USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume IV > Part 91
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mother being a McSwain), and he was given re- ligious instruction as well as taught obedienee and frugality. As he looks baek he deems the first serious event of his life to have been his enlist- ment, in 1864, when seventeen years old, as a pri- vate in Company H, Seventy-seeond North Caro- lina Infantry, later becoming lieutenant of his company. After enlistment he went with his eom- pany, in the Junior Reserves, to Wilmington and from there to Fort Johnson at Southport, where he remained until Oetober, 1864. Then he aeeom- panied his regiment to Virginia and took part in the Battle of Bellford, after which the regiment returned to Wilmington, following which eame the defense of Fort Fisher, in which the Confederates endured a terrifie and continuous bombardment of several days from the Federal war ships. Mr. Mclellan lost many of his eomrades but he was one of the survivors that took part in the last battles of the war in North Carolina, those of Kinston and Bentonville.
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Since the war closed Mr. MeLellan has pursued peaceful pursuits in his native county and has lived on the old homestead. For a number of years he was engaged agriculturally and later be- eame interested in milling enterprises. A few years baek he sold a large tract of land for mill purposes to the Rhodes Mill Company, in which he owns a one-fifth interest. This tract embraees the large pond, a part of the South River, which gives the fine water power utilized by the mill. The Rhodes Mill was built in 1817, by John Smith of Cumberland County, and although a century old, is yet a profitable property, having at various times been improved and modernized. Mr. Me- Lellan represented Cumberland County in the Leg- islature in the session of 1885.
He was married to Miss Carrie Rhodes, who died in 1910, the beloved mother of five ehildren: Mrs. Lizzie MeNeill, Mrs. Lillian Jones, Mrs. Mary Denson, Rhodes and Christopher C., Jr. Rhodes MeLellan is manager of the mill above mentioned.
Old Bluff Presbyterian Church, founded in 1758, is probably one of the most historie ehurehes in North Carolina and this has been the religious home of the MeLellan family for five generations, beginning with the Revolutionary patriot, Daniel MeLellan. Other old and stable enterprises of this seetion have been founded and fostered by this family and individually and as a body they are held in the highest esteem by all who know them, and in the ease of Mr. Mclellan of this reeord real affeetion is entertained beeause of his genial and benevolent personality.
HARRY SKINNER. His position as president of the North Carolina Bar Association in 1915-16, not to mention the many other professional and publie honors which he has enjoyed, gives the ea- reer of Mr. Harry Skinner especial interest to the eitizens of North Carolina and especially to the members of the bar, among whom he has long been prominent.
He was born in Perquimans County, North Car- olina, May 25, 1855, son of James C. and Elmira (Ward) Skinner. He is a direet descendant of that large and influential family of Skinners from the Albemarle seetion of the state whose charae- ter, means and influence have in a large meas- ure shaped the history and development of that favored section. He is directly deseended from Gen. William Skinner, of the Revolutionary war. His great-grandfather, Hon. John Skinner, served with eredit in the Legislature and in the State
Senate for many years. The graudfather, Hon. Harry Skinner, for whom the Greenville law- yer was named, also represeuted for many years his county and district in the Legislature and iu the State Senate.
James C. Skinner, his father, was a man of great foree of character and brilliant miud, and in ante-bellum days a large slave and land holder. He took a prominent part in publie affairs, be- ing a delegate to the National Democratic Con- vention of 1860, at the time of the division of the democratic party. He represented the first senatorial distriet in the Senate of North Car- olina in 1870-72, and took part in the impeach- ment trial of Governor W. W. Holden.
Mr. Harry Skinner spent his boyhood in his uative county, attending Hertford Academy. In 1873, at a time when the University of North Carolina was in eclipse, he entered the University of Kentucky at Lexington (Transylvania) and was graduated from that excellent law school in June, 1875, LL. B. In August of the same year he moved to Greenville, where he continued his studies under the direction of Maj. L. C. La- tham. At the January term, 1876, of the Su- preme Court he was licensed to practice law, and at once formed a partnership with his preceptor, under the style of Latham & Skinner. This con- tinued until the death of Major Latham in 1894. The firm enjoyed a large and lucrative practice, the senior member being recognized as one of the best equipped all around trial lawyers in Eastern North Carolina. After the death of Major Latham Mr. Skinner formed a partner- ship with his nephew, H. W. Whetbee, uow Judge Whetbee, which continued until Judge Whetbee's elevation to the bench in 1911. Mr. Skinner has practieed without a partner since then and has one of the best elienteles of any attorney in East- ern North Carolina.
