USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume V > Part 71
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GEORGE HERBERT WRIGHT. Though the men who were admitted to practice law in 1905 are still considered on the junior side of the profession in point of years of service, George Herbert Wright has achieved those dignities and successes in the profession which constitute all the success usually associated with long years and seniority.
Mr. Wright is one of the prominent members of the Asheville Bar. From 1908 to 1912 he was associated in practice with J. C. Martin, and since then with the firm Martin, Rollins & Wright. The firm handle the legal business for the Bankers Trust & Title Insurance Company, and Mr. Wright has the additional distinction of having been the first person appointed under the auspices of the United States government for the express pur- pose of examining titles preparatory to the pur- chase of land for forestry and forest reserve. Mr. Wright is a member of the executive committee of the Pack Memorial Association of Asheville, is a member of the North Carolina Bar Association and of the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity. He is an elder in the Presbyterian Church.
Mr. Wright comes of an old North Carolina family and was born at Lafayette, Indiana, April 14, 1884. son of James Oliver and Katherine (Espy) Wright. His father was born in North Carolina and being a civil engineer by profession had work which required his presence and the residence of his family in various cities and states. As a result George Herbert Wright acquired his public school education in Indiana and in Chicago, also at New Orleans, and grad- uated Bachelor of Arts from Tulane University at New Orleans in 1903. In his early years he was also a school teacher, and studied law in the intervals of this work, being admitted to the bar in 1905.
June 18, 1910. Mr. Wright married Irene Gill- iam of Asheville. They have three children: Katherine Louise, Ada Virginia and Irene Gilliam.
HON. JOHN GILBERT SHAW. Thirty years of active practice as a member of the Fayetteville har have sufficed to give John Gilbert Shaw a position of front rank among North Carolina lawyers. Enviable as have been his achievements in the law, his interests and activities have been by no means confined to one profession. Mr. Shaw has taken a dignified and useful part in the public affairs of the state, and at one time represented North Carolina in Congress. For many years he has been a constructive factor in the Cape Fear dis- trict of the state, has identified himself officially with both its industrial and civic life, and has also done his share toward keeping alive the tradi- tions and the spirit of the fine old Scotch settlers who more than any other class influenced the development of Cumberland County. Mr. Shaw has marked literary talents, and for one who has
been so successful his range of interests is un- usual.
Mr. Shaw was born near Fayetteville in Cumber- land County in 1859, a son of Duncan and Cather- ine (Gillis) Shaw. On both sides he represents the sturdy Scotch element that gave to the early settlements along Cape Fear their most distinctive characteristics. The different branches of the Shaw family in North Carolina have always produced strong men and high thinking and noble acting citizens. Mr. Shaw's paternal grandfather, Gil- bert Shaw, was born on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, and came to North Carolina in 1796. He landed at Wilmington and came up the Cape Fear River to Cumberland County, where the Scotch people had been prominent for many years. Through his paternal grandmother Mr. Shaw is a great-grand- son of Col. John Ray. Colonel Ray was a notable North Carolina Scotchman, and in the Revolution- ary war period he was on the Tory side. Mr. Shaw's ancestors in the Revolution were divided among the Whigs and Tories. Mr. Shaw's father was born in Cumberland County and spent all, his life there as a prosperous planter. The maternal grandfather, Col. David Gillis, commanded a regiment under the American flag at the battle of New Orleans at the close of the War of 1812. The Gillises were also of Scotch origin and carly settlers in North Carolina.
John Gilbert Shaw as a boy had only the advantages of the local schools of Cumberland County. He is largely the product of his own exertions and ambitions in life, and he studied . law at home and in 1887 was admitted to the bar at Fayetteville. He has been in practice in that city ever since, and many years ago earned a rightful place among North Carolina's ablest lawyers. Through his profession and other enter- prise he has become financially independent. He might be classed as a farmer as well as a lawyer. For a number of years he has done farming on a large scale in Fayette County. His plantation of a thousand acres is situated three miles west of Fayetteville. It makes a splendid country home, and it is also the center of a varied industry. The farm contains saw mill, grist mill, cotton gin and all equipment and facilities for the systematic and efficient production of its varied resources. Mr. Shaw has at different times been connected with the building of the principal cotton mills in Fayetteville and was president of one of the mills.
