USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume V > Part 56
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This branch of the White family came to Amer- ica from the British Isles, but whether it is of English or Welsh origin it is not definitely known, though the probabilities are that it is Welsh. The founder of the family in Bladen County was Mr. White's great-great-grandfather, John White, who came to this county from Virginia about 1760. He made settlement on Panther Creek, north of the Cape Fear River. He was a real pioneer in that section, and had the first habitation in the region lying between Whitehall and Prospect Bluff. His business judgment and ability made him a man of wealth and substance. He owned extensive tracts of land and operated them with numerous slaves. John White married into the Rowan family, of which the Provincial Governor Rowan was a member. One of the sons of that marriage was named Matthew Rowan White. The descendants of John White down to the present time have lived on or in the immediate vicinity of the original location on Panther Creek. In that locality John White built what was called the "fort." It was not primarily a structure for protection against human enemies. It was rather in the nature of a "blind" and a shelter used while hunting the wild game which so much abounded in that region in early times. From John White to the Elizabeth- town lawyer the line of descent is traced through Griffith White, the great-grandfather, Griffith White, Jr., the grandfather, and William H. White.
William H. White is one of the venerable char- acters of Bladen County. He was born in 1825 and is still living at the age of ninety-two. His home is about five and a half miles above Eliza- bethtown on the Cape Fear River and not far from the original place of settlement of the White fam- ily. Although so far advanced in years he is active in mind and body and his mind is a store- house of historical information and interesting reminiscences of ante-bellum times. He served as an officer of the militia before the war between the states and during the war enrolled as an active member of the Home Guard of Bladen County. With the close of the war he became candidate of the regular democratic party for the office of sheriff. North Carolina was then in the grip of
Bistrite
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the military authorities who instituted the rigid control of Reconstruction times and under their direction William H. White was counted out and not allowed to act as sheriff. One of his brothers, the late George Montgomery White, was a law- yer of prominence and a leader of the bar in the Cape Fear country and at one time represented Bladen County in the Legislature.
William H. White married Caroline Gillespie, who died at the age of eighty-one. She was a daughter of Richard S. and Mrs. (Flowers) Gil- lespie. Her mother was of pure French ancestry while her father was of Irish stock. Richard S. Gillespie was one of the strong and positive char- acters of Bladen County and impressed his ability on local history in many ways. He became con- spicuous during war times and in the violent scenes which characterized the reconstruction period. About 1867 he was elected register of deeds of Bladen County by the regular democratic party. He had hardly begun his official duties when in 1868 he was removed from office by the military authorities who were establishing the reconstruc- tion regime in North Carolina. But before vacat- ing his office he wrote a very bitter and strongly worded denunciation of those directly responsible for his removal and the government authority be- hind them. This protest he made an official doc- ument and wrote it into the records of his office, where it still remains-a tribute to his courage and fearlessness in the face of an overwhelming and arbitrary power.
Such an ancestry is a worthy heritage, a stimu- lus to action and affording a standard of ideals and conduct from which Richard S. White has never deviated. He was born in 1857, at Eliza- bethtown. Though schools were somewhat disor- ganized during his youth on account of the war and Reconstruction, he acquired a good education. He graduated from the University of North Caro- lina in 1882. That was his higher literary training, and he remained in the same institution and grad- uated in law in 1885. The same year he began practice at Elizabethtown, and his name has since been associated with many of the most important cases and legal interests of the local and state courts.
Aside from his standing as a lawyer special in- terest pertains to Mr. White's career through his activity in politics. His ancestors were stanch whigs. From them he probably inherited his tend- ency to classify with the republican party. He is and has been a republican of the progressive type. In 1912 he went as a delegate to the National Republican Convention at Chicago. He refused to assent to the machine rule of that famous conven- tion and subsequently joined the progressive forces and supported Mr. Roosevelt. Though representing the minority party in political affairs in North Carolina Mr. White was elected a member of the Lower House of the Legislature in 1895 on the republican ticket. His most important work in that session was done as chairman of the committee on education. He was also second on the com- mittee on privileges and elections and served on several other committees. In local and county affairs he has been, as already mentioned, mayor of Elizabethtown, member of the County Board of Education and has filled other positions of honor and trust.
