USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume V > Part 20
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On December 9, 1877, he married Della Hutchins, who was born in Yadkin County, daugh- ter of Vestal and Elizabeth Hutchins. Mr. and Mrs. Welch have six children: Ida, Etta, Emma, Walter P., Alice and George Edgar. Ida is the wife of W. R. Bowman and her two children are Lucy and Welch. Etta is the wife of Robert Jones and has a son Clarence. Emma married Rev. J. M. Folger and their child is Joseph Calvin. Walter married Lulla McGee, their three children being Clara Belle, Walter McGee and Helen. Alice is the wife of W. L. Dunman.
Mr. Welch's parents were faithful members of the Baptist Church. While he was a student in the Friends School at Westfield he adopted that faith, and both he and his wife are members of the Friends Church and he is one of the board of trustees. Mr. Welch has also served as town com- missioner and a member of the city council and for eight years gave his efficient services to the board of education. Politically he is a democrat.
WILLIAM STONE ROBERSON. A university town, Chapel Hill naturally has become the home of men of high professional ability, and the church, medi- cine and the law are all well and even notably represented here. An atmosphere of culture pre- vails that is well sustained by the permanent residents. Hundreds of youths yearly go out from this great university benefited not only by the educational opportunities there afforded, but by a refined and wholesome environment that surrounds them in their leisure hours. Undoubtedly great assistance has been given in this direction by the wise administration of the city's laws, which were admirably administered for ten continuous years by William Stone Roberson as mayor.
William Stone Robenson is a native of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, born February 28, 1869. His parents were Dr. Abner Benton and Cornelia Adaline (Stone) Roberson. His father was a physician of eminence and the families are well known all over the state.
Primarily educated in select schools, William S. Roberson later attended the public schools and then entered the University of North Carolina as a member of the class of 1889, later teaching school for a year and then returning to the uni- versity where he was graduated from the law department in February, 1891. He immediately entered into practice at Graham, North Carolina, and from there came to Chapel Hill in 1893 and has successfully carried on a general practice here ever since and has been connected with many important cases of litigation that have added to his honorable reputation as a lawyer.
A loyal citizen of Chapel Hill and ever mindful of her best interests, Mr. Roberson accepted the mayoralty with ambitious hopes and during the decade that he continued to hold the office, had the satisfaction of bringing about many improvements that have added materially to the health and happi- ness of the place. He has always been exceedingly popular. In addition to his public and professional activities, Mr. Roberson for some time has been secretary, treasurer and general manager of the Chapel Hill Insurance & Realty Company.
COL. THOMAS L. CRAIG. Among the most prom- inent men of Gastonia, using the term in its broad- est sense to indicate business acumen, sterling char- acter, public beneficence and upright citizenship, is Col. Thomas L. Craig, merchant, banker, stock- man, cotton mill owner, civic leader and large property holder. A resident of this city for more than forty years, and identified with the business and financial interests here for nearly an equal length of time, he is known as one of the chief builders of Gastonia 's prosperity, and a man whose ripened judgment and sterling traits of character continue to benefit every enterprise with which he is connected.
Colonel Craig belongs to one of the oldest fam- ilies of Gaston County, and was born five miles south of Gastonia, February 24, 1864, his parents being John H. and Mary A. (Jenkins) Craig. John H. Craig was born about eight or nine miles south of Gastonia, on Crowder's Creek, a son of James Robert and Sallie (Boyd) Craig. James Robert Craig was also born in Gaston County, as were his brothers, William and John Milton Craig. They were of Scotch ancestors who were among the earliest settlers of North Carolina, coming here during early colonial days. James R. Craig reared a family of seven sons and six daughters. Like other members of the family, he was before the Civil war a large planter and slaveholder, and those bearing the name have always been extensive own- ers of land.