His publie service has been notable. Iu 1901 he was appointed United States distriet attorney, serving eight years. He was reappointed for a second term, without having to file any petition, and sometime in advance of the expiration of his first term. His work as United States dis- trict attorney was characterized with sueh effi- ciency and with such geueral satisfaction to the department of justice that it was generally taken for granted on the death of Hon. T. R. Purnell, United States district judge, that Mr. Skinner would be his suecessor. Factional differences in the party prevented his appointment.
Mr. Skinner was town eouneilman of Green- ville in 1878, was a member and aide de eamp to Governor Jarvis from 1879 to 1886, and was a trustee of the University of North Carolina from 1898 to 1902.
He was a member of the Legislature of 1891, eleeted by the unprecedented majority in those days of 1,076. While a member of the Legisla- ture he served as chairman of the committee on internal improvements, was a member of the judiciary, educational and insane asylum eommit- tees and chairman of the house branch of the committee on redistricting the state. In this Legislature he was regarded as progressive. Among measures introdueed were those requiring a doeket of eriminal and eivil procedure, the establishment of an orphans' eourt, one presenting sale of land under mortgage or execution which did not bring 50 per cent of its tax value. With Hon. R. D. Gilmer he made the chief fight on the floor of the House for the bill providing for the establish-
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ment of the Industrial Training School for Girls at Greensboro. He advocated liberal appropri- ations to the Southern Soldiers' Home, for com- pleting the governor's mansion, for the Colum- bian Exposition, for the extension of the Atlan- tic & North Carolina Railroad, and for a railroad commission, introducing measures prescribing the duties of such railroad commission, also a bill for appointing a committee to codify the laws upon corporation and to make suggestions to the fol- lowing Legislature whereby they might be re- lieved of the great bulk of private legislation. Mr. Skinner was tendered but declined in 1892 the nomination for governor and for Congress offered by the populist party.
In 1894 he was elected to the Fifty-fourth Con- gress and in 1896 re-elected to the Fifty-fifth Con- gress. While in Congress he served on important committees, one being the public buildings and grounds committee. He introduced, advocated and put into the Congressional Record all the nec- essary data connected with the inland water way. He introduced the bill entitled Equal Protection, which had for its purpose fixing a stable price for cotton, and also a bill establishing a land basis for national bank issue. He advocated an enlargement of the navy and the state of pre- paredness, not for offensive but for defensive pur- poses. It is necessary to remember that these measures, showing the trend of his mind and thought, were advocated more than twenty years ago. The Congressmen who are described as pro- gressive have hardly taken a more advanced stand during the last five or six years, As a matter of fact Mr. Skinner was perhaps twenty years in advance of his time, and largely for that reason his measures met with disfavor, though they have since been advocated by both parties and many of them have been written into the basic laws of the nation.
As early as 1886 Mr. Skinner wrote an article entitled "A Landed Basis for our National Bank Issue, " embodying the same pivotal ideas con- tained in the Federal Reserve Bank Act. His article also contemplated the rural credit system. This article was afterward published in Frank Leslie's Illustrated of issue November 30, 1889, under the heading "The Hope of the South." It is said this article was read on the floor of the St. Louis Convention and became the basic idea upon which the sub-treasury suggested by the Farmers' Alliance was adopted. The same idea was contained in a more practical form in a bill introduced in Congress by Mr. Skinner looking toward Government control of the South's cotton crop. Apparently, therefore, the claims made for him have been well founded as origi- nator of asset banking and as the first to sug- gest the Government control of cotton crops in Southern States.
Mr. Skinner has long been prominent both in the North Carolina State Bar Association and the American Bar Association. In the State As- sociation he served several terms as chairman of the executive committee, and in the American Bar Association served two years as vice presi- dent for North Carolina and three terms was ap- pointed by the president of the American Bar Association the committeeman from North Caro- lina on the important committee to resist the call of judges. His last appointment to that position was made by Hon. Elihu Root, president of the association.
