USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume V > Part 7
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From early childhood, Doctor Watkins had been actively interested in his father's dental work, be- coming familiar with its details in the office, and even though he had begun the practice of law, he concluded to follow the profession in which his father was engaged. With that purpose in view, he entered the dental department of the Univer- sity of Maryland, in Baltimore, in 1898, and was there graduated in May, 1900. Being licensed to practice dentistry in North Carolina, he became associated with his father, who was then critically ill, and who died two weeks later.
Soon after entering upon his professional career, Doctor Watkins joined the North Carolina Dental Society, and has continued an active and valued member since, having served in various official posi- tions, including that of president. He is also an active member of the local and district societies, and is a charter member, and ex-president of the Winston Dental Society. In 1902 the doctor joined the National Dental Association, of which he has since been an active member, and was an active member of the southern branch of that organiza- tion during its existence.
Doctor Watkins has several times given clinics at both the state and national meetings. He gave one at the Jamestown Dental Congress, and was on the program for a clinic in prophylaxis at the dental congress held in San Francisco, but was prevented from attending by serious illness in his family. The doctor wrote an interesting article giving the result of his experiments with blue light in dental work. In commenting on an article written by Doctor Watkins, and printed in the "Dental Cosmos," the Scientific American gave the doctor credit for having been the first to dis- cover, and give to the world, the "Blue Light" treatment in dentistry.
Among the more important of the papers which the doctor has written, was the one read before the North Carolina Dental Society, at Moorehead City, in 1904, entitled "After Porcelain, What?" In that paper, he treated dental science from its cradle up to porcelain filling, which marks the latest touch in dental art and science. He said "We must progress, and the next step must be prevention." That a well developed tooth, kept perfectly clean, will not decay, was the keynote of his carefully and intelligently prepared paper. The doctor suggested that each dentist should as- sume charge, dental charge, of five or six infants each year, from the beginning keeping their teeth clean, and watch results. He also insisted that sterilization of all, dental instruments was abso-
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
lutely necessary. The doctor now has in his care several hundred persons whose teeth are absolutely perfect.
Later, after having been a guest at the home, in Philadelphia, of Dr. D. D. Smith, a dentist of national repute, Doctor Watkins wrote an article on "Prophylaxis," and read it before the same society. Doctor Watkins, like Doctor Smith, of whom he is a disciple, is a strong advocate of oral prophylaxis. In his actual practice, Doctor Wat- kins insists that his patients shall come to him each month for a systematic polishing of their teeth, which practically prevents decay. During the last few years, the doctor has given much at- tention to the treatment of pyorrhea, or Riggs disease, and to the treatment of oral abscesses, which he contends coutribute largely to many of the diseases to which human flesh is heir. In diag- nosing these conditions, the X-ray is used. The removal of diseased bones, directed by the X-ray, often enables nature to overcome conditions seem- ingly chronic.
Doctor Watkins married, June 24, 1903, Irene Montague. She was born in Winston-Salem, a daughter of Dr. Seth J. and Ella (Starbuck) Montague. Five children have blessed the union of Doctor and Mrs. Watkins, namely: Joseph Con- rad, Jr .; Richard Montague; Mary Elizabeth, who died in infancy; William Henry; and Eleanor Starbuck.
Fraternally Doctor Watkins is a member of Winston Lodge No. 167, Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Order of Masons; of Winston Chapter No. 24, Royal Arch Masons; of Piedmont Commandery No. 6, Knights Templar; of Salem Lodge No. 14, Junior Order of United American Mechanics; of Salem Lodge No. 56, Knights of Pythias; and of Twin City Tribe No. 27, Woodmen of the World. He is an active member of the First Baptist Church, of which he has been a deacon since 1901.
SAMUEL SIMPSON NASH, of Tarboro, was one of the youngest volunteers to serve in the Confederate Army, and since the war has pursued a very active business career and has enjoyed many distinctions of civic and private life.
He was born at Hillsboro April 23, 1848, a son of Henry K. and Mary (Simpson) Nash. As a boy he was educated in private schools and was only sixteen toward the close of the war when he enlisted in Company G of the Twenty-Seventh North Carolina Infantry. Later he was captured at Petersburg and made a prisoner and was thus held until the close of hostilities. The war over, he found work as clerk at Wilmington with the Wilmington and Manchester Railway, and after that for several years was employed in various stores and mercantile houses.
