USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume V > Part 12
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When Henry Warren Hood was a child his father died and consequently he had little opportunity to obtain an education such as continuous attend- ance at school could afford. He was one of a large family, and the responsibilities of life came to him early. His mother, a woman of strong and ster-
ling character, was exceedingly ambitious for her children and determined to make worthy men of them. Thus she herself supervised their educa- tion, and encouraged and trained them in those fundamentals which are at the bedrock of a suc- cessful career.
Henry Warren Hood became self-supporting at the age of ten years and from that time until his death it is said that he did not lose six months from the active service which he gave the world as a business man and citizen. In 1877 his mother removed to Raleigh, and Henry Warren soon ob- tained employment in a dry goods house. He re- mained with that firm until he was twenty years of age. His mother feeling that Raleigh was too small a city to afford the advantages which her ambition craved for her children, then removed to Baltimore, Maryland, in 1882, and in that city obtained a position for her boys in different whole- sale houses. Warren entered a dry goods firm, and at that time it was necessary for any young man beginning a commercial career to start at the bot- tom. His position with the firm was that of stock boy. He soon realized that his opportunities were limited in this particular firm and after a year he changed employment and went with one of the oldest and largest notion houses of Baltimore. There he rose rapidly in the favor of his superiors and in the ability to accomplish work for the benefit of the firm. After a year he was sent out on the road as a traveling salesman, and for six- teen years he represented the John A. Horner Com- pany of Baltimore and carried their goods to the merchants of both the Carolinas. He possessed the ability of true salesmanship, was genial, a man of unexampled integrity and morality, and made firm and lasting friendships wherever he went.
In 1888 Mr. Hood married Miss Kate Foley, daughter of Capt. Richard F. and Amanda Foley of Baltimore. The year following their marriage they removed to Southport, North Carolina, and that city has since been the family home. Of the three children born to their marriage the only one now living is Henry Warren, Jr., elsewhere referred to.
On coming to Southport Mr. Hood secured a stock of goods and opened a store with Mrs. Hood in active charge. He himself still continued as a traveling salesman, and thus he and his wife were closely associated in the venture which subsequently became one of the largest and most important mercantile enterprises of Southport. By 1890 the store had outgrown the small building it occupied, and was then moved to larger quarters, attended by an increase in the stock. In 1902 another change was demanded because of the continued growth of the business, and an addition was made to the store building. About that time the responsibilities of the Southport store became too heavy for Mrs. Hood to carry alone, and he then retired from the road and gave his personal time and energy to the management of the store. Thence forward the Southport business had an uninterrupted and suc- cessful existence. In 1904 Mr. Hood bought the two-story frame building occupied by his stock of goods and also the dwelling house adjoining it, and again enlarged both the store and stock. He was a real merchant, had an intimate knowledge of goods and the best methods of handling them, and he gave a close study to every detail of mer- chandising. His constant endeavor was to render better service through his business. In 1911 he moved the old frame building and erected in its
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Jam komick
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
place a handsome and modern two-story brick business house, the interior finishing being solid oak fittings. In that new store the business has since been continued. During 1914 Mr. Hood's health began to fail, and early in 1915 he took in his son as a business associate and soon after he had to give up active management altogether and on the 4th of June his life came to a quiet close.
That he was a man of strong character needs no . business circles of Southport, it has been in con-
other evidence than the brief outline of events which have been described. With all his ability and his wide experience, he was a man of retiring nature, had no ambitions for the honors of politics, but was a strong and ardent democrat. His friends knew him as a deep and logical thinker, and one whose loyalty and support could be enlisted for every worthy undertaking. He served for two terms as alderman of Southport, was secretary and treasurer of the school board, was treasurer of the Southport Commercial Association, and was reared in the Baptist Church and was an Odd Fellow.
Of his character as a man and citizen the best appreciation will be found in the words of one who knew him for many years and expressed edi- torially in a local paper at the time of his death. A partial quotation from this editorial is an ap- propriate conclusion for this brief sketch of a notable North Carolina business man.
