USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume V > Part 39
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In 1886 Mr. Holmes established himself in the mercantile business at Council, selecting this point on account of the railroad facilities afforded by the Seaboard Air Line, and also because of the contiguons large extent of agricultural country and timber lands that had to be supplied with commodities. His store, conducted under the name of A. G. Holmes, is a large establishment. He carries a complete line of general merchandise and supplies of agricultural and mill machinery and enjoys an extensive trade. For several years he was also extensively concerned in the manufacture of turpentine tools at Council, the products of his factory being found in all turpentine distilling sections of the South, but this feature of his busi- ness he has discontinued.
Mr. Holmes was married first to Miss Sarah M. Pate, who is survived by six children: Andrew Byron, Avery Giles, Alonzo Herbert, Cuthbert Bell, Clayton Carr and Beulah. The eldest son, Dr. Andrew Byron Holmes, is a graduate of Trinity
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College and of Jefferson Medical College, Phila- delphia, class of 1910. He entered into practice at Council, but shortly after his country became involved in the World war with Germany he sacri- ficed his brilliant prospects and volunteered his services in the Medical Corps of the National Army, and at the time this record is prepared (February, 1918) is a surgeon with the rank of lieutenant, stationed at Camp Beauregard, Louisi- ana. The second son, Dr. Avery Giles Holmes, like his patriotic brother, gave up a promising professional career as a dental surgeon to serve his country in her hour of need. He also is a Trinity man and is a graduate of the Atlanta Den- tal College. In competition with 150 applicants Doctor Holmes was one of the thirty selected sur- geon dentists commissioned lieutenant, his present rank in the National Army. The third son, Alonzo Herbert Holmes, who was associated with his father in business and additionally was postmaster of Council, is also a member of the United States Army and is at Camp Jackson. The next younger brother, Cuthbert Bell Holmes, is an enterprising business man and is agent at Council for the Sea- board Air Line Railway. The two younger chil- dren are yet in school.
Mr. Holmes was married second to Miss Mattie Edwards, who is a daughter of George A. Edwards, of Bladen County, and they have five children: Selena Hazel, Mattie Hilda, Caroline Evelyn, Sarah Minnie and Edith Estelle. Mr. Holmes owns a beautiful home at Council and also valu- able agricultural properties in Columbus County. As a merchant he has high standing in the com- mercial field and his long record of integrity in business has brought him the confidence and esteem of all who have had business relations with him, and this attitude of his fellow citizens he values highly. During the many years that he has re- sided at Council he has assisted in the develop- ment of her best interests and has never been un- mindful of his citizenship responsibilities, although unwilling at all times to serve in public office.
RICHARD HENRY LEWIS, M. D., LL. D. When on May 8, 1912, the University of North Carolina conferred the degree of Doctor of Laws upon its honored alumnus Doctor Lewis, Dean Raper in pre- senting him for the degree used the following words: "I have the honor to present for the degree of Doctor of Laws Richard Henry Lewis, secretary of the North Carolina Board of Health, 1892-1909; president of the National Conference of State and Provincial Boards of Health of North America in 1906; president of the American Public Health Association in 1908; distinguished for a rare charm of personality, for excellence as a physician and teacher of medicine, and above all for a long and valued service in the promotion of public health."
For over forty years Doctor Lewis has lived at Raleigh and confined his private practice to his specialty in treatment of the diseases of the eye and ear. Conspicuous as he has been in his pro- fession as a specialist, his work in the broader field of public health has transcended all other service. It is not difficult to find abundant evi- dence to testify this. The first paragraph of the report on North Carolina in Dr. Charles V. Chapin 's "Report of State, Public Health Work based on a Survey of State Boards of Health, " reads: "The present activities and progressive attitude of the North Carolina Department of Health are largely due to the self-sacrificing efforts of the former
secretary, Doctor Lewis, who voluntarily resigned so that a full time executive might be appointed."