Mr. White married Miss Eugenia Rinaldi White, a daughter of James Monroe White, a half brother of William Hendon White, the paternal grandfather having first married a Miss Beery, who died leaving an only child, James M. White.
After the death of his first wife the grandfather married a Miss Hendon. The maternal grand- father of Eugenia Rinaldi White was the late John W. Rinaldi, a native of Italy, who came to Bladen County early in the nineteenth century, first locating in the State of Florida, and then moving to Bladen County. Mrs. White died in 1893, leaving two children: Richard S., Jr., and Mrs. A. A. Melvin.
HON. EUGENE JACKSON TUCKER. Perhaps no citizen of Eastern North Carolina has a more just claim to distinction that is worth while than Dr. Eugene Jackson Tucker, of Roxboro, North Carolina, who for many years has been prominent professionally in this state, and has also won enviable reputation in public life, at present rep- resenting the Seventeenth District in the North Carolina State Senate. Both in private and public citizens, and is exercising wider influence in Legislative halls, Doctor Tucker has been usefully conspicuous because of his intelligent public spirit and his determined upholding of high ideals. The confidence he has inspired has been shown in other directions than politics. He is at the head of one of the leading banking institutions in Person County, the Bank of Roxboro. In every organization, from his school days, into which professional interest or personal choice has led him honors have been bestowed upon him by friends and associates because of great obvious merit.
Eugene Jackson Tucker was born in Charlotte County, Virginia, May 18, 1869, and is a son of John Archibald and Mary (Tatum) Tucker, old residents of Charlotte County, Virginia, the father being a merchant there for many years. The son was reared in his native state and primarily edu- cated in the public schools. In 1883 Reidsville, North Carolina, became his home, and there he prepared for college, in 1889 entering the dental department of Vanderbilt University, from which institution he was graduated in 1890 with his degree of D. D. S., having been president of his class. In the same year he came to Roxboro, which city has since been his home, and here built up a large and substantial practice as a dental surgeon. He has twice been president of the North Carolina Dental Society, and for six years served on the state dental examining board. Aside from his profession, he has been to some extent interested in business enterprises, and also farm- ing and dealing in real estate.
Having centered all his interests in this see- tion and watched and assisted in developing many of its enterprises it was a landable ambition in a man of Doctor Tucker's high standing and sincere citizenship to desire a measure of political power in order to still further measures, which he, with other serious, thoughtful, progressive men, have long considered necessary for the public welfare. In 1915 he was elected to the General Assembly, and in 1917 was elected to the Senate from the Seventeenth Senatorial District. In this body his duties have been manifold because of membership on many important committees, be- ing chairman of the public health committee, and a member of the finance and educational and other important committees. For years he has been active in public health legislation, in conjunction with Doctors Rankin and Royster, concerning public health conditions in North Carolina. For two years he served as a member of the National Army and Navy Dental Legislative Committee, and at present is the United States Food and Fnel
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Administrator for Person County, and has served as a member of the city council of Roxboro.
Doctor Tucker is a member of Person Lodge No. 113, Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, of which he is ex-master, at Roxboro, and belongs to the Knights of Pythias, the Woodmen of the World and the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, all of Roxboro. He is a member of the Baptist Church and is ever mindful of its benevolent claims. In 1917 Doctor Tucker was elected a member of the board of trustees of the University of North Carolina.
HON. STAHLE LINN. An attorney of undeniable merit, studious and industrious, Hon. Stahle Linn, of Salisbury, is devoted to his profession, and by a wise application of his natural and acquired forces is meeting with gratifying success in his legal work. He was born in Salisbury, a son of Thomas Calvin Linn and grandson of Robert J. Linn. His paternal great-grandfather, David Linn, an extensive planter, spent his last years in Rowan County, his body be- ing laid to rest in Organ churchyard.
Robert J. Linn was born on a plantation in Province Township, Rowan County and in that township spent his entire life. Succeeding to the occupation in which he was reared, he became the owner of a valuable plantation, which he managed with slave labor. living upon it until his death in 1867. The maiden name of his wife was Joicy C. Redwine. She, too, was born in Providence Township a daughter of Pleasant and Mary (Bar- ringer) Redwine, lifelong residents of Rowan County. Mrs. Robert J. Linn died December 24, 1914, leaving three children: Thomas Calvin, Pleasant David, and Mary Eliza, who married Dr. C. M. Van Poole, of Salisbury.
