USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume IV > Part 90
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Doctor Brown first attended rural schools and continued his education in that manner until nearly all school activities were suspended on ac- count of the war. He was not yet fifteen years of age when hostilities broke out, and at the age of seventeen he joined Company K of the Third Regiment of Junior Reserves, commanded by John W. Hinsdale. From that time forward he was active in the service of the Confederacy until the end of the war. He participated in the battles of Fort Fisher, Kingston and Bennettsville, and was paroled at Greensboro in April, 1865.
Immediately after the war he sought to repair the deficiencies of education which had been in- evitable because of the war and he entered Pro- fessor Hines Preparatory School near Center Grove in Guilford County, and subsequently was a stu- dent in the school conducted by Rev. J. C. Denny on his farm in Guilford County. Most of the stu- dents at the Denny school were poor, and were allowed to bring their bedding and provisions, each student paying one dollar per month for the services of a cook. In the meantime Mr. Brown had been licensed to preach. After one year in the Denny school he entered Wake Forest College, where he was graduated in 1871. He was selected to deliver the salutary address at commencement.
Doctor Brown was ordained at Youngsville, North Carolina, in August, 1871, and had his first practical experiences in the ministry as a home missionary. He was stationed near Madison and there had charge of a circuit of five churches in
Stokes, Rockingham and Guilford counties. Like the old time circuit rider, he covered this jurisdic- tion on horseback and had a period of unremit- ting labor and many hardships. Two years later, as a result of throat trouble, he gave up active church work for a year, but in 1874 removed to Fayetteville. In 1877 he was called to the pas- torate of the First Baptist Church of Winston- Salem, and he has been leader of that society to the present day and has been responsible for much of the splendid growth and Christian influence of his church in this rapidly developing industrial and commercial city.
Doctor Brown was married November 14, 1878, to Julia A. Cain, who was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, July 13, 1854, a daughter of Richard and Mary (Morphis) Cain. Her father was also a native of Fayetteville. Mrs. Brown, who died in 1914, was the mother of three chil- dren, Addie, married William C. McCorkle, and has five children, named Agatha, Henry Brown, William O., Jr., Sarah and Eloise. Doctor Brown's only son, Wingate, died at the age of thirty-four. His younger daughter, Eloise, is the wife of H. S. Stokes and has one child, Colin. Doctor Brown is affiliated with Winston Lodge No. 167, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, has served as its chaplain and also as chaplain of Norfleet Camp of the United Confederate Vet- erans.
ZED GRIFFITH. A man of sterling qualities, pos- sessing a clear, keen, and alert intellect, Zed Grif- fith, cashier of the Bank of Thomasville, is held in high esteem as a man and a citizen, and as a financier his judgment and counsel are always valued. Coming from honored Welsh ancestry, and from patriotic revolutionary stock, he was born on a farm in Arcadia Township, Davidson County, North Carolina, being fifth in line of descent from the immigrant ancestor, the line being thus traced: Charles, Charles, Zadoc, Charles, Manły, and Zed.
Charles Griffith, a native of Wales, came to America with two of his brothers in colonial days, one brother settling in Maryland, one in Penn- sylvania, while he pushed further southward, lo- cating in North Carolina. Fighting bravely with the colonists in their struggle for independence, he was with Washington's army at Valley Forge, and was at Yorktown when Cornwallis surrendered. He spent the closing years of his life in Davie County, North Carolina, near Mocksville.
Charles Griffith was born, it is thought, in Rowan County, this state. Becoming interested in agriculture, he bought land in Davie County, and with the help of slaves improved the large planta- tion on which he resided until his death. His first wife, the great-grandmother of the subject of this sketch, was a Miss Chinn. She bore him five sons and three daughters, as follows: Dan, Zadoc, Richard, Robert, Frank, Susan, Margaret and Catherine.
Zadoe Griffith was born in Davie County, about six miles from Mocksville. After his marriage he settled in the Yadkin River Valley, in what is now Forsyth County, on land that his wife in- herited, and began life for himself as a farmer and a slaveholder. During the last year of the war he served in the Confederate army, and after- ward lived on his farm until his death, at the age of sixty-three years. He married Emily Johnson, who spent her entire life of eighty-two years on the farm where her birth occurred. Her father,
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James Johnson, who married a Miss Echols, owned a large tract of land in Forsyth County, about 200 acres of which was bottom land. Zadoc Griffith and his wife were members of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, and in that faith reared their four children, James Franklin, Charles Manly, Thomas Wharton, and Jennie.