"He was honest and just and his every action was that of a man who trusted in his neighbor and there was an impulse toward charity that, although not of the loud kind, was sincere and distinct. His well known success in business and the popularity of his store for many years attest more than anything else the popularity of the man. He was one of those citizens who are a credit to any community and one whose loss will be dis- tinetly felt, both in a business and personal way.
"There is no language at our command by which we can fittingly portray the sincerity of this man's Christian character; and in the experience of a lifetime, the writer hereof can safely say, he has never met one who seemed to more clearly walk hand in hand with God. Conscience guided his every act, both in business and pleasure. He was a model of mental industry in his efforts to enter- tain and instruct his friends and acquaintances. With more than ordinary business acumen he helped along others and there are many people in this city who can say that Mr. Hood was the means of making real men and women of them, both by advice and example. He was strictly honest in the service he rendered. In short, he was not only a model Christian but he was an honorable gentle- man, in the highest sense that term implies. To man, woman or child, saint or sinner, he always extended a cordial greeting that lent a ray of light to brighten their pathway in the journey of life."
HENRY WARREN HOOD. Among the energetic young business men of Southport who are contrib- uting of their abilities in the furtherance of the public welfare, one of the best known and most progressive is Henry Warren Hood, Jr., of the firm of H. W. Hood & Son, whose labors in the field of fire protection have already won him a recognized position among the men who are work- ing in behalf of the city's interests.
Mr. Hood was born at Southport, Brunswick County, North Carolina, May 24, 1892, and is a son of Henry Warren and Kate (Foley) Hood, his father being one of the well known merchants of Southport. He received his early education in
the private schools here, following which he at- tended the Warrenton (North Carolina) High School and the Bingham School, of Asheville, and after his graduation from the latter, in 1911, re- turned to Southport and became a clerk in the store of his father. On January 1, 1914, he was admitted to partnership in the firm of H. W. Hood & Son, with which he continues to be connected. While Mr. Hood is well and favorably known in
nection with the public service that he has been most prominently brought before the people. Un- der modern conditions, the fire department is one of the most prominent branches of the city govern- ment in any live and progressive city, and it has been in this field that Mr. Hood has worked. He is now not only captain of Fire Company No. 2, but is secretary and treasurer of the department, consisting of three companies, and is treasurer of the fire commission appointed by the state for the handling of funds for fire prevention and protec- tion. Mr. Hood belongs to the Commercial As- sociation, is secretary and treasurer of the Mer- chants' Association, township food administrator, city and county merchants' food administrator for Brunswick County, and mayor pro tem of South- port. He is a vestryman of St. Philip's Episcopal Church.
On January 5, 1914, Mr. Hood was married to Miss Mabelle Stone, of Asheville, North Carolina, and they are the parents of one child: Nancy Katherine.
JOHN ARCHIBALD MCCORMICK. Though a native of Mississippi, John Archibald McCormick repre- sents some of the old and substantial Scotch fam- ilies of Scotland and adjoining counties in North Carolina, and his own life has been spent in this part of the state since earliest infancy. His name has been widely associated with the larger busi- ness life of Robeson County for a number of years. At Pembroke he still carries on extensive opera- tions as a merchant and planter, and was formerly a prominent figure in the lumber industry.
His birth occurred near Brookhaven in Lawrence County, Mississippi, in 1868. He is a son of Mur- doch and Lizzie (McColl) McCormick. His father was born in what is now Scotland County, then part of Richmond County, North Carolina. The McCormicks have lived in Robeson and what is now Scotland County since prior to the Revolution- ary war. Murdoch McCormick left this state when a young man and settled in Lawrence County, Mis- sissippi. It is to Mississippi that his service of four years in the Confederate army is credited. In 1869 he returned to North Carolina with his family and located in the old McCormick community three miles from Laurinburg, in what is now Scotland County. This home is on the Gum Swamp of the Pee Dee in the same vicinity where have lived the McKinnons, Fairleys and other old time Scotch families from pioneer days.
