USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume V > Part 22
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MARK TWAIN FRIZZELLE, M. D. The ten years since he left the Medical College of Virginia with his diploma have been sufficient in which to give Doctor Frizzelle prominence and success in his profession, and also a position of business leader- ship and civic prominence at Ayden, his home town.
Doctor Frizzelle was born in Greene County, North Carolina, October 26, 1879, a son of sub- stantial farming people of that section of the state, Jesse T. and Lovie Cornelia (Brooks) Friz- zelle. Doctor Frizzelle acquired his early education in the Ormondsville High School, later attended Trinity College at Durham with the class of 1903, and was granted the degree Doctor of Medicine by the Medical College of Virginia in 1907. In July of that year he located at Ayden, and while handling a general practice is regarded as a very expert and skillful surgeon. Doctor Frizzelle is a member of the Pitt County and North Carolina Medical societies and the American Medical As- sociation. He, is physician to the National Veneer Company, is president of the Ayden Building and Loan Association, and director of the Farmers and Merchants National Bank. He also has farm- ing land to the extent of 400 acres and gives its management considerable of his personal super- vision.
JAMES BUCHANAN RUARK. One of the individ- uals who essentially belongs to the men of action of Brunswick County is James Buchanan Ruark, whose career is typical of modern progress and advancement. Alert and enterprising, this South- port merchant has utilized to the full the opportu- nities which have been offered him for business preferment, and has attained thereby an eminently satisfying success. The secret of his accomplish- ment is not far to seek, for close application, in- defatigable energy, integrity and determination have combined to constitute the foundation of his achievements.
James Buchanan Ruark belongs to a family which has long been well known and highly re- spected in Southeastern North Carolina, and was born in Brunswick County, this state, January 24, 1857. His parents were Hanson Kelley and Re- becca Ann (Woodside) Ruark, and his father was a pilot who was widely known among the river captains of this section for an extended period of years. The education of James B. Ruark was confined to that attainable in the public schools of his day and locality, but he was naturally alert and possessed a retentive mind, and started his career with perhaps a better education than the majority of boys who had received his same advan- tages. He was only fourteen years of age when he began to contribute to his own support, and in 1875 became clerk in a general store at South-
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port, a capacity in which he continued for twelve years. During this time he had secured experi- ence in every department of mercantile life, and in August, 1887, felt that he was ready to realize one of his ambitions, that of becoming a proprietor. At that time he accepted an opportunity offered and began business in partnership with Mr. Guth- rie, an association which lasted for sixteen years, when the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Ruark taking over Mr. Guthrie's interests. Since 1912 the business has been conducted under the firm style of J. B. Ruark Company, and has become one of the necessary commercial assets of the city. Mr. Ruark has a modern store building, with the most up-to-date equipment, and carries a complete stock of general merchandise, chosen with regard to the particular needs and wishes of the people of his community, well and attractively arranged and dis- played, and fairly priced. The enterprise, from catering merely to a local patronage, has grown until its customers now bring their trade from far-distant points. Mr. Ruark's success has been builded along lines of honesty and fair dealing, and his name in the business world is synonymous with integrity.
On October 29, 1876, Mr. Ruark was united in marriage with Miss Sallie Potter Longest, of Brunswick County, North Carolina, and to this union there are seven living children, namely: Hattie Longest, now the wife of J. H. Stone, of Wilmington, North Carolina; Robert, who is a successful practitioner of law at that city; Joseph Watters, mayor of Southport and one of the lead- ing members of the Brunswick County bar; Crou- ' ley Guthrie, of Detroit, Michigan; Dr. William Thomas, a successful practicing physician of Wilmington; Bryant Whitfield, who is a teacher in the public schools of Detroit, Michigan; and Mary Rebecca, who is the wife of Robert St. George, a traveling man of Wilmington.
Mr. Ruark has long been interested in civic mat- ters, and has served as town commissioner and alderman for several years. In July, 1909, he was made chairman of the county board of educa- tion, a position which he has retained to the pres- ent time. His public service has been a decidedly creditable one, reflecting honor upon Mr. Ruark's executive ability and character. A greater worker in religious movements at Southport will not be found than Mr. Ruark, and for the past twenty- five years he has been treasurer and a member of the board of stewards of Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church. His only fraternal connection is with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which order he is past noble grand.