After completing the course of study in the public schools, Stahle Linn was fitted for college at Horner's Military Institute, in Oxford. Continuing his studies then at the University of North Caro- lina, he was there graduated with the class of 1907, with the degree of Ph. B. An ambitious student, with a decided preferment for a legal education, Mr. Linn then entered the law department of his alma mater, from which he was graduated in 1908. Licensed to practice the same year, he immediately became associated with his father, a well-known and able attorney, and has since commanded his full share of the legal patronage of Salisbury and of the surrounding country.
Public-spirited and progressive, Mr. Linn has ever evinced a warm interest in public matters, and in 1916 was elected to the State Senate, where he served on the judiciary committee and the com- mittee on appropriations proposition and griev- ances. Fraternally Mr.'Linn is a member of Ful- ton Lodge No. 99, Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons.
JONAS OETTINGER. Of the business citizens of Wilson who through their sound principles and business capacity have been instrumental in ad- vancing the progress and prestige of the city in a commercial and financial way, none have played a more helpful or prominent part than has Jonas Oettinger. A resident of the city since 1869, when he came here as a lad to accept a clerkship in his uncle's store, he has steadily advanced to a commanding position in business and financial circles, and at the same time has been a recog- nized power in the establishment and maintenance of institutions which have made for business, civic, educational and moral advancement.
Mr. Oettinger was born in the City of Balti-
more, Maryland, May 14, 1857, a son of Solomon and Rosetta (Rosenthal) Oettinger. His father was engaged in the wholesale merchandise busi- ness, and was well known at Baltimore, where he was secretary of the Baltimore Oheb-Shalom Con- gregation. The education of Jonas Oettinger was secured in public school No. 1 in his native city, which he attended until he was twelve years of age, and almost immediately thereafter the youth began his identification with business affairs. In 1869 he came to Wilson, on September 23 of which year he became a clerk in the store of his uncle, Emil Rosenthal. Here he learned the business thoroughly, the stock of the establish- ment consisting of dry goods, clothing, shoes, etc., and February 1, 1882, when Mr. Rosenthal en- tered a larger mechandising field, Mr. Oettinger, with his brother David, purchased the business. This partnership continued until Mr. David Oet- tinger's death in 1899, during which years the firm received constantly increasing patronage. The business is now owned by Mr. Oettinger and his son, Elmer R. Progressive methods, honor- able policies and able management caused the trade to grow rapidly, and from time to time the facilities for handling the custom were of necessity increased. Today the Oettinger Depart- ment Store, as the business is now known, occu- pies a modern two-story building 100 by 75 feet, complete in equipment and appurtenances, and with an up-to-date and complete stock, also an additional wing and large warehouse in which re- serve stocks are carried. The growth and develop- ment of this business is an excellent example of American enterprise. Mr. Oettinger has vari- ous other interests. He is an important figure in realty circles, being president of the Wilson Real Estate, Loan & Trust Company and a di- rector of the Home and Loan Association, and is equally well known in financial affairs, being vice president of the First National Bank of Wilson and of the Wilson Trust and Savings Bank. As a promoter of the commercial and industrial in- terests of Wilson he was the first president of the Wilson Business Men's Association and of the Wilson Chamber of Commerce, and at this time is a member of the board of directors of the latter organization. He has contributed his share to the development of the public school system, and for years was a member of the board of trus- tees of the Wilson graded schools. Mr. Oettin- ger is a member of the B'nai B'rith, and is fra- ternally affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a member of the board of governors and of the building committee of the Country Club, and also belongs to the Common- wealth Club. He was likewise active in the es- tablishment of Atlantic Christian College.
On June 7, 1887, Mr. Oettinger was married to Miss Martha Rosenthal, of Alexandria, a daughter of Emil and Ernestine Rosenthal, and they are the parents of three children: Elmer R., who is his father's partner in the department store; Albert, a graduate of the Wilson High School and now a student at the University of North Carolina; and Miriam R., who is a student at Goucher College, Baltimore.