During the Civil war John H. Craig operated a tanyard at his home, where he made harness and horse collars for the government of the Confed- eracy, and it was in this way that the Craig home became known as "Tanyard." During the entire period of his active career he was a successful busi- ness man, and established the first bank at Gas- tonia, in partnership with L. L. Jenkins, under the firm name of Craig & Jenkins, Bankers. He was also for a number of years largely interested in the cotton business, but is now retired from active life. Mr. Craig married Miss Mary A. Jenkins, who also survives, and who is a daughter of the late Hon. David A. Jenkins, who was state treasurer of North Carolina from 1868 to 1872. There were eight children in the family of Mr. and Mrs. Craig: Thomas L .; J. Robert, of Gas- tonia; David J., of Statesville, North Carolina, who married Miss V. Copening, of Clinton, South Caro- lina, and has four children; John M., who met an accidental death September 20, 1914; Sarah, the widow of Archibald Brady, of Charlotte, who died in Kansas City in 1915, and had one child, Jenkins, who is a first lieutenant in the United States En- gineers Corps; Mary Etta, who survives, with five children, as the widow of the late Edward Mellon, who died a few years ago, and who was a leading merchant of Charlotte and the founder of . Mellon's Store on West Trade Street; Julia L., the wife of Thomas M. Shelton, of Charlotte, who was associated with Mr. Mellon in business and is now of the Mellon Store, and has six chil- dren; and Mabel Gray, who is the wife of Dr. Samuel A. Wilkins, of Dallas, Gaston County, and has two children.
When Thomas L. Craig was twelve years of age his parents moved from the plantation to Gas- tonia, and this city has since been his home. He spent two years in school at Dallas, which was then the county seat of Gaston County, and his father then gave him a start in business, although he was still a mere youth, establishing him in
That S. Craig
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
a general store at old Gaston, which is now the eastern part of the present city of Gastonia. This business was conducted under the firm style of John H. Craig & Son. In 1883, at the age of nineteen years, Thomas L. Craig went into busi- ness under his own name, and in 1886 Thomas W. Wilson came into partnership with him, the firm name then becoming Craig & Wilson, under which the enterprise has been conducted ever since. Be- sides the store, which occupies a part of the ground floor of their large three-story brick block at the corner of Main and Marietta streets, they have ex- tensive barns at Marietta and Long streets for the accommodation of their livestock, in which they are extensive dealers.
Individually Colonel Craig is a stockman on a large scale, raising horses and cattle and owning a stock farm of 150 acres adjoining the city on the east, three-fourths of the farm being within the city limits. He has another farm of 550 acres north of town on the Dallas Road, and part of this also lies within the city limits. He makes a specialty of horses and Black Angus cattle. He is likewise a very large owner of interests in cotton mills, banks and city and country property, and is a man of such wealth and resource that he is enabled to get behind and promote any industry that comes to Gastonia. He has been a builder up of the great cotton mill industry of Gastonia and vicinity, one of the largest centers of this industry in the country, there being in the city and surrounding territory nearly half a hundred large cotton mills. The colonel is vice president of the Gray Manufacturing Company, operating one of the largest of these mills; has interests in other important concerns of this nature; is presi- dent of the Gastonia Loan and Trust Company Bank; a director and chairman of the board of directors of the First National Bank; one of the stockholders in the beautiful Armington Hotel; president of the Cocker Machine and Foundry Company, and president of the Ed Mellon Com- pany Store of Charlotte. He is also the owner of valuable business properties on Main and Long streets and a large number of tenant houses in the residential section of the North Side, and his own home at the corner of West Main and York streets is a very beautiful one, set in the midst of splendid gardens, with arbors, trellises and pergolas built of concrete and made beautiful with vines and climbing flowers of various kinds.
Colonel Craig is the recognized leader at Gas- tonia of all civic movements, being president of the Chamber of Commerce and of the Gaston County Fair Association, and his energetic nature never allows him to remain idle, but throughout his life has impelled him to go about doing big things. He has been chairman of the county democratic executive committee since 1908, and at the beginning of the term of Governor Locke Craig, in 1912, was appointed a colonel on the governor's staff. He is a Knight Templar Ma- son and a Shriner, and he and Mrs. Craig are members of the Presbyterian Church, in which the colonel is a deacon. In 1917 he was appointed on the selective service board and is now chairman of the board. He is a director in four of the large cotton mills of Gastonia.
Mrs. Craig, prior to her marriage, was Miss Jennie Watson, of Newbern, North Carolina, wife of William M. Watson, of that place, who was clerk of the Superior Court for a number of years, and clerk of the Federal Court under the Con-
federate government. Colonel and Mrs. Craig have no children.
SAMUEL LLOYD SHEEP. A teacher and school administrator in North Carolina for forty years, Samuel Lloyd Sheep has exercised an influence far beyond the immediate scope of his duties, and some of the best established ideals and in- stitutions in the modern system of state educa- tion have been strongly impressed by his work and persistent advocacy. Mr. Sheep is still ac- tive in educational work and is superintendent of schools at Elizabeth City.