At Tarboro Mr. Nash conducted one of the leading mercantile establishments from 1872 to 1891, and after that for twenty years was a prom- inent cotton buyer. Since 1911 he has been secre- tary and treasurer of the Edgecombe Homestead and Loan Association. He has served as a mem- ber of the graded school board since its organiza- tion, was for four years treasurer of Edgecombe County, and has always been a prominent member of the Episcopal Church, which he has served as vestryman forty years and for a period of thirty years conducted as superintendent several Sunday schools in the country districts.
April 23, 1878, he married Annie Gray Cheshire, of Tarboro. Her parents were Rev. Joseph Blount and Elizabeth (Parker) Cheshire. Mr. and Mrs.
Nash have six children: Joseph C .; Elizabeth, wife of Henry Johnston, attorney and farmer of Tarboro; Arabella Parker, wife of Judge Albert L. Cox, of Raleigh; Annie Gray, widow of Allen Jones Ruffin; Samuel Simpson, Jr., who was in the banking business and is now in the United States army in France, being First Lieutenant of Co. M. Three Hundred and Seventh Infantry; and Pembroke, still at home iu Tarboro.
JUDE PALMER is a lawyer at Winston-Salem. He is an alumni of the University of North Caro- lina, a man of thorough education, and has shown much ability and skill in his profession. He also represents in direct line of descent one of the very old and prominent families of North Carolina.
He stands in the sixth generation from the founder of the name in this colony. His American progenitor was Robert Palmer, a native of County Kent, England. He was liberally educated and was prepared for the Government service. He was sent to America as Lord Surveyor of the Colony of North Carolina. Among other services he and his son William were instrumental in build- ing the first church erected in the colony at Bath, North Carolina. A tablet in the old church perpetuates his memory. He was also a member of Governor Dobbs council.
William Palmer, of the second generation, served as a colonel in the Colonial Guards.
Robert Palmer of the third generation, was born at Bath in Beaufort County, North Caro- lina, and was sent abroad to complete his educa- tion. He was a student in England at Cambridge when the Revolutionary war broke out. Though he desired to return to his native colony, he was prevented and remained almost a prisoner in England until the war was over. On returning to America he removed to Montgomery County, North Carolina, where his grandfather had obtained a large land grant. From there he came to the Deep River country in Lee County, where there was another large family grant. With slave labor Robert Palmer improved a large estate, and lived there until his death. He mar- ried a Miss Aulston, whose family name is frequently spelled Allston. Both he and his wife are buried in the Palmer Cemetery near Sanford in Lee County.
Orren A. Palmer, of the fourth American gen- eration, and grandfather of Jude Palmer, was born near Sanford in Lee County, North Carolina, and inherited upwards of 3,000 acres of land in Randolph County. He developed that as a large plantation and continued its management until his death at the age of sixty-nine. The maiden name of his wife was Sylvinia Staley. She was a native of Germany, and came to America with her parents, who settled in Randolph County. . She died at the age sixty-five years, having reared eight sons. Four of them, John, Norman, Alex- ander and Orren Dates saw active service in the Confederate Army. John met his death in the three days' battle of Gettysburg.
Orren Dates Palmer, who was born in Lee County, was. but seventeen years of age and weighed only eighty pounds when he enlisted and joined the Junior Reserves. With his command he went to Fort Fisher and soon after his arrival was detailed for service in the hospital. A few weeks before the close of the war he joined Wheeler's Cavalry, and though not enrolled as a member remained with that organization in its
Palmer,
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
various movements and was surrendered with that command.
When the war was over he sought the quiet voca- tion of agriculture on a place of 500 acres in the Deep River Grant. He adapted himself to the new conditions imposed by the war, proved successful, and subsequently bought 2,000 acres of land. After his marriage he built and re-weatherboarded a large colonial log house, which with subsequent additions and improvements makes an exceedingly comfortable home and there he still resides. Orren Dates Palmer married Mattie Edwards Farrer. She was born near Jonesboro in Lee County, North Carolina, daughter of Gaston and Eliza (Whitfield) Farrer. Eliza Whitfield was the daughter of the famous preacher Whitfield. Orren D. Palmer and wife have reared seven children: Jude, Rebecca, Dora, Augustus, Sabra, Eliza Whitfield, and Phoebe.