Mr. Skinner is a member of the Masonic Order
and of the Episcopal Church. June 5, 1878, he married Miss Lottie Montiero, of Richmond, Vir- ginia. To their marriage were born Miss Wini- fred Skinner, Mr. Harry Skinner, Jr., Ella Mon- tiero Skinner and Lottie Skinner. Harry Skin- ner, Jr., a bright and promising lawyer was killed in an unfortunate automobile accident in No- vember, 1909. Ella Montiero Skinner married A. M. Moseley and resides in Greenville. Lot- tie Skinner married George B. Cooper, manager of the Export Leaf Tobacco Company of Bristol, England. For his second wife Mr. Skinner mar- ried October 26, 1895, Miss Ella Montiero. By this union there is one son, Francis Xaviar Skinner, who is now a volunteer in the United States serv- ice as yeoman in the Naval Reserves.
LUTHER WELLINGTON BEAMER. In the locality where his forefathers lived for generations Luther W. Beamer has quietly but successfully followed the pursuits of farming and stock raising, and has accomplished those things which give him an honorable place in the community and in the state. Mr. Beamer's farm is near Mount Airy in Surry County.
He was born in Stuarts Creek Township of that county September 14, 1877. His lineage in that section goes back to his great-great-grandfather, Henry Beamer, who so far as known spent the majority of his active years in Stuarts Creek Township and was an early day planter. The great-grandfather was John Beamer, who ack quired extensive tracts of land in that township. The lumber of which his house was constructed was "whip-sawed" and the few nails used in tying the timbers together were made by the local blacksmith. The shingles on the roof were rived by hand. Most of the labor in the fields on this plantation was performed by slaves. John Beamer continued to live in Stuarts Creek Township until his death. He reared four sons: Reuben, Frost, Jacob and Andy. The descendants of these sons are still numerously represented in this section of North Carolina.
Frost Beamer, who was also born in Stuarts Creek Township, inherited a portion of his father's acres, had some slaves, and, like his father, was a life-long resident of that locality. He married Miss Cunningham, and they reared one son, Adam Jefferson, and five daughters, named Julina, Mary Ann, Caroline, Nancy and Rachel.
Adam Jefferson Beamer was born in Stuarts Creek Township, October 27, 1844. He grew up on the farm and was about seventeen when the war broke out. He enlisted in the Thirty-seventh Vir- ginia Regiment of Cavalry, and was in active service during a large part of the war. After per- forming his duties to his country he returned home, and his father gave him a tract of land. On that he built a log cabin, and there he and his young bride commenced housekeeping. His voca- tion after that was general farming, and his suc- cess enabled him to acquire a large and well de- veloped plantation, which he occupied until his death on December 7, 1911. Adam J. Beamer married Mary Golding, who was born in Stuarts Creek Township, a daughter of William and Jane (Felts) Golding. She died in 1913. Her grand- father, William Golding, Sr., owned a plantation in Stuarts Creek Township. He married Lucy Jones, daughter of Minatin Jones, who was a Virginia planter and at one time represented his district in the Virginia State Legislature. William Golding, Jr., maternal grandfather of Luther W.
ELLINGTON
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
Beamer, was born in Stuarts Creek Township, was a farmer, and spent his active career in Surry County. During the Civil war he served as an officer in the Home Guards. Adam J. Beamer and wife reared six children : William F., Mary Jane, Columbus, Luther W., Letitia and Gertrude.
Luther W. Beamer attended the rural schools during his youth and by working on the farm was well qualified for the duties and responsibilities of an agriculturist when he came to manhood. He finally succeeded to the ownership of the old homestead, and has carried forward its improve- ment so as to make it a farm in keeping with the most modern standards and creditable to a family which has lived so long in this section. He has erected a barn, has remodeled the house, and his improvements are among the best to be found in that township. His business is general farming and stock raising.
On December 30, 1915, Mr. Beamer married Eliza Virginia Jones, who was born in Stuarts Creek Township, a daughter of Francis and Eliza (McGrady) Jones. Her parents were natives of Virginia and came to Stuarts Creek Township and bought a farm, on which they spent their last years. Mrs. Beamer attended the Whitehead Academy in Grayson County, Virginia and was graduated as a trained nurse at St. Peters Hos- pital in Charlotte, North Carolina. Both Mr. and Mrs. Beamer were reared in the Baptist faith. Fraternally he is affiliated with Mount Airy Lodge No. 107, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and with Blue Ridge Council No. 73, Junior Order of United American Mechanics.