The public spirit he has displayed in his home community has at different times taken on a larger range and has brought him prominently into state politics. He served as a member of the Legisla- ture during the sessions of 1887 and 1889, and for a long term of years was county attorney of Cumberland County. In 1892 he was democratic presidential elector from North Carolina and helped make Grover Cleveland the President for his second term. The culmination of his political career came in the year of confusion and political ex- tremity in North Carolina in 1894. He was given the regular democratic nomination for Congress and was elected after a contest which was perhaps characteristic of the violent partisanship exhibited in North Carolina during that year. He was one of the two democratic congressmen elected by North Carolina in 1894. His one term in Con- gress he made a source of distinctive benefit and influence to the country at large and to his home state. The great populist upheaval which had been progressing in national affairs for some
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years came to its climax in North Carolina in 1894, and the populist-fusion wave almost wrecked the democratic party. All those familiar with the political history of North Carolina recall the vio- lent antagonism and bitterness of that campaign. Mr. Shaw while campaigning had many sensa- tional experiences, and on two occasions the speaker's stand from which he was speaking was torn down.
Mr. Shaw is a reader, a student, a writer and a man of broad intellectual tastes. His literary interests have been largely concentrated in Scotch history and literature and with particular refer- ence to the history of the Scotch settlements in Cumberland County and the Cape Fear section. He has interpreted some articles that have cleared up historical matters on that subject, and is considered one of the best informed authorities on the subject. Mr. Shaw is a member of the Pres- byterian Church and belongs to a number of civic and social organizations.
His family consists of his wife and four chil- dren. Mrs. Shaw before her marriage was Miss Lizzie A. McPherson, daughter of Capt. John Alexander McPherson of Cumberland County. The four children, Duncan, John Alexander, Gilbert and Sarah, are young people of great promise and have made rather interesting records as students. Duncan is a graduate of the class of 1917 at Davidson College. John Alexander graduated from Davidson College with the class of 1918 and was one of the stars of his school's most notable foot ball team. Both Duncan and John Alexander are now in the United States Army. Gilbert is attend- ing the Fayetteville High school.
PROF. JOHN HENRY ALLEN. A man of scholarly attainments and much force of character, Prof. John Henry Allen is widely and favorably known as an efficient and progressive educator, and as superintendent of the Surry County schools is carrying on a highly appreciated and satisfactory work. He was born on a plantation adjoining East Bend, in Yadkin County, a son of William Allen. His grandfather, John Henry Allen, was born and reared in Ireland, and was the only member of the parental household to immigrate to the United States. He located first in New Hanover County, North Carolina, but late in life moved to Yadkin County, where he spent his remaining years. His wife bore him seven children, as follows: John; James; Elisha; William; Elizabeth, who married Lemuel Fleming; Nancy became the wife of John Norman; and Mittie, who married a Mr. Taylor.
Born in New Hanover County, North Carolina, William Allen turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, and as a young man migrated to Yadkin County, where the opportunities for making a living as a tiller of the soil were supposed to be greater. Buying land in East Bend Township, he improved a good plantation, and was there pleas- antly engaged in general farming the remainder of his life, passing away in 1906. During the Civil war he was excused from military duty on account of physical disability.
William Allen married Faith Wooten, who was born in Forbush Township, Yadkin County. Her father was a farmer and miller, owning and op- erating a mill on Forbush Creek. Mrs. William Allen preceded her husband to the better world, dying in 1904. She was the mother of eight chil- dren, namely: John Henry; Thomas Monroe; .James; Augustus ; Solomon
Gray; Elizabeth; Florence; and Rosa.