HON. JOSEPH WATTERS RUARK. The law is known as a stern mistress, demanding of her dev- otees constant and unremitting attention and leading her followers through many mazes and in- tricacies before she grants them a full measure of success. This incessant devotion frequently precludes the idea of the successful lawyer indulg- ing in activities outside of the straight path of his profession, especially if his vocational duties are of a large and important nature. But there are men who find the time and the inclination to devote to other matters, particularly those affect- ing civic affairs, and who, by the very reason of their ability in the law, are peculiarly fitted to perform capable service therein. Joseph Watters Ruark, mayor of Southport, has for a number of years been a close devotee of the law. A master of its perplexities and complexities, his activities
have been directed incessantly to the demands of his calling. Yet he has found the leisure to dis- charge in a highly efficient manner the duties of his office, and he is therefore as well known as a public-spirited factor in civic affairs as he is as a thorough and learned legist.
Joseph W. Ruark was born at Southport, Bruns- wick County, North Carolina, November 29, 1885, and is a son of James Buchanan and Sallie Potter (Longest) Ruark, of whom mention is made on other pages of this work.
After attending the public schools of Southport, Joseph Watters Ruark entered the law department of the University of North Carolina, from which he was graduated February 4, 1907. He began practice at Sanford, North Carolina, where he remained for five years, and took a prominent part in public affairs, being elected mayor of that city. He had served in that office for two years when he resigned, and in 1913 came to Southport, where he has since been engaged in a general prac- tice of his profession. It was not long before his abilities were recognized, and he is now in the enjoyment of a large professional business which takes him into all the courts. In May, 1915, he was elected mayor, of Southport, and is giving the people excellent service in that office. Mayor Ruark is a Blue Lodge and Chapter Mason and a member of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. He has the interests of his native city at heart and is found foremost among the men who are working for its advancement.
On November 29, 1911, Mayor Ruark was mar- ried to Miss Elizabeth Cross, of Sanford, North Carolina, and they have one daughter, Marion. Mayor and Mrs. Ruark are members of Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church.
ALEXANDER WADDELL PATE. The ability to handle successfully a number of interests is a rare one, and has been a distinguishing feature of the business career of Alexander Waddell Pate in Wilmington. Mr. Pate is a native of North Carolina, had his early business experience in this state and in Virginia, and since April, 1907, has been identified with Wilmington and primarily as a real estate man. He conducts a real estate, brokerage and development business.
He was responsible for the laying out and developing of the Sea Gate property. He also bought the New Hanover Transit Company and laid out and developed the Carolina Beach. This was an old resort property, but had practically been abandoned from a residential standpoint. It is a tract of land of unexampled beauty and adaptability for resort purposes. It comprises 1,000 acres, is situated fourteen miles from Wil- mington on a peninsula extending into the At- lantic Ocean and bounded on one side by Cape Fear River and at the head of Myrtle Grove Sound. The New Hanover Transit Company owns this beach of which Mr. Pate is president. One of the leading improvements on the beach property is the Graystone Inn, which contains thirty rooms. Mr. Pate is also president of the Southern Realty and Development Company, is a director of the Wilmington-Carolina Beach Railway Company, and is head of the A. W. Pate Company, real estate and brokerage.
He was born in Cumberland County, North Carolina, September 26, 1875, a son of Alexander and Susan E. (McDonald) Pate. His father was a merchant and manufacturer. The son received his education in the public schools and in the
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
high school at Lumber Bridge. His early busi- ness training was acquired at Durham, North Caro- lina, where he spent eight years in the laundry business. After that he was in the real estate business at Norfolk, Virginia, and was engaged in the development of several North Carolina prop- erties from 1904 to 1907. Mr. Pate is a trustee and a member of the finance committee of the Church of the Disciples at Wilmington. On No- vember 23, 1902, he married Miss Mattie Payne, of Henderson, North Carolina. They are the par- ents of four children: Ouida Mae, Waddell Hurst, Margaret Cranmer and Alfred Alexander.