In this community John Archibald McCormick grew up and was inured and practiced in farming pursuits almost from his earliest recollection. The interest to which he was trained has always re- mained the important one. The first work he did away from home was for the late R. W. Liver- more at Pate's in Robeson County. Mr. Liver- more had extensive turpentine, lumbering mer- cantile and farming interests there, and Mr. Mc- Cormick was one of his faithful employes and associates for four years in handling these various affairs.
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
He entered business for himself in the spring of 1894 when he established a saw mill at Pembroke in Robeson County, with a commissary store in connection. Since that date Pembroke has been his home and center of his widening business in- terests. He still has lumber and timber properties, though not so extensive as formerly. His chief energies now are concentrated upon merchandise and farming. His store conducted under the name of the McCormick Company is a large general store and supply house and enjoys an extensive trade all over the surrounding community. He owns sev- eral fine farms lying adjacent to and within a short distance of Pembroke, and these farms pro- duce largely of cotton and corn. They constitute part of a belt of land surrounding Pembroke which has a particularly bright agricultural fu- ture, with every advantage of richness, produc- tivity, natural drainage and access to transporta- tion. Pembroke is the best railroad town in this part of the state, located at the junction of the main line to the Seaboard and the Atlantic Coast Line.
The citizens of Pembroke have a high apprecia- tion of Mr. McCormick's work as a good citizen. He is now a member of the board of road com- missioners from Robeson County and is in every sense one of the substantial factors of his com- munity. He is a member of the Pembroke Pres- byterian Church. Mr. McCormick married Miss Lucy Pate. Her father, the late E. A. Pate, was a prominent railroad man, served as section master on the Seaboard Air Line for twenty-six years, and the station of Pate's was named in his honor.
JAMES CRAIG BRASWELL. In a conspicuous place on the roster of Rocky Mount and Nash County 's successful men of business is found the name of James Craig Braswell, of Rocky Mount, a native of the state where he has always made his home, and a splendid type of the alert, pro- gressive and public-spirited citizen whose record is an indication that success is ambition's an- swer. His long and prominent connection with large business interests, and particularly those connected with the tobacco industry, farming and banking, have made him one of the best known figures in the community and few men have bet- ter records for prosperity gained with honor and without animosity.
Mr. Braswell was born near Battleboro, a com- munity on the county line between Edgecombe and Nash counties, August 17, 1868, and is a son of Hon. Thomas Permenter and Emily (Stal- lings) Braswell, and a grandson of R. R. and Anzy Braswell. Thomas P. Braswell was born in 1832 in Edgecombe County, and his early educa- tional advantages were poor but this was sub- sequently greatly supplemented by incessant read- ing and close observation. Throughout his life he was engaged in agricultural pursuits and was a leader among the farmers of his state, being one of the first to adopt and introduce progressive methods, such as cover crops and improved cat- tle. In addition to his farm and extensive town interests, he was a stockholder in a great num- ber of incorporated companies, but would never agree to act as a director or officer. One of the leading democrats of his community, he was chair- man of the democratic county committee for sev- eral years. for a quarter of a century was chair- man of the board of county commissioners, and served his county in the State Legislature. His
fraternal connection was with the Masons, and his religious belief that of the Primitive Baptist Church. He was possessed of more than the ordi- nary amount of the milk of human kindness, and was a philosopher of that kindly school who reasons that there is something of good in every one. He was cool and deliberative in action, with a strong brain and excellent judgment, broad- gauged and of perfect mental balance. Mr. T. P. Braswell married Emily Stallings, daughter of James Craig Stallings, and a member of a sturdy agricultural family. Surviving them are three children : Mack C., who married Alice Bryan; Mark R., who married Mamie Hackney; and James C. Eula and Mattie, died when quite young, and Thomas P. Braswell, Jr., a most promising young man, died soon after his graduation from the University.