He was born in Montour County, Pennsylvania, January 16, 1856, a son of Matthew L. and Eliza- beth (McKee) Sheep. His father was a farmer, and his early life was spent on a farm with the advantages of the public schools. He attended Greenwood Academy" at Millville, Pennsylvania, and in 1874 graduated from the Pennsylvania State Normal School at Bloomsburg. For three years he was a teacher in Watsontown, Penn- sylvania, and from there came to North Caro- lina, where all his subsequent years have been spent.
For thirty-six years Mr. Sheep was connected with educational affairs at Elizabeth City, having charge of the Elizabeth City Academy, later known as the Atlantic Collegiate Institute. He also organized the present graded school system at Elizabeth City and was in charge for several years. For two years he was out of the state as superintendent of schools at Helena, Arkansas. From 1916 to 1918 Mr. Sheep was superintendent of schools at Marion, and then he was re-elected superintendent of the Elizabeth City graded schools.
He is a member of the North Carolina Teach- ers' Assembly and the Superintendents' Associa- tion and for eight years was a director of the Summer State Normal at Elizabeth City during the existence of that institution. He also served as county superintendent of Pasquotank County. He is former chairman of the board of county commissioners and ex-president of the Chamber of Commerce. For six years he has been a mem- ber of the Summer School faculty of the State University at Chapel Hill.
Mr. Sheep is credited with originating the idea and system at the basis of the Eastern Carolina Teachers Training School. He worked persistent- ly and courageously against much opposition to secure the establishment of this praiseworthy in- stitution. One of the early bills was defeated in the Senate and it was only in 1909 that the measure passed both houses. Mr. Sheep is an elder in the Presbyterian Church.
November 24, 1880, at Elizabeth City, he mar- ried Miss Pauline Hinton, daughter of William and Margaret Hinton. They are the parents of six children: William Lloyd has been in the regular army for eight years, has the rank of lieutenant colonel and is now stationed at Camp Greene. Matthew Leigh is a merchant at Eliza- beth City. Pauline, of Greensboro, is the widow of Glenn S. Hudson, an attorney. Helen Eliza- beth married Dr. Frank Mortou Hawley, a Pres- byterian minister. Harvey Hinton is a lieutenant in the United States army. Margaret Freshi- water, the youngest child, is a teacher.
JOHN HAMPTON BALL. As postmaster at Elkin, John Hampton Ball is devoting his time and atteu-
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
tion to the duties of his official position, rendering satisfactory service to his fellow townsmen and to the Government. A son of Nicholas Ball, he was born in Hamptonville, Yadkin County, North Carolina, in 1840. His paternal grandfather, John Ball, was born in the vicinity of Georgetown, Maryland, and after his marriage with a Miss Chamberlain purchased a tract of land in the Hamptonville district, this state, and was there engaged in tilling the soil until his death.
Nicholas Ball was born in 1807 on the parental homestead in Hamptonville district, and there spent the earlier years of his life. Although he served an apprenticeship at the blacksmith 's trade, he did not follow it, farming being more congenial to his tastes. Having bought land lying a mile east of Hamptonville, he embarked in general farming and stock-raising, all stock in those days running at large. Successful in his under- takings, he spent the remainder of his years on the farm that he improved, dying April 22, 1857. He married Drusilla Bell, who was born in Yad- kin County, a daughter of Walter and Rebecca (Albea) Bell, natives of Maryland. She survived him several years, passing away in 1865.
John Hampton Ball was brought up on the home farm and educated in the rural schools of his native district. When a lad of thirteen years he began life as a wage earner, becoming clerk in the general store of Josiah Cowles & Son at Hamptonville, continuing thus employed until 1861. In May of that year Mr. Ball enlisted in Company A, First North Carolina Cavalry, in which he served until the close of the war, being under command of various officers of note, includ- ing the following named: Cols. L. S. Baker, James B. Gordon, Thomas Ruffin, Rufus Baninger and William H. H. Cowles. At the battle of Spottsylvania Court House
was severely wounded, and later, in 1863, he was detailed as courier for Gen. Wade Hampton, and continued in that capacity until the end of the war.
On the last day of March, 1865, Colonel Cowles was severely wounded, and Mr. Ball bore him from the field and remained with and cared for him until both were captured by the enemy. Taken to Petersburg, Mr. Ball was confined as a prisoner until March 17, 1865, when he was paroled, and arrived at his home a few days after the sur- render.