WILLIAM BERTRAND BAKER is one of the lead- ing building contractors of Greenville, and his work in that line has been pretty well distributed over a large territory in North Carolina and also in Virginia, where he lived for many years be- fore coming to North Carolina.
Mr. Baker is a native of Pennsylvania, born in Bradford County July 8, 1876, a son of Fill- more and Charlotte (Miller) Baker. His father was a farmer, and William B. Baker spent the first twenty-one years of his life on a farm. He attended public schools and also a college at Bridgewater, Virginia. On leaving home he ap- prenticed himself to learn the carpenter's trade, and in 1902 entered the contracting and build- ing field for himself in Virginia. In 1913 he came to Greenville and now maintains a thor- oughly equipped organization for handling every class of building contracts. He has erected numer- ous residences, stores, hotels and other struc- tures. Some of the examples of his work in Greenville are the residences of A. M. Moseley, Albion Dunn, L. W. Tucker, William H. Long, and also the National Garage, a building 107 by 135 feet, and the Taft & Van Dyke Furniture Store.
Mr. Baker is a Royal Arch Mason and an ac- tive member of the Presbyterian Church. On September 17, 1902, he married Miss Angie Horn- · baker, of Manassas, Virginia. They have two children: Alvernah Myra and Garland Reuel.
SAMUEL MEADOWS FLIPPEN, M. D. The name Flippen has been long and prominently identified with the profession of medicine in Surry and Stokes counties. Dr. Samuel M. Flippen is one of the oldest physicians located at Westfield, and his son Dr. Robert D. Flippen has for a number of years been actively associated with him and now carries the heavier burdens of the practice.
On a plantation on Peters Creek in Patrick County, Virginia, Samuel Meadows Flippen was born March 1, 1838, nearly eighty years ago. His father, Joseph Taylor Flippen, was born in Pitt- sylvania County, Virginia, on a plantation near Danville. The grandfather, Samuel Flippen, a native of the same county and of Scotch-Irish ancestry, was a mechanic by trade. While not a college graduate, he manifested strong inclina- tions for medical practice and by experience quali- fied himself for good service in that field. Com- ing to Stokes County, North Carolina, he located about three miles east of Westfield on Big Creek, where he bought a large tract of land and operated it with slave labor. He lived there until his death. In that section he erected one of the first frame houses with a brick chimney. This old house is still standing, a landmark of that region, and is still occupied as a home. Samuel Flippen was four times married.
Joseph Taylor Flippen grew up on a farm and Vol. V-6
subsequently moved to Patrick County, Virginia, where he bought a plantation. He had some slaves, and was successfully engaged in planting until his death. He married Sally Lyons, who was born on a plantation in Stokes County, North Carolina, a daughter of Frank Lyons. They reared four children: William, Samuel Meadows, Kitty Lyon and Hetty.
Samuel Meadows Flippen had the environment of a good home and the influence and advantages supplied by well-to-do parents. He attended the neighboring schools, also the Floyd Court House High School, and for a time was a teacher. He took up the study of medicine and in 1858 entered the Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, where he was still pursuing his studies when the war broke out. He returned home and entered the Confederate army, where he served creditably until the close of the war. After the war he took up the practice of medicine at Westfield, and is still hale and hearty and has given his professional service to many families in this section for over half a century.
At the age of twenty-one Dr. Flippen married Ruth Dearman, who was born in Rockingham County, North Carolina, daughter of James Dear- man, who married a Miss Smith. At her death she left two children: Sallie V. and J. M. Flip- pen. For his second wife Dr. Flippen married Sarah J. Jackson, who was born on a farm in Westfield Township of Surry County, daughter of Joel and Rebecca (Jesup) Jackson. To this marriage one child was born, Dr. Robert D. Flip- pen.
Dr. Robert D. Flippen was born at Westfield, North Carolina, August 20, 1871. He attended the Westfield High School and later the Dalton Institute, and began preparing for his profession in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore. He also attended the University of the City of New York and the Louisville Medical College at Louisville, Kentucky, where he was graduated M. D. in 1892. Thus for fully a quarter of a century Dr. Flippen has been actively engaged in medical practice and with the exception of a few years at Pilot Mountain, his work has been done in the Westfield community and mainly in partnership with his father.
