of it, and there reared his family and spent his remaining years.
Following the occupation of his ancestors, the great-grandfather of the Doctor on the paternal side migrated as a young man to the eastern part of what is now Forsyth County, and was there engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death.
Thomas Ring also became an agriculturist, and having located about nine miles northeast of Winston-Salem bought a plantation, which he operated with slave labor. There were no rail- roads in the state at that early day, and as there were no convenient markets for his surplus farm produce, he, with many of his neighbors, owned and operated a distillery, transporting such products as they did not use to Fayetteville with teams. He and his good wife, whose maiden name was West, died on the home farm where they had spent so many happy years, his death occurring when he was but sixty-five years old.
When ready to establish a household of his own, Jackson Ring bought a farm lying about three miles west of Winston-Salem and immediately began its improvement. During the progress of the Civil war he enlisted in the Confederate Army, and for a time was detailed with others, to capture deserters, and later was in active service in Vir- ginia. Returning home at the close of the conflict he resumed his agricultural labors. Disposing of that estate a few years later, he bought a farm lying but two miles from Elkin, and was there a
resident until his death, at the venerable age of eighty-one years. He married Mary Pope, who was born in Davidson County, North Carolina, a daughter of Isaac Pope. She survived him, pass- ing away at the advanced age of eighty-three years. They were the parents of four children, Thomas, Sanford, Joseph W. and Leopold.
Gleaning his early knowledge of books in the rural schools of his district, Joseph W. Ring con- tinued his studies at Teague Academy in David- son County, after which he taught school for a year in Forsyth County. The following two years he studied. medicine under the direction and tutelage of Dr. J. F. Shaffner, after which he attended a course of lectures at the Jefferson Medical College. Immediately locating in Elkin, Dr. Ring has been actively and successfully engaged in the practice of his profession in this little city ever since, with the exception of the time he spent as a student at the Baltimore College of Physicians and Surgeons, from which he was graduated with the class of 1880. When the Doctor first settled in Elkin, in 1872, there was no railway in this section of Surry County, and the only industry was a small cotton mill. The town being platted in that year, he had the distinction of having purchased the very first lot sold in the place, and since that time has taken a warm interest in local progress and improvements, heartily endorsing all enterprises of a beneficial nature.
Dr. Ring married in 1873, Miss Mary V. Horney, who was born at High Point, Guilford County, a daughter of Levi B. and Elizabeth (Raper) Hor- ney. Doctor and Mrs. Ring have seven children, namely : Etta R., Emma, J. Marvin, Luther, Carl, Maude and Edward. Etta R., widow of the late Will Paul, has seven children, Mary, Louise, Martha, Willie, Ophelia, Josephine and James. Emma, wife of J. F. Henry, has seven children, Mayhew, Joseph, Mary, Irene, Linville, Clement and Thomas. Luther married Maud Lamb, and they have one son, Lewis. Maude married Joseph Parker, and has one child, Mary Elizabeth Parker. Mrs. Ring and her children are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Dr. Ring is surgeon for the Southern Railroad Company, and is a member of the Surry County Medical Society and of the North Carolina State Medical Associa- tion. Fraternally he belongs to Elkin Lodge No. 145, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and to Elkin Lodge of the Knights of Pythias. Active in public affairs he is the present mayor of Elkin, and is serving in that capacity as faithfully and acceptably as during his many previous terms in that office.
THORNWELL LANIER. It is to the law that young men of the analytical type of mind, that delights in minute' observation and logical deduction, are apt to turn when they make choice of a profes- sional career. Not always do their subsequent achievements equal their ambition, but the selec- tion of the law by one favored by nature and thoroughly trained and broadened by education, often proves a sure, although never an easy, path to both fame and fortune. In the case of Thornwell Lanier, one of the leaders of the Oxford bar, a happy heritage may have had its influence, as his father was a lawyer of prominence. Mr. Lanier was born at Oxford, North Carolina, September 3, 1871, and is a son of Marcellus Volney and Eliza- beth (Hicks) Lanier.
