USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume V > Part 62
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Before closing this article it should be noted that Doctor Hicks' sister, Mrs. Mary Lyde (Hicks) Williams, wife of Marshall Williams of Faison, is now president of the Daughters of Revolution for North Carolina. While prominent in that order, she is more widely known in North Carolina because of her well earned achievements as a por- trait painter. She is one of the state's most tal- ented daughters. Mrs. Williams has four sons, all college trained, who are now officers in the new National Army.
WILLIAM COLUMBUS HALL is postmaster of Black Mountain and is a resident of that city who is widely known throughout this section of the state by his activities as a railway contractor and a general business man.
Mr. Hall was born in McDowell County, North Carolina, April 25, 1855, a son of Elijah and Aline (Biddix) Hall. His father had a farm in Mc- Dowell County, and during the war between the states was for four years a Confederate soldier with Company F of the Fifty-eighth Regiment of North Carolina. The limited advantages obtained in the public schools William C. Hall supplemented by attending Rutherford College. From college work he went almost immediately into railroad construction, part of the time as an employee and part of the time as a sub-contractor. He helped cut some of the tunnels on the Southern Railway along the Asheville branch, and helped build the Murphy branch and various other lines of that great system. Altogether Mr. Hall put in about thirty years in railway work.
In 1882 he made his home at Black Mountain in Buncombe County and in 1906 opened a stock of general merchandise in that town and has been one of the leading merchants there ever since. He was appointed to his first term as postmaster May
26, 1913, and was reappointed for a second term on September 14, 1917.
Mr. Hall's position in the community may be measured by many interests. He is a director of the Commonwealth Bank and a member of its finance committee and is a director of the Black Mountain Electric Light Company. He is a steward in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
December 25, 1879, he married Miss Sarah Caro- line Finley of McDowell County. Eight children have been born to their marriage: Annie Lillian, Mrs. W. R. Goodson of Black Mountain; Wil- helmina Cleveland, Mrs. Solomon Evans of Black Mountain; Maud, Mrs. R. E. Dodson of Black Mountain; Winford, who married Nora Mizell and is a merchant, real estate dealer and orange grower at Deland, Florida; James Finley, who is now a lieutenant in the United States Service stationed on the Panama Canal Zone; Frank, associated with his father in business; William Newton, in the United States Navy and at present a quarter master on a merchant ship; and Janet, deceased, who married Ralph Patton of Black Mountain.
THOMAS JOSHUA HARKINS, lawyer and business man of Asheville and widely known over the state for his prominence as a leader in the republican party, is for all his achievements and experiences still a comparatively young man, not yet forty.
Mr. Harkins was born in Buncombe County, North Carolina, January 15, 1879, a son of Hirshel Springfield and Sarah Jane (Jones) Harkins. His father was a carpenter and con- tractor and a man of wide prominence in Western North Carolina, having served two years, 1888-90, as mayor of Asheville and was collector of internal revenue at Asheville for the western district until 1907, since which time he has lived retired. Thomas J. Harkins was educated in North Carolina public schools and at the State University, and also took his law work in the university, graduating in 1901.
For several years after finishing his education Mr. Harkins lived in Oklahoma, and was one of the prominent lawyers and bankers of that terri- tory and state. His home was at Weatherford, and while there he engaged in general practice as a lawyer and also organized the Independent State Bank, the State Bank of Colony, the Bridgeport State Bank, the Hydro State Bank and was the active vice president of the First National Bank of Weatherford. He was also a member of the Oklahoma Republican State Executive Committee.
While in the West on December 25, 1904, Mr. Harkins married Roxy Seevers, of Osceola, Mis- souri, daughter of Dr. John and Fidelia (Seaborn) Seevers. In 1906, on account of ill health, Mr. Harkins disposed of his various interests in Okla- homa, closed up his law office, and returning to North Carolina settled in Asheville, where in May, 1907, he formed a partnership with Kingsland Van Winkle under the name of Harkins & Van Winkle. This is one of the leading law firms of Asheville, and handles a large corporation and insurance practice.
As a republican Mr. Harkins is chairman of the City Executive Committee of Asheville, in 1908 was secretary of the State Executive Committee, 1912 to 1914 was member of the National Repub- lican Committee and in 1916 was a delegate to the National Convention at Chicago which nominated Hughes.