As a boy John Henry Allen attended the schools of his native district, later completing his studies at the Union. High School, in East Bend. Fitted for a professional career, he taught one term in Fall Creek Township, and subsequently had charge of schools in Rockford Centre, Siloam and Dobson, in each place meeting with undisputed success. Professor Allen was elected superintendent of the schools in Yadkin County and served faithfully for four years in that capacity. In 1901 he accepted the superintendency of the Surry County schools, and held the position until 1910, when he refused a re-election, preferring rather to become principal and superintendent of the public schools of Elkin. Two years later, however, the Professor was again chosen by the people as superintendent of the schools in Surry County, and has served con- tinuously since. In the responsible position he assumed, Professor Allen has proved himself com- petent both as to scholarship and executive ability, the schools of the county having been greatly im- proved, while in Westfield, Bannertown and White Plains new schools buildings have been erected.
On October 23, 1883, Professor Allen was united in marriage with Miss Mary J. Castevens, who was born in Liberty Township, Yadkin County, a daugh- ter of Rev. Thomas and Elizabeth (Hill) Caste- vens. Five children have blessed their union, namely: Ernest, Faith Elizabeth, William Marion, Linden, and James Henry.
Professor and Mrs. Allen are valued members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, in which he is chairman of its board of stewards, and also a member of the finance committee of the annual conference. Fraternally the professor is a member of Elkin Lodge No. 96. Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons; of Elkin Council, Junior Order of United American Mechanics; of Bryan Lodge No. 157, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and of Elkin Lodge, Knights of Pythias.
MARSHALL DILLING. From a boy operative in a cotton mill, grown to the full stature of man- hood in all his powers and capabilities, at the age of thirty-seven Marshall Dilling is carrying some of the most important responsibilities of cotton manufacture in North Carolina. With a brief exception he has spent practically all his career in and around Gastonia, and the people of that vicinity take a great deal of pride in recalling his rise from a humble position until he is now one of the men who dominate the industrial life of one of the largest cotton mill centers in the South.
His birth occurred in 1881, in what is now the southwest part of Chester Place in Gastonia. His parents were Alberry and Jane ( Hufstatler) Dil- ling. His father was also born near Gastonia, and his body now rests in the cemetery east of the citv within 100 yards of his birthplace. Al- berry Dilling's father was one of the pioneer citizens of Gaston County, and his uncle, Capt. F. Dilling, who is still living at King's Moun- tain, was one of the founders of the Town of Gastonia. Marshall Dilling's mother was a mem- her of the well known pioneer family of Hufstet- lers who have lived in Lincoln and Gaston counties since before the Revolution. Many people in this section recall the late Joseph M. Hufstetler, a fine old gentleman whose home was near Union Church in Gaston County. He spent his four- score years in a most useful and unright life.
Marshall Dilling's education in schools was probably less important as a real training for
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W.W. Faison, m. D.
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
life than the industry he followed. He attended country schools near Gastonia. The present graded school system was not yet in existence. With the family he moved to the Town of Gas- tonia when he was eleven years of age, and after that gained most of his knowledge by study at night alone.
Mr. Dilling is just old enough to have seen the beginning of the present great cotton devel- opment at Gastonia and vicinity. . As a boy he worked in a cotton mill, and he has been con- nected with that great industry ever since. He learned cotton milling from practically every view- point and practically every position in the serv- ice. Eagerness to learn, to work, combined with his intelligence and ability, have been responsi- ble for his many promotions. For several years he was superintendent of the Avon Mill at Gas- tonia. In 1911 he went to Concord. and became superintendent of the Cabarrus Cotton Mill there, one of a number of mills owned and operated by that prince of North Carolina cotton manufac- turers, J. W. Cannon of Concord. His ability as a mill superintendent soon brought him the absolute confidence and esteem of Mr. Cannon, and after about three months he was entrusted by him with charge of a mill at Siluria, Ala- bama. Mr. Dilling operated the Suliria Mill un- til October, 1917, when he returned to his old home, Gastonia, to assume still more important duties here.
In the summer of 1917 the A. M. Smyre Manu- facturing Company of Gastonia was organized. This company soon began the construction of a modern cotton mill at Ranlo, four miles east of Gastonia. As suprintendent of the company Mr. Dilling took active charge of the construction of the mill and the installation of the machinery, a work for which by his long and successful ex- perience he was thoroughly qualified. The mill construction has proceeded rapidly, and opera- tions were begun about the first of the year 1918. The mill has an exceptionally fine location, with track facilities and transportation service over both the Piedmont & Northern and the Southern railways. The mill started with an equipment of 10,000 spindles, and its manufacture is fine combed yarns.
