USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume V > Part 13
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Captain Graves being an invalid it fell upon the mother to raise the children, and a brave and noble Christian mother she was. As their slaves were all taken from them and farm land had been reduced to nothing almost, still she worked, toiled and prayed early and late to raise the children and educate them, and keep the farm from debt so when they grew up they would not have debt around them and they could then go out and make their way.
Brought up on the home farm, George O.8 Graves obtained the rudiments of his education in the rude log cabin, which had a puncheon floor, while the seats, which had neither back nor desks in front, were slabs, with wooden pins for legs. As the rural school was in session but about three months in a year, he acquired the greater part of his knowledge through the instruction of his par- ents, both of whom were well educated. While yet a lad, he began working on the home farm, laboring diligently until attaining his majority. Starting out then to fight the battle of life single handed, Mr. Graves went to Danville, Virginia, and there found employment in a warehouse. During his leisure time he continued his studies, and by steady application to his books soon be- came efficient as an accountant. Returning then to the eastern part of North Carolina, having spent six years in the warehouse, the last two years as head bookkeeper, he was for two seasons engaged in tobacco dealing in Eastern Carolina. In 1896 Mr. Graves located in Mount Airy, and for six years continued in the tobacco business, being quite successful. Giving that up, Mr. Graves em- barked in the furniture business, with which he is now actively identified, being president of the Mount Airy Mantel and Table Company, one of the most prosperous business organizations of this part of Surry County. A man of undoubted finan- cial ability and judgment, he has accumulated a handsome property, in addition to his corporate interests, being one of the most extensive real estate holders in the city.
Mr. Graves married, August 8, 1900, Miss Eliza- beth Florimel Hadley, who was born in Lenoir County, North Carolina, a daughter of James A. and Sarah (Best) Hadley. She died September 27, 1913, leaving two daughters, Belle Williamson and Sarah Best. Politically Mr. Graves is a demo- crat. Religiously he is a faithful and conscien- tious member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and is serving as chairman of the board of stewards, and as a teacher in its Sunday school.
MICHAEL CROULY GUTHRIE. Among the men of Southport who have merged eminent personal
achievement with distinctive public service, thus forming a splendid combination making for ideal citizenship, one of the best known is Michael Crouly Guthrie. A resident of this city all his life, ne has been identified with some of its most important business enterprises, and in official posi- tions of importance has rendered service that has been and is proving of incalculable value to the community.
Mr. Guthrie was born December 14, 1850, at Southport, Brunswick County, North Carolina, and is a son of Archibald Minkens and Sarah A. (Crapon) Guthrie. His parents were also natives of North Carolina, and his father was for many years a pilot and captain of tows and transports. Michael C. Guthrie received his education in a private school and at Trinity College, which he at- tended for one term, and also pursued a course at the Horner Military Institute, at Oxford, North Carolina. When ready to enter upon his own career, he chose mercantile lines as his field of effort, becoming a clerk in a general store. He made rapid progress, and in 1883, feeling that he was ready to stand alone, embarked in business on his own account and continued as a general merchant until 1902. In the meantime he had become interested in various other lines of busi- ness activity, at different times, including the Southport Building and Loan Association, with which he is still identified in the capacity of president. Mr. Guthrie's standing in the business world is indicated in the fact that his business associates have elected him president of the South- port Commercial Association, a position which he has held for several years.
Mr. Guthrie's first public position of importance was that of member of the board of county com- missioners, which he held for a period of ten years. Subsequently, he became mayor of Southport, and his ensuing administration of the affairs of the city further established him in the confidence of the people, whose interests he carefully conserved. When it was found necessary to elect a strong and capable man to the office of county superintendent of public instruction, in order that the public school matters might be straightened out and handled efficiently, Mayor Guthrie's name was men- tioned as the man for the place, and he resigned from the mayoralty to accept the new office, where he felt that his services were more keenly needed. That occurred in 1910 and he still occupies this position, the duties of which he has discharged in such a highly capable manner that the Brunswick County schools now compare favorably with any in the state. Mr. Guthrie has rendered various other public services. He was formerly a member of the board of commissioners of navigation and pilotage for the Port of Wilmington; is now a member of the board of trustees in charge of a fund accumulated from deceased pilots for the Widows' and Orphans' Fund; and is president of the board of trustees of the Southport Public Li- brary. Whatever he has started out to do he has done with his whole heart and to the full extent of his energy, and probably this is one of the chief reasons why he has been one of the most helpful of Southport's citizens. In fraternal matters, Mr. Guthrie is identified with Atlantic Lodge, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is noble grand. He is a member of Trinity Meth- odist Episcopal Church, of which he was formerly superintendent of the Sunday school for a period of thirteen years.