Mr. Harkins is vice president of the Brown
.
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Banking Company, vice president of the Pack Square Book Company, and director of the Turn- bull Cone Machine Company. He is a member of the Asheville Country Club, the Rotary Club, and in October, 1916, was elected captain of the Second North Carolina Reserve Militia under the com- mand of Governor Bickett. Mr. Harkins has attained the supreme honorary thirty-third degree of Scottish Rite Masonry, and was on April 29, 1918, commissioned deputy of the Supreme Coun- cil of the thirty-third degree in North Carolina. He also belongs to the Mystic Shrine. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and the Knights of Pythias.
REV. JACOB CALVIN LEONARD, D. D. A man of earnest convictions, strong in character and per- sonality, and of a deeply religious nature, Rev. Jacob C. Leonard, D. D., pastor of the First Re- formed Church of Lexington, North Carolina, has led a busy life filled with usefulness, and his work has been abundantly blessed to the advancement of the Master's kingdom. A native of Davidson County, North Carolina, he was born on a farm situated 11/2 miles east of Lexington, the ancestral estate of his father and grandfather. He comes from substantial pioneer stock, being a descendant in the fifth generation of Valentin Leonhardt, the immigrant and Revolutionary war patriot, the line of descent being as follows: Valentin, Jacob, Jacob, Valentine, Jacob C.
Valentin Leonhardt was born at Katzenbach in the Electorate of Palatinate, Germany, not many miles across the Rhine, October 13, 1718, of pious parents. The name is now spelled Valentine Leon- ard. His parents were Martin and Anna Barbara (nee Spohn) Leonhardt. They were married No- vember 11, 1704, by Rev. Karl Gervinus, pastor of the Reformed Church at Katzenbach from 1691 to 1710. Valentin was the youngest of four sons. His older brothers were: Sebastian, baptized Feb- ruary 14, 1706; Henry, baptized July 24, 1713; Philip, baptized March 18, 1717; and Valentin, who was baptized October 23, 1718, in the Re- formed Church at Katzenbach, by Rev. Gotthard Steitz, the pastor. The sponsors for Valentin were John Paul Neuss and his wife, Anna Ottilla. He was confirmed a full member of the same church at Easter, 1733, by Rev. Henry Julius Wagner, pastor from 1719 to 1763.
Valentin Leonhardt and his wife Elizabeth took passage from Rotterdam on the good ship Neptune, Capt. Thomas Wilkinson, arriving at the Port of Philadelphia October 25, 1746. About Christmas of the same year they reached what was to be their future home in North Carolina, being among the earliest settlers of what is now Davidson County.' Purchasing several tracts of land from Earl Granville through the earl's agent, Henry McCulloh, this pioneer erected a house about 31/2 miles northeast of the present site of Lexington. Reared in the "Reformirte Kirche" in Europe, he became one of the founders of what was for years known as "Leonhardt's Church, " the real title of which was "The Church of the Reformed Pil- grims." The first church edifice was erected about 1757, a two-story log house. The door was fast- ened with a bolt that was locked and unlocked with a key that pushed it backward and for- ward. That key is now one of the treasured possessions of this man's great-great-grandson, Rev. J. C. Leonard, D. D., and is probably one of only a few of the kind in the United States. A soldier in the American army of the Revolutionary
war, Valentin Leonhardt took part in many en- gagements of that struggle, the last one being the Battle of Guilford Court House in March, 1781, about thirty miles east of his home. Here Gen- eral Greene's army was partly disbanded, and he returned to his farm. On the evening of Novem- ber 2d of that year, while sitting quietly by his hearthstone with his family, he was stealthily shot by a band of tories and died of his wounds eleven days later. On the soapstone slab at the head of his grave is this inscription: "Valentin Leonhardt, geboren in der Kuhr Pfaltz in Katz- enbach den 13 October, 1718, und ist dem Herrn entschlaffen den 13 November, 1781. Nun hier ligt eine Handvoll Ashen mit Christi Blut gewashen." On the stone at the foot of the grave are the lines in English :
"Beneath this stone doth now remain An ancient man by murder slain."