A great host of friends and acquaintances wel- comed Mr. and Mrs. Dilling back to Gastonia from Alabama. Both Mr. and Mrs. Dilling enjoy a high place in the esteem of the community and are leaders in social affairs. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and he is affiliated with the Masonic Order and the Mystic Shrine. His wife was formerly Miss Clara Smith, who was born and reared in Gastonia and before her marriage was an efficient stenographer in the Gastonia law offices. They have a small son, Marshall Dilling, Jr.
CHARLES DUFFY KOONCE. An important ele- ment in any community is its professional class, for it is largely made up of men of scholarly acquirements, necessary factors for civic pro- gress. Upon professional men rest many responsi- bilities entirely removed from their private affairs. They are looked up to as men of wider vision than the ordinary, every day citizen, and thus they influence affairs of public importance and often the lives of people with whom they never had ac- quaintance. The pleasant and growing city of Chadbourn, North Carolina, has reason to feel some pride in the representative professional men who
have found homes and honorable careers here, and among these no one stands higher in public esteem than Charles Duffy Koonce, a leader of the bar and formerly county Judge in Columbus County.
Charles Duffy Koonce is a native of North Carolina and comes of old and substantial families of this state. He was born in Onslow County, March 18, 1869, and is a son of James and Harriet (Davis) Koonce. His father for many years was engaged in agricultural pursuits and became a man of such ample means that no restrictions were placed on the son in his ambi- tion to thoroughly equip himself for the career in which he early felt his interest centering. Under private instruction he prepared for a high school course at Richlands in his native county, from there entering the Newbern Collegiate Institute. He then became a student in the University of North Carolina, and completed his professional course in the law department of Wake Forest College. Following his admission to the bar'on August 25, 1902, Mr. Koonce came to Columbus County and entered into practice at Whiteville, bringing to the tasks of his profession both a natural fitness and an acquired capacity. Two years later Mr. Koonce came to Chadbourne, and here has maintained his residence ever since. Prior to entering into practice and before taking his final course in law Mr. Koonce had taught in high schools in Scotland County, being located for twelve years at Gibson, there as elsewhere build- ing up a professional reputation together with a personal one that is evidenced by the high esteem in which he is held and the many warm friends he has in an unusually wide acquaintance.
Not only has he been recognized as an able attorney, but he has been honored by election to the bench and as county judge served Columbus County faithfully for two years, his record show- ing great judicial capacity.
Judge Koonce was married September 6, 1906, to Mrs. Etta Hand, who was born in North Caro- lina, a member of one of the prominent families of the Old North state. They have two children, Thelma and Euclid. Mr. and Mrs. Koonce are members of the Presbyterian Church and they are active in forwarding many of its benevolent movements. Thev occupy a place also in the city's social life, and their pleasant, hospitable fireside is known to many appreciative friends.
While Judge Koonce has necessarily, because of his prominence, interested himself to a con- siderable extent in politics, he has never been bigoted, good judgment, wisdom and knowledge coming from experience, directing his course on all occasions. He has, at times, accepted the responsibilities of office otherwise than mentioned, and for eight years served as a member of the Columbus County Board of Election, served for three years as a Member of Board of Education and for two years served as clerk of the Superior Court. Highly educated himself and for years identified with educational activities, he is deeply interested in everything pertaining to the public schools.
WILLIAM WILLIAMS FAISON, M. D. In the conrse of a long professional career Doctor Faison of Goldsboro has devoted his time and energies with singular fidelity and snecess to the care of those dependent upon the state and patients at the State Hospital at Goldsboro. Doctor Faison be- came assistant physician at the State Hospital in February, 1883, and from that time to the present
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has been identified with its management and ad- ministration. In 1906 he was elected superintend- ent. Much of the good done by this institution and much of the credit for its splendid efficiency is due to the painstaking zeal and professional ability of Doctor Faison,
He was born in Sampson County, North Caro- lina, at Pleasant Retreat, August 16, 1854, a son of William Alexander and Hattie Caroline (Wil- liams) Faison. His father was a successful planter. Doctor Faison began his career with a liberal and broad education, acquired in the Clinton Male Academy, the Carolina Military Institute and the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, from which he was graduated M. D. iu March, 1878. Thus his professional career covers almost forty years. He practiced privately at Goldsboro for two years, then for two years was located in Cabarrus County, and was called from private practice to his duties in the State Hospital at Goldsboro.