Of such an ancestry any man may well be proud. It is an inspiration to personal achieve- ment, and Jude Palmer has not been unconscious of the traits and character of his forefathers and has exerted himself to the best of his ability to realize in his own career what might have been expected of him through earlier members of the family. He was born on his father's plantation near Sanford in Lee County, July 10, 1882.
His early education was acquired in the rural schools and he was also a student at Milford Col- lege. In 1903 he entered the University of North Carolina, where he remained five years in the literary and law departments and completed the law course there. On being admitted to the bar he first located at Pittstown, two years later went to Greensboro, and in 1907 came to Winston- Salem. Here he has practiced with growing ability and success to the present time.
In February, 1910, Mr. Palmer married Bessie Estell Reich. She was born at Salem, a daughter of Joseph Reich. Mr. and Mrs. Palmer have two children : Helen and Orren Dates. Mr. Palmer was reared in the Episcopal faith and is now a teacher in the church Sunday school. Mrs. Palmer is a member of the Home Moravian Church. Mr. Palmer is a member of the Merchants and Manufacturers Club of Greensboro and belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
JEROME B. FLORA. One of the men of enter- prise and stable character who had much to do with the upbuilding of modern Elizabeth City was the late Jerome B. Flora, for many years a leading merchant here and the founder of the present wholesale grocery house that perpetuates his name and is conducted by his sons. Not only was Mr. Flora a shrewd, keen business man, with the foresight that discovered opportunities for investment and the good judgment that made these unfailingly profitable, but he possessed that broad spirit of enterprise that aroused others and led them to co-operate with him in bringing about many progressive movements that set the business tide in the direction of commercial pros- perity.
Jerome B. Flora was born in Currituck Coun- ty, North Carolina, and died at his home in Elizabeth City on June 15, 1914. His early years were spent on a farm but the commercial instinct in him was strong and while yet a young man he embarked in the mercantile business at Shiloh, North Carolina. The misfortune that he met with there, in losing his store and stock by
fire, proved fortunate for Elizabeth City, to which place he came in 1874 and established himself in business on the corner of Water and Fearing Streets, where he continued until 1877, when he sold to other parties and moved to Norfolk, Vir- ginia. Mr. Flora was engaged in business at Norfolk until 1883, and then returned to Eliza- beth City, which remained his home during the rest' of his busy and useful life. He invested in property, all of which he improved with fine, substantial buildings, erecting several of the hand- some business blocks that are a credit to Eliza- beth City and included in his building operations the construction of his own big wholesale house, one of the largest wholehouse grocery houses in Eastern North Carolina.
Mr. Flora amassed a large fortune and was officially or otherwise connected with some of the city's most important interests. He was pres- ident of the Savings- Bank, and was vice president of the Elizabeth City Hosiery Mills, one of the very successful industries of this section. He was a liberal contributor to churches and schools and all worthy enterprises aroused his interest and gained his support. He was essentially a business man and political honors did not par- ticularly appeal to him. In his death Elizabeth City lost one of her most able business men and mnost honorable and upright citizens.
Mr. Flora was twice married, first to Miss Ida Albertson, and second to Miss Allie Albertson. His five children survive, namely: two daughters, Mrs. S. H. Johnson and Alice Virginia, and three sons, Jerome B., Jr., and Edward, who are now in the United States Army with the Three Hundred and Fifth Sanitary Train, Three Hundred and Seventeenth Ambulance Company, and Howard, also in the United States Army with the Three Hundred and Fifth Sanitary Train, Three Hun dred and Twentieth Ambulance Company.
EMMETT C. WILLIS. Noteworthy among the active and successful attorneys of Wilkes County is Emmett C. Willis, of North Wilkesboro, who possesses an excellent knowledge of law, and through his legal skill has won for himself an assured position at the bar. A native of Stokes County, North Carolina, he was born in Meadows Township October 29, 1878, the descendant of au old Virginian family, his father, William E. Willis, and his grandfather, Joseph Willis, having been born in Halifax County, Virginia.