It is a quaint inscription. The word "ancient"' would seem to suggest the idea that there was in the minds of those who erected the stone the con- viction that in the years to come, down through many generations, men and women and children would look with reverence upon this grave. It would tell them how this man came to his death. And so it has been. Thousands have looked upon the grave, have read the simple words and have thanked God for brave men who fought and died to give us a free country in which to live. A handsome monument erected by a grateful citizen- ship and unveiled in the presence of 10,000 people July 4, 1896, 115 years after the death of this brave soldier, now marks his last earthly resting place.
Besides the key above mentioned, Doctor +Leon- ard of this sketch has the bank in which Valentin Leonhardt kept his gold during the Revolutionary war. It is a piece of black walnut about 15 inches long and 3 inches square, with 11/2 inch hole bored nearly its entire length, which was closed with a stopper of the same wood. The gold was placed in this and concealed in the wall of the cellar under his house. A man of great industry and thrift, he became an extensive landholder. In his will, made in 1779, he bequeathed a large farm to each of his five sons, and money and chattels to his three daughters. To his wife, Elizabeth, he left the "Manor Plantation that I now live on, during her bearing the name Leonhardt, and in case she does not change her name she is to keep it to have full rule over it during her lifetime; and likewise I leave to my wife all my horses, cattle. and my personal estate wholly."
Jacob Leonard, as he spelled his name and as subsequently spelled, son of the pioneer, was born on the home farm November 16, 1758. :: Though scarcely more than a boy, he enlisted in the service of his country during the last years of the Revolu- tion, and fought against the British and tories along with his father under General Greene. And with his father he returned from the army after the Battle of Guilford Court House. Following his father's death he became a farmer on a large scale, operating his large estates with the aid of slaves. He married Elizabeth Shoaf, with whom he brought up a large and influential family of sons and daughters. He succeeded his father in the eldership of the home church, and the official records show that he frequently represented the local body in the higher counsels of the denomina- tion. This splendid man reached the advanced age
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of seventy-seven years, passing away January 27, 1835. His. body lies close to that of his father in the Leonhardt's Church burying ground.
Jacob Leonard, son of the preceding, was born on the parental homestead February 20, 1789, and died November 17, 1845. His wife was Susan Byerly, likewise of pioneer descent. Following in the ancestral footsteps, he was engaged in agri- cultural pursuits during a large part of his natural life. His large farm was 11/2 miles east of Lex- ington. Like his father he was a large owner of slaves. He was of military age when the War of 1812 came on, and was drafted for service. Instead of going himself he hired a substitute, ac- ' cording to the privilege of the time. This sub- stitute in company with several other soldiers one day when off duty saw a company of Indian squaws at a distance. And this fellow proposed to take a shot at one of them just for the fun of the thing. The others warned him that it was a dangerous piece of business, and tried to persuade him not to do it. But he raised his gun and fired, and in spite of the great distance one of them fell dead, showing his accurate marksmanship. The squaws at once set out to report the tragedy to their Indian braves. The latter in a few hours overtook the band of soldiers and asked who had shot the woman. At first none would tell. But the Indians warned them that they would shoot every man in the bunch unless the murderer was pointed out. The white men were far outnumbered, and so finally they pointed out Mr. Leonard 's sub- stitute as the one who had committed the deed. The Indians took the man and flayed him alive. When the operation was finished they released him. He ran several yards and fell down dead.
Jacob Leonard, as were his father and grand- father, was a devoted churchman, and an office bearer in his local congregation until the day of his death, being frequently elected a representa- tive to the higher judicatories. He was also cap- tain of a military company mustered in his county, which met regularly for drill.