Primarily educated at Horner School, Thornwell
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John B. Malloy
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
Lanier took a course in Bethel Academy, a well known Virginia educational institution, and after- ward spent a year engaged in teaching school along the eastern shore in that state, subsequently at- tending summer courses in Harvard University and in the law department of the University of North Carolina. In 1892 he was admitted to the bar and has been engaged in a general law practice at Oxford ever since, having built up a substantial business here through legal ability assisted by the homely virtues of patience and perseverance. Mr. Lanier has a pleasing personality and enjoys a professional reputation that identifies him only with honorable methods under all circumstances. No client of his has ever had reason to doubt his in- terest or integrity.
Mr. Lanier was married in March, 1905, to Miss Mary Belle Gregory, of Oxford, and they have one son, Roger Gregory. In politics he has been active to some degree and has served both county and city officially, the former as county attorney and the latter as a member of the town board of com- missioners. As a citizen he has always been con- scientiously concerned and has always been found ready to co-operate with other public-spirited citi- zens in promoting the best interests of Oxford. He belongs to the Fraternal Order of Odd Fellows.
MAJ. JOHN BETHUNE MALLOY. Few old fam- ilies of Robeson County, North Carolina, are bet- ter or more favorably known than that of Malloy. It is one that has given sturdy, solid citizenship to the peaceful life of the community, and has also contributed notably to the county's honor- able military record. The Malloys came to Amer- ica from the Highlands of Scotland, and those who know their Scottish history well will recall many brave deeds on many battlefields attributed to this clan. This natural courage and interest in military affairs, together with many admirable and peaceful characteristics, seem to have been preserved generation after generation, and Rob- eson County esteems and admires its "fighting Malloy" of the present day in the person of Maj. John Bethune Malloy, for many years an officer, now retired, of the Second North Carolina Infantry.
John Bethune Malloy was born near Parkton, within a half mile of his present plantation in Robeson County, North Carolina, in 1874. His parents were Duncan C. and Mary Alice (Cobb) Malloy. The late Duncan C. Malloy was born in Robeson County and died here in 1893. His father was Duncan Malloy, who was an infant when his parents, over a hundred years ago, brought him to the United States and settled in Robeson County, and their old homestead is situ- ated within two miles of Parkton. Duncan C. Malloy was a man of quiet life and devoted him- self mainly to agricultural pursuits, but his broth- er, the late Capt. J. D. Malloy, commanded a company from Robeson County in the war be- tween the states, and his uncle, Col. D. A. Malloy, was an officer in the North Carolina Militia for many years prior to that. Duncan C. Malloy mar- ried Mary Alice Cobb, who survives him and re- sides with her son, Major Malloy. She was born in Robeson County and is a daughter of Col. S. J. and Mary (Bethune) Cobb. Her ma- ternal grandfather was John Bethune, who came to North Carolina from Scotland. The Cobbs also are of Scotchi ancestry, and this branch settled first in Sampson County, North Carolina, and
from there came to Robeson, and Col. S. J. Cobb was a colonel in the state militia for years be- fore his death.
John B. Malloy attended school in boyhood at Lumber Bridge, near the Malloy plantation. It was through his skill as a musician that he en- tered military service at the early age of four- teen years, becoming a member of Company L. Second North Carolina Infantry, in 1888. In 1894 he was promoted to the rank of corporal, in 1895 to sergeant, in 1899 to second lieutenant. In 1902 he became first lieutenant, and on Octo- ber 13, 1906, he was made captain of his old company, Company L, in the Second North Caro- lina Infantry. His advance had been steady and well merited. In June, 1916, his company and regi- ment were ordered to the Mexican border and stationed at Camp Stewart, near El Paso, Texas, and he continued in command of Company L until January 20, 1917, when he was commissioned major and with this rank he remained in active service until June 28, 1917, when, according to regulations, he was retired, his retirement auto- matically advancing his rank to that of colonel.
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