WILLIAM WASHINGTON FIFE. A man of superior business ability and judgment, and of pleasing address, the late William Washington Fife was for many years actively identified with the mer- cantile and financial interests of Thomasville, and occupied a place of note among the worthy and respected citizens of Davidson County. A son of William Fife, he was born, it is thought, in the eastern part of North Carolina, of Scotch ancestry.
Having served an apprenticeship at the tailor's trade when young, he followed it for a time in his native county. During the progress of the Civil war, he came to Davidson County, and for several years was actively and prosperously engaged in mercantile pursuits in Thomasville. Being forced on account of ill health to dispose of his stock of merchandise, Mr. Fife embarked in the brokerage business, which he conducted as long as he was able, the closing years of his life being spent in Thomasville, retired from business activities.
Mr. Fife married Olivia Davis, a native of Eastern North Carolina. She died at the early age of thirty-six years, leaving five children, namely : Mary, Sarah, Emma, William Pell, and Eugenia.
William Pell Fife, the only son of the parental household, acquired a good education when young, and being endowed with strong religious tendencies he became an evangelist in the Presbyterian Church, and carried on the work successfully for a number of years. Being obliged to relinquish his ministerial labors, on account of a serious throat trouble, he became interested in a mining enterprise, with which he was connected until his death. His wife, whose maiden name was Jennie Whitford, was a native of Newbern, North Caro- lina. She survives him, with her two children, Wil- liam Washington, and Elma, who married Carlton Newby.
Eugenia Fife, the youngest child of her parents, is the only member of the household now living in Thomasville. She is a woman of talent and ability, and for upwards of thirty years has been prosper- ously engaged in the millinery business. She is an active and consistent member of the Main Street Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and belongs to both the Foreign and the Home Missionary Society.
ERNEST FOSTER YOUNG, though now known throughout many of the eastern counties of North Carolina as one of the ablest lawyers and men in public affairs, deserves primary credit in this his- tory for the worthy and energetic part he played as the upbuilder of that flourishing business town and agricultural center known as Dunn in Harnett County.
Mr. Young was very youthful when he went to that incipient village in 1888, which had been estab- lished following the construction of the new sec- tion of the Atlantic Coast Line, now the main artery of that great railroad system. Soon after reaching here Mr. Young embarked in the mercan- tile business, being one of the first merchants in the town. He built the first brick building, a structure now occupied by the Goldstein Company. He also helped establish the first bank and be- came president of the Merchants and Farmers Bank. He was responsible for Dunn's first large factory, the South Dunn Manufacturing Com- pany, at that time one of the largest furniture making institutions in the state. He was respon- sible for the building of the Dunn Oil Mills, and he was associated with John A. McKay in estab- lishing the John A. Mckay Manufacturing Com- pany. Mr. Young constructed Dunn's first to- bacco warehouse, bought a gas plant to light the streets, built a roller flour mill, formed the South- ern Lumber Company, and was one of those citi- zens chiefly responsible for bringing the Erwin Cotton Mills to this part of the state.
A leader in the beginning, Mr. Young has re- laxed none of his diligence and vigilance and public spirit in forwarding everything that is good and beneficial to the community. Today Dunn is the center of what is probably the richest agri- cultural region in North Carolina. A bale of cot- ton per acre is a regular thing year after year and what were formerly poor farmers have grown wealthy under the improved agricultural methods of the present day and the high prices for farm products.
Ernest Foster Young was born in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, in 1871, and in the same year his parents moved to North Carolina, locating at Wilson, where the son was reared and educated. He is a son of John T. S. and Mary (Foster) Young. His father's mother was a member of the noted Sydnor family of Virginia.