Valentine Leonard was born November 10, 1824, and as a boy became familiar with all branches of agriculture. He married Caroline Rebeckah Cox, the granddaughter of James Cox, who was born in England and kidnapped by sailors at the docks of Liverpool and secretly carried on board a ship bound for America. The last view he ever had of his father showed him standing at the very brink of the water tearing his hair in agony. James Cox, soon after landing in America, was apprenticed to a hatmaker near Salisbury, North Carolina. Having learned the hatter's trade, he spent the remainder of his life in Rowan County. His son, John Cox, married Barbara Turner. He was a school teacher, and also served as superin- tendent of the Davidson County Home for several terms. Valentine Leonard was a strong character, always standing for religion and morality. He was a devoted churchman, like his ancestors, and was also an office bearer in "Leonhardt's Church."' In his early life he gave considerable attention to vocal music, and became an old-fashioned "singing master. " He was thirty-seven years of age at the outbreak of the Civil war. He was a member of what was called the "Upper Regiment," which met for muster and regular drill at a point on the old Salem-Salisbury Road eight miles above Lexington. The names of all members of the regiment were recorded in a book called the muster roll. In a hat were placed slips of paper marked "go" and "blank." Under the draft law the
men marched two-abreast along by where the of- ficers stood with the register .. When a name was called a little child drew a slip from the hat. If the paper read "blank, " the man was not drafted; if it read "go,"' by that sign he was drafted. Mr. Leonard 's name read "blank." So he missed the first draft. The "conscription act" came in 1863, first calling out all men from 18 to 35 years of age. This left him out again. In the winter of 1863 the second conscription called out all men from 35 to 40. This included Mr. Leonard. He took Mr. Jesse Shaw with him to Raleigh when he went to appear before the board of examiners. He offered Mr. Shaw as a substitute, and the latter was accepted because he was a more robust man than the principal, though past the draft age. The substitute, supplemented by a government wood contract, kept Mr. Leonard out of the regu- lar service a year. In 1864 even many of those who had substitutes had to go to the army on the ground that they were "rich men" and could af- ford to help out the country by both employing substitutes and going themselves. Mr. Leonard first went to Charleston, though many feared to go there on account of yellow fever. His prefer- ence was to join the cavalry, but he was assigned to service in connection with the navy. His first work was to help build an ironclad boat. The iron was so hot from the sun's rays that the workmen had to sit on boards. When the boat was finished, they ran her out for a trial. A shot was fired at a tree at a great distance and the tree was smashed; but the boat was not strong enough, and it broke apart. While at Charleston his headquarters were on the boat "Indian Chief." From Charleston his boat went to Georgetown, and then to Cheraw. The water was so low that often' they had to draw the boat with rope and tackle. Sherman's army was now so close that the men were ordered to leave the "Indian Chief" and march on foot in the direction of Charlotte, from which point they were taken by train to Drury's Bluff. After the fall of Richmond, they had to get out of the latter place and join General John- ston's army. They were finally captured above Petersburg, and were taken in May to Point Look- out. Here he remained until the last of June, 1865, when he was released to return home. To Valentine Leonard and his wife, Caroline Rebeckah, were born five sons: P. James, George E., William Valentine, J. Thomas, and Jacob Calvin.
The last one of these, Rev. J. C. Leonard, D. D., laid a wise foundation for his education in the rural schools of his native county. Compared with the schools of the present day, the school which he attended presented a sorry spectacle. It was a small log house furnished with slab benches. There were neither desks nor blackboards, and there were only a few small windows to admit any. light. There was not even a stove to render the room warm in cold weather, only an open . fire- place giving any comfort at all. The teachers were naturally not very well equipped educationally, but they were men of good common sense, and they knew how to "manage the boys." School books were a very uncertain quantity in those days, and this young student took to school as his chief text-book Webster's blueback speller, and he also had such other miscellaneous books as had been handed down by his older brothers. Such a thing as a graded series of books was unknown in this school out in the Pilgrim "district." But this uncouth boy in home-made garments, hungering and thirsting for knowledge, did the best he could
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with the tools in hand. And after all it is true that there is "more in the man than in the land " in successful farming; and the same thing is true in getting an education. Young Jacob Leonard was rated as a bright boy, and the older people said he "would make his mark"' in the world. The schools were short and sadly handicapped without necessary equipment. But this boy man- aged to work up through such course of studies as was offered until he was fifteen years of age. Then he studied four months in the Lexington Academy. At the end of the term he went before the county superintendent of schools for examina- tion and obtained a first-grade certificate for teach- ing. He was then sixteen years of age, and taught his first public school at Burkhart's schoolhouse, two miles from his home. The next spring (the last of January, 1884), he entered Catawba High School at Newton, North Carolina. He entered the freshman class of Catawba College at the same place in August, 1885. He graduated from that institution in 1889, having led his class through the four years, and was awarded the valedictory oration as the highest honor. The college conferred upon him the degree of A. B., and three years later the degree of A. M. in cursu. Subsequently he graduated from Ursinus Theological Seminary, at Philadelphia, with the degree of B. D. In 1906 his alma mater conferred upon him the honorary de- gree of D. D. in recognition of his work in homiletical and theological studies and historical researches.