Elmer R. Oettinger was born at Wilson, March 9, 1889, and received good educational advan- tages, attending the public schools, Oak Ridge Institute, and the University of North Carolina, where he was a student three years. On the completion of his education he found an opening awaiting him at his father's business, and he has since made the most of his opportunities and is
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now known as one of the leading and energetic young business men of the city. He has taken an active part in the movements which have ad- vanced the business interests of the community, and is now president of the Merchants' Associa- tion and a member of the board of governors of the Wilson Chamber of Commerce. He holds mem- bership also in the Commonwealth and Country clubs, and is a Mason of high rank, belonging to the lodge, chapter, commandery and shrine. In June, 1912, Mr. Oettinger was married to Miss Pearl Lichtenstein, of Richmond, Virginia, and they have two children: Elmer R., Jr., born in 1914; and Josephine, born in 1916.
GUY ERASTUS DIXON, M. D., neurological spe- cialist, has had a successful experience in both the general and restricted branches of medicine for many years, was formerly connected with the West- ern North Carolina Hospital for the Insane and is now well established in practice at Hendersonville, where he is proprietor of the Dixon Health Resort, a sanitarium and hospital affording special ad- vantages and professional care for chronic nervous disorders. He is also a member of the staff of the Patton Memorial Hospital (General).
Doctor Dixon was born in Cleveland County, North Carolina, August 30, 1877, son of Franklin Monroe and Amelia (Thompson) Dixon. His fa- ther was a merchant. Doctor Dixon was edu- cated in the public schools and in 1903 graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at St. Louis. Returning to his native state, he spent two years in general practice in his native county, and then for one year was assistant physician in the Western North Carolina Hospital for the In- sane. Since October, 1906, his home and center of practice has been at Hendersonville, where his work as a specialist in nervous diseases has more and more encroached upon the time he could afford to general practice. Doctor Dixon is a member of the Henderson-Polk County Medical Society, the Medical Society of the State of North Caro- lina, Southern Medical Association, and the Amer- ican Medical Association. He is a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of Henderson- ville.
October 9, 1902, he married Miss Nora Alex- ander, of Cleveland County, North Carolina. They have one daughter, Dessie Pauline. -
EVERETT IRVING BUGG is one of North Carolina 's most successful hotel managers, and it is a busi- ness to which he has given his every thought and study since as a boy he obtained his first position as a night clerk. He is now active head of the leading hostelry in the City of Durham.
Mr. Bugg was born in Warren County, North Carolina, July 2, 1885, a son of William Emanuel and Mary (Smith) Bugg. His father was a farmer, and the son grew up in a rural environment. He attended the Warrenton High School and the business college at Norfolk, and then accepted an opportunity which brought him into his life oc- cupation. Beginning 1904 as clerk at a cigar stand in the Seaboard Air Line Hotel, Hamlet, North Carolina, from therc he went to Greensboro, securing the position of front office clerk at the Huffine Hotel. Later, in 1908, he went to Char- lotte as chief clerk and secretary of the Stonewall Hotel Company, owning and operating this hotel. In 1912 he bought the Hotel March at Lexington, North Carolina, operated it two years and then came to Durham, where he bought the Durham Hotel Corporation, which was preparing to build
the Hotel Malbourn, and had an active part in constructing that thoroughly fireproof modern hotel at a cost of $175,000. It provides 125 guest rooms and is one of the most complete and best equipped hotels in the state. He was one of the organizers of the Durham Rotary Club, has served as a director, and is a former director of the Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Bugg has been prom- inent in Masonry, being a Knight Templar and a Thirty-second degree Scottish Rite. Mason, and also a Shriner.
On July 5, 1912, he married Miss Margaret Hunt, of Lexington, North Carolina, daughter of Charles Andrew and Margaret (Leonard) Hunt. They have two bright young children, Everett Irving, Jr., and Margaret Frances.