Charles Manly Griffith was born, November 7, 1850, in Forsyth County, on a plantation lying two miles west of Clemmonsville. As a youth he at- tended the district schools, and later assisted in the management of the home farm, on which he remained until 1878. Locating then in Hampton Township, Davidson County, on land belonging to his mother-in-law, he managed it successfully for four years. Purchasing then a farm in Arcadia Township, he lived and labored there until 1890. Being then elected sheriff, he filled the office so ably that he was re-elected in 1892, and served faithfully in that position another full term, his home during that time having been in Thomas- ville. He then resumed his agricultural labors. Selling his farm in 1900, he purchased the Lam- beth Hotel in Thomasville, and managed it suc- cessfully for twelve years, being popular as "mein host." He has since lived retired from active business'cares. His wife, whose maiden name was Laura Caroline Clouse, was born in Clemmonsville Township, Forsyth County, a daughter of Joseph and Cynthia (Hampton) Clouse. Five children were born of their marriage, namely: James Thomas, Dion, Zed, Perry, and Charles Manly, second. Both he and his wife are faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
in the graded school at Thomasville, and afterwards continued his studies in Raleigh, at the Normal College of Agricultural and Mechanical Arts. In
Zed Griffith acquired his elementary education 1905 Mr. Griffith secured a position as clerk in the Bank of Thomasville, and during the next five years performed the duties devolving upon him so ably and faithfully that, in 1910, he was elected to his present responsible office of cashier and vice president.
Mr. Griffith married, in 1911, Miss May Sumner, a daughter of Capt. Julian E. and Jennie Sumner. Mr. and Mrs. Griffith are both identified by mem- bership with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and take an active interest in its work. Fraternally Mr. Griffith is a member of Thomasville Lodge No. 214, Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Ma- sons; and of Thomasville Council, Junior Order of United American Mechanics.
JUDGE CHATHAM CALHOUN LYON, a resident of Elizabethtown, Bladen County, where both he and his ancestors have lived, the family history dat- ing back prior to the Revolutionary war, is a distinguished lawyer and is now judge of the Superior Court. Judge Lyon has long enjoyed an enviable reputation as a lawyer, and his life and services have been only less noteworthy in the general field of citizenship.
An interesting portion of North Carolina was redeemed from the wilderness by the efforts of the Lyon family. That locality has long been known as Lyon's Landing. The ancestral home is about nine miles above Elizabethtown on the Cape Fear River in Bladen County. The little settlement takes its name as the place where Judge Lyon's great-grandfather, James Lyon, set- tled many years before the Revolutionary war when he came over from England. James Lyon
was a native of England but of French ancestry. When he came to North Carolina he brought his family including his son Robert Lyon, who was then twelve years old. James Lyon acquired a large tract of land along the Cape Fear River, established a home there and then started back for England to settle up his business affairs. While at sea he died. But his family continued to live in Bladen County, and his son Robert grew up, assumed the responsibilities of manhood and be- came one of the leading planters in the Cape Fear section and was long prominent in its pub- lic affairs, representing Bladen County in the Legislature for five successive terms. Robert Lyon at one time kept the famous old Wayside Inn at Lyon's Landing. This inn in ante-bellum days and before the building of railroads was a notable stopping place for travelers going to and from Wilmington and the upper country.
Judge Lyon's father, Joseph Lyon, a son of Robert and grandson of the original James, was born at the old estate in 1807. Before the war he was a lieutenant colonel of the North Caro- lina Militia for Bladen County and during the war, though well advanced in years, served as a member of the Home Guard. Colonel Lyon mar- ried Mary Jane Lucas, who died in 1855, when her son Judge Lyon was only five years of age. She was a member of the well known Lucas fam- ily of Bladen County. The Lucases were of French Hugenot extraction and her ancestors came from France to Charleston, South Carolina, in colonial times. Judge Lyon's only surviving brother, Mr. C. W. Lyon, is now the owner and occupant of the ancestral home above Elizabeth- town, and that section is endeared to the family by a host of associations and memories.