In October, 1874, Mr. Guthrie was married to
IN & Johnson
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
Miss Elizabeth Lord Williams, of Southport, North Carolina, and to this union there were born two sons: Marshall Crapon, surgeon of the United States Public Health Service, and now chief quar- antine officer of the Panama Canal Zone, married Miss Harriet Harding, of Washington, District of Columbia, and has one son, Marshall Crapon, Jr .; and Eugene duVale, an attorney of Southport, who died in 1903, married Miss Viola Weeks, of South- port, and had two children, Eugene duVale and Elizabeth Lord. Mrs. Michael C. Guthrie died August 11, 1901.
WILLIAM LLOYD KNIGHT is a prominent young lawyer of Weldon, Halifax County, a man of influential connections both in business and pro- fessional circles, and representative of an old fam- ily of Northampton County.
On his father's farm in that county Mr. Knight was born July 3, 1881, son of John W. and Ke- ziah (Davis) Knight. His education in the pub- lic schools was supplemented by one year in Trin- ity Park School at Durham, followed by the regular course of the law department of Wake Forest College. Mr. Knight was admitted to practice in February, 1912, and has ever since been busily engaged building up and handling a general practice at Weldon. His connections in a business way are most substantial, and he is director of the Weldon Building and Loan As- sociation, a director of the Shaw Cotton Mills and a director of the Weldon Realty Company. Mr. Knight is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias and is steward and secretary and treasurer of the Weldon Methodist Episcopal Church. On April 18, 1907, he married Miss Carrie Smith, of North- ampton County.
WILLIAM BOYLAN SNOW. The State Senate has had no abler or more thoughtful member than William Boylan Snow from Wake County. As senator from the Fifteenth District in the Legis- lature of 1915 he gave close attention to all the legislation considered during the session and while a loyal and ready worker with his fellow members in behalf of all good legislation, he also offered several original bills to the legislative program.
It was Senator Snow who introduced and se- cured the passage of a law abolishing the customn of clipping the heads of persons charged with crime before conviction. His bill forbids this practice and also the custom of subjecting prison- ers to the indignity of a convict garb during trial and before conviction, or the trial of any person in any dress other than ordinary civilian attire. Sena- tor Snow also introduced, but failed to secure the passage, of a measure providing for the election of members of school boards by the people instead of appointment by the Legislature.
Senator Snow was born at Raleigh May 12, 1873, a son of George H. and Elizabeth (Boylan) Snow. He attended Fray and Morson's Academy at Raleigh, and in 1893 graduated Ph. B. from the University of North Carolina. He took up the study of law and for many years has been one of the leading attorneys of Raleigh. He is a mem- ber of the State Bar Association, has filled the office of county attorney of Wake County and city attorney of Raleigh, and since July, 1915, has been prosecuting attorney of the City Court of Raleigh. He was chairman of the Wake County Democratic Executive Committee in 1904 and a member of
the State Democratie Executive Committee in 1908.
Senator Snow is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, was president in 1914-15 of the Wake County University Alumni Association, is a mem- ber of the Zeta Psi college fraternity and of the Episcopal Church. By his marriage to Miss Alice K. Stronach he has two children, William B. Snow, Jr., and John Kendall Snow.
JENS BERG. The specialized knowledge required in the handling of the duties of the important positions connected with the United States quaran- tine stations, necessitates the securing of men of more than ordinary ability to perform the work that safeguards the country against the intro- duction of contagious diseases. One of the men of North Carolina who is engaged in this import- ant branch of the United States Government service is Jens Berg, druggist of the quarantine station at Southport, and formerly a well known figure in business circles of the city. Mr. Berg has been a resident of Southport for eighteen years, and during this time has been active in the life of the community, where he is established as a dependable citizen and a reliable official.