Doctor Faison is a member of the American Psychological Society, and his work and experience have enabled him to contribute much to the per- manent knowledge of the best methods in the treat- ment of the insane. He also belongs to the Wayne County, the Southern Medical and the North Caro- lina State Medical Societies and the American Medical Association. He is a past noble grand of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is an elder in the Presbyterian Church at Goldsboro.
Doctor Faison was married June 16, 1886, to Miss Susan Virginia Faison, daughter of Col. Thomas I. Faison, of Sampson County, North Carolina. They have three sons, all now established in business for themselves. Ralph Ringold is con- nected with a large manufacturing industry at Bridgeport, Connecticut; William Alexander is manager of the Atlantic Steel Castings Company at Chester, Pennsylvania. Preston King is in the insurance business at Goldsboro.
WILLIAM JASPER CHRISTIAN, as a soldier, busi- ness man, public spirited citizen and banker, is one of the oldest and best. known of Durham's citizens. The Christian family were pioneers in Durham County, his grandfather having located on lands in this vicinity in 1790. The Christians came to North Carolina from Virginia. William Jasper Christian was born December 13, 1839, on the site of the present Trinity College, when there was practically no Durham, no business houses, and nothing to dignify it as a town and center of trade and population. Mr. Christian is a son of Thomas and Martha (Lynn) Christian. His father was a substantial farmer for many years.
William J. Christian attended some of the early subscription schools. He was a young man when the war came on, and enlisting in Company C from Durham was assigned to service in the Sixth North Carolina Infantry. He was with his command in its various marches and engagements up to the battle of Rappahannock River on December 17, 1863, where he was captured. From that time un- til the end of the war he was kept a prisoner, being confined principally on Johnson's Island in Lake Erie. He was released and arrived home on June 29, 1865. Mr. Christian served with the rank of first lieutenant.
Following the war he clerked in a general mer- chandise store four years and for five years was with the firm of Rigsbee & Company. He early became identified with local politics and was elected and served 41/2 years as clerk of the courts of
Durham County, in 1894 was again elected and filled the office until 1898. For two years he op- erated a grist mill five miles from Durham, but since then his interests have been chiefly as a banker. He became a director of the First National Bank of Durham, which he is now serving as vice president. In 1913 he was elected president of the Merchants' Bank and immediately increased its capital from $25,000 to $50,000, and in January, 1915, the capital stock was made $100,000. It is one of the largest and best managed financial insti- tutions of Durham County. Mr. Christian erected for the exclusive home of the bank a splendid stone structure which is one of the most attractive build- ings in the business center. Mr. Christian also owns some extensive farm lands in Durham County. He has served two terms as mayor of the city and for several terms was elected to the council. His church home is the Missionary Baptist.
October 22, 1866, more than half a century ago, and soon after he left the army, he married Louisa Gunter of Durham County. Six children were born to their marriage: Charles E. of Durham; John A., a railroad engineer of Mobile, Alabama; Thomas B., who conducts a laundry at Jackson- ville, Florida; William J., Jr., of Durham; Eunice M., wife of J. C. Wynn, a Durham merchant; and Emma Lois.
DONALD MACRACKAN, of Whiteville, North Caro- lina, has been an active member of the North Carolina bar for more than twenty years, and has made his efforts count for most in service to himself and to the world since taking up the law.
Nearly his entire career has been passed within his native County of Columbus, where he was born June 5, 1866, a son of Robert M. and Mary (Mac- Millan) MacRackan. He is of Scotch descent on both sides. His father, who was born at Fayette- ville, North Carolina, followed farming as his basic pursuit and at one time represented Bruns- wick County in the State Legislature.
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