Judge Lyon was born in 1850 and in 1860 he went to live in the home of an uncle, Mr. J. J. D. Lucas, at Whitehall, just below Elizabethtown. Mr. Lucas soon afterward became a colonel of the North Carolina troops in the war between the states. Though a boy at the time Judge Lyon has many recollections of the strife which devas- tated the State of North Carolina and in which members of his own family bore an honorable part. Though his education was necessarily some- what neglected during that critical period, he at- tended for several years the Maysville High School in Bladen County, and then took up the study of law in the office of his older brother, the late Robert H. Lyon, at Elizabethtown. He was still young when licensed to practice law in January, 1872. Judge Lyon began practice associated with his brother, and soon gained a reputation as a forceful advocate and a man of thorough learn- ing and ability, and for over thirty years he had the handling of some of the most important legal interests in Bladen County. In the minds of the people his abilities as a lawyer have always been associated with a splendid integrity of char- acter. and the combination has given him much power and influence in the community as well as the state at large.
In 1906 he was elected judge of the Superior Court for the regular term of eight years. In 1914 he was reelected, and prior to his first term he had served his district for five years as solici- tor. To the work of the jurist Judge Lyon brought long experience, a secure prestige, and has served as a dignified and impartial judge. Such public service on the part of such a man
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must necessarily mean self sacrifice. He gave up to a large extent his profitable law practice in order to attend to his duties on the bench.
For recreation Judge Lyon has found nothing more satisfactory than life in the open and at times he considers himself a practical farmer. He owns two fine farms in Bladen County, one near Elizabethtown and the other in French's Creek Township. To farming as a practical business proposition and as one of the great resources of the state Judge Lyon has given not a little thought and attention. He has exemplified the principle of mixed farming, and besides his field crops he raises some fine stock, particularly Berk- shire hogs.
Judge Lyon has been twice married and both his wives are now deceased. All his children are by his first wife, who was Miss Margaret Rich- ardson. His second wife was Mrs. Mary E. (Robinson) Stedman. Judge Lyon's children are : Homer LeGrande Lyon, a successful lawyer and now serving as solicitor of the Wilmington Dis- triet; Mattie, wife of Mr. J. M. Clark, sheriff of Bladen County; Joseph Alden Lyon, a lawyer at Elizabethtown; and Terry Alexander Lyon, a Fayetteville lawyer, and at this writing, 1918, assistant judge advocate with the rank of major of Thirty-seventh Division, United States Troops, known as the "Buckeye" Division .:
CHARLES J. HAMRICK. For over a century and a half the Hamricks have lived and prospered in Cleveland County, North Carolina, and the present head of the family, Charles J. Hamrick, soldier, planter and merchant, still owns a part of the ancestral estate. Mr. Hamrick belongs to the oldest family of continuous residence in this section of North Carolina.
Charles J. Hamrick was born in 1833, near his present home at Boiling Springs, Cleveland Coun- ty, North Carolina. His parents were J. Y. and Catherine (Hardin) Hamrick. The family is of German extraction, the great-great-grandfather of Mr. Hamrick being the German emigrant to Penn- sylvania in 1728. Some years prior to the Rev- olutionary war, with other compatriots, he re- moved to North Carolina, and the record of the family shows that his son, James Hamrick, was the earliest settler on Beaver Dam Creek, in what is now Cleveland County, on land which today is a part of his great-grandson's farm.
J. Y. Hamrick, father of Charles J., was born in 1807, a son of George Hamrick and a grandson of James Hamrick. J. Y. Hamrick became an influential man and prominent citizen. He owned vast sections of land, rich plantations and many slaves and used his wealth and influence. as a good steward. After Cleveland County was or- ganized, he was sent as the first member to the State Legislature, in 1844-45, and again in 1848- 49, but in the prime of his usefulness he was called away, his death occurring in 1849. So sound was his judgment and so just were his conclusions on all matters, both as a statesman and as a private citizen, that his loss was long lamented by his public associates and his neigh- bors as well.
Charles J. Hamrick was reared on the paternal plantation and for many years agriculture claimed the greater part of his attention, but in later years he became associated with a son in the mercantile business. In 1861, when war broke out between the states, Mr. Hamrick entered the Confederate service and served with notable valor
for three and a half stormy years as a member of Company D, Fifty-fifth North Carolina In- fantry. Although he survived the struggle and returned to peaceful pursuits, it was with a bullet in his right arm, received at the Battle of the Wilderness.