Jens Berg was born at Lemvig, Denmark, May 20, 1868, and is a son of J. N. and Marie (Jensen) Berg, who have passed their entire lives in their native land. The son of a well known educator, who was principal of various schools in Denmark, Jens Berg received good educational advantages, and when he reached manhood was fully prepared to adopt the vocation of teaching. Although of a studious nature, and fond of acquiring extensive knowledge in various directions, he did not desire the life of the educator, and in 1891 came to the United States, confident that in this land of opportunity he could make his fortune in a busi- ness way. His first location was at Seabright, New Jersey, where for seven years he was engaged in the fish business, and in 1898 came to South- port, where he became interested in various busi- ness ventures. His native ability, energy and shrewdness brought him success from his business ventures and he became president and manager of the Southport Light and Power Company, which positions, however, he has since resigned. His business worth, foresight and acumen were readily recognized by his new associates at South- port, who elected him secretary and treasurer of the Chamber of Commerce, offices which he retained for two years. In 1898 he was offered and accepted a position as pharmacist in the employ of the United States Government, and when his ability in this science was recognized he was placed in charge as druggist of the South- port quarantine station, where he has since remained. Mr. Berg is treasurer and a member of the board of trustees of the Southport Public Library. His fraternal connection is with the Masonic Lodge, of which he is secretary and past master.
On November 4, 1902, Mr. Berg was united in marriage with Miss Mary Jane Woodside, of Southport.
WILLIAM JAMES JOHNSON, of Red Springs, Robeson County, is member of the firm W. J. and J. W. Johnson, whose operations as lumbermen have brought their firm to a conspicuous position in the lumber industry of the South, while the partners themselves have attained truly phenom- enal success in the business. This success is the result of hard work, persistence through good
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
years and bad, and a knowledge scarcely sur- passed of all the details of the business.
While lumbering has been his real business, and from it he has made his fortune, William James Johnson is also deeply interested in farming, and while the splendid plantation he has gathered at Red Springs represents something of a recreative interest it is by no means unprofitable from a business standpoint. In fact everything Mr. John- son does is businesslike and exhibits results that indicate the force and power of the man.
Mr. Johnson was born near Carthage in Moore County, North Carolina, in 1859, son of Samuel E. and Amanda J. (Worthy) Johnson. His father, who was of Scotch ancestry and a native of Moore County, spent his life there as a farmer, and the home where he died at the age of eighty-four was also the place where he was born. His wife, also deceased, was a sister of former Sheriff Kenneth Worthy of Moore County. Her father, James Worthy, came from England when a young man and was a successful planter and slave holder in Moore County.
Despite those advantages which are by no means to be despised of good birth and good family, William James Johnson, owing to circumstances over which he had no control and through the poverty stricken condition of the country resultant upon the Civil war, grew up and early learned to depend upon himself for the solution of life's prob- lems. There were very few schools to attend when he was a boy, but it was his good fortune to have one very excellent teacher, Mrs. McQueen, wife of Rev. Martin McQueen, pastor of the historic old Union Presbyterian Church, within almost a stone's throw of which the Johnson home was lo- cated.
When Mr. Johnson carries his recollections back to the first real work he did in life the scene pictured is a lonely field in which he is plowing, the plow being dragged through the furrow by a lone ox. But from the farm his energies were early attracted to lumbering, and the big success he has attained in life is largely due to the fact that he has made one business the object of his concentrated energies. His first venture was a small sawmill on the Carthage Railroad in Moore County. The cut of this mill was only 5,000 or 6,000 feet of lumber per day. Later he engaged in business with Mr. W. H. Britton, of Cameron, with whom he was associated for a number of years. He finally sold his interests to Mr. Britton and then established the Harnett Lumber Com- pany, which was one of his most extensive enter. prises. Under that name he sawed millions of feet of lumber in Harnett County. For transport- ing his lumber to a main line railroad he built a lumber road from Manchester to his mills in Har- nett County. After completing the cut in Harnett he established a lumber mill in Dundarrach, Hoke County, and was an operator there some time. His present interest in the lumber business is with his brother, Hon. J. W. Johnson, of Raeford, under the name W. J. and J. W. Johnson. They have a large mill below Red Springs in Robeson County.