From mercantile and other business connections Mr. Young retired, and having studied law, though without any college preparation, he was admitted to the bar in 1906. The subsequent twelve years have put him well to the front among the lawyers of prominence and ability in Eastern North Caro- lina, and his general practice extends over several counties and he has handled much important liti- gation in both state and federal courts. He has hosts of admiring friends and supporters through- out Harnett and adjoining counties, and among all classes of people he has exercised a strong influ- ence in molding and directing political opinion and action. In 1912 he was elected a member of
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the Lower House of the State Legislature, and did some highly creditable work during the ses- sion of 1913.
Mr. Young married Miss Alma Fleming, whose former home was near Raleigh in Wake County. They have two children, Mrs. Isabel Williams and J. Robert Young. J. Robert Young is now ex- pressing the patriotism of the family in a practical fashion as an officer in the One Hundred Nine- teenth Infantry of the National Army.
ERNEST LINWOOD WILLIS. For many years the name Willis has been prominently associated with the mechanical and manufacturing industries of Newbern, where Mr. E. L. Willis is now presi- deut of the Newbern Iron Works. He is a son of Philip Augustus and Rosa W. (Dixon) Wil- lis, his father now being retired after a long and active connection with the foundry and machine business and the handling of dredge machinery and supplies.
Ernest Linwood Willis was born at Newbern August 24, 1887, was educated in the Newbern High School, and served a complete apprentice- ship in the foundry, machine and supply house of his father. He knows every phase of the business from the technical processes of the foun- dry to the counting room, aud in his position as president he is in touch with and responsible for every detail of management in the Newbern Iron Works and Supply Company, whose two plants are located at Newbern and Fayetteville.
Mr. Willis is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, aud is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He was mar- ried April 19, 1911, to Miss Mary Waller Denmead, of West Point, Virginia. Her father, Charles Denmead, is a prominent lumber manufacturer and also a marine and railway engineer. They have one son, Ernest Linwood, Jr., born April 4, 1913.
JAMES ASHBY ALBRITTON. One of the ablest lawyers of Greene County is James Ashby Al- britton, who has successfully practiced as a mem- ber of the Snow Hill bar for a quarter of a cen- tury. In the character of a hard working and able lawyer Mr. Albritton has handled an im- mense volume of professional business and at the same time has acquainted himself with the needs of the community and in many ways has served the public to advantage.
He was born at Snow Hill December 17, 1869, a son of James Henry and Mary Ann (Sugg) Al- britton. His father for many years was a mer- chant. Educated in the Snow Hill Academy, the Davis School at LaGrange, and in the Univer- sity of North Carolina, both in the literary and law departments, Mr. Albritton was found qual- ified for admission to the bar in 1892. He at once located in the town where he had been reared, and soon acquired a profitable general practice. That practice has continued to the present time.
Mr. Albritton has served Snow Hill as mayor, was formerly county superintendent of educa- tion, and in 1909-10 was member of the Legisla- ture from Greene County. With the exception of two years he has served as county attorney since 1898, and in 1916-17 was solicitor for the county.
Mr. Albritton is an active member of the North Carolina Bar Association and fraternally is affil-
iated with the Masonic Order and the Knights of Pythias.
CAPT. HENRY L. RIGGINS, of Winston-Salem, long identified with the fortune and upbuilding of this city, was born opposite the City of Rich- mond in Henrico County, Virginia, August 1, 1861, a son of William S. and Sally (Jeffries) Crafton. His parents spent their lives in Virginia and died when Captain Riggins was very young. After that he was adopted by Capt. J. J. Riggius and wife and took their family name. Their home was in Prince Edward County, where Captain Riggins was reared and educated.
He began his business career at the age of twenty in Danville, Virginia, as clerk in the To- bacco Manufacturing Company establishment of J. F. Oyler & Company. A great fund of energy and ambition led him to rapid accumulation of knowledge concerning the business in every detail, and he was in the course of time promoted to man- ager of the manufacturing and export leaf de- with the firm of Holland, Hickey & Company, un- der the name Holland, Hickey, Oyler & Company, Captain Riggins was made general manager of the larger concern and was successfully engaged in business there until on account of ill health he removed to North Carolina.
On locating at Winston Captain Riggins entered the service of M. N. Williamson & Company. He was put in charge of their export business, and was with the company a number of years. Later he became associated with L. F. and A. B. Gorrell in the export leaf tobacco business. This business had a flourishing existence, but in time the factory was destroyed by fire and as there was no insur- ance Captain Riggins lost heavily.
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