James Craig Braswell was educated in private schools, at Horner's Military Institute, and at the University of North Carolina, and after his graduation from the latter institution in 1890, embarked upon his business career. First he en- gaged in the tobacco business, and this business has continued to hold his attention in large meas- ure to the present time, his interests having broad- ened and extended and grown to large and im- portant proportions. Few of the men connected with the tobacco industry and banking business in this part of the state are better known than Mr. Braswell, who is also extensively engaged as a general farmer, owning over 3,000 acres of land, of which he cultivates about 1,000 acres, the greater part of this being in Nash County. He is president of the Braswell-Gravely Company, foreign exporters; president of the Planters Na- tional Bank of Rocky Mount, since the organi- zation the largest and most prosperous bank in the two adjoining counties; president and treas- urer of the Rocky Mount Hosiery Company; pres- ident of the Citizens Building and Loan Associ- ation; secretary of the Wilkinson-Bullock Com- pany; treasurer of the Underwriters Fire Insur- ance Company and the North State Fire Insurance Company; vice president of the Rocky Mount Savings and Trust Company; and director of the Norfolk Trust Company of Norfolk, Virginia. He has been a member of the school board since graded schools were organized at this place, and was an alderman for eighteen years. Iu 1914 he was honored as president of the North Carolina Bankers Association. All worthwhile movements for the benefit of the community have had his stalwart support, and he is accounted one of the men of the locality whose efforts in recent years have brought Rocky Mount and Nash County for- ward as a live, growing and prosperous locality. Mr. Braswell is a steward in the Methodist Episco- pal Church, South. He is a timid man and never pushes himself forward but never shirks anything. He has made it a point of life to live and let live and in every way lent his aid for the upbuilding of the moral and religious interests of the com- munity. He has devoted the greater part of his time since the beginning of the war to the Govern- ment service, never failing to respond to all calls both for his time and his means. No one is more devoted and believes in the righteausness of our cause than he, being a man conscientious in the performance of his duty and being a mem- ber of the Nash County Exemption Board. He has given nearly all his time, and made every effort to see that the law was carried out with-
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
out discrimination. He has served without re- muneration in the performance of all his work for the Government.
On June 12, 1901, Mr. Braswell was married to Miss Grizzelle Burton, of Durham, North Car- 'olina, daughter of Robert Carter and Nannie (Walker) Burton, Mr. Burton being largely con- nected with the tobacco business, and an honored citizen of Durham, North Carolina. To this un- ion there have been born four children: James Craig, Jr., Robert Russell, Lillian Duval and Nancy Burton.
PARKER QUINCE MOORE. The present mayor of Wilmington was born in his home city July 6, 1876, a son of Col. Roger Moore of the Confed- erate States army and Susan Eugenia (Beery) Moore. The practical life of the business man appealed to the subject of this sketch at an early age and upon completing his studies at the Ruther- fordton Military Institute he was placed in charge of a branch of his father's business. Upon the death of his father he formed a copartnership with his brother and F. R. King in the now old estab- lished firm of Roger Moore's Sons and Company, and has been closely identified with the com- mercial, social and religious life of the city.
His entrance into public life was as an alder- man of the city, serving for six years under the administration of Mayors Alfred Moore Waddell and W. E. Springer. When the Commission form of government was adopted for Wilmington he was elected commissioner for two years, and under his direction the many miles of permanent streets were built and in 1913 he was elected mayor, re-elected in 1915 and again in 1917. He has always borne his share of the responsibilities in the democratic party in the state.
Dr. James Sprunt in his book "Cape Fear Chronicles," says :
"The present mayor of Wilmington, Parker Quince Moore, is a worthy descendant of the lead- ing spirits of the Colonial Cape Fear described by the British Governor Burrington in his official dispatches to the Home Government as the ‘pesti- ferous Moore family,' who vexed the Royal Gov- ernment at Brunswick by their revolutionary tend- encies, and later, on the 19th of February, 1766, advocated the first armed resistance on the Ameri- can continent to the authority of the Sovereign Lord, King George, when 450 men of the Cape Fear, led by George Moore, of Orton, and Cor- nelius Harnett, of Wilmington, surrounded Gov- ernor Tryon's palace at Russellboro, on the Cape Fear, and demanded with arms in their hands the surrender of the stampmaster and the odious em- blems of his authority.
"Mayor Moore is not only to the manner born, but his business training, his patriotic spirit, and the charm of his pleasing personality have estab- lished him in the respect and confidence of all classes of our people.""