It is at Red Springs that Mr. Johnson has sat- isfied his ideals and tastes as to one of the most beautiful homes in North Carolina. Many years ago his plans began to take form regarding his ideal of a large plantation and country home. In 1902 he bought 176 acres on Little Raft Swamp
Creek near Red Springs, almost adjoining the town on the north. This was the nucleus of his present place, which consists of 1,270 acres. He has cleared and developed this from a wilderness into one of the finest plantations in the state. This plantation produces abundantly of such staple crops as cotton, corn, and other grains. He has also developed a peach orchard and pecan orchard, and every department of his farm shows the touch of his vigorous enterprise. Sixteen years ago when he bought the land it had no improvement beyond a little log cabin. Since then he has constructed over twenty-five buildings for various purposes. At the upper end of the place he has a grist mill operated by water power, while ou the main part of the plantation he has a modern cotton gin. There is a fine dairy herd of Guernsey milk cows and also numerous Berkshire and Duroc hogs.
. But the conspicuous feature of the farm is the residence, which he completed and occupied in 1913. It is a splendid mansion, two stories and base- ment. The basement is divided into six rooms. On the two floors are ten large rooms besides bath rooms and closets. On a solid concrete founda- tion the walls are laid up of cream colored pressed brick, while the floors throughout are tiled, and it is practically the ideal of a fireproof home. Outside are spacious galleries and there is nothing lacking in the way of modern conveniences and equipment. There are few homes in North Caro- lina cities not to speak of country which surpass this in durability of construction as well as beauty of architecture.
Mr. Johnson married Miss Annabella Cameron, daughter of Daniel P. Cameron, of the Cameron vicinity of Moore County. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have two daughters, both of whom were educated in the Flora McDonald College at Red Springs. Ethel is the wife of Dr. Seavy Highsmith, of Fay- etteville, while the younger is Miss Anna Johnson.
ALLISON BARNES DEANS tried his first cases as a young lawyer more than forty years ago. He has enjoyed high professional standing in the Wilson County bar, and is one of the most widely experienced and competent lawyers in the state. He has seldom allowed outside interests to in- terfere with his professional work, and the offices he has filled have been mainly within the lines of his profession.
Mr. Deans was born in Nash County, in what has since become a part of Wilson County, North Carolina, March 18, 1851, a son of Wiley and Martha (Simms) Deans. His father was a farmer. Mr. Deans was educated in the Wilson Collegiate Institute, in Rutherford College and studied law under Chief Justice Pearson. He was admitted to the bar in June, 1876, and at once located in Wilson to begin his practice. He devoted all his time to his chosen work for six years, but in 1882 was elected clerk of the Superior Court and filled that office consecutively for twelve years. Later he served as judge of the Wilson County Court one term. Mr. Deans has handled a general practice, and many large and important interests have been entrusted to his careful and conscientious direction. Mr. Deans is a director and general counsel of the Morris Plan Bank of Wilson. He is a Knight Templar Mason and belongs to the Country Club and the Chamber of Commerce at Wilson. His religious
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
home is in the First Methodist Episcopal Church, South, which he served many years as steward, and was also active in the Sunday school.
On December 10, 1876, Mr. Deans married Mary Ellen Clark, of Wilson, a daughter of Edwin Gray and Martha (Barnes) Clark. Her family were among the founders of the town. Mr. Deans has four living children. Bettie is the wife of H. T. Crittenden, a native of Virginia but now engaged in his profession as architect and builder at Wilson. Allison Barnes, Jr., is in the United States Regular Army with the rank of captain of the Coast Artillery and is now stationed at San Diego, California. Edwin Gray, cashier of the Stantonsburg Planters Bank in Wilson County, married Beulah Martin, of Wayne County, North Carolina. Ruth Deans married B. A. Joyner, a merchant at Farmville, North Carolina, and now serving as mayor of that town. Mr. and Mrs. Deans lost one daugh- ter, Iva, who married L. M. Cox, of Green Coun- ty, North Carolina, a planter and tobacco grower. Mrs. Cox died September 25, 1913, a few days after the birth of her only child, Iva Deans Cox, who was born September 17, 1913.