Another partial quotation should be made from the resolutions adopted by the Medical Society of the State of North Carolina. The preamble of those resolutions reads: "Our former and most efficient secretary of the Board of Health, Dr. R. H. Lewis, has decided it necessary to resign from the position; for the long period of nearly seven- teen years of arduous and difficult labor he has accomplished so much by unfaltering zeal and de- votion for the upbuilding and honor of the pro- fession both of the state of North Carolina and of the nation, he has so carefully safeguarded the people against the threatened inroad of disease as to save innumerable lives, the suffering incident thereto and great pecuniary loss; and during these strenuous years we have seen and appreciated the results of his great labors; now wishing to express the esteem in which he is held not alone by the profession but by the laity be it hereby resolved that this society expresses its conviction that he has done more, both in his official and individual capacity, than would have been possible for any other one to have done."
Richard Henry Lewis was born February 18, 1850, at Greenwreath, the Foreman place on the Tar River, eight miles above Greenville in Pitt County. He was the only son of the marriage of Richard Henry Lewis and Martha Elizabeth Hos- kins. His father died in January, 1857, and the mother moved to Tarboro, where Doctor Lewis spent his youth. He attended the Owen School, the Tarboro Male Academy, and the well known school conducted by R. H. Graves in Granville County. In 1866 he entered the State University of North Carolina, where he was a first honor man in his classes. The university was closed as a result of political changes in 1868, and he then continued his studies for one year in the University of Vir- ginia. In 1869 he began the study of medicine at the University of Virginia, but in the following year entered the University of Maryland, where he graduated M. D. March 1, 1871. He was then elected assistant and later resident physician of Baltimore Infirmary of the University of Maryland Hospital.
After a brief practice at Tarboro Doctor Lewis determined to specialize on diseases of the eye and ear. Part of his training' was obtained in the office of Doctor Chisolm of Baltimore, and also at the Royal Ophthalmic Hospital at Moorfields, London.
Doctor Lewis began the practice of his specialty at Savannah, Georgia, in 1875. He was soon elected to the Chair of Diseases of the Eye and Ear in the Savannah Medical College. Returning to his native state in 1877, he has practiced at Raleigh since that year and since 1886 has been associated with his brother-in-law Dr. Kemp P. Battle, Jr. The firm is now Lewis, Battle & Wright, the junior member being Dr. J. B. Wright.
Doctor Lewis has been a member of the State Medical Society of North Carolina since 1877. He served as a member of the Board of Medical Ex- aminers from 1880 to 1884, as president of the society in 1890-91, and was chairman of its com- mittee on legislation for about twenty years until he resigned in 1912. Doctor Lewis was elected a member of the State Board of Health in 1885, and in 1892 succeeded Dr. Thomas Fanning Wood as secretary of the Board of Healthi. Doctor Wood had been first secretary from 1877 to 1892. In the dual capacity of chairman of the committee on
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legislation of the medical society and as secretary of the Board of Health Doctor Lewis was chiefly instrumental in securing valuable amendments to the medical license law, in preventing threatened legislation that would have greatly impaired that most important statute and in placing upon the statute books laws bearing upon the public health which placed North Carolina in the forefront of the Southern States. From 1885 the total annual appropriation for the work of the State Board of Health had been only $2,000. Necessarily a physician of high standing could not devote his entire time to the duties of secretary of the board. For years Doctor Lewis had worked steadily to extend the power of the State Board of Health, and finally secured the pas- sage of a bill in 1909 providing for an appropria- tion of $6,000 and requiring the secretary to give his entire time to the work. Feeling that he could not sacrifice his own private practice in order to continue the duties of secretary, Doctor Lewis re- signed after obtaining the positive promise of a first class man to accept the office of secretary. Thus he resigned July 1, 1909, and was succeeded by Dr. W. S. Rankin.
A very interesting and instructive account of Doctor Lewis' administration in the development of the State Board of Health is found in a bulletin of the North Carolina Board of Health for June, 1913. A review of even the more important fea- tures of his administration could not be well at- tempted in this sketch. His attention was early directed to the securing of proper legislation pro- viding for the better protection of various com- munities from the introduction of infectious dis- eases, safeguarding the health of school children, and protecting the drinking waters of the state. After nearly ten years of a propaganda led by Doctor Lewis, the American Public Health Asso- ciation placed North Carolina with only three other states in the first class as regards the wholesome- ness and purity of its public and private water supplies. Doctor Lewis also had a prominent part in the anti-tuberculosis campaign in North Car- olina. Of the efficiency and benefit of his admin- istration in general, the words quoted at the be- ginning of this article are a degree of praise which, though entirely merited, make one of the rare dis- tinctions that come to men who unselfishly devote themselves to the public welfare.