Doctor Leonard's first pastorate consisted of four churches in Davidson County, among them "Leonhardt's Church" founded by his ancestor of Revolutionary war fame; the others were Bethany, Sowers and Hebron. In 1892 he organized Calvary Church at Moffitt's Grove and built the house of worship there. Likewise he organized Heidelberg Church in Thomasville in 1895 and built the house of worship the same year. In 1897 this young minister, at the earnest solicitation of the trustees of Catawba College, resigned his charge to become field representative of this growing and important institution. Doctor Leonard traveled over several states and spoke in many churches during this time, and raised large sums of money for the col- lege. Later for two years he was professor of English in the college, resigning in 1900 to accept the challenge of the board of missions of the denomination to begin the work of the church in the towns of Lexington and High Point, in both of which towns he organized congregations and built churches. The church at Lexington was fin- ished by the first of the year 1901 and the con- gregation was organized January 20th with seven- teen members, now numbering over 400. The house of worship was built at High Point during the summer of 1901. The minister served both until 1903, when he turned over to an assistant that at High Point, since which time he has given his entire energy to the development of the work at Lexington. The parsonage was built in 1901. The church was rebuilt in 1907. The Second Re- formed Church was organized and the house of worship built in 1904. The Sunday school build- ing of the First Church was erected in 1913. The Second Church was rebuilt in 1917. A man of earnest purpose, laboring willingly at all times, Doctor Leonard has been the moving spirit in the upbuilding of the church with which he is as- sociated, its present prosperous condition being largely due to his wise efforts. And in the multi- plicity of the heavy duties of his local pastorate,
he has always found time to help in many other general enterprises of the church and- state. He has been a trustee of Catawba College many years, and his judgment is always sought by his fellows. He has also long been a member of the Lexing- ton School Board. Doctor Leonard has delivered numerous educational, religious, philanthropic, and fraternal addresses in a wide section of the coun- try. He has represented his Classis many times in the higher bodies of his denomination, the Po- tomac Synod and the General Synod. He has been stated clerk of the Classis of North Carolina over twenty-five years.
January 29, 1902, Doctor Leonard was married to Miss Willie Yorke Cress, of Concord, North ' Carolina. They are the happy parents of one son, Jacob C., Jr., a student in the Lexington High School. Fraternally Doctor Leonard is a member of Lexington Lodge 473, Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons; Patriotic Order Sons of America; Junior Order of United American Mechanics, and Royal Arcanum.
CHARLES HARWELL CARROLL is one of the men burdened with the heavy responsibilities of execu- tive position in North Carolina, being district commercial superintendent of the Western Union Telegraph Company at Charlotte. The importance of this office can be better appreciated when its jurisdiction and responsibilitete mentioned.
Charlotte as the headquarters office for the district is the largest wire center between Wash- ington and Atlanta, and is the second largest re- lay point in the southern division. In the dis- trict are 128 uptown offices and 723 offices in rail- road depots. On Mr. Carroll's own staff as dis- trict superintendent are seventeen men, includ- ing five field men. The local manager's office in Charlotte has a staff of thirty-two clerks and other employes, not including messengers, while in the operating department of the ctiy are em- ployed 175 operators, including several clerks.
As the incumbent of such a position it is nat- ural to be expected that Mr. Carroll is a veteran in telegraphic circles. He is in fact a veteran in experience though still comparatively young in years. He was born at Nashville, Tennessee, in 1881, a son of C. H. and Birdie (Newman) Car- roll. At the age of fourteen he left the Nash- ville schools to begin work in the Nashville office of the Western Union Company as a messenger boy. His experience in the telegraph industry has been continuous since, covering a period of over twenty years. He learned the art of te- legraphy at Nashville, and for a time was an operator with the Nashville Terminals Railroad Company. Successive promotions and transfers took him to many parts of the country. For three years he was train dispatcher for the Mis- souri, Kansas & Texas Railway at Denison, Texas, and then occupied similar positions with the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe at Cleburne, Texas, and the St. Louis & San Francisco Railway at Spring- field, Missouri.
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