Becoming then a salesman in a wholesale house, Mr. Ball was thus employed at Charlotte, North Carolina, for four years, and for a similar length of time in Salisbury, Rowan County. Going to Simonton Mills, Iredell County, in 1875, he was there engaged in mercantile pursuits for awhile, and was afterward similarly employed in different places, having been in Hamptonville three years, in Yadkinville two years, and in Jonesville, where he operated a general store until 1885. The ensu- ing four years Mr. Ball served as brandy gauger. Forming then a partnership with John F. Cook, he bought a steam saw mill, and having installed it near Elkin sawed much of the timber used in the building of the first houses erected in that place. A few years later Mr. Ball accepted the position of private secretary to Gen. W. H. H. Cowles, and with him spent a few months in Washington. Returning from the Capital, Mr. Ball, in partnership with J. H. Greenwood, entered upon a new line of business, becoming a dealer in fertilizers. Later he was appointed state in- spector of fertilizers, but resigned the position at the end of two years and in company with N. V.
Poindexter engaged in the sale of fertilizers, con- tinuing until 1916, when he was appointed to his present responsible position as postmaster at Elkin. Mr. Ball married, May 25, 1875, Mary Emma Clark, who was in Elkin, a daughter of Francis F. and Eliza (Buchanan) Clark, and to them eight children have been born and reared, namely : William Arthur, Daisy C., Thomas Fin- ley, Mary Emily, Jeannette, Minnie, Reuben Henry and Wade Hampton. William Arthur married Lena Reynolds, and they have one son, Lay Reyn- olds. Daisy C., widow of the late Robert L. Kirk- man, has four children, Lura Cowles, John Frank, Robert Lee and Benjamin Eli. Mr. and Mrs. Ball are active members of the Presbyterian Church, in which he is serving as an elder. Although not an aspirant for public office, Mr. Ball has served as a member of the Elkin Board of Commissioners and on the Elkin Board of Education.
EDWARD CARLTON DUNCAN of Raleigh possesses a recognized genius for financial organization and constructive administration and is one of the prominent bankers and citizens of North Carolina.
He was born at Beaufort in this state, March 28, 1862, son of William Benjamin and Sarah (Ramsey) Duncan, both natives of North Carolina and his father a merchant. Edward C. Duncan was educated in the schools of Beaufort, had some early experience in farming, and became a licensed steamboat captain, which profession he followed for a number of years. For several years he was collector of the Port of Beaufort, was elected a member of the Legislature for two terms, 1895 and in 1897, and for eleven years served as Collector of Internal Revenue of the Fourth North Carolina District.
He resigned from that office to become core- ceiver for the Seaboard Air Line Railway. During the next two years he assisted in bringing about a reorganization which was not only eminently satisfactory to all concerned, but also emphasized his individual ability as a financier. In March, 1909, Mr. Duncan organized the Merchants Na- tional Bank of Raleigh and has since been its president. He is a director of the Norfolk Southern Railroad, vice president and director of the Raleigh and Charlotte Southern Railway, and a director of the Atlantic and North Carolina Railway, the Bank of Beaufort and the North Carolina Home Fire Insurance Company.
Mr. Duncan is a republican and one of the leaders "of his party in the state. He has several terms been a member of the Republican National Com- mittee and was active in the campaign work for Taft in 1908, being on the sub-committee which successfully managed the national Taft campaign of that year. He is a member of the Capital Club and the Country Club.
February 26, 1890, he married Carrie Virginia King of Beaufort, North Carolina, daughter of John F. King, a well known merchant of that city. By this marriage there are three children living, while one son, Edward C., died at the age of fourteen. William Benjamin, an attorney at law, is now first lieutenant in the One Hundred and Thirteenth Field Artillery. Elizabeth S. married T. S. Adams of Sevier, North Carolina; Charles L. is a member of the Coast Artillery Corps. Mr. Duncan's first wife died in 1899 and in 1903 he married Alma Speight of Fremont, North Caro- lina, daughter of William H. Speight, a Methodist minister.
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
HERBERT MCCLAMMY has been a member of the Wilmington bar in active practice and with a large amount of general litigation and corporation work to his credit for over thirty years.