Reference has already been made to the fact that Doctor Lewis was elected president in 1905 of the National Conference of State and Provincial Boards of Health of North America ( United States and Canada). In 1907 he was elected presi- dent of the American Public Health Association, comprising the countries United States, Canada, Mexico and Cuba. In appreciation of his labors the State Health Officers Association presented him with a handsome gold-headed cane. For twenty years Doctor Lewis was professor of diseases of the eye and ear in the Leonard Medical School and of diseases of the eye in the graduate department of the Medical School of the State University as long as it was maintained. He has been a leader in more than one department of human activity. For years he has been devoted to farming along modern scientific lines. He was the first in his part of the country to build a silo and the first to use cream separators in his dairy. He has always been prominent in good roads movements and legis- lation, and fathered that movement in Wake County. He was also influential in seenring the first legislation for the betterment of country roads
in North Carolina. Doctor Lewis was president of the North Carolina Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis in 1910-12, and has been president of the State Audubon Society since 1902. He is a trustee of the State University, of St. Mary's School, St. Augustine Normal School and of the school committee of Raleigh Township. He is a director in the State Sanatorium for Tuberculosis, a director in the Citizens National Bank of Raleigh, and is senior warden in Christ Church parish. On February 13, 1877, he married Cornelia Viola Bat- tle, who died in 1886. On April 16, 1890, he mar- ried Mary Long Gordon, who died August 30, 1895. October 27, 1897, he married Mrs. Annie Blackwell Foreman, who died October 30, 1917. To a large degree Doctor Lewis attributes his successful career to the splendid influence of his devoted mother and the encouragement she gave him for a broad and resourceful life.
To conclude this sketch there should be quoted a characterization of Doctor Lewis written by Bishop Joseph Blount Cheshire. This characterization is as follows :
"Dr. Lewis is a man of strong natural under- standing, of clear and penetrating intellect, of just and accurate discrimination, and of a capacious mind well stored with the fruits of study and ob- servation. Diligence and perseverance in youth im- proved the opportunities afforded by the best insti- tutions at home and abroad. An unusual native endowment of courage, patience, frankness, gen- erosity and unclouded sincerity have been developed and strengthened into permanent qualities of matured character, under the best influences of early Christian nurture, and by the discipline of years of vigorous exercise in close contact with the real- ities of domestic, social and public life.
"Eminent in his profession, he is equally eminent for the best and most attractive qualities in social life, and for a practical public spirit and benevolence which have for years made him a strong personal influence in support of every move- ment for the best interests of his city, county and state. Dear to his friends, a welcome guest in all companies, he is of that genial, kindly, responsive and wholly unaffected nature which commands in- stantaneous recognition even from strangers; sin- gular clearness and perspicuousness in thought and in expression, intelligence and knowledge, illum- inated by an adequate and not excessive sense of humor, render his conversation as instructive as it is entertaining; and the same genuine qualities give him an unusual effectiveness as a speaker, espe- cially in his own line of popular Scientific Exposi- tion.
"That which is characteristic of the man may perhaps be expressed most adequately by the words, Balance, Equipoise. The best qualities of heart and mind are so admirably combined, and have been so fairly and evenly developed in the varied discipline of a broad and sympathetic life experience that they have produced the simple, unaffected, unconscious excellence of Normal Chris- tian manhood."
REV. JOHN ALEXANDER BEAM. During the past five years Rev. John Alexander Beam has served as superintendent of public instruction of Person County and now ranks with the leading educators in this part of the state. His interest in his work has been deep, sincere, zealous and unabat- ing, the present excellent school system being largely due to his labors. His work has been pro- gressive and practical in character, proving of
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the greatest benefit to the county, and likewise he has been true to every public and private trust.