Joseph Willis followed the trade of a blacksmith and wagon ironer in Virginia until 1848. In that years he came with his family to North Carolina, and having located in Stokes County established a smithy in Sauraton Township. An expert work- man, he soon secured a liberal patronage, and being an equally good financier he acquired con- siderable property, at his death in 1881 leaving a valuable cstate. He married a Miss Chaney, who was born in Virginia, and died in Stokes County.
Born in 1837, William E. Willis was but a school boy when he came with his parents to this state. He was reared to agricultural pursuits, and after attaining his majority he received from his father as a gift a deed to quite a tract of land. He subsequently bought adjoining pieces of land in Meadows Township, and is still living on the farm which he has highly developed and improved. His wife, whose maiden name was Julia Hughart, was born in Greenbrier County, Virginia, a daugh- ter of William H. and Martha (Valentine) Hug- hart. Five children were born of their union,
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
as follows: Joseph H., William E., Arthur N., Emmett C., and Ernest V.
After completing the course of study in the public schools, Emmett C. Willis attended both the Germantown and the Kernesville academies. Then seeking a congenial occupation, he began life on his own account as a teacher at Salem Chapel, Forsyth County. His experience in that line being pleasant and satisfactory, he subse- quently taught in Winston, Edenton, Southport, Kingston and North Wilkesboro. In the mean- time Mr. Willis took up the study of law, and after his admission to the bar, in February, 1912, opened an office in North Wilkesboro, where he is already enjoying a large and quite remunerative practice. He is a member of the Legal Advisory Board of Wilkes County and Government appeal agent of the same county.
Mr. Willis was united in marriage with Mary E. Ellis on December 29, 1909. She was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, a daughter of Wil- liam F. and Lura (Wood) Ellis. Mr. and Mrs. Willis are the parents of two bright and interesting children, Elizabeth and Emmett C., Jr. Religiously Mr. Willis belongs to the Disciples Church, while Mrs. Willis is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Fraternally Mr. Willis is a member of Wilkesboro Lodge No. 23, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and of Rathburn Lodge No. 97, Knights of Pythias. .
WILLIAM ANDREW HUNT. To describe the inter- ests and activities of Mr. Hunt is almost equival- ent to giving a directory of the important business institutions and organizations to promote the civic and general welfare of Henderson. In a very im- portant degree he measures up to the full sig- nificance of the phrase man of affairs.
He was born at Lexington in Davidson County, North Carolina, January 28, 1872, son of William Henley and Lettie Julia (Conrad) Hunt. His fa- ther was a merchant. The son was educated in the Lexington High School, in the Lexington Acad- emy with the class of 1890, and from that forth- with began his business career at the age of eight- een. Two years he spent as clerk in the bank at Lexington, and after was bookkeeper in the Peo- ples National Bank of Winston-Salem until Feb- ruary, 1893.
At the latter date he transferred his home and interests to Henderson, where he came to accept the post of cashier of the Bank of Henderson. Two years later he was one of the men who brought about the merger of the Bank of Henderson with the Citizens Bank in 1895. He was elected first cashier of the consolidated institution, and has filled that post continuously to the present time. Mr. Hunt is widely known among North Carolina bankers, and was a charter member at the organ- ization of the North Carolina Bankers' Associa- tion July 24, 1897. He has served as a member of its executive committee and since 1905 has been secretary and treasurer.
Since 1905 he has been entrusted with the re- sponsibility of handling the city finances of Hen- derson. At the same date he was elected a mem- ber of the city council and filled that post twelve years. He organized and since 1912 has been president of the Home Building and Loan Associa- tion, is secretary and treasurer of the Carolina Buggy Manufacturing Company, was an organizer and has since been treasurer of the Henderson Hos- iery Mills. was one of the organizers and has since been a director of the Chamber of Commerce. Mr.
Hunt is a deacon of the First Presbyterian Church, is a Knights Templar Mason, past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias and a member of Temple No. 73, Knights of Khorassan. October 24, 1894, he married Miss Hallie Wesley Young, of Oxford, North Carolina, daughter of Dr. Peter Wesley and Jane (Cooper) Young. They have two children, Mary Young and William Andrew, Jr.
EDMOND ALEXANDER HAWES, SR., a wealthy and prominent manufacturer and capitalist at Atkin- son, has sustained a large and prominent role in business affairs and in the good citizenship of North Carolina for upwards of half a century.