JAMES C. WILLIAMS. If there is one connec- tion which speaks for itself in highest terms of praise as to mercantile ability it is a managing · partnership in any one of the chain of stores that originated with the famous Belk Brothers of Charlotte. When this business in the process of its remarkable growth and extension fixed upon the second city in North Carolina, Wilmington, as the home of a new department store the responsibilities of local managing partner fell upon James C. Williams, who is head of the depart- ment store conducted by the Belk-Williams Com- pany in that city.
Mr. Williams was born in Waxhaw, Jackson Township, Union County, North Carolina, in 1885, a son of H. M. and Nannie (Crockett) Williams. This branch of the Williams family is of Scotch Presbyterian ancestry and have lived in Union County more than a hundred years. His grand- father, Dr. "Jim" Williams, as he was familiarly known, was an old time country physician whose practice extended for many miles around and was greatly beloved by all. His home was in the Waxhaw community and it was there that H. M. Williams was also born. He has been associated
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with merchandising for many years and is now managing partner of the Williams-Belk Company at Sanford, one of the Belk system of stores in North Carolina.
The early life of James C. Williams was spent on his father's farm. He attended school at Waxhaw, but was only nine years of age when he gained his first business experience in Rodman & Heath's store.
Every man at some time in his life enters upon a road of destiny, the course which he follows for good or bad practically to the end of the chapter. Sometimes it is a matter of definite choice, sometime the result of the drift of cir- cumstance. It was a case of resolute purpose on the part of James C. Williams when at the age of seventeen he went to Charlotte with the deter- mination of working in Belk Brothers' store and with an ambition to become a real merchant. The Belk Brothers, W. H. and Dr. J. M. Belk, it may be stated incidentally, were both born in the Waxhaw community of North Carolina and had begun business in a very modest way at Monroe. They seemed to be born merchants, and from a humble start their enterprise gradually extended, and through the establishment of chain stores in other cities the Belk system comprises seven- teen large modern department stores, all in North Carolina except the ones at York and Green- ville, South Carolina. Apparently there is no end to the establishment of new stores and the extension of the business. From first to last there has been no failure or set-back in the growth of this remarkable business. The main store of the Belks is Belk Brothers at Charlotte. Mr. W. H. Belk, the senior member of the firm, has a genius for picking out good men, and when he finds one he makes him a partner in a store that is especially established in some favorable locality. Many capable and ambitious young men have thus got started in a successful mercantile career.
When James C. Williams sought out Mr. Belk at Charlotte and applied for a "job" it was inti- mated that no opening existed. The youth then declared that he was going to work anyway even without wages, since his sole purpose was to learn the mercantile business. Mr. Belk could not but be favorably impressed with such spirit and soon found a humble routine for the boy. For several months Mr. Williams washed windows, cleaned and dusted counters and show cases, and eagerly assumed any responsibility that came in his way. His first important promotion was being made a salesman in the men's furnishings depart- ment, and while there he quickly demonstrated that he had real ability of salesmanship. Satis- factory advancement came from time to time, and so rapidly that by 1905, when only twenty years of age, he was sent to Sanford as partner in and manager of the Williams-Belk store at that place. He was at Sanford ten years, built up a splendid business, and from there in November, 1915, came to Wilmington and established the department store of the Belk-Williams Company. In this, the seaport city and second largest city in North Carolina, Mr. Williams has achieved further success and distinction as a merchant. The store is at 210-212 North Front street, in the heart of Wilmington's business district, and is a modern department store in every sense of the word.
There are some other facts regarding the Belk- Williams business as a whole which may properly be regarded as significant. Every one of the
partners in the Belk chain of stores, including the Belk Brothers themselves, was reared on a farm, and every one is a member of the Presby- terian church, while most of them were born and reared in the Waxhaw community. It is preeminently true that the success of the Belk stores is built upon character.
Mr. Williams along with character and native ability is a hard and constant worker and is everlastingly vigilant in looking after the business, especially in improving the service and the quality of his sales force. Every inducement, every encouragement is offered to the sales people to increase their efficiency and rise from the lower to the higher ranks in the mercantile world. Mr. Williams studies and practices the best modern selling methods and systems for improving his service. He gives practical instruction to the sales people himself, and whenever possible has a "school of salesmanship" conducted by experts.