BROADUS HARVEY GRIFFIN. In touching upon matters of importance relative to the business growth and development of Raleigh, it is but fitting to dwell upon the services rendered by those in- dividuals who have made possible the present existing conditions. Without their vim and enter- prise the City of Oaks would have never reached its present size and business importance, for no community can be greater than the rank and file of its citizens. These men have contributed by various services and diversified gifts to the building up of the capital city-some by the foundation of law and municipal order; others give themselves to founding churches and schools; still others open up the avenues of commerce and furnish facilities for the transaction of business. In a thousand different but converging directions they bend their energies, according to some occult law of organiza- tion, to the common weal. Among all the various lines of activity none is more promotive of the reputation abroad of a city than that which furnishes a comfortable home for the traveler. Raleigh from its earliest days has been noted for the excellence of its hotels, and since 1911, when the new Yarborough was opened, has ranged among the first in sumptuous furnishing and elegant and comfortable fare.
Broadus Harvey Griffin, president and manager of the B. H. Griffin Hotel Company, which operates the Yarborough Hotel, is a man of broad experience in his line of business, having been engaged therein for nearly a quarter of a century. In the course of his long and successful career he has made the most of his opportunities, fitting his resources to his needs and relying absolutely on his own initiative and ability, so that his prosperity has come to him through no adventitions circumstance, but as a result of his own earnest efforts.
Mr. Griffin was born on a farm in Franklin County, North Carolina, February 7, 1867, and is a son of John and Lucretia (Freeman) Griffin. His father was a lifelong agriculturist in Franklin County, an upright man and public-spirited citizen, whose industrious life was rewarded by the ac- cumulation of a modest but satisfying competence. Broadus Harvey Griffin was given good educational advantages in his youth, first attending a private school in his native county and later Wakefield Academy at Wakefield, North Carolina. In that year he started his career at Goldsboro, North Carolina, where he was engaged as a cotton buyer until 1893, in addition to which for several years he carried on the business of manufacturing and jobbing ice. In 1893, with shrewd foresight, Mr. Griffin recognized Goldboro's need for an im- proved hotel for the accommodation and comfort of the traveling public, and accordingly leased the Hotel Kennon, which he refitted and which he still
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operates. In 1907 he added to his holdings by leasing the Hotel Gaston, at New Bern, which he conducted for five years, and in 1911 came to Raleigh, where he became the lessee of the Yarborough Hotel, and formed the B. H. Griffin Hotel Company, of which he has since been presi- dent and manager. This is one of the best known of Raleigh's caravanseries, and is vastly popular with the traveling public, as well as with a steady local patronage. Since coming to Raleigh Mr. Grif- fin has identified himself with a number of business enterprises, and, among others, is at this time a director in the National Bank of Goldsboro, the Goldsboro Savings Bank, the Wayne Agricultural Works and the Smith Hardware Company. He has contributed his aid to the advancement of business conditions in Raleigh as a member of the Rotary Club, the Chamber of Commerce and the Merchants Association, and holds membership also in the Capital and Country clubs, in which he has won many friends. In 1917 he was appointed by United States Commissioner John MacE. Bowman, one of the commissioners of North Carolina, to organize the hotels and restaurants for food conser- vation.
Mr. Griffin was married February 14, 1895, to Miss Margaret Smith, of Goldsboro, daughter of William H. Smith, a well known merchant and manufacturer of that city.
FRANK SMITH WILKINSON. Among the old time educators of North Carolina the venerable Frank Smith Wilkinson is distinguished by more than half a century of continuous service and by almost unexampled devotion and usefulness in his calling.
Mr. Wilkinson is now eighty-four years of age. He was active in his work until seven years ago. The first year of his teaching was done at Ra- leigh, and after that for fifty-one consecutive ycars he was principal and active head of a male the female academy at Tarboro. Dr. ing that long period it is estimated that more than 4,000 pu- pils entered his schools and fully nine-tenths of them if not all received his personal instruction and came within the influence of his benignant personality. At different times ten states of the Union had representatives in his school. His old students have filled and some are now filling with high honor and great usefulness positions in church and state, including bishops and judges in North Carolina and elsewhere, others have at- tained rank in army and navy, the professions of medicine and law have been recruited from his school, and not a few have held chairs in leading colleges. Many others 'rose to success and promi- nence in commercial, financial and agricultural occupations. This brief summary should by no means omit reference to the girls who were his former students. Many of them became success- ful teachers, intelligent wives and mothers, and these perhaps constitute the greatest asset of all in making the country today and acting as a leaven of enlightenment and Christian culture.
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