The Hawes family of New England and its off- shoot the Hawes family of Eastern North Carolina are descended from Edmond Hawes of Yarmouth, Massachusetts, who came to America from Eng- land in 1635. The North Carolina Hawes family is one of the oldest in the eastern part of the state. They represent an ancestry that is a commingling of the Scotch-Irish and English. The founder of the family in this state settled at Smithville, now Southport, in Brunswick County.
Dr. John R. Hawes, father of the Atkinson busi- ness man, established a plantation in Pender County near Atkinson, but throughout his long life was a practicing physician and looked after the health and welfare of a large community through- out that part of the country. He was a man of special prominence and influence due to his pro- fession and his fine character. In the war between the states he was captain of Company E in the Eighteenth North Carolina Infantry. Company E was recruited at Mill Creek, New Hanover County, now Pender County, and was sent to Camp Dudley, which was located in the southern part of Wil- mington near the old Kidder mills. He also repre- sented New Hanover County in the General As- sembly of 1866-67. Doctor Hawes married Miss Martha A. Black, a close relative of General Lil- lington of Revolutionary fame. She was reared and spent part of her life at Lillington Hall, the noted plantation of the Lillington family on the Northeast River in New Hanover County.
Edmond Alexander Hawes, Sr., was born at Wil- mington, North Carolina, in New Hanover County, February 6, 1849. He received his early education in the public schools of what was then New Han- over County and also attended Trinity College. Early in life he took up farming in Pender County, and has gradually expanded the scope of his interests to include many of the prominent business affairs of that vicinity. In 1912 he be- came one of the organizers of the Bank of Atkin- son, of which he has since been president. He also helped organize and is president of the Atkinson Hosiery Mill and the Pender Telephone Company. For forty consecutive years he has been honored with the responsibilities of justice of the peace in his community.
June 1, 1875, Mr. Hawes married Virginia E. Russ, daughter of the late J. W. and Margaret A. (Simpson) Russ, of Bladen County. Her father was a prominent planter who represented his county in both houses of the Great Assembly. Mrs. Hawes was the sixth child in a family of ten chil- dren. Two of her brothers, Dr. Simpson Russ and W. H. Russ, did valiant service with the Con- federate Army in the war between the states.
Mr. and Mrs. Hawes became the parents of eight children. One of their sons, Homer Haas, died at the age of nineteen. Of those living John Robert is a successful farmer and business man
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THE OLD HAWES HOME Dr. J. R. Hawes and E. A. Hawes and Family
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
of Pender County and is general manager of the Pender County Telephone Company. Martha A. and Margaret are both at home with their parents, while Edmond A., Jr., is mentioned elsewhere. Dr. Stephen J. has for some years been a physician at Dover, North Carolina, but is now stationed at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, with the rank of lieutenant in the United States Army. Virginia Ely married Dr. J. T. Hoggart, of Atkinson, Pender County. Doctor Hoggart is also with the National Army, a lieutenant stationed at Oglethorpe. The youngest of the family, Katherine J., is still at home with her parents.
EDMOND ALEXANDER HAWES JR., for a man of his years has played a most prominent part both in business and public life in North Carolina. The honors and responsibilities of statesmanship came to him as soon as he had attained his ma- jority and for several terms he did some splen- did and able work in the Legislature. His home and business center is at Atkinson in Pender County, where he is an important factor in many of the varied activities of that community.
A son of Edmond Alexander Hawes, Sr., and member of the prominent family elsewhere re- ferred to, Mr. Hawes was born in Pender County near Atkinson in 1884, was reared on the old home place, was educated in Whitsett Institute and the University of North Carolina, graduat- ing from the university in 1903. He had just reached his twenty-first year when in 1904 he was elected to represent Pender County in the Lower House of the General Assembly. He served ac- tively in the session of 1905, and in 1906 was chosen a member of the Senate and was iden- tified with the sessions of 1907 and 1909. In 1910 he was returned to the State Senate and his name is identified with some of the important legislation of the session of 1911. He served on various important committees and was a close student of the entire legislative program. Peo- ple generally identify his service in particular with the Pender County Stock Law, which was enacted under his energetic leadership. This is a progressive measure which though bitterly op- posed at the time by some of his fellow citizens, is generally recognized by all to be the only rule of action for a progressive and enlightened com- munity.
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