In January, 1918, Mr. Williams was honored by the Rotary Club of Wilmington, being elected its president. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church and is one of the active, progressive and public spirited citizens of Wilmington. He married Miss Etta Frizelle. Their four children are: Zelle, Annie Crockett, Ethel and Margaret.
RUFUS GRADY RANKIN, of Gastonia, is one of the youngest business executives of the state. He is active head of the Pinkney Cotton Mills at Gastonia and has several other official connections with financial and business affairs, any one of which would constitute a distinction.
Few men of his attainments in business affairs were born later than the decade of the '80s. Mr. Rankin was born in 1891, in Gaston County, and is a member of an old and prominent family there. For several generations the Rankins have not only been numerous but distinctive people in the affairs of this section of the state. The founder of the family in Gaston County was Samuel Rankin, who in 1740 located at what is now Mount Holly on the Catawba River, in which is now Gaston but was then Lincoln County. Samuel Rankin, who was the great-great-great-grandfather of Ru- fus G., lived at Mount Holly two years and then moved to a plantation six miles further north on Dutchman's Creek, where he had his home until his death. His one son, William Rankin, served with credit and distinction in the Revolutionary war. James Rankin, son of the Revolutionary patriot, was in his generation a well known citizen of Gaston County. The grandfather of Rufus G. Rankin was William Rufus Rankin. Rufus G. Rankin is a son of Rufus Pinkney and Zoe (Hand) Rankin, the latter still living at Gastonia.
Rufus Pinkney Rankin, who died at his home in Gastonia November 1, 1910, was a man of well deserved prominence in the locality where he spent his life. He was born February 16, 1862, and died in his forty-ninth year. At his death he was survived by six brothers and one sister: W. R. and A. J. Rankin of Belmont; L. E. Rankin of Lowell; A. R. and E. P. Rankin of Gastonia; Robert F. Rankin of Mount Holly; and Mrs. Jane Armstrong of Belmont.
Rufus P. Rankin was reared near the Town of Belmont and not far from the present site of the Sacred Heart College. For a number of years he was engaged as a merchant at Belmont, McAden- ville and Lowell. About eleven years before his death he removed to Gastonia and organized and built the Ozark Mills, which under his direction
Ril, Rankin
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
became one of the best managed and most profit- able cotton factories in Gaston County. He was one of the large stockholders of the concern and after serving as treasurer for a number of years became president and treasurer, a position he held until a few months before his death. Rufus P. Rankin had suffered seven years from the in- sidious approach of disease, but he made a brave fight and continued his work in business affairs almost to the end. He was not only president and treasurer of the Ozark Mills but was also presi- dent of the Citizens National Bank of Gastonia. He was also a director in the Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company of Raleigh.
He was a man of the highest Christian char- acter, and from childhood had been identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. During the dozen years he had lived at Gastonia he had impressed his character strongly upon the business, social and religious affairs of the community. He was the type of citizen whom any community can ill afford to lose. Rufus P. Rankin was married October 20, 1887, to Miss Zoe Hand, daughter of S. J. Hand, of Lowell. Their five children are: Rufus Grady, Violet, Henry, Lawrence and Pink.
Rufus Grady Rankin had the influences of a noble father and mother and also the advantages of a cultured home life during his youth. He spent three years as a student in the University of North Carolina. He left university at the age of nineteen on account of the responsibilities placed upon him at home caused by his father's death. He quickly transformed himself from a light- hearted and carefree student into a serious and practical-minded business man, and not only han- dled wisely and well his father's affairs but was soon paving the way for his independent busi- ness carecr. Mr. Rankin's chief business interest at present is the Pinkney Cotton Mills, of which he was the organizer and of which he is president and treasurer. He is thus at the head of one of the most important new additions to Gastonia's great cotton mill industry. The company was or- ganized late in 1916, the building of the plant was begun early in 1917, and the wheels were turn- ing and the plant open for business in the fall of that year. This is one of the most modern cotton mills in the South. It is equipped with 6,500 spindles, and is for the manufacture of the fine combed yarns.
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