Mr. Moore married Miss Willie May Hardin, of Rutherfordton, North Carolina. They have two living children: Maurice Hardin and May Latta. One son, Roger, died in infancy.
GEORGE O. GRAVES. An enterprising, wide- awake, and prominent business man of Mount Airy, George O. Graves, president of the Mount Airy Mantel and Table Company, occupies an im- portant position in the manufacturing and mer- cantile circles of Surry County, and is a worthy representative of the self-made man of our times.
He was born in 1871 on a plantation in the Locust Hill neighborhood, Caswell County, which was like- wise the birthplace of his father, Captain George A. Graves, and of his grandfather, Calvin Graves.
Mr. Graves comes from honored English ances- try, being a lineal descendant in the eighth genera- tion from Captain Thomas Graves, who emigrated from England to America in 1607, settling in Accomac County, Virginia, the line of descent be- ing as follows: Captain Thomas,1 John,2 John,3 John,4 Azariah,5 Calvin,6 Captain George A.,7 and George O.8 Captain Thomas1 Graves reared a large family, and many of his descendants are to be found in the southern and western states. John2 Graves married a Miss Perrin, and settled perma- nently in Elizabeth County, Virginia. It is not known whom John3 Graves married.
John4 Graves married, in Virginia, Isabella Lee, and in 1770 came with his family to Caswell County, North Carolina, settling on Country Line Creek, near the present village of Yanceyville.
Azariah5 Graves was but two years old when brought from Virginia to North Carolina by his parents. Reared to' agricultural pursuits, he be- came an extensive planter, operating with slave labor. A man of good education and much ability, he was active and prominent in public affairs, and served as state senator from 1805 until 1812. He died in 1850, and his wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Williams, passed to the lite beyond in 1841.
Calvin6 Graves, born on the home farm June 3, 1804, acquired a good education when young, and after his admission to the bar was not only suc- cessfully engaged in the practice of law, but owned a plantation which he operated with the help of slaves. Influential in public matters, he served as a member of the Constitutional Conven- tion of 1835, and was twice elected as representa- tive to the lower branch of the State Legislature, and four times to the State Senate. While he was serving as president of the Senate a bill was in- troduced asking for an appropriation for the building of the North Carolina Railroad. He was . well aware that railways were needed in this part of the state; he also knew that his constituents were bitterly opposed to the appropriation, and that if he voted for it he would surely be defeated as a candidate for re-election. The vote proved to be a tie, and he, as president of the Seuate, cast the deciding vote in favor of the appropriation. Later his friends urged him to become a candidate for governor of the state, but he steadily refused all solicitations. He married first, June 9, 1830, Elizabeth Lee, who was the mother of all his chil- dren, and married second Mrs. Mary Lee. He was a member of the Missionary Baptist Church, and reared his children in the same religious faith.
Captain George A.7 Graves received excellent educational advantages, being graduated from Wake Forest College, but did not choose a profes- sional life. Agriculture being more to his taste, he located after his marriage on a farm which his wife had inherited. Soon after the outbreak of the Civil war he entered the Confederate service, and was commissioned captain of Company G, Twenty-second Regiment, North Carolina Troops. With his command he took an active part in vari- ous engagements, including among others of note the battle of Gettysburg. There, during the sec- ond day's fight, he was severely wounded, and lay on the field a number of hours before attracting the attention of a Federal soldier, one who proved to be a Mason. Captain Graves was then taken to
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
Johnson Island in Lake Erie, and there remained a prisoner until the close of the war. The captain then returned to his home plantation, and though he lived until July 5, 1907, he never fully re- covered his health, being an invalid much of the time.
Captain George A. Graves married Miss Belle Williamson, a daughter of Dr. James E. William- son, a life-long resident and practising physician of Caswell County, and also a farmer, operating his plantation with slave labor. Doctor Williamson married Isabella Williams, who was born in Person County, North Carolina, and both he and his wife lived to an advanced age. The wife of Captain Graves died a short time before he did, passing away April 21, 1907. Four children were born of their union, as follows: James W., Dora Belle, Calvin and George O.
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