Mr. Hamrick's plantation interests are quite ex- tensive, his land lying mostly to the east of his home at Boiling Springs, extending toward Beaver Dam Creek. About 500 acres are fine agricultural land and in addition he has a large acreage of timber. The business firm of C. J. Hamrick & Son, general merchants, was established at Boiling Springs in 1881 and is one of the successful business enterprises of the place. Boiling Springs, appropriately named from a feature of nature in this locality, is situated nine miles west of Shelby and five miles south of Lattimore, with beautiful and healthy surroundings.
Mr. Hamrick was married to Miss Sarah Ham- rick, of distant relationship, who is now deceased. Four children were born to them, namely: Elijah B., who is his father's partner in the firm of C. J. Hamrick & Son; O. N. Hamrick; Mrs. Catherine Green; and J. Y., who died in April, 1917. The late J. Y. Hamrick was a man of note in public affairs. Primarily a farmer, he entered politics and was elected first a member of the lower house of the State Legislature and later a member of the Senate, and also served for four years as state labor commissioner for North Caro- lina. The eldest son, Elijah B. Hamrick, was married to Miss Cora G. Green, a member of an old and prominent family in the Boiling Springs vicinity. They have one son, James Y., who is a practicing physician at Boiling Springs. He was graduated in medicine from Columbia University, New York, after which he spent three years in hospital work in that city and for one year be- fore locating at Boiling Springs had charge of a hospital in Newfoundland.
In the course of his long and useful life Mr. Hamrick has been identified with mary move- ments of importance to this section. He has been interested in numerous philanthropic enterprises, and the cause of education has always enlisted his attention. He was one of the founders and patrons of the Boiling Springs Academy, a high class educational institution for both sexes. It is a Baptist school and was established in 1907, under the ausnices of the Kings Mountain and Sandy Ridge Baptist associations. It has hand- some buildings and fine equipments, and its ad- vantages are equal to any like school in the state and attendance is large.
RICHARD JOSEPH GALLOWAY. The Galloway family has long been prominent at Mount Airy, both in business affairs and socially. Richard Joseph Galloway followed his father as a mer- chant in that city and has many other interests that now require his time and business judgment.
He was born in the City of Mount Airy, De- cember 10, 1867. He is of Scotch ancestry. His grandfather, Charles Galloway, was a native of Rockingham County, North Carolina, and in the early days had a plantation and farmed it with the aid of his slaves. He spent all his life in Rockingham County. He married Sally Michaux, who was born in Virginia, daughter of Richard and Mary (Macon) Michaux. Richard Michaux was a native of Virginia and of direct French ancestry. He came to North Carolina when his daughter Sally was but a few years old.
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Robert R. Galloway, father of Richard J., was born on a plantation near Leaksville in Rock- ingham County, was reared and educated there, and at the age of nineteen married a Miss Smith, who died eight months later. Then when still under age he became associated with his uncle in the management of the Piedmont Springs, a sum- mer resort in Surry County. While at the Springs he met Mary Virginia Cardwell, and before he was twenty-one they were married. They then removed to Mount Airy, and he took up merchan- dising. His wife's inheritance was a large tract of land beginning at the Dry Bridge on North Main street and extending into the country a mile or more. Robert R. Galloway built his own home, a commodious residence, on high ground a few blocks west of the bridge. Among other accom- plishments he was gifted in music and when the war broke out he enlisted as a musician. After the war he continued merchandising and farming and subsequently gave his entire attention to the management of his extensive real estate interests. He lived in Mount Airy until his death. His wife, Mary Virginia Cardwell, was born on a plantation close to Mount Airy. Her father, Richard Cardwell, a native of Stokes County, came to Surry County and bought a large tract of land, a part of which is now included in the City of Mount Airy, and some of it in the adjacent val- ley. Mr. Cardwell's own home was about a half mile from the city. He lived there surrounded with every comfort that affluence could give, and before the war cultivated his numerous acres by the aid of his slaves. He married Rachel Moore, a daughter of William and Mary (Martin) Moore. William Moore was born on a plantation near Dan- bury in Stokes County, and he subsequently owned and operated a large farm on the Dan River, where he died when about eighty years of age. He survived his wife several years. Mrs. Rachel Card- well after the death of her first husband married Samuel Moore, and she passed away at the age of eighty-four.