Mr. Beam was born December 23, 1857, in Cleveland County, North Carolina, a son of Martin and Susan (Petty) Beam. His parents were agricultural people, and the youth was reared in a farming atmosphere, his early education being secured in the Black Rock Academy, while later he attended the Shelby High School. Possessed of but meagre finances, he worked out his own education from that point forward, and by accept- ing employment in Cleveland County and assisting other students he managed to secure a course in Wake Forest College, from which he was gradu- ated with the class of 1885, and also to secure instruction at the Louisville (Kentucky) Seminary. Upon leaving the seminary in 1886 he accepted a field of county churches and located in Barboro. In 1888 he became the founder of Bethel Hill Institute, which he owned and conducted for eighteen years, during which time he prepared more than 100 young men for work in the ministry and sent them forth upon their labors. For four years he was principal of the Leaksville-Spray Institute, and for two years was located at Prestonsburg, Kentucky, where he was in charge of the Baptist Institute. In 1913 he returned to Bethel Hill, his old home as county superintendent of public instruction, a position which he has since retained. The cause of education in him has indeed found a warm friend. With a just appre- ciation of its value as a preparation for life's responsibilities he has made it his constant aim to so improve the schools that the instruction is of the best possible benefit to the young. He has been continually elevating the standard of the schools until Person County has every reason to be proud of its educational system, which is most thorough, practical and beneficial. Mr. Beam also continues his ministerial work, filling the pulpits of Bethel Hill and Mayo Chapel.
Mr. Beam was married September 3, 1889, to Miss Mollie Lucas, of Blenheim, South Carolina, and to this union there were born four children: Hugh Martin, educated at Wake Forest College, Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts and is finishing his course in the medical department of Columbia University, New York City, Doctor of Medicine, class of 1918; Gaither McIntyre, gradu- ate Wake Forest College, Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, and of the law department and is now located at Louisburg, North Carolina; Beryl Bertie, a graduate of Averett College, Danville, Virginia, who taught school for three years prior to her marriage to Thomas W. Smith, a tobacconist of Richmond, Virginia; and Gladys May, who is now in her second year at Meredith College, Raleigh, North Carolina. The mother of these children, a woman of splendid intellectual powers and marked talents, has been engaged in educational work since 1885. At the present time she is principal of the Bethel Hill High School.
ELIJAH JESSE BARNES. The modern legist, un- less he be a man of sound judgment, possessed of a liberal education and stern training, combined with keen insight into human nature and motives, stands little chance of meeting with success. Mod- ern jurisprudence has become more and more in- tricate, and experience, study and natural incli- nation are necessary in the attainment of position and profitable practice. These acquirements are characteristic of Elijah Jesse Barnes, of Wilson, whose career has been marked with many success-
ful outcomes for his clients. But while he has been successful in the field of law, Mr. Barnes is probably equally well known in educational circles, and in the capacity of chairman of the board of education, a position which he will re- tain until 1922, he is working energetically and fruitfully in elevating the standards of the pub- lic schools of Wilson County.
Mr. Barnes was born on a farm in Wilson County, North Carolina, August 20, 1870, and is a son of William Lewis and Nancy (Boyett) Barnes, natives of North Carolina and lifelong agriculturists. His early education was secured in the Thompson and Turlington schools in his home locality, and he grew up on the home farm. After some further preparation he entered the Uni- versity of North Carolina, and in February, 1899, was graduated from'the law department of that institution, but did not immediately enter upon the practice of his calling, the first year after his graduation being passed in teaching school in Wilson County. His first active practice was at Dunn, where he remained for one year, and in 1902 he came to Wilson, where shortly there- after he was elected county attorney, a post which he filled acceptably for one year. He next re- sumed his professional business, but in 1905 gave up his practice to become county superintendent of public instruction, an office of which he was the incumbent until October, 1913. He then again took up private practice, but was not left long out of public life, for he was chosen county judge of Wilson County and occupied the judicial position one year, when he resigned his place on the bench to accept the appointment as clerk of the Superior Court. After one year he again re- signed and returned to his practice, but in 1916 was elected chairman of the County Board of Ed- ucation, and a subsequent appointment of the State Legislature extended his term in this of-
fice to six years. Mr. Barnes is an active, ener- getic official, conscientiously striving to elevate educational standards, and through his unselfish work has won the confidence and admiration of his fellow-citizens. He is a stockholder in the Branch Bank. He is also president of the Wil- son Co-Operative and Gardening Association, and is an active member of the Wilson Chamber of Commerce. He belongs likewise to the County Club, to the Junior Order of United American Mechanics and to the Woodmen.