He was graduated in the law department of the University of North Carolina before he was twenty-one years of age. He was born in New Hanover County, North Carolina, October 9, 1863, a son of Charles Washington and Margaret (Fen- nell) MeClammy. His father was a farmer, and his early life was spent in the wholesome environ- ment of the country. He attended the common schools, the Lynch Select High School at High Point for three years, and then took a course in the University of North Carolina, where he was graduated in 1884. Since then he has been in general practice at Wilmington. He now repre- sents as attorney several local corporations and banks.
In 1895 Mr. MeClammy was elected a member of the Legislature, and his record of public service also includes four years as city attorney. He is a member of the North Carolina and American Bar associations, belongs to the Cape Fear Club and the Carolina Yacht Club, the Cape Fear Country Club and is a former steward in the Methodist Church. June 29, 1898, he married Miss Lessie Leech, of Wake County, North Caro- lina. Four children have been born to their mar- riage: Miriam, Margaret, Herbert, Jr., and Sarah Celeste.
WILLIAM ATLAS FINCH began his career with a definite purpose in view, and resolutely and ener- getically has followed the line of a purposeful life and has attained distinction in the profes- sion of the law. Mr. Finch has for many years been a leading member of the bar of Wilson and his name is not unknown in professional circles outside his home district.
He was born at Stanhope in Nash County, North Carolina, March 13, 1870, a son of Joachim M. and Susan (Hopkins) Finch. His father was a farmer and the farm was the early environ- ment of William A. Finch. Partly through his own efforts he managed to acquire a liberal edu- cation. He attended high school, the Oak Ridge Institute, Trinity College at Durham, and took his legal education in the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.
Mr. Finch was admitted to the bar in the fall of 1895 and at once began practice at Wilson, where a growing general practice has kept him busily engaged ever since. He is a member of the North Carolina Bar Association, with his family belongs to the First Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and is a Knight Templar Mason and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows.
He was married November 30, 1898, to Miss Mary Louise Ford. of Madisonville, Virginia. They have three children, Mary Ford, William Atlas, Jr., and Harry Clinton.
WILEY SYLVESTER REICH. A man of pronounced executive and financial ability, Wiley Sylvester Reich occupies a position of prominence in the business life of Elkin, and as president of the Farmers and Merchants Bank and president of the Reich Walsh Furniture Company is widely known throughout the surrounding country. A native of North Carolina, he was born near Winston. For- syth County, which was also the birthplace of both his father, Ephraim W. Reich, and of his grand-
father, Thomas Reich. His great-grandparents, John and Catherine (Linebeck) Reich, were of German ancestry and early pioneers of Forsyth County.
Thomas Reich was a farmer by occupation, and owned, near Winston, a plantation which he oper- ated. He married Maria Hanson, a lineal descen- dant of Martin Hanson, one of the first settlers of Bathabra, now known as Oldtown in Forsyth County. They were reared in the Moravian faith, to which they were always loyal, and both were buried in the cemetery at Oldtown.
Born March 4, 1832, on the home farm near Winston, Ephraim W. Reich acquired a good knowledge of agriculture when young and chose farming for his life work. Becoming owner through inheritance of a plantation, he resided upon it a number of years, and then moved with his family to a farm which his wife had inherited. In addition to successfully supervising his farm- ing interests, he engaged in the manufacture of brick, building up a good business in that line and continuing in both pursuits until his death, on December 27, 1892.
The maiden name of the wife of Ephraim W. Reich was Abigail Livingood. She was born near Maple Springs Church, in what was then Stokes County, but is now included within the limits of Forsyth County, November 13, 1835. Her father, Henry Livingood, was born in the same locality, a son of John and a Miss (Grubb) Livingood, residents during their entire lives, as far as known, of Stokes County, North Carolina. Henry Livingood became owner of a farm situated about four miles west of Winston-Salem, a part of which, the Maple Spring Camp Ground, he do- nated to the Maple Spring Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he, his wife and family were members. Henry Livingood married Elizabeth Koontz who was born in Davidson County, North Carolina, a daughter of John and Sally (Hunt) Koontz, and to them five daughters and two sons were born, as follows: Abigail, Charity, Mary, Susan, Sarah, Alfred and Wesley. Alfred, the oldest son, served as a soldier in the Con- federate army, and died of wounds received in battle. Mr. and Mrs. Ephraim W. Reich reared five children, Alexander, William Wesley, Martha, Regina and Wiley Sylvester.
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