Richard Joseph Galloway grew up at Mount Airy, attended the public schools there, and also supplemented his early education with a business course at Eastman's Business College at Pough- keepsie, New York. On returning home he took a place in his father's store, and finally concen- trated his time upon the millinery business, which he has continued to conduct to the present time. He also succeeded to the ownership of his ma- ternal grandfather's plantation and much of his time is spent in its superintendence.
At the age of twenty-four Mr. Galloway mar- ried Miss Agnes Nutt. She was born in Rowan County, North Carolina, a daughter of Richard and Elizabeth Nutt. Five children have been born to their marriage: Margaret Cardwell, Rob- ert R., Wingate, Philip and Agnes. Mr. and Mrs. Galloway are active members of the Baptist Church and he is one of the trustees. Fraternally he is affiliated with Granite Lodge No. 322, An- cient Free and Accepted Masons.
PAUL DAVIS GRADY, whose work as a lawyer is especially concerned with the civil branch of prac- tice, recently came to Raleigh from Wilson, North Carolina, and is now practicing with offices in the Commercial Bank Building.
He was born in Wayne County, North Carolina, September 5, 1888, a son of James Calhoun and Ella (Outlaw) Grady. His father was a physician. Mr. Grady is a product of some of the best schools
of the country. He attended the Tennessee Mili- tary Institute, the Gilbert College at Greensboro, North Carolina, and in 1910 graduated in the law course from Washington and Lee University at Lexington, Virginia. After his admission to the bar he practiced at Wilson, North Carolina, until 1916, when he removed to Raleigh, and though a newcomer and one of the younger members of the bar has already attracted attention by his very able work.
On June 10, 1908, Mr. Grady married Miss Lelia Swink of Lexington, Virginia. They have three children : Eloise, Elsie and Paul Davis, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Grady are members of the First Presby- terian Church of Raleigh.
CHRISTOPHER C. MCLELLAN. It is exceedingly interesting, as it is somewhat unusual, in the ordi- nary efforts of the biographer to bring forward every possible record pertaining to a family so that the page of history may be authentic and truly reflect their deeds, to find in an active busi- ness man of today a surviving grandson of a soldier of the Revolutionary war. This distinc- tion belongs to Christopher C. Mclellan, a veteran officer of the war between the states, and owner of mill property and farming land near Godwin, in Cumberland County, North Carolina.
As his name indicates, Christopher C. Mclellan is of Scotch ancestry, but of American parentage. He was born in Cumberland County, North Caro- lina, in 1847, a son of Archibald and Sallie (Mc- Donald) MeLellan. Archibald MeLellan was born on the old Mclellan homestead in Cumberland County, which has been the lifelong home of his son, Christopher C. His father was Daniel Mc- Clellan, who was born in the Highlands of Scot- land and came to the American colonies and set- tled in North Carolina in 1766. He located in what is now Cumberland County and established a plantation which has ever since been in the family, situated about two miles from the present Town of Godwin, 'and here the MeLellans have lived, multiplied and prospered for over 150 years.
Daniel Mclellan was accompanied to America by two brothers, perhaps older than himself as they had been required to take an oath of allegi- ance to Great Britain before setting forth, and thus the unhappy situation that has since been many times duplicated was brought about, of brothers fighting on opposite sides in war. Daniel, having decided where he desired to make his per- manent home, was willing to fight, if need be, for the privilege, and proved his courage and loyalty during the Revolution. He was a good soldier and among his descendants other good soldiers have been found. One of his sons, Malcolm Mc- Lellan, took part in the Seminole war in Florida; another, John McLellan, served at Fort Johnson, at the mouth of the Cape Fear River, in the War of 1812 and possibly in the Mexican war; while in the war between the states four of his grand- sons, Daniel, Neal, Archibald and Christopher C., fought for principles they believed to be right. A granddaughter, Mrs. Catherine (McLellan) Tew, a resident of Cumberland County and an older sister of Christopher C., retains a vivid recollection of this old pioneer and soldier and relates many in- teresting anecdotes concerning his military experi- ences and his early days in Cumberland County.
Christopher C. Mclellan grew up on the home place, where industry and thrift always prevailed, for his mother also was of Scotch parentage (her
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