Mr. Barnes was married May 7, 1899, to Miss Minnie R. Adams, of Johnson County, North Carolina, and they have four children: Margaret McDonald, Edwin Justin, Jesse Albert and Wil- liam Toomer. Mr. Barnes is clerk and deacon of the Second Baptist Church of Wilson.
MAJ. CHARLES PATTISON BOLLES, who gave more than half a century of his life to the service of. the United States Government, was a distinguished naval officer for the United States and in the Confederacy, and was a scholar, scientist and en- gineer of the highest attainments. From early manhood he considered Wilmington his home, and he died in that city December 19, 1909, when past eighty-six years of age.
He was born at Charleston, South Carolina, May 13, 1823, son of Abiel and Hannah (Pattison) Bolles. He was a lineal descendant of Joseph Bolles who came to America from England in 1640 and was deputy commissioner for the Prov- ince of Maine. Joseph Bolles founded a family that in its various branches has furnished a num- ber of distinguished names to American life and
C. P. Bottes
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affairs. One branch of the family still in New England spells the name Bowles. A member of this branch is Samuel Bowles, founder of the Springfield Republican and undoubtedly one of the greatest of American journalists.
Abiel Bolles, father of Major Bolles, was born near New London, Connecticut, July 13, 1786. He graduated from Brown University in 1808 with the degree Master of Arts and soon afterward came South to Charleston, South Carolina. For many years he was professor of mathematics in Charles- ton College. His wife, Hannah Pattison, was first cousin of Commodore Morris of the United States navy. Commodore Morris was with Stephen De- catur when the latter performed the exploits famous in American history by which the nest of pirates on the Barbary Coast of Africa ceased for all time to annoy and harass American shipping. Louise Morris, a daughter of Commodore Morris, married W. W. Corcoran, founder of the Corcoran Art Gallery at Washington.
Charles Pattison Bolles graduated from Charles- ton College with the degree A. B. in 1844. He was soon afterward appointed on the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. During the years be- fore the war he earned a place of high standing particularly as a hydrographer, and even then was a man of marked ability in naval circles. For that reason he was entrusted with many important commissions on naval vessels making charts and deep-sea soundings on the waters in North, Cen- tral and South America. In 1851, then a lieuten- ant in the United States navy, he came to Smith- ville, now Southport, North Carolina, at the mouth of the Cape Fear River, on the schooner Gallatin of the United States Coast Survey, commanded by Capt. John Newland Maffitt. Under Captain Maffitt young Bolles made exhaustive charts of the Cape Fear Bar and Lower River, and the name of Major Bolles appeared on all of the old charts of this region. Dr. James Sprunt in his recently published "Cape Fear Chronicles" speaks of Ma- jor Bolles as a "master in the art of triangulation and topography.''
Mr. Bolles was assistant superintendent of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey when in April, 1861, he resigned and offered his services to the Confederate States of America. In the southern government he was given the rank of captain of engineers and soon promoted to major on the staff of Gen. W. H. C. Whiting, in command of the Cape Fear River and its approaches. Major Bolles was detailed to lay out the fortifications of Port Fisher, built the first battery at that point, and it was named in his honor Battery Bolles. The dedication and naming of this battery was made a formal military ceremony, carried on under the auspices of the Wilmington Light Infantry. Ma- jor Bolles remained in service at Fort Fisher for something over a year, when he was assigned to take charge of the arsenal at Fayetteville. While there his professional skill was given an nnusual test when he successfully devised a peculiar bolt to be used as a projectile in the Whitworth guns, which had been sent to the Confederacy by the British government without either ammunition or projectiles.
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