JOSEPH BLOUNT CHESHIRE, JR., a member of the Raleigh bar, is a typical North Carolinian and has had good cause to congratulate himself upon the state of his birth and the city of his nativity, for both have been kind to him, although not be- yond the measure of his deserts. He was born at Charlotte, December 20, 1882, and is a son of the Rt. Rev. Joseph Blount Cheshire.
Mr. Cheshire received the foundation for his education in the Baird School at Charlotte, North Carolina, and following this enrolled as a student at the famous Raleigh Male Academy, where he proved a good and attentive student and from which he was duly graduated. He then matricu- lated at the University of North Carolina, where he completed his literary course and was given his degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1902, and took up the study of law in 1907 at the same institution. In August of that year he was admitted to the bar and entered upon a general practice that has continued to grow in size and importance with the passing years, through his able qualities as a lawyer and his stable, popular traits as a man continuing his progress in the development of a professional reputation and a profitable legal busi- ness. Hon. H. G. Cannon, U. S. District Judge, and Mr. Cheshire compiled and published in 1911 a work known as the "Constitution of North Caro- lina Annotated," which is a valuable volume al- most universally used by lawyers. In 1913 Mr. Cheshire was clerk to the commission of the North Carolina Legislature on constitutional amendments, his research and investigation in this direction making him a decidedly valuable man. He is a United States referee in bankruptcy, and has had many cases of an important character tried before him. Mr. Cheshire is a member of the North Carolina Bar Association and of the Country Club of Raleigh, and is a vestryman of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd.
On November 27, 1915, Mr. Cheshire was mar- ried to Miss Ida J. Rogerson of Edenton, North Carolina.
THURSTON TITUS HICKS. Few men have the gift of
writing autobiography. Those who attempt it either scant and ignore all that would Vol. V-4
serve to reflect their personality and create the values of interest; or on the other hand, they wind themselves in endless details in which the most tireless reader would seek in vain for any living significance. The most facinating passages in history and literature are those occasional and sometimes unconscious betrayals on the part of the chief actors concerned of their individual experiences and personal emotions and ambitions. Too often autobiography is stilted and otiose because the writer seeks to detach himself from the subject and obsessed by the seriousness of his purpose and with the thought of his audience constantly with him loses entirely his sense of humor and his ingenuous perspective.
It is from a bit of the rare and unusual auto- biographical writing, fortunately placed in the hands of the editors of this publication, that it is designed to tell briefly the story and recon- struct the career of one of North Carolina's well known lawyers, Thurston Titus Hicks of Hender- son. A liberal use of quotation is made because the direct language not only tells the story better than any one alse could, but it also reveals some of the atmosphere and the spirit surrounding the life of a man whose earliest years were spent in the critical period of the war and whose serious activities have brought him rather in close touch with more modern affairs and politics in the state.
In the matter of ancestry, facts have been gathered which connect the Carolina branch of the family directly with Robert Hicks, who came over on the good ship Fortune next after the Mayflower landing November 11, 1621. A still earlier ances- tor was Ellis Hicks, who by Edward the Black Prince was knighted on the field of Poictiers Sep- tember 19, 1355, for taking a set of colors from the French.
The Carolina founder of the family was William Hicks who came from Westbury, Long Island, where men of the name still live. March 5, 1749, the Earl of Granville granted 535 acres on Tabbs Creek in Granville County, to this William Hicks and the deed for this land is still in the Hicks family. William held the land fifty years, devis- ing it by his will in 1799 to his youngest son Abner. Abner held it until 1855 and conveyed it to his youngest son Benjamin Willis Hicks, who held and owned it until December 30, 1899, then leaving it to his children. Two of Benjamin's grandchildren still own and occupy it. The bodies of William and Abner and Benjamin repose side by side in that sacred soil which they in life held free from lien or levy, in peace and in war, one hundred fifty years. Few North Carolina men might claim a longer and more honorable ancestry, and all the greater on that account is the significance of the actions of Thurs- ton T. Hicks and his brother Hewitt, who refused to take advantage of their hereditary privileges and were probably the only men in Vance county who in 1902 and since insisted on being subjected to the educational test of the right of suffrage.
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